The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 22, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 24, 2000
Vivek P. Kamath, Redmond, WA (US);
Craig S. Brown, Bothell, WA (US);
John B. Pence, Renton, WA (US);
M. Chandra Shekaran, Woodinville, WA (US);
Thomas G. Lorimor, Redmond, WA (US);
Thomas R. Firman, Bellevue, WA (US);
Elizabeth J. Gentile, Seattle, WA (US);
Keith M. Toussaint, Seattle, WA (US);
Micosoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for transparently combining remote and local storage to provide an extended file system such as a virtual local drive for a computer system client/user, e.g., a user of a pocket sized personal computer or a cable set-top box. A client device may load file system object data, storing the directories and files remotely, and retrieving the files only when required. Via its local storage, the extended file system handles unreliable connections and delays. When a connection to an extended file system server is present, the extended file system provides automatic downloading of information that is not locally cached, and automatically uploading of information that has been modified on the client. Extended file system attributes are employed to determine the actual location of file system data, and a lightweight protocol is defined to download or upload remote data by low-level components that make the remote source transparent from the perspective of the application. The system scales to large networks as it employs the lightweight protocol and establishes a connection only to retrieve and submit data.