Patent · US Active

Systems and methods for adaptive copy on write

US7882068B2 · kind B2 · utility

32Cited by
187References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 21, 2007
Grant dateFeb 1, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 19, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2201/84
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In one embodiment, a user or client device communicates with a distributed file system comprised of one or more physical nodes. The data on each of the physical nodes store metadata about files and directories within the file system. Some of the embodiments permit a user to take a snapshot of data stored on the file system. The snapshot may include a single file, a single directory, a plurality of files within a directory, a plurality of directories, a path on the file system that includes nested files and subdirectories, or more than one path on the file system that each includes nested files and directories. In some embodiments, systems and methods intelligently choose whether to use copy-on-write or point-in-time copy when saving data in a snapshot version of a file whose current version is being overwritten. In some embodiments, systems and methods allow snapshot users to return from a snapshot directory to the immediate parent directory from which the user entered into the snapshot.

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