Patent · US Expired

System and method for relating files in a distributed data storage environment

US6615225B1 · kind B1 · utility

52Cited by
11References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 27, 2000
Grant dateSep 2, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 27, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99955
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for relating files in a distributed data storage environment allows for positive identification of membership of a file within a group, even in a loosely coupled environment where files are not available for comparison in real time. In disclosed embodiments, base files of a client are stored on a server and are accompanied by tokens uniquely identifying the base files. The tokens are generated on the client and may be derived from the contents of the base file using a digital signature. Each file transmitted to the server is accompanied with a token. Incremental backups may be used, and may employ file differencing. Accordingly, sub-files related to the base files may be transmitted to the server for backup. The sub-files are related to their respective base files using the tokens and are cross-linked to the base files so that any sub-files can be retrieved together with the base file from which the sub-file was derived.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.