File system with data block sharing
US9727575B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 29, 2014 |
| Grant date | Aug 8, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 4, 2035 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/13
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
To provide an operation that can quickly copy or rearrange a file, a file system allows stored data to be shared among two or more files or within a file. The file system provides an operation that allows an extent from one file to be copied into an extent of another file, or into a different extent in the same file if the extents do not overlap. To support such an operation, the file system tracks the storage locations for stored data for extents of a file, and whether the stored data for an extent of a file is shared with any other file or by another portion of the same file. When stored data is shared, writing to an extent of a file that refers to the shared stored data invokes a write operation to a new extent on the storage device, and the tracked information for the affected extents is updated.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.