System and method for providing virtual network attached storage using excess distributed storage capacity
US7139809B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 21, 2002 |
| Grant date | Nov 21, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 23, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/329
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for using free storage capacity on a plurality of storage media as a virtual storage device on a computer network comprising a plurality of computers. A first portion of each storage medium stores data. To implement Virtual Network Attached Storage (VNAS), the respective “free” second portions of each storage medium are aggregated into a shared storage volume. Computers on the network may mount the shared storage volume at one of a plurality of mount points and may store data on the shared storage volume. VNAS may be implemented in a peer-to-peer manner whereby each computer acts as a server for the data stored on its part of the shared storage volume (i.e., the second portion of its storage media). VNAS may be used to implement a system and method for managing data fail-over.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.