Patent Application
20140229431
The invention relates generally to file synchronization systems and more particularly to a system, method, and computer program product for ranking files in a user computer memory so that the most useful files stored on a company computer for a particular user are also stored in the memory of the user computer.
In a typical computer, file synchronization (or syncing) in computing is the process of ensuring that computer files in two or more locations are updated via certain rules.
Computer users are creating ever increasing volumes of data files, which can easily overwhelm the memory of each user's computer. To ease the burden on user computer memory, these data files are often stored in remote or networked storage (e.g., a file server). However, to obtain the data files from the remote or networked computer storage, the user must establish a connection to the remote or networked storage through a communications network, which can delay file access. To speed up access, many companies use file synchronization software that copies each user's important data files to the user computer memory for ease of access. In some instances, the file synchronization software will manage only the files that belong to a single user. Typically, however, the data files stored on the network are also available, through the file-synchronization software, to other user computers. For example, a file synchronization software within a company may synchronize all of the company's documents with all of the user computers served by the company's network. This allows, for example, users in a department to access the data files of other users in the same department.
There are many benefits to file synchronization. Because data files are locally available, the data files may be opened more quickly, they are automatically kept up-to-date, and the user's computer does not need to maintain a permanent connection to network storage to obtain a frequently accessed data file. However, the network storage can store more data files than the storage capacity of the user computer, so there is a risk that the data file the user needs will not be stored in the user's computer memory. Such delivery can be optimized by requiring the user to configure the file-synchronization software, or by only synchronizing file contents when the user tries to open a file stored on the network. In prior art file-synchronization systems, therefore, the user selectively choses which data files and/or folders having data files should be synchronized locally from the files the user accesses on the server.
There are disadvantages to the above methods of file synchronization. For instance, the user may access files that it needs temporarily, forcing files it needs more often to be removed from user computer storage in favor of a file that has been opened more recently (but is less important to the user). Moreover, if a user must preconfigure the file synchronization system to synchronize certain data files, often the user will not do so, leading the user to circumvent the file synchronization software and access files ‘on-demand.’ For example, the user will typically only request files at the time he wants to access them. Therefore, the user will still need a permanent network connection and will experience delays in accessing data files because those data files must be obtained from the server.
A need exists, therefore, for a system, method and computer program product that solves the issues identified above.
In accordance with the disclosed subject matter, a system, method and computer program product are provided for synchronizing data files.
Embodiments of the invention include a system that comprises a computer having a processor and a tangible, non-transitory computer memory with instructions operable therein for performing on the processor a process of determining data files that should be synchronized with a user computer and a process of synchronizing the data files. In some embodiments, the instructions comprise the steps of receiving a local list of data files stored in the user computer; responsive to receiving the local list, determining a set of data files associated with a user; determining a rank for each data file in the set based on at least one of: whether the user is associated with another user that has recently created the data file, and whether the data file can be downloaded within a predefined time period; creating a ranked list ordered by the rank determined for each data file in the set; creating a new list of data files from the data files associated with higher ranks in the ranked list, the data files in the new list having a cumulative size that is less than a memory size of the user computer; and comparing the new list with the local list to determine which of the data files in the new list are missing from the user computer.
Embodiments of the invention include a computer program product operable on a computer having a tangible, non-transitory computer memory, the computer program product causing the computer to perform a process of determining data files that should be synchronized with a user computer and a process of synchronizing the data files. In some embodiments, the computer program product executes instructions comprising the steps of receiving a local list of data files stored in the user computer; responsive to receiving the local list, determining a set of data files associated with a user; determining a rank for each data file in the set based on at least one of whether the user is associated with another user that has recently created the data file, and whether the data file can be downloaded within a predefined time period; creating a ranked list ordered by the rank determined for each data file in the set; creating a new list of data files from the data files associated with higher ranks in the ranked list, the data files in the new list having a cumulative size that is less than a memory size of the user computer; and comparing the new list with the local list to determine which of the data files in the new list are missing from the user computer.
Embodiments of the invention include a computer implemented method causing a computer to perform a process of determining data files that should be synchronized with a user computer and a process of synchronizing the data files. In some embodiments, the computer-implemented method comprises the steps of receiving a local list of data files stored in the user computer; responsive to receiving the local list, determining a set of data files associated with a user; determining a rank for each data file in the set based on at least one of: whether the user is associated with another user that has recently created the data file, and whether the data file can be downloaded within a predefined time period; creating a ranked list ordered by the rank determined for each data file in the set; creating a new list of data files from the data files associated with higher ranks in the ranked list, the data files in the new list having a cumulative size that is less than a memory size of the user computer; and comparing the new list with the local list to determine which of the data files in the new list are missing from the user computer.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the features of the disclosed subject matter in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the disclosed subject matter that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosed subject matter is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosed subject matter is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the disclosed subject matter. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.
These together with the other objects of the disclosed subject matter, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosed subject matter, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the disclosed subject matter, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.
So that the features and advantages of the invention may be understood in more detail, a more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the appended drawings, which form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only various embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it may include other effective embodiments as well.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth regarding the systems and methods of the disclosed subject matter and the environment in which such systems and methods may operate, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without such specific details, and that certain features, which are well known in the art, are not described in detail in order to avoid complication of the disclosed subject matter. In addition, it will be understood that the examples provided below are exemplary, and that it is contemplated that there are other systems and methods that are within the scope of the disclosed subject matter.
To address the needs discussed above, embodiments of the invention include a system for allowing a company or organization to synchronize data files between a company computer storage, such as a computer memory or a file server, and various user computers networked to the company computer. As such, the system provides a method for determining which data files are most likely to be needed by the user, and copying data files that are the most needed to the user computer. In the process of copying the files to the user computer, the system determines which data files are no longer needed on the user computer, and replaces the data files that are no longer needed on the user computer with new data files that the system has determined are more likely to be needed by the user.
As will be understood by those of skill in the art, the term company computer may be a computer, computer server or computer network associated with a particular company, or organization. As such, the term company computer is not limited to commercial companies, but may include other organizations such as education institutions, charities, non-profit groups, government entities, financial institutions, etc. Moreover, the terms company and organization should not be limited to a single entity, but can include multiple entities, corporations, organizations, charities and/or individuals having access to a secure server and database. As such, in some embodiments, the company computer may be a shared server where one or more users can upload computer content.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the user computer 102 can be any computing device capable of connecting to the communications network 104 and receiving data from same. As such, the user computer 102 enables the user to interact with the company computer 106 to view, store and retrieve data files. For example, the user computer 102 may be a desktop, laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone such as a Smartphone, computer tablet, networked computer display, computer server, WebTV, as well as any other electronic device. As such, the user computer 102 is connected to the company computer 106 via communications network 104, which may be a single communications network or comprised of several different communications networks, to connect the system.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, in one embodiment, communications network 104 establishes a computing cloud. A computing cloud can be, for example, the software implementing one or more of the company computer, third party database and application that is hosted by a cloud provider and exists in the cloud. The communications network 104 can also be a combination of a public or private network, which can include any combination of the Internet and intranet systems that allow a plurality of system users to access the company computer 106. For example, communications network 104 can connect all of the system components using the internet, a local area network (“LAN”) such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi, or wide area network (“WAN”) such as LAN to LAN via internet tunneling, or a combination thereof, using electrical cable such as HomePNA or power line communication, optical fiber, or radio waves such as wireless LAN, to transmit data. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, in some embodiments, user computer 102 may be connected to the communications network using a wireless LAN, but other users may be connected to the company computer 106 via a wired connection to the internet. In other embodiments, a user may connect to the company computer 106 using a wireless LAN and the internet. Moreover, the term “communications network” is not limited to a single communications network system, but may also refer to several separate, individual communications networks used to connect the user computer 102 to company computer 106. Accordingly, though each of the user computer 102 and company computer 106 is depicted as connected to a single communications network, such as the internet, an implementation of the communications network 104 using a combination of communications networks is within the scope of the invention.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, in cloud implementations, the communications network 104 interfaces with company computer 106, preferably via a firewall and web server (both not shown) to provide a secure access point for users 101 and to prevent users 101 from accessing the various protected portions of the storage 108 in the system. The firewall may be, for example, a conventional firewall as discussed in the prior art.
Storage 108 communicates with and uploads and stores data files to the user computer 102 via the company computer 106 and communications network 104. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, though storage 108 is depicted as a database, storage 108 may be implemented in, one or more computers, file servers and/or database servers. As such, the storage 108 may be implemented as network attached storage (NAS), storage area network (SAN), direct access storage (DAS), or any combination thereof, comprising for example multiple hard disk drives. Moreover, each of these file servers or database servers may allow a user 101 to upload or download data files to the database. For example, a user may have an associated username, password, RSA code, etc., that allows the user to store or retrieve various files to storage 108. These files can be stored in one or more computers comprising the storage 108 in a plurality of software databases, tables, or fields in separate portions of the file server memory (e.g., employee records, corporate records, projects, meeting items and agendas, memos, email, letters, financial and account information, payroll records, HR records, etc.). Accordingly, as is known in the art, the computer implementing storage 108 may have stored thereon a database management system (e.g., a set of software programs that controls the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of data in the computer). As one skilled in the art will appreciate, in some embodiments, storage 108 may be a software database stored in the company computer memory (to be discussed below). As one skilled in the art will also appreciate, though storage 108 is depicted as connected to, or as a part of, the company computer 106 (and not the communications network 104), the storage 108 may be, for example, a remote storage connected to the company computer 106 via the cloud or connected to the company computer 106 via a privately networked system.
Company computer 106 will now be described with reference to
Processor 204A is the “brains” of the company computer 106, and as such executes program product 208A and works in conjunction with the I/O device 202A to direct data to memory 206A and to send data from memory 206A to the various file servers and communications network. Processor 204A can be, for example, any commercially available processor, or plurality of processors, adapted for use in company computer 106 (e.g., Intel® Xeon® multicore processors, Intel® micro-architecture Nehalem, AMD Opteron™ multicore processors, etc.). As one skilled in the art will appreciate, processor 204A may also include components that allow the company computer 106 to be connected to a display, keyboard, mouse, trackball, trackpad and/or any other user input/output device (not shown), that would allow, for example, an administrative user direct access to the processor 204A and memory 206A.
Memory 206A may store the algorithms forming the computer instructions of the instant invention and data. Memory 206A may include both non-volatile memory such as hard disks, flash memory, optical disks, and the like, and volatile memory such as SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, and the like, as required by embodiments of the instant invention. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, though memory 206A is depicted on, for example, the motherboard of the company computer 106, memory 206A may also be a separate component or device connected to the company computer 106. For example, memory 206A may be flash memory, external hard drive, or other storage.
As shown in
The retrieve list module 302 can include instructions that enable company computer 106 to connect to and download a list of files stored in user computer memory of the user computer 102. For example, the retrieve list module 302 may be called when the user connects to the company computer 106 to retrieve a file. In some embodiments, the retrieve list module may be called at regular time intervals, which would require the company computer 106 to establish a connection through the communication network 104.
The determination module 304 can include instructions so that company computer 106 can determine whether a new list of files the user computer 102 has stored thereon are most relevant to the user. The retrieve file module 306 can include instructions to retrieve files from memory and works with the transmit files module 308 to send to the user computer 102 a list of files that should be stored on the user computer 102 and any data files that are on the list that are not currently stored on the user computer 102.
An exemplary embodiment of the computer program flow for the instructions implementing the retrieve list module 302, the determination module 304, the retrieve file module 306, and the transmit files module 308 will now be described with reference to
In general, the software flow for the server begins at step 502. In step 504, the company computer 106 queries the user computer 102 for a list of files stored thereon. For example, the company computer 106 may query the user computer 102 for the list of files in response to a request to save or download a file from the user computer 102. In some embodiments, the company computer 106 may query the user computer 102 at regular intervals or poll the user computer for file updates. In other embodiments, when the user computer connects to the company computer (e.g., when a user logs into the company computer 106 via the user computer 102), the company computer 106 may request the list of files stored on the user computer 102. Embodiments of step 504 are described in more detail in
LIF=(ImportanceOfTheFile[0.0<- ->1.0]+Max(0,(1.0−(FileSize/Quota)))+Max(0,(1.0−(DaysSinceLastUsed/30)))+Max(0,(1.0−(DaysSinceCreated/180))))×UserDownloadedWeighting[1.0=Yes,0.1=No]×(1/DownloadEstimate[in seconds]) (Eq. 1)
In some embodiments, the equation can include additional variables, fewer variables, or any suitable combination of variables. For example, other variables may be defined for files that are templates or forms for a department that are associated with the user, the number of users that have accessed the file, whether the user and their supervisor are accessing the same document, the folder or drive the user has used to save the file, etc. In other embodiments, the equation can provide any suitable weighting factors or no weighting factors to each of the variables in the equation.
In step 534, the instructions include computing, for the files associated with the user, the ranking of the file, LIF, using in some embodiments the same or different equation, variables, and/or weighting factors as defined above. To reduce the number of files for ranking, in some embodiments, the system may narrow the number of files associated with the user to those that the user has identified as an associated file, those saved by other users that are in the user's department or office location, files the user has accessed, files that the user has edited, files related to forms and templates that are used by the user, or any other suitable criteria or combination of criteria. After the number of files that may be ranked for a particular user are filtered, in such embodiments, the variables in the algorithm that determine the rankings may be optimized to take account of documents that are most frequently accessed by users with a certain title or in a certain department, that are most frequently accessed by the user and/or the user's supervisors, or any other suitable criteria or combination of criteria (e.g., as described in connection with Eq. 1 above or Eq. 2 below). In this regard, an embodiment of an algorithm for computing the ranking of a file, with the range of possible weighting factors for each variable, may be:
LIF=(ImportanceOfTheFile[0.0<- ->1.0]+Max(0,(1.0−(FileSize/Quota)))+Max(0,(1.0−(DaysSinceLastUsed/30)))+Max(0,(1.0−(DaysSinceCreated/180))))×UserDownloadedWeighting[1.0=Yes,0.1=No]×(1/DownloadEstimate) (Eq. 2)
In some embodiments, the equation can include additional variables, fewer variables, or any suitable combination of variables and weighting factors. For example, other variables may be defined for files that are templates or forms for a department that are associated with the user, the number of users that have accessed the file, whether the user and their supervisor are accessing the same document, the folder or drive the user has used to save the file, etc. To determine files to which the user is associated, in some embodiments the process will determine all files that the user has accessed or created within a particular time period, or files that are associated with a group or department of which the user is a member. In this way, the process can reduce the number of possible files that may be associated with the user, before running the aforementioned calculations. In step 536, the process creates a new list based upon the highest LIF value, or ranking, for each file on the list and the number of files that the user computer 102 is able to store. For example, the user computer may only have a limited amount of memory, or only a specific amount of memory reserved for files from the company computer 106. In step 538, the process ends.
User computer 102 will now be described with reference to
As can be seen, the I/O device 202B is connected to the processor 204B. Processor 204B is the “brains” of the user computer 102, and as such executes program product 208B and works in conjunction with the I/O device 202B to direct data to memory 206B and to send data from memory 206B to the various file servers and communications network. Processor 204B can be, for example, any commercially available processor, or plurality of processors, adapted for use in user computer 102 (e.g., Intel® Xeon® multicore processors, Intel® micro-architecture Nehalem, AMD Opteron™ multicore processors, etc.). As one skilled in the art will appreciate, processor 204B may also include components that allow the user computer 102 to be connected to a display (not shown), keyboard, mouse, trackball, trackpad and/or any other user input device, that would allow, for example, an administrative user direct access to the processor 204B and memory 206B.
Memory 206B may store the algorithms forming the computer instructions of the instant invention and data, and such memory 206B may include both non-volatile memory such as hard disks, flash memory, optical disks, and the like, and volatile memory such as SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, and the like, as required by embodiments of the instant invention. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, though memory 206B is depicted on, for example, the motherboard of the user computer 102, memory 206B may also be a separate component or device connected to the user computer 102. For example, memory 206B may be flash memory or other storage.
As shown in
The connection module 402 can include instructions that enable the user computer 102 to connect to the company computer 106 through the communication network 104. The transmission module 404 can include instructions that enable the user computer to transmit a list of files stored thereon to the company computer 106. For example, the transmission module 404 can transmit a list of all files stored in all or a portion of the memory of the user computer 102 (e.g., the user computer may have a portion of its memory dedicated to receiving files from and synchronizing files with the company computer 106).
The comparison module 406 can include instructions that enable the user computer 102 to compare a list of files received from the company computer 106 with a list of files currently stored thereon, and to delete from memory those files that are no longer needed in user computer 102. For example, as part of the process of deleting files, the user computer 102 can transmit the files to be deleted prior to deleting same so that the latest version of the deleted file is stored in with the company computer 106 or the attached storage 108. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the user may also be asked whether or not to delete the file and/or whether to transmit the file to the company computer 106. The update module 408 can include instructions to update the files stored on the user computer 102 by copying files received from the company computer 106.
An exemplary embodiment of the computer program flow for processes implementing a connection module 402, a transmission module 404, a comparison module 406, and an update module 408 will now be described with reference to
An exemplary embodiment of the connection module 402 is described with reference to
An exemplary embodiment of the transmission module 404 is described with reference to
Turning to
Turning to
An exemplary list of files is shown in
It is to be understood that the disclosed subject matter is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosed subject matter is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the disclosed subject matter. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.
Although the disclosed subject matter has been described and illustrated in the foregoing exemplary embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of implementation of the disclosed subject matter may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter, which is limited only by the claims which follow.
