Coupling a user file name with a physical data file stored in a storage delivery network

Abstract

A method of coupling a user file name to a physical data file stored within a storage delivery network, includes: assigning a logical file identification value (LFID) to a data file stored in one or more storage nodes and storing the LFID in a computer readable memory; storing in the computer readable memory a node identification value (Node ID) indicative of where the data file is stored among a plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes and associating the Node ID with the LFID; and storing in the computer readable memory a file name for the data file created by a user and associating the file name with the LFID, wherein the LFID correlates the file name with the Node ID transparently to the user and allows the user to access the data file using just the file name.

1 . A method of coupling a user file name to a physical data file stored within a storage delivery network, comprising:
 assigning a logical file identification value (LFID) to a data file stored in one or more storage nodes and storing the LFID in a computer readable memory;   storing in the computer readable memory a node identification value (Node ID) indicative of where the data file is stored among a plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes and associating the Node ID with the LFID; and   storing in the computer readable memory a file name for the data file created by a user and associating the file name with the LFID, wherein the LFID correlates the file name with the Node ID transparently to the user and allows the user to access the data file using just the file name.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein multiple file names created by multiple users are associated with the LFID thereby providing de-duplication of the data file stored among the plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising calculating a unique media key for the data file and associating the media key with the LFID, wherein the media key is used to determine whether multiple users have uploaded identical data files that can be de-duplicated. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 storing in the computer readable memory an unaltered version of metadata contained in the data file in the computer readable memory and associating the metadata with the LFID;   storing in the computer readable memory an altered version of the metadata customized by a user and associating the metadata with the LFID, wherein for purposes of de-duplication only the unaltered version of the metadata is used to calculate the media key.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the altered metadata is associated with only one file name created by the user who customized the original metadata. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the file name comprises a virtual file path name representative of a hierarchical folder and file tree structure associated with the user. 
     
     
         7 . A database structure for coupling a plurality of user file names to a plurality of physical data files located in a plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes, comprising:
 a first field containing a plurality of logical file identification values (LFIDs), wherein each LFID is assigned to a data file stored in one or more storage nodes and each LFID is associated with one or more user file names; and   a second field containing a plurality of node identification values (Node IDs), wherein each Node ID identifies a physical storage node and each Node ID is associated with one or more LFIDs.   
     
     
         8 . The database structure of  claim 7  further comprising a third field containing a plurality of media key values, each media key value representing a unique value for a unique data file stored in one or more storage nodes, and wherein each media key value is associated with an LFID. 
     
     
         9 . The database structure of  claim 8  further comprising a fourth field containing unaltered metadata for a plurality of data files, wherein each unaltered metadata for a file is associated with an LFID associated with the respective file. 
     
     
         10 . The database structure of  claim 7  further comprising a third field for containing values indicative of whether respective storage nodes corresponding to the plurality of Node IDs are currently operational or not operational. 
     
     
         11 . The database structure of  claim 7  wherein the user file names comprise virtual file path names created by respective users. 
     
     
         12 . The database structure of  claim 11  wherein the virtual file path names each comprise a hierarchical folder and file tree structure associated with a respective user. 
     
     
         13 . A computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions that when executed perform a process of coupling a user file name to a physical data files stored in a storage delivery network, comprising:
 a first code module for assigning a logical file identification value (LFID) to a data file stored in one or more storage nodes and storing the LFID in a computer readable memory;   a second code module for storing in the computer readable memory a node identification value (Node ID) indicative of where the data file is stored among the plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes and associating the Node ID with the LFID; and   a third code module for storing in the computer readable memory a file name for the data file created by a user and associating the file name with the LFID, wherein the LFID correlates the file name with the Node ID transparently to the user and allows the user to access the data file using just the file name.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable memory of  claim 13  further comprising a fourth code module for associating multiple file names created by multiple users with the LFID, thereby providing de-duplication of the data file stored among the plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable memory of  claim 14  further comprising a fifth module for calculating a unique media key for the data file and associating the media key with the LFID, wherein the media key is used to determine whether multiple users have uploaded identical data files that can be de-duplicated. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable memory of  claim 15  further comprising:
 a sixth module for storing in the computer readable memory an unaltered version of metadata contained in the data file in the computer readable memory and associating the metadata with the LFID; and   a seventh module for storing in the computer readable memory an altered version of the metadata customized by a user and associating the metadata with the LFID, wherein for purposes of de-duplication only the unaltered version of the metadata is used to calculate the media key.   
     
     
         17 . The computer readable memory of  claim 16  wherein the altered metadata is associated with only one file name created by the user who customized the original metadata. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17  wherein the user file name comprises a virtual file path names created by the user. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 18  wherein the virtual file path name comprises a hierarchical folder and file tree structure associated with the user.