Method, apparatus and program storage device for a client and adaptive synchronization and transformation server

Abstract

A sync proxy or sync server logic, process and apparatus employing sync logic and/or transformation codes distributed in the network to increase the scalability and improve the manageability of synchronization between a client such as: an Internet appliance; a handheld or palmtop device; a smart phone or intelligent pager; and their remote replica sources. An example of an adaptive sync server for synchronizing data between a client and a remote host replica, which stores a replica of data on the client includes sync acceptor logic for identifying a replica host and a sync logic which is application specific to a data type associated with the client and the remote host; wherein the sync logic can be located anywhere on a network remote to the sync server and the remote host, in response to a sync request; and sync handler logic, coupled to the sync acceptor logic, for retrieving remote sync logic from the network, connecting to the remote host, and synchronizing the data between the client and the remote host using the retrieved sync logic. The sync request could explicitly (or by default) identify the replica host and the sync logic or could include an address of a directory service storing information for identifying the replica host and the sync logic. The sync request could also or alternatively include information for identifying a (local or remote) device specific transformation code for converting data between the client and the remote host during synchronization; and means for retrieving the transformation code based on the information and converting the data between the client and the remote host based on the device specific transformation code.