Patent Application
20160259783
The present invention relates to computer systems and a technology for, in a system in which data stored in a network-attached storage (NAS) is transferred to a content-addressed storage (CAS), for example, retaining an inheritance relationship of the metadata of a file retained in the NAS in the CAS.
The amount of digital data, particularly file data, is rapidly increasing. A NAS device is a storage device for sharing files among a number of computers via a network. A CAS device is a storage device for long term data archiving.
A system is known in which a CAS device is disposed at a data center and a NAS device is disposed at each site (such as the head office and branch offices of a company), where the devices are connected via a communication network so that data on the distributed NAS devices can be consolidated in the CAS device.
The NAS device manages files in a tree structure using a file system, and includes the function for allowing various metadata of an upper-level directory to be inherited by a lower-level directory/file by utilizing the tree structure. Examples of the metadata having the inheritance function include an access control list (ACL) which is access control information, and custom metadata defined by a user.
On the other hand, the CAS device is an object storage that manages data using mutually independent objects. Because the address space is flat, the inheritance mechanism of the NAS device based on the tree structure cannot be migrated to the CAS device.
In order to address such situation, Patent Literature 1, e.g., discloses a method whereby, with regard to data migration, when a migration target directory is inheriting the access control information of a parent directory, the access control information is uniquely set. More specifically, in the system, when a lower-level file inherits the metadata of an upper-level directory, the access control information of the inheritance source directory is copied with regard to that file and stored in the CAS. Namely, the system eliminates the inheritance information itself.
Patent Literature 1: US2012/0102069A1
However, according to the technology of Patent Literature 1, when the inheritance source metadata is modified in a NAS device, the metadata of all of directories/files that are inheriting the inheritance source directory need to be updated in the CAS device to which the data is migrated. Thus, there is the problem of an increase in I/O and an increase in network traffic.
The present invention was made in view of such circumstance, and provides a technology for realizing an inheritance mechanism in the CAS device that normally does not have an inheritance function.
In order to solve the problem, according to the present invention, the inheritance information of metadata managed in a NAS device is stored in the metadata of each object in a CAS device, and the inheritance information is used at the time of metadata search and object access. More specifically, when data is transferred from the NAS device to the CAS device, a file inheriting the metadata of an upper-level directory allocates, as inheritance information, the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) that is the address information of an object of the CAS device corresponding to the inheritance source directory to the metadata of an object of the CAS device corresponding to the file. A metadata conversion apparatus interprets the inheritance information stored in the CAS device. During a metadata search of the objects stored in the CAS device, a list of inheriting objects is acquired if the object of the search result is an inheritance source, and a search result is output to the request source. At the time of accessing the objects stored in the CAS device, if the ACL of an access target object is inheriting the upper-level directory, the ACL is acquired from the inheritance source object, and access permission determination is made.
Additional features related to the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the attached drawings. Various aspects of the present invention may be achieved or realized by various elements and combinations thereof and by the following detailed description and the scope of the attached claims.
It should be understood that the following description in the present specification merely provides typical examples and is not in any way intended to limit the scope of the claims or the application examples.
According to the present invention, I/O by an update of inheritance source metadata can be mitigated, search time can be reduced, and security can be ensured by performing access control on a CAS device.
In the following, embodiments will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the attached drawings, functionally similar elements may be designated with similar numerals. While the attached drawings illustrate specific embodiments and implementation examples in accordance with the principle of the present invention, these are for facilitating an understanding of the present invention and are not to be taken to interpret the present invention in a limited sense.
While the embodiments will be described in such sufficient detail as to enable one skilled in the art to implement the present invention, it should be understood that other implementations or forms are also possible, and that various modifications of the configurations or structures or substitutions of various elements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the technical concept of the present invention. Thus, the following descriptions should not be taken as limiting the present invention.
The embodiments may be implemented by software running on a general-purpose computer, dedicated hardware, or a combination of software and hardware, as will be described later.
While information used in the embodiments will be described with reference to tables and lists illustrated in the drawings attached to the specification, the information are not limited to those provided in table or list structure and may include information that does not depend on data structure.
While in the following description the contents of information may be described using terms such as “identifier”, “designation”, “name”, or “ID”, these may be substituted with one another.
A communication network between NAS and CAS is not limited to the adoption of WAN and may adopt a communication network such as a local area network (LAN). The embodiments in their various aspects are not limited to the adoption of Network File System (NFS) protocol and may adopt other file sharing protocols such as Common Internet File System (CIFS) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
A computer system 10 includes a site 100 comprising a client 101 and a NAS device 102; and a data center 110 comprising a CAS device 120, a metadata conversion apparatus 130, and a client 140. The site 100 and the data center 110 are connected via a network 160.
The client 101 and the NAS device 102 are connected via a network 104. The client 101 includes one or a plurality computers that utilize a file sharing service provided by the NAS device 102. The client 101 utilizes the file sharing service provided by the NAS device 102 via the network 104 by utilizing a file sharing protocol such as Network File System (NFS) or Common Internet File System (CIFS). While in
The metadata conversion apparatus 130 and the CAS device 120 are connected via a network 150. The CAS device 120 provides a storage device for archiving by the NAS device 102. The metadata conversion apparatus 130 and the client 140 are connected via a network 170. The client 140 includes one or a plurality of computers that utilize an object search service provided by the CAS device 120 and the metadata conversion apparatus 130.
The network 104 is a LAN within the site, the network 150 and the network 170 are LANs within the data center 110, and the network 160 is a WAN. The type of network is not limited to the above networks, and various types of networks may be utilized.
While in
The process outline will be described. In the NAS device 102, files and directories created and updated by the client 101 are stored in the file system 103. Generally, a file system includes a flag indicating whether, as inheritance information, an upper-level directory is being inherited so that the inheritance relationship can be known by referring to the flag. The dotted line arrows in the file system 103 indicate metadata inheritance relationship. For example,
The CAS device 120 stores and manages files and directories archived by the NAS device 102 as objects in the name space 121. The name space 121 refers to a logically divided management unit of the CAS device 120 corresponding to the file system 103 of the NAS device 102. Namely, the name space 121 is provided and managed for each site. The CAS device 120 includes a search engine 124 and a metadata index 125 enabling a search of the objects stored in the name space 121. The metadata conversion apparatus 130 includes a search query process program 131, and provides an object search service to the client 140 in coordination with the search engine 124 of the CAS device 120.
In process (3), the client 140 of the data center 110 issues a search request query to the metadata conversion apparatus 130. The query may be issued not just by the client 140 but also by the client 101 of each site. This is because the processing of a search request and the process of determining whether a search result can be viewed and whether a search result file or directory may be accessed are different processes, as will be described below. In process (4), the search query process program 131, in coordination with the search engine 124, acquires a list of objects matching the query at process (3). If the objects are objects of the inheritance source, the search query process program 131 further acquires inheriting objects in process (5). In process (6), the search query process program 131 outputs a search result to the client 140.
The metadata conversion apparatus 130 requests the objects matching “hospital=A” from the search engine 124 of the CAS device 120, and acquires “UUID: a1b2c3” as a result. Those processes correspond to
Thereafter, as it has been found that the object with the UUID of a1b2c3 is an inheritance source, the metadata conversion apparatus 130 requests from the search engine 124 “inherit UUID:a1b2c3 (directory or file inheriting metadata of UUID:a1b2c3)”, and acquires “UUID: j1k2l3” and “p7q8r9” as a result. These processes correspond to process (5) of
Finally, the metadata conversion apparatus 130 merges the results of processes (4) and (5) and outputs them to the client 140 as a search result. This process corresponds to process (6) of
As described above, the inheritance information of the metadata of the files and/or directories retained in the NAS device 102 is retained in the metadata each object in the CAS device 120. Then, the inheritance information is interpreted by the metadata conversion apparatus 130, enabling a search of the metadata of the objects stored in the CAS device 120. Further, the metadata conversion apparatus 130 can make an access permission determination by interpreting the ACL of the objects stored in the CAS device 120. Further, even when the inheritance source metadata is modified, it is only necessary to update the metadata of the CAS object corresponding to the directory, this mitigating an increase in I/O and network load.
As a use case of the present embodiment, utilization of medical data in a medical information system may be considered. In the system, medical data generated in the site 100 (such as a hospital) is archived in the data center 110, and a data search is conducted in the data center 110. For medical images, a large volume of custom metadata is generated in accordance with a format such as Digital Imaging and COmmunication in Medicine (DICOM). The custom metadata of such medical images generated in large volumes include many common portions. Thus, by providing the inheritance function, redundancy in the custom metadata due to the copying of inheritance source access control information as in Patent Literature 1 can be eliminated. Accordingly, by applying the present invention to the medical information system, medical image search in the data center 110 can be realized while ensuring security.
The recording apparatus 302 provides a volume to the NAS controller 301, providing a storage location for the various files and the file system constituent information stored by the NAS controller 301.
Further, the NAS controller 301 is provided with a CPU 305 that executes a program stored in the memory 303; a network interface 306 used for communication with the client 101 via the network 104; a network interface 307 used for communication with the data center 110 via the network 160; a storage interface 304 used for connection with the storage apparatus 302; and a memory 303 for storing programs and data. The various elements are mutually connected via a bus and the like.
The memory 303 stores a file sharing program 308, an archive program 309, a file system program 310, and an operating system 311. The programs stored in the memory 303 may be stored in the storage apparatus 302 and then read by the CPU 305 to the memory 303 for execution.
The file sharing program 308 is a program providing a means for the client 101 to perform a file operation on file data on the NAS device 102. The archive program 309 is a program for migrating file data from the NAS device 102 to the CAS device 120 for storage and recording. The file system program 310 is a program for controlling the file system 103 in the NAS device 102. The operating system 311 has, e.g., an input/output control function and a function for controlling a read or write to a storage apparatus, such as a disk or a memory, and includes a program for providing these functions to the other programs.
The storage apparatus 302 is provided with a storage interface 315 used for connection with the NAS controller 301; a CPU 313 that executes a command from the NAS controller 301; a memory 312 for storing programs and data; and one or a plurality of disks 314. These elements are mutually connected via a bus and the like. The storage apparatus 302 provides a storage function of block format, such as Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (FC-SAN), to the NAS controller 301.
The CAS controller 401 is provided with a CPU 404 that executes a program stored in the memory 403; a network interface 405 used for communication with the NAS device 102 via the network 160; a network interface 415 used for communication with the metadata conversion apparatus 130 via the network 150; an interface 406 used for connection with the recording apparatus 402; and a memory 403 storing programs and data. These elements are mutually connected via an internal communication path (such as a bus).
The memory 403 stores an object operation program 407, the search engine 124, the metadata index 125, and an operating system 410. These programs may be stored in the recording apparatus 402 and then read by the CPU 404 to the memory 403 for execution.
The object operation program 407 is a program providing a means for the NAS device 102 to perform an operation on an object on the CAS device 120. The search engine 124 is a program providing the client 140 with a service for searching the objects stored in the CAS device 120. The metadata index 125 is a metadata index created by the search engine 124. The operating system 410 is similar to the operating system 311.
The recording apparatus 402 is provided with an interface 414 used for connection with the CAS controller 401; a CPU 412 that executes a command from the CAS controller 401; a memory 411 storing programs and data; and one or a plurality of disks 413. These elements are mutually connected via an internal communication path (such as a bus). The recording apparatus 402 provides the CAS controller 401 with a storage function of block format, such as FC-SAN.
The metadata conversion apparatus 130 is provided with a memory 201 that stores programs and data; a disk 202 that stores programs and data; a CPU 203 that executes the programs stored in the memory 201 or the disk 202; a network interface 204 used for communication with the NAS device 102 of the site 100 via the network 160; and a network interface 205 used for communication with the CAS device 120 via the network 150. These elements are mutually connected via an internal communication path (such as a bus) and the like.
The memory 201 stores a search query process program 206, an access permission determination program 207, a file transfer program 209, and an operating system 210. The programs or tables stored in the may be stored in the disk 207 and read by the CPU 203 to the memory 201 for execution.
The search query process program 206 is a program providing the client 140 with a search service. The access permission determination program 207 is a program for determining the access permission of an access-requested object on the basis of the access control list (ACL). The file transfer program 209 is a program for acquiring an access-requested object from the CAS device 120 and transferring the object to a request source. The operating system 210 is similar to the operating system 311.
The identifier 601 is a value uniquely identifying the file stored by the file system program 310 in the file system 103. The type 602 indicates whether the file type is directory or file. The type may include, other than directory and file, special files such as symbolic link and socket. The owner 603 indicates the owner of the file. In addition to the owner 603, an owner group and the like may be provided.
The access permission 604 includes ACL information for determining an access to a file, and indicates the determination target such as a user or a group, and the operation (such as read, write, or execute) permitted or prohibited for the determination target. In the access permission 604, “u:g:o rwx rwx rwx” indicates that u (owner), g (group), and o (others) have the permission to read (r), write (w), and execute (x) with regard to the directory. In the access permission 604, “inherit” indicates that the file inherits the access permission of the upper-level directory. Further, in the access permission 604, “u:g:o rwx r-x r-x” indicates that while u (owner) has all of the permissions to read (r) write (w) and execute (x) with regard to the directory g (group) and o (others) only have the permission to read (r) and execute (x) the file.
The size 605 indicates the file size. The update date 606 indicates the time of the last write to the file. Other than the update date 606, there may be provided time stamps for the final access date, the final modify date, or date of generation, for example.
The custom metadata 607 indicates metadata defined by the client 101. For example, the custom metadata of the file of the identifier 100 is indicated to be stored in a separate file “a.xml”. In the custom metadata 607, “inherit” indicates that the file inherits the custom metadata of the upper-level directory. The UUID 608 indicates the UUID of the CAS object corresponding to the file. The UUID 608 is allocated to each file on the NAS device 102 or the data center 110 (CAS device 120). When the UUID is allocated on the CAS 120, the CAS 120 notifies the NAS 102 of the UUID of the relevant file.
In
The UUID 701 is the same information as the UUID 604 of
In the access permission 704, which is the same information as the access permission 604 of
The size 705 is the same information as the size 605 of
In the custom metadata 707, which is the same information as the custom metadata 607 of
The file name 801 is information indicating the file name used when the client 101 accesses a file. The type 802 is the same information as the type 602 of
While not illustrated in the drawing, in the directory object of Dir_B, the information of File_X is stored, so that the tree structure of the file system 103 can be restored by tracing the directory objects from the upper-level, thus realizing restoration on a directory unit basis.
(i) Step S901: The archive program 309 of the NAS device 102 determines whether, with respect to a file and/or directory in the files stored in the file system 103 that satisfies the archiving conditions set by the administrator, there is inherited metadata (metadata of inheritance source directory). Whether there is the inheritance source directory is determined by referring to the custom metadata 607 and the access permission 603 of
(ii) Step S902: The archive program 309 refers to the custom metadata 607 and/or the access permission 603 of
(iii) Step S903: The archive program 309 determines whether the directory identified in step S902 is already archived in the CAS device 120. If already archived (step S903: YES), the process moves to step S907. If not archived yet (S903: NO), the process moves to step S904.
(iv) Step S904: The archive program 309 determines the object UUID of the inheritance source directory.
(v) Step S905: The archive program 309 makes an inheritance source directory archiving request to the CAS device 120.
(vi) Step S906: In response to the archiving request, the CAS device 120 stores the data received from the NAS device 102 in an entry corresponding to the UUID 701 for which an object has been designated.
(vii) Step S907: The archive program 309 creates metadata that includes the UUID of the inheritance source of the metadata inherited by the archive target file and that is to be transferred to the CAS device 120. When a plurality of metadata (such as the access permission 604 and the custom metadata 608) inherit a directory and each has a different inheritance source, the UUID of each inheritance source is included.
(viii) Step S908: The archive program 309 determines the object UUID of the relevant file.
(ix) Step S909: The archive program 309 makes an archiving request for the relevant file from CAS device 120.
(x) Step S910: In response to the archiving request, the CAS device 120 stores the data received from the NAS device 102 in the UUID for which the object has been designated.
(xi) Step S911: The CAS device 120 updates the metadata index 125 using the metadata added in step S910.
(xii) Archiving process timing and condition: According to the present embodiment, the archiving process is called from the operating system 311 at the migration periods or timing set by the administrator. However, the archiving process for a file may be performed at the timing of finding the file satisfying the archiving conditions.
The archiving conditions set by the administrator may include, for example, AND or OR conditions of the file owner, the date of file creation, the date of final file update, the date of final file access, file, size, file type, the presence or absence of Write Once Read Many (WORM) setting, the presence or absence of retention setting and its period. The archiving conditions may be set for the file system 103 as a whole, or individually for specific directories or files. When a file that is once archived is recalled and then stored in the file system 103, the file again provides a migration process target upon occurrence of an update in the file data. In this case, the presence or absence of an update in the recalled file may be determined by the NAS device 102 by the following method. For example, “the presence or absence of write after a recall” is stored in the attribute information of the files, and the files are managed such that only the files with a raised flag are considered the archive targets. In another method, the file attribute information may be provided with a field for storing “recall date”, and the recall date may be compared with the final update date of a file for the determination. In still another method, when there is a write request for a recalled file, the archiving process may be performed at the timing of the end of response to the write request.
(xiii) UUID determination: In
(i) Step S1001: The search query process program 206 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 receives a search request from the client 140.
(ii) Step S1002: The search query process program 206 transfers the search query received in step S1001 to the search engine 124 of the CAS device 120.
(iii) Step S1003: The search engine 124 of the CAS device 120 extracts objects matching the search query with reference to the metadata index 125, and outputs the objects as the result.
(iv) S1004: The search query process program 206 receives the result of step S1003.
(v) Step S1005: The search query process program 206 determines whether the inheriting objects of all of the objects in the result received in step S1004 (all files and directories that inherit the directory (inheritance source) of the search result) have been acquired. If not acquired (step S1005: NO), the process moves to step S1006. If acquired (step S1005: YES), the process moves to step S1007.
(vi) Step S1006: The search query process program 206 executes an inheriting object acquisition process which will be described later with reference to
(vii) Step S1007: The search query process program 206 merges the results of steps S1004 and S1006.
(viii) Step S1008: The access permission determination program are 207 executes an access permission determination process which will be described later with reference to
(ix) Step S1009: The search query process program 206 returns to the client 140 those of the results of step S1007 that were determined to have access permission step S1008.
In
(i) Step S1101: The search query process program 206 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 delivers to the CAS device 120 a request for acquiring the metadata of the objects retrieved by the search.
(ii) Step S1102: The CAS device 120 receives the metadata acquisition request from the metadata conversion apparatus 130, and transfers the object metadata to the metadata conversion apparatus 130.
(iii) Step S1103: The search query process program 206 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 receives the object metadata from the CAS device 120, and determines whether the object is an inheritance source with reference to the metadata 123 of
(iv) Step S1104: The search query process program 206 designates the UUID of the object retrieved by the search, and requests the search engine 124 of the CAS device 120 to conduct a search for objects that inherit the object.
(v) Step S1105: The search engine 124 of the CAS device 120 extracts the object matching the search query with reference to the metadata index 410, and outputs the object as a result.
(vi) Step S1106: The search query process program 206 receives the result of step S1105, and causes the process to transition to step S1101. Then, in step S1106, the process of step S1101 and thereafter is executed for the received result.
The inheriting object of the result obtained in step S1106 of
(i) Step S1201: The access permission determination program 207 refers to the object metadata (the access permission 704 of
(ii) Step S1202: The access permission determination program 207, on the basis of the UUID of the inheritance source object stored in the object metadata, acquires the inheritance source metadata (access permission 704) from the CAS device 120.
(iii) Step S1203: The access permission determination program 207 determines the access permission on the basis of the ACL of the object.
By acquiring the body of ACL from the inheritance source UUID in accordance with
(i) Step S1301: The file transfer program 209 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 receives an access request from the NAS device 102 or the client 140 and the like.
(ii) Step S1302: The file transfer program 209 determines whether the object of the requested access target includes inheriting metadata (whether there is metadata of an object of the inheritance source that the relevant object itself is inheriting). If the inheriting metadata is included (step S1302: YES), the process transitions to step S1303. If the inheriting metadata is not included (step S1302: NO), the process transitions to step S1304.
(iii) Step S1303: The file transfer program 209 determines whether the requested access is a restore request or a normal access. The restore request is issued from the NAS device 102, while the normal access request is issued from the NAS device 102, the client 140, or the like. In the case of a restore request (step S1303: Restore request), the process transitions to step S1304. In the case of a normal access request (step S1303: Normal access), the process transitions to step S1305.
(iv) Step S1304: In the case of restore request, the file transfer program 209 acquires the metadata of the requested object from the CAS device 120. Because the NAS device 102 is informed of the file directory structure and the inheritance relationship of each file, it is only necessary in this step to know whether the target object (file) inherits the upper-level object (directory).
(v) Step S1305: In the case of normal access request, the file transfer program 209 acquires the metadata of the inheritance source UUID.
(vi) Step S1306: The access permission determination program 207 executes the access permission determination process of
(vii) Step S1307: The file transfer program 209 acquires the data of the requested object.
(viii) Step S1308: The file transfer program 209 responds to the access source NAS device 102 or client 140 and the like.
(i) Step S1401: The file sharing program 308 of the NAS device 102 receives a rename request from the client 101.
(ii) Step S1402: The file system program 310 determines whether there is metadata inherited by the rename target file (i.e., whether there is the metadata of an inheritance source directory). If there is the inherited metadata (step S1402: YES), the process transitions to step S1403. If the inherited metadata is not present (step S1402: NO), the renaming process ends.
(iii) Step S1403: The file system program 310 determines whether a renaming rule is set so as to inherit the upper-level directory of a renaming destination. In the NAS device 102, there is a predetermined rule as to whether, when a file is moved between directories the metadata of a renaming source is to be taken over or the metadata of a renaming destination is to be newly taken over. If the rule is set so as to inherit the upper-level directory of the renaming destination (step S1403: YES), the process transitions to step S1404. If the rule is not set so as to inherit the upper-level directory of the renaming destination (step S1404: NO), the renaming process ends.
(iv) Step S1404: The file system program 310 modifies the inheritance source of the file to the upper-level directory of the renaming destination.
(v) Step S1405: The file system program 310 requests the CAS device 120 to modify the inheritance source object UUID to the destination object UUID.
(vi) Step S1406: The object operation program 407 of the CAS device 120 updates the metadata received from the NAS device 102.
(vii) Step S1407: The CAS device 120 updates the metadata index using the metadata updated in step S1406.
As described above, according to the first embodiment, with respect to a file and directory inheriting the upper-level directory metadata, the UUID of the object of the CAS device corresponding to the inheritance source directory is allocated to the metadata of the object of the CAS device corresponding to the file and directory as inheritance information. Then, the metadata conversion apparatus 130 interprets the inheritance information. In this way, it becomes possible to search the metadata of objects stored in the CAS device 120. Further, the metadata conversion apparatus 130 can make the access permission determination by interpreting the ACL of the object stored in the CAS device 120. Even when the inheritance source metadata is modified, it is only necessary to update the metadata of the CAS object corresponding to the relevant directory, whereby an increase in I/O and an increase in network load can be mitigated.
In the following, a second embodiment will be described. The following descriptions will be focused mainly on differences from the first embodiment while omitting or simplifying the description of common points to the first embodiment.
In the first embodiment, with respect to a file and directory inheriting the upper-level directory metadata, the UUID of the object of the CAS device corresponding to the inheritance source directory is allocated to the metadata of the object of the CAS device corresponding to the file and directory as inheritance information. On the other hand, according to the second embodiment, a directory object corresponding to an upper-level directory is provided with a flag indicating whether the subordinate files and directories inherit the metadata, thus storing inheritance information in the CAS device 120.
In
(i) Step S1601: The search query process program 206 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 delivers to the CAS device 120 a request for acquiring the data of the objects retrieved by the search.
(ii) Step S1602: The CAS device 120 receives the data acquisition request from the metadata conversion apparatus 130, and transfers the data of the objects to the metadata conversion apparatus 130.
(iii) Step S1603: The search query process program 206 of the metadata conversion apparatus 130 receives the data of the objects from the CAS device 120, and, with reference to the director object of
(iv) Step S1604: The search query process program 206 adds the inheriting files and directories to the search result.
As described above, according to the second embodiment, the directory object corresponding to the upper-level directory is provided with information indicating whether the subordinate files and directories inherit the metadata, thereby enabling a search of the metadata of the object stored in the CAS device 120 with higher efficiency.
Because the present embodiment cart be realized by the addition of functions to the conventional technology by software, there is no need for the addition of infrastructure. Because communications between the sites are not required, there is no need for adding communication infrastructure between the sites for data sharing. Further, the utilized backup data may be provided by the backup data acquired for recovery at the time of the accident/failure, there is no need for adding storage at a data center.
The present embodiment may be realized by a software program code for realizing the functions of the embodiments. In this case, a storage medium in which the program code is recorded may be provided to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or a CPU or a MPU) in the system or apparatus may be configured to read the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the functions of the embodiments may be realized by the program code itself read from the storage medium, so that the program code itself, or the storage medium storing the code may constitute the present embodiment. Examples of the storage medium for supplying such program code include a flexible disc, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a hard disk, an optical disk, magnetooptical disk, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, and a ROM.
Based on instructions of the program code, some or all of the actual processes may be performed by an operating system (OS) and the like running on the computer so that the functions of the embodiments can be realized by the processes. Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory in the computer, some or all of the actual processes may be performed by the CPU and the like of the computer on the basis of the instructions of the program code, so that the functions of the embodiments can be realized by the processes.
The software program code for realizing the functions of the embodiments may be delivered via a network and then stored in a storage means of the system or apparatus, such as a hard disk or a memory, or in a storage medium such as a CD-RW or a CD-R. The program code stored in the storage means or the storage medium may be read and executed by the computer (or the CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus during use.
Finally, it should be understood that the above-described processes and technologies are not associated with any specific apparatus substantially and may be implemented by any appropriate combination of components. Further, various types of devices for general purposes may be used in accordance with the teaching that has been described herein. It may be realized that the method steps described herein may be beneficially executed by constructing a dedicated apparatus. While the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific examples, these are in every respect for illustrative purposes only and not for limitation. Those skilled in the art may realize that there is a number of combinations of hardware, software, and firmware suitable for implementing the present invention. For example, the described software may be implemented by a wide range of programs or script languages, such as assembler, C/C++, perl, Shell, PHP, or Java (registered trademark).
In addition, other implementations of the present invention may become apparent to those with knowledge of the relevant art upon review of the herein disclosed specification and embodiment of the present invention. Various forms and/or components of the described embodiments may be used either individually or in various combinations in a computerized storage system with data managing functions.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/058636 | 3/26/2014 | WO | 00 |
