Apparatus and method for sharing a virtual file system between logical partitions
US7337171B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 12, 2005 |
| Grant date | Feb 26, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 30, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99939
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A logically-partitioned computer system provides support for multiple logical partitions to access a single file system, thereby allowing the logical partitions to share a file without the overhead of communicating over a VLAN. An area of shared memory is defined that multiple logical partitions may access. One or more file control blocks that control access to the files in the file system are then created in the shared memory. Existing mechanisms for locking a file system between processes may then be used across logical partitions to serialize access to the file system by all processes in all logical partitions that share the file system. In this manner the sharing of files in a file system is enabled by leveraging existing technology that is used within a single logical partition to extend across multiple logical partitions.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.