Distributed file system
US9384199B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 2011 |
| Grant date | Jul 5, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 25, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L63/205
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A distributed file system for devices is described. In an embodiment, each data element stored on one of the devices has an associated location and availability attribute. The location attribute is stored co-located with the data element. The availability attribute and a copy of the location attribute are stored by a metadata service. When a client on a device needs to access a data element, it sends a request to the metadata service to find the location of the data element. If the data element is available, this information is provided to the client and this may involve waking a dormant device which holds the data element. Where the data element is not available, read only access may be granted to a cached copy of the data element. Where replication is used and one of the devices holding a replica is unavailable, the system may use write off-loading.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.