US20100179883A1 - System and method of storing data files at a remote storage facility - Google Patents

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product may include receiving, by at least one processor, a command selecting a data file for transfer across a network for storage at a remote storage facility, receiving, by the at least one processor, a parameter selection comprising a user selected transfer time, applying, by the at least one processor, the parameter selection to the data file, queuing, by the at least one processor, the data file in a queue for transmission to said remote storage facility at said transfer time, and transferring, by the at least one processor, the data file to the remote storage facility at the user selected transfer time.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• The present application claims the benefit of and is also a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/367,038, filed Mar. 3, 2006, entitled “A SYSTEM AND METHOD OF STORING DATA FILES AT A REMOTE STORAGE FACILITY,” to Devolites, (Attorney Docket No. 42749-219626), of common assignee to the present invention, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• The invention generally relates to a system for remotely storing data files, and more particularly to a system for transferring data files from a client across a network to a remote storage facility.
• 2. Related Art
• Losing data is a significant problem for computer systems and electronic devices, and for users of computer systems and electronic devices. Sophistication of computer users varies greatly and may sometimes add to the loss of data. Conventional methods of storing data may store the data locally on a hard drive or a flash memory of a computing device. However, computing devices are vulnerable to viruses, instability in operating systems, storage device failures, and damage to the computer system, all of which may lead to a loss of data and to user frustration. The frustration is particularly acute when data of importance is lost, such as work-related data or digital photograph data having sentimental value. While improvements in computer hard drive and other storage device technologies, such as redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) and mirroring, may allow some opportunity for data recovery, many times data may be lost forever. Data may be lost in many instances since conventional computer systems rely on the integrity of data stored at a storage device local to their computing device.
• What is needed then is an improved storage system and method of protecting data that overcomes shortcomings of conventional offerings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a system, a method, and a computer accessible media is disclosed.
• According to one embodiment, a method may comprise receiving, by at least one processor, a command selecting a data file for transfer across a network for storage at a remote storage facility, receiving, by the at least one processor, a parameter selection comprising a user selected transfer time, applying, by the at least one processor, the parameter selection to the data file, queuing, by the at least one processor, the data file in a queue for transmission to the remote storage facility at the transfer time, and transferring, by the at least one processor, the data file to the remote storage facility at the user selected transfer time.
• According to another embodiment, a system may comprise at least one storage device, and a network coupled to the at least one storage device that receives from a client device of a user coupled to the network, a data file via an upload transmission scheduled for a user selected time by the user of the client device, wherein the at least one storage device stores the data file according to a parameter selection.
• According to another embodiment, a computer program product (CPP) embodied on a computer readable medium, the CPP comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) application, the GUI comprising: instructions for enabling at least one computer to receive a user selected request to queue a scheduled upload, and automatically transmit, according to a parameter selection, a data file to a remote storage facility at a user selectable transfer time for storage at the remote storage facility.
• A method comprising: receiving by at least one computer at a storage facility service provider, a scheduled upload transmission of a data file, based on a parameter selection, from a remote client device of a user, the storage facility and the remote client device coupled to one another by a communications system, wherein the parameter selection comprises a user selected transfer time, and storing the data file on at least one storage device of the storage facility service provider based on the parameter selection.
• A system comprising: means for receiving at a storage facility service provider, a scheduled upload transmission of a data file, based on a parameter selection, from a remote client device of a user, the storage facility and the remote client device coupled to one another via a communications system, wherein the parameter selection comprises a user selected transfer time, and means for storing the data file on at least one storage device of at least one computer of the storage facility service provider based on the parameter selection.
• Moreover, the above features and advantages of the invention are illustrative, and not exhaustive, of those which can be achieved by the invention. Thus, these and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description herein, both as embodied herein and as modified in view of any variations which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The left most digits in the corresponding reference number indicate the drawing in which an element first appears.
• Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail by way of the drawings, where the same reference numerals refer to the same features.
• FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the present invention;
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for a high level architecture of a client according to the present invention;
• FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for transferring a data file from a client to a remote storage facility for storage according to the present invention;
• FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram depicting an exemplary method of retrieving a data file from the remote storage facility according to the present invention; and
• FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a computer system that may be used in computing devices such as, e.g., but not limited to, the client or the remote storage facility according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
• Exemplary embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below. In describing embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected. While specific exemplary embodiments are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations can be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.
• An exemplary embodiment of the present invention generally relates to a method and system for storing a data file at a remote storage facility. The method and system may be particularly useful for storage of imaged documents, data files, and the like. At a client, a user selection of a “store as” command may be received at a graphical user interface (GUI) application program from a user selecting a data file for transfer across a network for storage at a remote storage facility. After the data file is selected, the GUI may prompt the user to enter a file name for the data file. The client may receive a parameter selection at the GUI selecting, for example, but not limited to, indexing information, a compression level, a security level and/or a transfer time, etc., and may apply the parameter selection to the data file. The data file may then be placed in a queue for later transmission to the remote storage facility. The client may at a later time initiate a connection across a network with the remote storage facility and may transfer the data file from the queue to the remote storage facility at the transfer time.
• The invention is initially discussed with reference toFIG. 1.FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the present invention.FIG. 1 depicts asystem100 including, e.g., but not limited to, aclient102, anetwork104, and aremote storage facility106.Client102 may be capable of executing one ormore application programs108 which may be implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or software. Thesystem100 andapplication programs108 may be used to implement a “store as” function, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, where a backup copy of a data file of theclient102 may be stored remotely at theremote storage facility106 via a queued transfer. Theclient102 may be any device capable of manipulating or storing a data file. Theclient102 may be a personal computer, as depicted, or may also be, e.g., but not limited to, an electronic device, a notebook, a laptop computer, a handheld, a cellular phone, a browser based cellular phone useable with a broadband connection, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a browser based PDA useable with a broadband connection, a communications device, a 3G (or 3.25G, 3.5G, 3.75G, 4G, etc.) mobile phone, or other known computing devices that may store and transfer data files. The data file may be any file containing digital data or computer software, such as, e.g., but not limited to, a word processing document, a computer program, an algorithm, a scanned document, an image, audio and/or video data, or other known types of programs and/or data.
• Theclient102 may be coupled to thenetwork104 via aconnection110. Theconnection110 may be a wired and/or wireless connection to thenetwork104. Thenetwork104 may be, e.g., but not limited to, a computer network, such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a fiber optic network, a wireless WAN, a Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network, a Wi-Fi network, a WiMax network, a wired data network, a wireless data network, or other known data networks. Theclient102 may connect to thenetwork104 through, e.g., but not limited to, a LAN, an internet service provider, a broadband connection, or other known methods of connecting to a computer network. It is noted that the above description is a simple description of a computer network. The details of computer networks are well known in the art, and are not included herein to prevent obscuring the invention. the invention.
• Theremote storage facility106 may be coupled to thenetwork104 through aconnection112. Theconnection112 may be a wired and/or wireless connection to thenetwork104. Theclient102, theconnection110, thenetwork104, theconnection112, and theremote storage facility106 may permit the transfer of data files between theclient102 and theremote storage facility106. In an exemplary embodiment, the data files may be queued for later transfer.
• Theremote storage facility106 may store the data files and permit theclient102 access to the data files when desired by the user. Theremote storage facility106 may include one or more servers at one or more locations as well as other equipment such as, e.g., but not limited to, communications and/or storage devices. Theremote storage facility106 may also store multiple copies of the data files on multiple servers at multiple locations. The exemplary embodiment of the present invention may allow a user to backup important data files at theremote storage facility106 for later access. Storing the data files may also allow a user to retrieve backup copies of data files if anything should happen to theclient102 or the local copy of the data file stored at theclient102. For the remote storage service, in an exemplary embodiment, the user may pay a fee, such as a periodic fee or a per one or more accesses fee, for storing to and/or accessing data from theremote storage facility106. Alternatively, a company may purchase or contract to use the remote storage facility (RSF)106 for use by the employees of the company to backup important data files. In a further alternative embodiment, the fee may be charged to a network service provider. TheRSF106 in an exemplary embodiment may include, e.g., but not limited to, a secure storage facility including physical and information security, may include any of a number of well-known conventional technologies including, raised floor, rack mounted, redundant, RAID or mirrored, fault tolerant, mass storage system, which may include, e.g., but not limited to, webservers, application servers, database servers, traffic balancing technologies, archival technologies, public/private key encryption, security and cryptography devices, authentication services, and search engine servers, etc.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of ahigh level architecture200 of anexemplary client102 according to the present invention. The architecture of theclient102 may include hardware (HW)202, an operating system (OS)204, andapplication programs108, which, in an exemplary embodiment may be various software applications. The software applications may include, in an exemplary embodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI)application206, aqueue application208, aparameter selection application210, and/or atransmission application212. Alternatively, thesesoftware application programs108 may be embodied as a single software application program and/or integrated into theOS204, and/or theHW202. Thesesoftware application programs108 and the operations involved with storing and opening files from theremote storage facility106, according to an exemplary embodiment, are described below.
• FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram300 depicting an exemplary method for transferring a data file from theclient102 for storage at aRSF106 according to the present invention. Flow diagram300 may begin with301 and may continue immediately with302.
• In302, a user may enter, andclient102 may receive, a user selection identifying whether to save a data file locally on theclient102 by performing a “save as” command which may cause flow diagram to proceed with304, or to store the file remotely at theremote storage terminal106 by performing a “store as” command, which may cause flow diagram300 to continue with306. The user selection may be entered using an input device such as, e.g., but not limited to, amouse516,keyboard518, or the like, at a GUI presented to the user by theGUI application206 at an output device such as, e.g., but not limited to, adisplay530 of the client102 (the input and output devices are described further below with reference toFIG. 5). The GUI may have a drop down menu to initiate a “save as” function or a “store as” function, and/or the GUI may have an icon where the user may drag and/or drop a data file to the icon to initiate the “save as” function or the “store as” function.
• In304, if the user has selected a “save as” command, the data file may be saved locally on astorage device510 such as, e.g., but not limited to, a hard disk of theclient102. From From304, flow diagram300 may continue to316 and end.
• In306, if the user has selected a “store as” command, the GUI may prompt the user to enter a file name for the data file. Alternatively, theGUI application206 may retrieve a previously stored file name. Once received, the file name may be associated with the data file so that the user may identify the data file. Optionally, the client may also perform a “save as” function of the data file when the “store as” function is selected. Performing both a “save as” function and a “store as” function may be used to synchronize the saved and stored files so that they may contain the same data. From306, flow diagram300 may continue with308.
• In308, the GUI may prompt the user to select any of various parameter selections and may receive the user parameter selections. Alternatively, the user may have a preset parameter selection such as, e.g., but not limited to, default and/or previously user selected administrative parameters that may be used for each data file. The parameter selection may be one or more of e.g., but not limited to, administrative parameters, index information, a compression level, a security level, and/or a transfer time.
• In an exemplary embodiment, a user may set certain administrative parameters such as, e.g., but not limited to, a retention limit including, e.g., but not limited to, retain for a period of time, indefinitely, etc. Any of various well-known document retention and destruction options may be available including, e.g., overwrite/destruction.
• Index information may be used to index the data file and may be used, e.g., for search purposes when a user may desire to retrieve the file from theremote storage facility106. Index information may include e.g., but not limited to, metatag data information, document management profile information, versioning, tags, etc. The metatag data may be added to the data file to make the file a searchable data file to facilitate searching when retrieving the data file from theremote storage facility106. Alternatively, if metatag data is not added, the data file may be a searchable data file based on words within the data file.
• The compression level may indicate a level of compression that the user may desire to apply to the data file. A user may select any of various well-known levels of compression, such compression, such as, e.g., but not limited to, motion picture experts group (MPEG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), tagged image file (TIF), portable document format (PDF), and/or any other audio, video and/or data format compression, or any other compression technique that is available to reduce the size of the data file for transmission and storage.
• The security level may include, e.g., but not limited, 128 bit (or other) encryption, and/or public/private key (PKI) encryption, hash codes, authentication, verification, personal identification number (PIN) and/or password-enabled encryption, etc. The security level may be used to, e.g., but not limited to, select the amount of encryption which may be applied to the data file. The security level may, e.g., set a password for the data file and may be used in authenticating anyone who may attempt to access the data file.
• The transfer time may be a user-selectable time for when the data file may be transferred from theclient102 to theremote storage facility106 across thenetwork104. The system may also have a set transfer time, such as, e.g., on a periodic or aperiodic basic, at a low communication services toll time, at a low network traffic utilization time, etc. Further, the user may, e.g., provide a relative priority to various files, or to set up an automated periodic store as function. For example, a user may select the transfer time to be at 3:00 a.m. Eastern, since less people are typically using thenetwork104 in the USA at this time.
• Once theclient102 has received in308 the parameter selection, the parameterselection software application210 may associate the parameter selection with the data file, as well as, e.g., process the data file according to the parameter selection entered by the user. From308, flow diagram300 may continue with310.
• In310, thequeue software application208 may place the data file in an outbound queue according to the parameter selection thereby queuing the data file for transmission across thenetwork104 to theremote storage facility106. Thequeue software application208 may monitor a computer or network clock and may, e.g., but not limited to, not transmit the data file from the queue until the selected transfer time.
• At the transfer time, the transmissionsoftware application program212 may identify a service level agreement and may verify that theclient102 may send the data file. The service level agreement (SLA) may include, e.g., but not limited to, an agreement that may indicate the amount of bandwidth available to the user, the number of data files a user may be allowed to transfer to theremote storage facility106, the maximum size and/or amount of storage available to a user for storing data files, the amount of storage available and/or used by the user, and/or other data transmission or storage agreements, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The SLA may permit transfer and/or storage of the data file, or may prevent the transfer if transferring the data file would violate the SLA. If the data file is transferable according to the SLA, then diagram300 may continue with312.
• In312, thetransmission software application212 of theclient102 may initiate a connection with theremote storage facility106 across thenetwork104 at the transfer time. Alternatively, the connection may already be setup and the transfer for may commence according to the parameter selection of308. Once the connection is setup, thetransmission software application212 may transfer the data file from the queue to thenetwork104 for transport to theremote storage facility106. From312, flow diagram300 may continue with314.
• In314, theremote storage facility106 may receive and store the data file. During storage and/or otherwise, theremote storage facility106 may process the indexing information of the data file for indexing. Theremote storage facility106 may process the metatag data of the indexing information captured in parameter selection in308 that may be added to the data file and may permit easy retrieval by the user. Once the indexing information of the data file is processed, theremote storage facility106 may store the data file according to the indexing information, retention parameters, and other parameter selections. After the data file is indexed and stored, theremote storage facility106 may safeguard the data file and may wait for a user to send a request to retrieve the data file as discussed further below with reference toFIG. 4. Theremote storage facility106 may also include antivirus and virus scanning capabilities that may scan the data file before and during storage. From314, flow diagram300 may continue with316, and may immediately end.
• FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram400 which depicts an exemplary method of retrieving a data file from theremote storage facility106 according to the present invention. A user may interface with the GUI presented by theGUI software application206 of theclient102 to request access to theremote storage facility106 according to an exemplary embodiment.
• Flow diagram400 may begin with401 and may continue immediately with402. When a user desires access to a data filed stored at theremote storage facility106, the user may interact with the GUI of theclient102 to generate a request to access a “stored as” file. In402, the user interacts with theGUI application206 to generate a request to access theremote storage facility106, and thetransmission software application212 of theclient102 may generate a connection with theremote storage facility106 across thenetwork104, if not already connected. The request may identify a specific data file, and/or may instead be a search request to browse data files stored at theremote storage facility106. From402, flow diagram400 may continue with404.
• In404, theremote storage facility106 may receive and process the request from theclient102. According to an exemplary embodiment, the user may select any of various parameter selections for how the user wishes to access the stored data file, such as, e.g., but not limited to, parameter selections as discussed above with reference to308 inFIG. 3. From404, diagram400 may continue with406.
• In406, theremote storage facility106 may initiate an authentication sequence to authenticate the identity of theclient102 and the user. Alternatively, the request generated by theclient102 may include information to authenticate theclient102 and the user. The authentication sequence may include, requiring the user to enter an identification code, and/or other information that may uniquely identify the user. The authentication may occur where the identification code entered by the user may be compared with a previously stored identification code. From406, flow diagram400 may continue with408.
• In408, once the user has been authenticated, theremote storage facility106 may, e.g., but not limited to, send a browser command and browser data to launch a browser application at theclient102. Alternatively, the browser application may be launched when the user generates the request. The browser data may include the data file specified in the request and/or may include information to display in the browser application at thedisplay530 of theclient102 to allow the user to search the data files stored by the user at theremote storage facility106. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the browser may display a number of computer file folders having data files previously stored by the user at theremote storage facility106.
• The browser at theclient102 may also accept search terms or may display an indexed list of files corresponding to the indexing information specified by the user in308 during the “store as” command described above with reference toFIG. 3. A user may enter one or more search terms at the browser including, e.g., but not limited to, a date, a word, a letter sequence, a number sequence, or a letter and number sequence for searching through the data files associated with the user stored at theremote storage facility106. Any of various well known search methods employed by search engines, may be utilized, including, e.g., but not limited to, structured query language (SQL), Boolean search, natural language, etc. Theremote storage facility106 may then receive the search terms and generate a results list of data files that may correspond to the search terms. The results list, in an exemplary embodiment, may be ranked based on the relationship of the data file with the entered search terms using well known methods conventionally employed by search engines and the like. Once generated, theRSF106 may provide the results list to theclient102 for presentation in the browser.
• The browser may also allow the user to perform certain administrative functions. Administrative functions may include, e.g., but not limited to, deleting files stored at theremote storage facility106, changing the indexing information of the data files, changing the security or encryption level, adding a password to a data file, etc. If the user may desire to access one or more of the data files, the user may indicate requested files in the browser. From408, flow diagram400 may continue with410.
• In410, once one or more data files have been identified and requested, theremote storage facility106 may retrieve and may transfer the data files to theclient102. Alternatively, the browser may prompt the user to enter a password if a data file is password protected. The transfer of the data file may occur immediately upon receipt of the request, or may occur at a later transfer time, which may be specified by the user and/or according to an SLA. Upon receipt at theclient102, the user may have the option of locally saving the retrieved data file under a new name or at a new location on theclient102, or of replacing the previous version of the data file, which may be damaged or may have missing data, saved locally on theclient102 with the stored as data file received from theremote storage facility106. Alternatively, theclient102 may compare the received stored as data file and the locally saved data file and only replace the missing and/or damaged portion of the locally saved data file with data from the retrieved data file. From410, flow diagram400 may continue with412 where it may immediately end. Thus, thesystem100 as discussed in the above exemplary embodiments may permit a user to save data locally as well as, or alternatively, storing remotely at aremote storage facility106 thereby providing the user of theclient102 with the ability to protect data files from loss due to problems with theclient102. Advantageously, the system according to the present invention may in another exemplary embodiment be used for transfer of data from one computer of a user to another computer of the user, for example in the case of system upgrades or replacements.
An Exemplary Computer System
• FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a computer system that may be used in computing and/or communications devices such as, e.g., but not limited to, theclient102 or theremote storage facility106 according to the present invention. The present invention (or any part(s) or function(s) thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In fact, in one exemplary embodiment, the invention may be directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. An example of acomputer system500 is shown inFIG. 5, depicting an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of an exemplary computer system useful for implementing the present invention. Specifically,FIG. 5 illustrates anexample computer500, which in an exemplary embodiment may be, e.g., (but not limited to) a personal computer (PC) system running anoperating system204 such as, e.g., (but not limited to) WINDOWS MOBILE™ for POCKET PC, or MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® NT/98/2000/XP/CE, etc., available from MICROSOFT® Corporation of Redmond, Wash., U.S.A., SOLARIS® from SUN® Microsystems of Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.A., OS/2 from IBM® Corporation of Armonk, N.Y., U.S.A., Mac/OS from APPLE® Corporation of Cupertino, Calif., U.S.A., etc., or any of various versions of UNIX® (a trademark of the Open Group of San Francisco, Calif., USA) including, e.g., LINUX®, HPUX®, IBM AIX®, and SCO/UNIX®, etc.
• However, the invention may not be limited to these platforms. Instead, the invention may be implemented on any appropriate computer or communications system running anyappropriate operating system204. In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention may be implemented on a computer system operating as discussed herein. An exemplary computer system,computer500 is shown inFIG. 5. Other components of the invention, such as, e.g., (but not limited to) a computing device, a communications device, a telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a handheld PC, client workstations, thin clients, thick clients, proxy servers, network communication servers, remote access devices, client computers, server computers, routers, web servers, data, media, audio, video, telephony or streaming technology servers, etc., may also be implemented using a computer such as that shown inFIG. 5.
• Thecomputer system500 may include one or more processors, such as, e.g., but not limited to, processor(s)504. The processor(s)504 may be connected to a communication infrastructure502 (e.g., but not limited to, a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network, etc.). Various exemplary software embodiments may be described in terms of this exemplary computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or architectures. architectures.
• Computer system500 may include any of a number of output devices including, but not limited to, adisplay interface520 that may forward, e.g., but not limited to, graphics, text, and other data, etc., from the communication infrastructure502 (or from a frame buffer, etc., not shown) for display on adisplay unit530. Other output devices such as, e.g., printers, etc., may also be used.
• Thecomputer system500 may also include, e.g., but may not be limited to, amain memory506, random access memory (RAM), and asecondary memory508, etc. Thesecondary memory508 may include, for example, (but not limited to) a storage device510 (which may include a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk, a flash memory or other non-volatile memory, a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID), a storage area network (SAN), a direct access storage device (DASD), and/or small computer system interface (SCSI) or other storage subsystem controller—controlled storage device) and/or aremovable storage device512, representing, e.g., but not limited to, a floppy diskette drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a magneto-optical (MO) drive, a compact disk CD-ROM drive, a digital versatile disk drive (DVD), a USB storage device, etc. Theremovable storage drive512 may, e.g., but not limited to, read from and/or write to aremovable storage unit514 in a well known manner.Removable storage unit514, also called a program storage device or a computer program product, may represent, e.g., but not limited to, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD, DVD, a program cartridge (such as, e.g., but not limited to, those found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as, e.g., but not limited to, an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM) etc., which may be read from and written to byremovable storage drive512. As will be appreciated, theremovable storage unit514 may include a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. In alternative exemplary embodiments,secondary memory508 may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded intocomputer system500.
• Computer500 may also include an input device such as, e.g., (but not limited to) amouse516 or other pointing device such as a digitizer, a touchscreen type display530, and akeyboard518 or other data entry device (none of which are labeled).
• Computer500 may include input/output (I/O) devices such as, e.g., (but not limited to) a network communications interface (NIC)card522, coupler cable orinterface526 andcommunications path528, etc. These devices may include, e.g., but not limited to, a network interface card, and modems (neither are labeled). The networkcommunications interface card522 may allow software and data to be transferred betweencomputer system500 and external devices. Examples of the networkcommunications interface card522 may include, e.g., but may not be limited to, a modem, a network interface (such as, e.g., an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) or PC card slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via the networkcommunications interface card522 may be in the form of signals which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by the networkcommunications interface card522. These signals may be provided to the networkcommunications interface card522 via, e.g., but not limited to, a communications path (e.g., but not limited to, a channel) and onto, e.g., but not limited to,network104, and other devices including, e.g., but not limited toremote storage facility106. This communications path may carry signals, which may include, e.g., but are not limited to, propagated signals, and may be implemented using, e.g., but not limited to, wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, an radio frequency (RF) link and other communications channels, etc.
• References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” etc., may indicate that the embodiment(s) of the invention so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one embodiment,” or “in an exemplary embodiment,” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although they may.
• Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
• In a similar manner, the term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory. A “computing platform” may comprise one or more processors.
• Embodiments of the present invention may include apparatuses for performing the operations herein. An apparatus may be specially constructed for the desired purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose device selectively activated or reconfigured by a program stored in the device.
• Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by a computing platform to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; and others.
• Computer programs108 (also called computer control logic), may include object oriented computer programs, and may be stored inmain memory506 and/or thesecondary memory508 and/orremovable storage units514, also called computer program products. Such computer programs, when executed, may enable thecomputer system500 to perform the features of the present invention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, may enable theprocessor504 to provide a method to resolve conflicts during data synchronization according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs may represent controllers of thecomputer system500.
• In another exemplary embodiment, the invention may be directed to a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having control logic (computer software) stored therein. The control logic, when executed by theprocessor504, may cause theprocessor504 to perform the functions of the invention as described herein. In another exemplary embodiment where the invention may be implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded intocomputer system500 using, e.g., but not limited to,removable storage drive512,hard drive510 or the networkcommunications interface card522, etc. The control logic (software), when executed by theprocessor504, may cause theprocessor504 to perform the functions of the invention as described herein. The computer software may run as a standalonesoftware application program108 running atop anoperating system204, or may be integrated into theoperating system204.
• In yet another embodiment, the invention may be implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, but not limited to, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gateways (FPGAs) or one or more state machines, etc. Implementation of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).
• In another exemplary embodiment, the invention may be implemented primarily in firmware.
• In yet another exemplary embodiment, the invention may be implemented using a combination of any of, e.g., but not limited to, hardware, firmware, and software, etc.
• The embodiments and examples discussed herein are non-limiting examples.
• The invention is described in detail with respect to exemplary embodiments, and it it will now be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and the invention, therefore, as defined in the claims is intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

Claims (43)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one processor, a command selecting a data file for transfer across a network for storage at a remote storage facility;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a parameter selection comprising a user selected transfer time;

applying, by the at least one processor, said parameter selection to said data file;

queuing, by the at least one processor, said data file in a queue for transmission to said remote storage facility at said transfer time; and

transferring, by the at least one processor, said data file to said remote storage facility at said user selected transfer time.

2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said parameter selection further comprises at least one of an administrative parameter, indexing information, a compression level, an encryption level, or a security level.

3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein said indexing information comprises adding metatag data to said data file to create a searchable data file.

4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said command comprises dragging and dropping of said data file to an icon on a graphical user interface (GUI).

5. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said transferring said data file further comprises:

identifying a service level agreement (SLA); and

determining whether to transfer said data file based on enforcing said SLA.

6. The method according toclaim 5, wherein said SLA indicates a maximum size of data said user is permitted to store at said remote storage facility.

7. The method according toclaim 2, wherein said transferring said data file further comprises encrypting said data file according to at least one of said encryption level or said security level.

8. The method according toclaim 2, wherein said transferring said data file further comprises at least one of compressing said data file according to said compression level or transferring said data file wherein said data file was previously compressed, wherein said compression comprises at least one of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Portable Document Format (PDF), an audio format compression, a video format compression or a data format compression.

9. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said transferring said data file further comprises initiating a connection over said network.

10. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user of said data file;

sending said request to retrieve said data file;

initiating an authentication sequence; and

receiving said data file from said remote storage facility.

11. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least one search term of a search request from a user;

sending said search request;

initiating a user authentication sequence;

receiving a browser command; and

sending said at least one search term.

12. The method according toclaim 11, further comprising receiving a results list of one or more data files corresponding to said search terms.

13. The method according toclaim 12, wherein said results list of one or more data files is generated in response to the user entering at least one of a date, a word, a letter sequence, a number sequence, or a letter and number sequence at said client.

14. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising receiving from the user fee payment information for accessing or storing said data file at said remote storage facility.

15. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising providing fee information to the user for at least one of accessing or storing said data file at said remote storage facility.

16. The method according to1, wherein said storage is provided as a service to the user in exchange for a fee, wherein said fee comprises a periodic fee or an aperiodic fee.

17. The method according to16, wherein said fee is charged to at least one of the user or a network service provider.

18. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user;

sending said request to said remote storage facility;

initiating an authentication sequence of the user; and

authenticating the user; and

addressing said request.

19. The method according toclaim 18, wherein said initiating said authentication sequence further comprises:

receiving identification information from the user; and

comparing said identification information to stored identification information.

20. A system comprising:

at least one storage device; and

a network coupled to said at least one storage device that receives from a client device of a user coupled to said network, a data file via an upload transmission scheduled for a user selected time by the user of the client device;

wherein said at least one storage device stores said data file according to a parameter selection.

21. The system according toclaim 20, wherein said parameter selection further comprises at least one of indexing information, a compression level, or a security level.

22. A computer program product (CPP) embodied on a computer readable medium, the CPP comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI) application, said GUI comprising:

instructions for enabling at least one computer to receive a user selected request to queue a scheduled upload, and automatically transmit, according to a parameter selection, a data file to a remote storage facility at a user selectable transfer time for storage at the remote storage facility.

23. The GUI ofclaim 22, wherein said GUI application is further adapted to enable the user to access said data file from said remote storage facility.

24. A method comprising:

receiving by at least one computer at a storage facility service provider, a scheduled upload transmission of a data file, based on a parameter selection, from a remote client device of a user, the storage facility and the remote client device coupled to one another by a communications system,

wherein said parameter selection comprises a user selected transfer time; and

storing said data file on at least one storage device of the storage facility service provider based on said parameter selection.

25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein said parameter selection further comprises at least one of an administrative parameter, indexing information, a compression level, an encryption level, or a security level.

26. The method ofclaim 25, wherein said administrative parameter comprises at least one of a retention limit or a document retention option.

27. The method according toclaim 24, wherein said receiving comprises:

identifying said service level agreement (SLA); and

determining whether to receive said data file based on enforcing said SLA.

28. The method according toclaim 24, wherein said SLA indicates a maximum size of data said user is permitted to store at said storage facility service provider.

29. The method according toclaim 25, wherein said storing further comprises encrypting and storing said data file according to at least one of said encryption level or said security level.

30. The method according toclaim 29, wherein said encrypting comprises at least one of authentication, password, public/private key (PKI) encryption, hash codes, authentication, verification, personal identification number (PIN) or password-enabled encryption.

31. The method according toclaim 24 wherein said receiving further comprises at least one of compressing said data file according to said compression level or receiving said data file wherein said data file was previously compressed, wherein said compression comprises at least one of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Portable Document Format (PDF), an audio format compression, a video format compression or a data format compression.

32. The method according toclaim 24, further comprising:

receiving a request at said storage facility service provider to retrieve said data file;

initiating an authentication sequence between said client device and said storage facility service provider; and

transferring said data file from said storage facility service provider to said client device.

33. The method according toclaim 24, further comprising:

receiving a search request at said storage facility service provider;

initiating a user authentication sequence;

providing a prompt to said client device;

receiving search terms from said client device; and

generating a results list of one or more data files corresponding to said search terms.

34. The method according toclaim 33, further comprising providing said results list of one or more data files to said client device.

35. The method according toclaim 33, wherein said results list of one or more data files is generated in response to the user entering at least one of a date, a word, a letter sequence, a number sequence, or a letter and number sequence at said client device.

36. The method according toclaim 24, further comprising receiving from, the remote client device, fee payment information for accessing or storing said data file stored at said storage facility service provider.

37. The method according toclaim 24, further comprising providing fee information to the user for at least one of accessing or storing said data file at said storage facility service provider.

38. The method according to24, wherein said storage is provided as a service to the user by the first entity in exchange for a fee, wherein said fee comprises a periodic fee or an aperiodic fee.

39. The method according to38, wherein said fee is charged to at least one of the user or a network service provider.

40. The method according toclaim 24, further comprising:

receiving a request at said storage facility service provider;

initiating an authentication sequence; and

authenticating the user.

41. The method according toclaim 40, wherein said initiating an authentication sequence further comprises:

receiving identification information from the user; and

comparing said identification information with stored identification information.

42. The method according toclaim 41, wherein identification information comprises at least one of: password, user information, personal identification number (PIN), verification information, or authentication information.

43. A system comprising:

means for receiving at a storage facility service provider, a scheduled upload transmission of a data file, based on a parameter selection, from a remote client device of a user, the storage facility and the remote client device coupled to one another via a communications system;

wherein said parameter selection comprises a user selected transfer time; and

means for storing said data file on at least one storage device of at least one computer of said storage facility service provider based on said parameter selection.

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