JP4734150B2 - Storage device management program and storage device management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage device management program and a storage device management method for managing data stored in a portable storage device, and in particular, a storage capable of seamlessly expanding the capacity of a portable storage device and removing the capacity limitation of the portable storage device. The present invention relates to a device management program and a storage device management method.

  In recent years, due to the low price of a PC (personal computer), not only the workplace but also an environment for working using a PC (personal computer) at home or on the go has been established. However, when working from home or away from home, it is necessary to be able to access data used for work in some form.

  Therefore, in order to access data used for work from a home or office PC, place the data on a net disk that can be accessed via a network, or use a large-capacity portable storage device such as a USB memory or portable HD. Carrying data is carried.

  In addition, not only data but also software such as mailers are stored in the USB memory and carried, and a technology that enables the use of the mailer and other software without having to install it by simply mounting the USB memory on the destination PC has also been developed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-151785 A

  However, the method of placing data on a net disk has a problem that data cannot be accessed unless the place is accessible to a work network. In recent years, with the increase in storage capacity and CPU power, the data handled by companies and individuals on PCs tends to increase, and even if the network can be accessed, it can be connected to the Internet using a mobile phone or PHS. However, there is a problem in that the bandwidth is narrow and it takes time to transfer data when handling large-scale data such as image data.

  In addition, when a portable storage device such as a USB memory is carried, there is a problem that large-scale data cannot be stored because of a limited storage capacity.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems caused by the prior art, and a storage device management program and storage capable of seamlessly expanding the capacity of a portable storage device and removing the capacity limitation of the portable storage device. An object is to provide a device management method.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a storage device management program according to the present invention is a storage device management program for managing data stored in a portable storage device, and is necessary for writing data to the portable storage device. The empty area presence / absence determination procedure for determining whether or not there is a free area, and when it is determined by the empty area presence / absence determination procedure that there is no necessary empty area, the actual data stored in the portable storage device is transmitted via the network. Are stored in a storage device managed by a remote computer (corresponding to the net disk server 30 in the embodiment described later), and metadata with a reduced size is created from the actual data, and the created metadata is Perform empty space generation procedure to create necessary empty area by replacing data, and execute on computer And characterized in that.

According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the portable storage device has an empty area necessary for data writing. When it is determined that there is no necessary empty area, the network stores the actual data stored in the portable storage device. The data is saved in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via the network, and the metadata is created from the actual data with a reduced size, and the actual data is replaced with the created metadata to generate the necessary empty space. Therefore, the capacity of the portable storage device can be expanded seamlessly.

The storage device management program according to the present invention includes a metadata determination procedure for determining whether or not data read from a portable storage device is stored as metadata in the invention of claim 1, and the metadata determination procedure. Causing the computer to further execute an actual data recovery procedure for recovering the actual data stored in the storage device by the empty area generation procedure to the portable storage device when it is determined that it is stored as metadata. Features.

According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the data read from the portable storage device is stored as metadata, and when it is determined that the data is stored as metadata, the data is stored in the storage device managed by the remote computer. Since the actual data is restored to the portable storage device, the data stored in the storage device managed by the remote computer can be read out in the same manner as the data stored in the portable storage device.

The storage device management program according to the present invention is the storage device management program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contents of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device include the capacity of the storage device in which actual data is stored by the empty area generation procedure. The computer is further caused to execute a capacity changing procedure for changing to a new capacity.

According to the present invention, since the contents of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device are changed to the capacity including the capacity of the storage device managed by the remote computer, the OS is used as the storage capacity of the portable storage device. It is possible to acquire the capacity including the capacity of the storage device managed by.

The storage device management program according to the present invention is the storage device management program according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the empty area generation procedure is accessed before a predetermined elapsed time if there is no actual data in the portable storage device. It is characterized by creating necessary empty areas by deleting the metadata.

According to the present invention, when there is no actual data in the portable storage device, it is configured to delete the metadata accessed before the predetermined elapsed time to create a necessary empty area. Highly necessary data can be stored.

The storage device management method according to the present invention is a storage device management method for managing data stored in a portable storage device, and determines whether or not there is an empty area necessary for writing data in the portable storage device. A storage device for managing real data stored in a portable storage device by a remote computer connected via a network when it is determined by the empty region presence determination step and the empty region presence determination step that there is no necessary empty region And generating an empty area by generating metadata having a reduced size from the actual data and replacing the actual data with the created metadata to generate a necessary empty area. To do.

According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the portable storage device has an empty area necessary for data writing. When it is determined that there is no necessary empty area, the network stores the actual data stored in the portable storage device. The data is saved in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via the network, and the metadata is created from the actual data with a reduced size, and the actual data is replaced with the created metadata to generate the necessary empty space. Therefore, the capacity of the portable storage device can be expanded seamlessly.

According to the present invention, since the capacity of the portable storage device is seamlessly expanded, the capacity limitation of the portable storage device can be removed.

Further, according to the present invention, the data stored in the storage device managed by the remote computer can be read out in the same manner as the data stored in the portable storage device, so that the user can select the storage device managed by the remote computer. There is an effect that data can be read from the portable storage device without being conscious of it.

Further, according to the present invention, since the OS acquires the capacity including the capacity of the storage device managed by the remote computer as the storage capacity of the portable storage device, the user includes the capacity of the storage device managed by the remote computer. There is an effect that the capacity can be known by using a function that is standardly installed in the OS.

Further, according to the present invention, more highly necessary data is stored in the portable storage device, so that the portable storage device can be used efficiently.

  Exemplary embodiments of a storage device management program and a storage device management method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the case where a USB memory is used as a portable storage device is described. However, if the device can be easily connected to a PC, an HD having a USB interface, a memory having an interface of PCMCIA or PCI Express, an HD, etc. are portable. It can also be used as a storage device.

  First, the storage providing system according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the storage providing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, this storage providing system includes a USB memory 100, a PC 200 with the USB memory 100 mounted and used, a server system 50 having a remote computer and a remote disk connected to the PC 200 via the VPN 10. Consists of

  The USB memory 100 is a portable storage device that stores data used by being attached to the PC 200, and stores a plurality of files. The server system 50 includes a VPN GW 20 that is a VPN gateway, a net disk server 30 that is a remote computer connected to the PC 200 via the VPN GW 20, a storage device managed by the net disk server 30, and a remote disk for the PC 200. The PC 200 can access the net disk 40 via the VPN 10.

  An application program running on the PC 200 accesses a file in the USB memory 100 using the dedicated driver 221. In addition, when the capacity of the USB memory 100 is insufficient when writing data, the dedicated driver 221 notifies the storage service providing program 230 that the capacity is insufficient.

  Then, the storage service providing program 230 moves a part of the data in the USB memory 100 to the net disk 40, creates metadata from the data moved to the net disk 40, and replaces the data on the USB memory 100 with the metadata. .

  Here, the metadata is data having a smaller size than the data transferred to the net disk, and here is data composed only of the file name. As metadata, data of a predetermined size from the top can also be used. If the data is composed of XML, it is possible to use only the tag data on which the outline is written as metadata. Here, data transferred to the net disk and data that has not been replaced with metadata on the USB memory 100 are referred to as “real data”.

  Further, when the dedicated driver 221 reads a file from the USB memory 100 and the USB memory 100 stores metadata about the file to be read, the dedicated driver 221 responds from the net disk 40 in cooperation with the storage service providing program 230. The actual data is read and automatically loaded into the USB memory 100.

  As described above, in the storage providing system according to this embodiment, when the capacity of the USB memory 100 is insufficient, the dedicated driver 221 and the storage service providing program 230 cooperate to transfer a part of the data in the USB memory 100 to the net disk 40. At the same time, by creating metadata from the data transferred to the net disk 40 and replacing the data on the USB memory 100 with the metadata, the capacity of the USB memory 100 can be expanded seamlessly.

  The user of this storage providing system determines the maximum capacity to be used by the net disk 40 when a service use contract is concluded with a rental storage company that provides the storage providing service. Here, the maximum capacity that can be used is ranked according to the monthly cost. In addition, the rental storage company provides the USB memory 100 as a storage that can be used when the user is offline. The capacity of the USB memory 100 is also ranked according to the monthly cost.

  When the service use contract is concluded, the rental storage company provides the user with the USB memory 100 storing the dedicated driver 221 and the storage service providing program 230. The rental storage company can also provide the dedicated driver 221 and the storage service providing program 230 to the user by separately storing them in a CD-ROM or the like.

  Next, the configuration of the storage providing system according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the storage providing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in this storage providing system, the USB memory 100 has a capacity holding FRAM 110 and an R / W memory 120, and the PC 200 has a USB device controller 210 and a network device 260.

  In the PC 200, programs such as a storage device driver 220, a storage service providing program 230, a file access program 240, and a network device driver 250 are executed.

  The capacity holding FRAM 110 is an FRAM that holds the storage capacity of the USB memory 100, and the capacity stored in the capacity holding FRAM 110 is confirmed as the storage capacity of the USB memory by the standard operation of the OS. However, the capacity holding FRAM 110 stores not only the storage capacity of the USB memory 100 but also the capacity including the storage capacity available to the user on the net disk 40. Therefore, the user can know not only the storage capacity of the USB memory 100 but the capacity including the net disk 40 that can be used according to the contract as the usable storage capacity by the standard function of the OS.

  The R / W memory 120 is a memory that stores data. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data format of the R / W memory 120. As shown in the figure, the R / W memory 120 has a management table 124 and a data storage area 125.

  The management table 124 is an extension of the management table used by a normal file system. For each file, there is a synchronization flag indicating whether or not the previous synchronization has been performed, and the actual data of the file exists on the USB memory 100. An actual data flag indicating whether the file has been updated since the USB memory 100 was inserted, a file name, a last access time, and a start address and an end address of the storage destination of the actual data are stored.

  The data storage area 125 is an area for storing data, and stores a file name and data for each file. However, when the file is replaced with metadata, only the file name is stored.

  The R / W memory 120 also stores an installer 121, a dedicated driver program 122, and a storage service providing program 123.

  The installer 121 is a program that is automatically executed when the USB memory 100 is inserted into the PC 200. The installer 121 installs the dedicated driver program 122 in the PC 200 and executes the storage service providing program 123.

  The dedicated driver program 122 is a driver program that is installed in the PC 200 as the dedicated driver 221 and used to access the USB memory 100. The storage service providing program 123 is executed by the PC 200 and has functions necessary for providing the storage service. Program.

  The USB device controller 210 is a controller that controls the USB memory 100, and the network device 260 is a device that communicates with other computers via the network.

  The storage device driver 220 is a driver for accessing the USB memory 100 as a file system, and includes a dedicated driver 221 and a mass storage driver 222.

  The dedicated driver 221 is a driver that controls the USB device controller 210 to access the USB memory 100. The dedicated driver program 122 is installed in the PC 200 by the installer 121.

  The mass storage driver 222 is a driver that manages storage devices as a file system, and accesses the USB memory 100 via the dedicated driver 221 to read and write files. The mass storage driver 222 is a driver provided in a standard OS.

  The file access program 240 is an application program that accesses a file. The network device driver 250 is a driver that controls the network device 260.

  The storage service providing program 230 is a program for executing the storage service providing program 123 stored in the USB memory 100 on the PC 200 and providing functions necessary for the storage service. The VPN service program 231, the synchronization program 232, and metadata creation The program 233, the capacity rewriting program 234, and the event notification program 235 are configured.

  The VPN communication program 231 is a program that provides a VPN communication function, and connects the PC 200 to the VPNGW 20 so that the PC 200 can safely access the net disk 40.

  Here, SSL-VPN, IPSec-VPN, etc. can be used as the VPN system. Also, personal authentication methods used between the VPN software and the server include a method using an ID and password set by a user when a service contract is concluded, and a method using PKI. In the case of PKI, the personal certificate is encrypted and stored in the R / W memory 120 by 3DES, AES, Blowfish, etc. so that it cannot be easily decrypted.

  The synchronization program 232 is a program that provides a synchronization function for synchronizing the actual data of the USB memory 100 and the actual data of the net disk 40.

  The metadata creation program 233 is a program that identifies a file with an old access history from files stored in the USB memory 100, creates metadata from actual data of the identified file, and replaces the file with metadata.

  When the metadata creation program 233 creates metadata from the actual data of the file in the USB memory 100 and replaces the file with the metadata, so that there is no empty area of sufficient size for writing data to the USB memory 100. In addition, an empty area can be generated to enable data writing.

  The capacity rewriting program 234 is a program for rewriting the capacity holding FRAM 110 of the USB memory 100. The capacity rewriting program 234 rewrites the capacity holding FRAM 110 so that the capacity holding FRAM 110 can store the storage capacity including the capacity of the net disk 40.

  Even when the user increases the capacity of the net disk 40 during the service, when the storage service providing program 230 and the net disk server 30 establish communication with the VPN 10, the net disk server 30 transfers to the storage service providing program 230. The capacity holding FRAM 110 can be updated by the capacity rewriting program 234 by notifying the increase of the capacity value.

  The event notification program 235 is a program that receives an event from the dedicated driver 221 and controls to execute processing corresponding to the received event.

  Next, the processing procedure of the startup process of the storage service providing program 123 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the startup process of the storage service providing program 123.

  As shown in the figure, in this activation process, when insertion of the USB memory 100 is detected (step S101), the OS of the PC 200 installs a general-purpose USB storage driver (step S102), and AutoRun.inf in the USB memory 100 is detected. The installer 121 in the USB memory 100 is executed (step S103).

  Then, the installer 121 confirms the installation status of the dedicated driver 221 (step S104), and determines whether it is not installed (step S105). As a result, if not yet installed, the installer 121 reads the dedicated driver program 122 from the USB memory 100 and installs it as the dedicated driver 221 (step S106).

  Then, the installer 121 executes the storage service providing program 123 in the USB memory 100 (step S107). As a result, the storage service providing program 230 can be used on the PC 200.

  As described above, when the USB memory 100 is inserted into the PC 200, the installer 121 is activated to install the dedicated driver 221, and the storage service providing program 230 can be used. Similar to accessing the memory, the USB memory 100 can be accessed.

  Next, a processing procedure for writing to the USB memory 100 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a writing process to the USB memory 100. As shown in the figure, in this writing process, when the file access program 240 makes a write request to the mass storage driver 222 (step S201), the mass storage driver 222 makes a write request to the dedicated driver 221 (step S202).

  Then, the dedicated driver 221 confirms whether the file requested to be written exists on the USB memory 100 (step S203), and determines whether it exists on the USB memory 100 (step S204). As a result, if it is on the USB memory 100, the dedicated driver 221 checks the difference between the size of the newly written file and the size of the stored file (step S205).

  Then, the dedicated driver 221 confirms the capacity of the USB memory 100 (step S206), and determines whether there is a capacity for writing data (step S207). As a result, when there is a capacity for writing data, the dedicated driver 221 executes a writing process (step S208), and updates the management table 124 such as the access time (step S209). Then, the dedicated driver 221 notifies the mass storage driver 222 of the completion of writing (step S210), and the mass storage driver 222 notifies the file access program 240 of the completion of writing (step S211).

  On the other hand, when there is no capacity to write data, the dedicated driver 221 notifies the event notification program 235 of an event for requesting metadata conversion (step S212), and the event notification program 235 transmits metadata to the metadata creation program 233. (Step S213).

  Then, the metadata creation program 233 checks the actual data flag in the management table 124 (step S214), and determines whether there is actual data (step S215). As a result, if there is actual data, the metadata creation program 233 searches for and identifies a file with an old access history (steps S216 to S217), and checks the update flag of the identified file (step S218). .

  Then, it is determined whether or not the identified file has been updated (step S225). If it has not been updated, the process proceeds to step S230. If it has been updated, the metadata creation program 233 causes the synchronization program 232 to be updated. (Step S226), and the synchronization program 232 stores data in the net disk 40 using the VPN communication program (step S227).

  Then, the synchronization program 232 notifies the metadata creation program 233 of the completion of storage (step S228), the metadata creation program 233 deletes the update flag (step S229), and converts the corresponding file into metadata (step S230).

  Then, the metadata creation program 233 replaces the corresponding file with a metadata file (step S231), deletes the corresponding actual data flag in the management table 124 (step S232), and uses the dedicated driver via the event notification program 235. A request for re-execution of the capacity check is made to 221 (step S233). That is, the process returns to step S206.

  On the other hand, when there is no actual data (step S215, No), since the empty area cannot be generated by converting the actual data into metadata, the metadata creation program 233 uses the old metadata based on the set value. It is confirmed whether or not can be deleted (step S219). Here, the setting value is, for example, the elapsed time from the last access, and here, the metadata of the old file that has passed this elapsed time is deleted.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the old metadata can be deleted (step S220). If the old metadata can be deleted, the old metadata is deleted (step S221), and the process returns to step S206. On the other hand, if deletion is not possible, the metadata creation program 233 notifies the dedicated driver 221 of insufficient writing capacity via the event notification program 235 (step S222), and the dedicated driver 221 notifies the mass storage driver 222 of insufficient capacity. (Step S223). Then, the mass storage driver 222 notifies the file access program 240 that the capacity is insufficient (step S224).

  As described above, when writing data to the USB memory 100, if the USB memory 100 has insufficient free space, the metadata creation program 233 controls the actual data to be stored in the net disk 40, and By creating metadata and replacing it with actual data, the capacity of the USB memory 100 can be expanded seamlessly.

  Next, a processing procedure for reading from the USB memory 110 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for reading from the USB memory 110. As shown in the figure, in this read process, when the file access program 240 makes a read request to the mass storage driver 222 (step S301), the mass storage driver 222 makes a read request to the dedicated driver 221 (step S302).

  Then, the dedicated driver 221 confirms the actual data flag of the file requested to be read (step S303), and determines whether the actual data of the file is on the USB memory 100 (step S304). As a result, if it is on the USB memory 100, the dedicated driver 221 reads the data and passes it to the mass storage driver 222 (step S305), and the mass storage driver 222 passes the data to the file access program 240 (step S306).

  On the other hand, if the actual data of the file to be read is not in the USB memory 100, the dedicated driver 221 notifies the event notification program 235 of a request to download the data requested to be read from the net disk 40 (step S307). The event notification program 235 requests the synchronization program 232 to download the data requested to be read (step S308).

  Then, the synchronization program 232 downloads the data requested to be read via the VPN communication program 231 onto the memory of the PC 200 (step S309) and writes it into the USB memory 100 (step S310). Note that writing to the USB memory 100 is performed by the writing process shown in FIG.

  Then, the synchronization program 232 notifies the event notification program 235 of the download completion (step S311), and the event notification program 235 notifies the dedicated driver 221 of the completion of downloading the data requested to be read (step S312). Then, the process proceeds to step S305.

  As described above, when the actual data is not in the USB memory 100, the dedicated driver 221 notifies the event notification program 235 of the download request for the actual data, thereby downloading the actual data from the net disk 40 and accessing the file. Data can be delivered to the program 240 in the same manner as there is data on the USB memory 100.

  Here, a case has been described in which actual data is not stored in the USB memory 100, the actual data is read from the net disk 40, stored in the USB memory 100, and passed to the file access program 240. You can also pass metadata by specifying from.

  Next, the processing procedure of the capacity rewriting process will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the capacity rewriting process. As shown in the figure, in this capacity rewriting process, the capacity rewriting program 234 notifies the dedicated driver 221 of the capacity value (step S401).

  Then, the dedicated driver 221 rewrites the value of the capacity holding FRAM 110 on the USB memory 100 (step S402).

  As described above, the capacity rewriting program 234 notifies the dedicated driver 221 of the capacity value, and the dedicated driver 221 rewrites the value of the capacity holding FRAM 110 on the USB memory 100, thereby providing a virtual USB memory provided by the storage providing service. It is possible to change the capacity of 100 and notify the user of the storage capacity expanded by the net disk 40 as the capacity of the USB memory 100.

  In this embodiment, the case where the creation of metadata is performed by the PC 200 has been described, but the creation of metadata can also be performed by the net disk server 30. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a storage providing system that performs creation of metadata by the net disk server 30.

  As shown in the figure, in this storage providing system, the metadata creation program 233 is executed by the net disk server 30 instead of the metadata creation program 233 being executed by the PC 200. Thus, by creating metadata in the net disk server 30, even when the processing capability of the PC 200 is low, metadata can be created at high speed.

  Further, the creation of metadata can also be performed using a USB memory with a microcomputer mounted on the USB memory. By creating metadata in the USB memory, data transfer with the PC 200 can be made unnecessary.

  Next, a hardware configuration of a computer that executes the dedicated driver 221 and the storage service providing program 230 according to the present embodiment will be described. Since the dedicated driver 221 and the storage service providing program 230 are executed by the same computer, the case where the dedicated driver 221 is executed will be described here.

  FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computer that executes the dedicated driver 221 according to the present embodiment. The computer 300 corresponds to the PC 200 shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the computer 300 includes a RAM 310, a CPU 320, an HDD 330, a network device 260, an input / output interface 350, and a USB device controller 210.

  The RAM 310 is a memory that stores a program, a program execution result, and the like. The CPU 320 is a central processing unit that reads a program from the RAM 310 and executes the program.

  The HDD 330 is a disk device that stores programs and data, and the network device 260 is a device for connecting the computer 300 to another computer such as the net disk server 30 via the VPN 10.

  The input / output interface 350 is an interface for connecting an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard and a display device, and the USB device controller 210 is a controller that controls access to the USB memory 100.

  The dedicated driver 221 executed in the computer 300 is stored in the USB memory 100, read from the USB memory 100 by the installer 121, and installed in the computer 300. The installed dedicated driver 221 is stored in the HDD 330, read into the RAM 310, and executed by the CPU 320.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the dedicated driver 221 controls the USB device controller 210 to provide an access function to the USB memory 100, and the storage service providing program 230 cooperates with the dedicated driver 221 to connect the USB memory 100. Since the functions necessary for seamlessly expanding the storage capacity of the storage device using the net disk 40 are provided, the data is stored in the USB memory 100 without being limited to the capacity of the USB memory 100 and used. Can do.

  Also, when the data is written, if the USB memory 100 has insufficient free space, the metadata creation program 233 creates metadata from the actual data in the USB memory 100 and replaces the actual data. It is possible to secure an empty area and provide metadata to the user as necessary.

(Supplementary note 1) A storage device management program for managing data stored in a portable storage device,
An empty area presence / absence determination procedure for determining whether or not there is an empty area necessary for writing data in the portable storage device;
When it is determined by the procedure for determining whether there is no free space, the actual data stored in the portable storage device is stored in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via a network, and the actual data is stored. Create a metadata with a reduced size from the data, replace the actual data with the created metadata and generate a necessary space area,
A storage device management program for causing a computer to execute

(Additional remark 2) The metadata determination procedure which determines whether the data read from a portable storage device are memorize | stored with metadata,
An actual data recovery procedure for recovering actual data stored in the storage device by the empty area generation procedure to a portable storage device when it is determined that the metadata is stored by the metadata determination procedure;
The storage device management program according to appendix 1, wherein the computer is further executed.

(Supplementary Note 3) The computer further executes a capacity changing procedure for changing the contents of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device to a capacity including the capacity of the storage device in which the actual data is stored by the empty area generating procedure. The storage device management program according to appendix 1 or 2.

(Additional remark 4) The said empty area production | generation procedure produces | generates a required empty area by deleting the metadata accessed before predetermined | prescribed elapsed time, when there is no real data in a portable storage device. The storage device management program according to 1, 2, or 3.

(Supplementary note 5) The portable storage device stores files,
5. The storage device management program according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, wherein the empty area generation procedure creates data of only a file name as metadata.

(Appendix 6) A storage device management method for managing data stored in a portable storage device,
An empty area presence / absence determination step for determining whether or not the portable storage device has an empty area necessary for writing data;
When it is determined in the empty area presence / absence determination step that there is no necessary empty area, the actual data stored in the portable storage device is stored in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via a network, and the actual data is stored. An empty area generation step of creating metadata with a reduced size from the data and replacing the actual data with the created metadata to generate a necessary empty area;
A storage device management method comprising:

(Additional remark 7) The metadata determination process which determines whether the data read from a portable storage device are memorize | stored with metadata,
An actual data recovery step of recovering the actual data stored in the storage device by the empty area generation step to the portable storage device when it is determined that the metadata is stored by the metadata determination step;
The storage device management method according to appendix 6, further comprising:

(Supplementary Note 8) The method further includes a capacity changing step of changing the contents of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device to a capacity including the capacity of the storage device in which the actual data is stored by the empty area generating step. The storage device management method according to appendix 6 or 7.

(Additional remark 9) The said empty area production | generation process deletes the metadata accessed before predetermined | prescribed elapsed time, and produces a required empty area, when there is no real data in a portable storage device. The storage device management method according to 6, 7, or 8.

(Supplementary Note 10) The portable storage device stores files,
10. The storage device management method according to any one of appendices 6 to 9, wherein the empty area generation step creates data of only a file name as metadata.

  As described above, the storage device management program and the storage device management method according to the present invention are useful for a portable storage device, and particularly suitable for a case where a large amount of data exceeding the capacity limit of the portable storage device needs to be handled. Yes.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the storage provision system which concerns on a present Example. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the storage provision system which concerns on a present Example. It is a figure which shows the data format of R / W memory. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the starting process of a storage service provision program. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the write-in process to USB memory. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the read-out process from USB memory. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a capacity | capacitance rewriting process. It is a figure which shows the structure of the storage provision system which produces metadata with a net disk server. It is a functional block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the computer which executes the exclusive driver which concerns on a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

10 VPN
20 VPNGW
30 Net Disk Server 31 Metadata Creation Program 40 Net Disk 100 USB Memory 110 Capacity Holding FRAM
120 R / W memory 121 Installer 122 Dedicated driver program 123 Storage service providing program 124 Management table 125 Data storage area 200 PC
210 USB device controller 220 Storage device driver 221 Dedicated driver 222 Mass storage driver 230 Storage service providing program 231 VPN communication program 232 Synchronization program 233 Metadata creation program 234 Capacity rewriting program 235 Event notification program 240 File access program 250 Network device driver 260 Network Device 300 Computer 310 RAM
320 CPU
330 HDD
350 I / O interface

Claims (6)

A storage device management program for managing data stored in a portable storage device,
A procedure for installing a driver stored in the portable storage device for accessing the portable storage device upon detection of attachment of the portable storage device;
An empty area presence / absence determination procedure for determining whether or not there is an empty area necessary for writing data in the portable storage device;
When it is determined that there is no necessary empty area by the empty area presence / absence determination procedure, if actual data is stored in the portable storage device, the actual data having an old access history is specified, and the access history The old actual data is stored in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via a network, and metadata having a reduced size is created from the old actual data of the access history , and the actual data is created using the created metadata. Create the necessary free space by replacing it, and if the actual data is not stored in the portable storage device, create the necessary free space by deleting the metadata accessed before the predetermined elapsed time Procedure and
A storage device management program for causing a computer to execute A metadata determination procedure for determining whether data read from the portable storage device is stored as metadata;
An actual data recovery procedure for recovering actual data stored in the storage device by the empty area generation procedure to a portable storage device when it is determined that the metadata is stored by the metadata determination procedure;
The storage device management program according to claim 1, further causing the computer to execute.   The computer further executes a capacity changing procedure for changing the contents of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device to a capacity including a capacity of a storage device in which actual data is stored by the empty area generating procedure. The storage device management program according to 1 or 2. A storage device management method for managing data stored in a portable storage device, comprising:
Detecting installation of a portable storage device, installing a driver stored in the portable storage device for accessing the portable storage device;
An empty area presence / absence determining step for determining whether or not the portable storage device has an empty area necessary for writing data;
When it is determined that there is no necessary empty area in the empty area presence / absence determining step , if actual data is stored in the portable storage device, the old actual data of the access history is specified, and the access history The old actual data is stored in a storage device managed by a remote computer connected via a network, and metadata having a reduced size is created from the old actual data of the access history , and the actual data is created using the created metadata. Create the necessary free space by replacing it, and if the actual data is not stored in the portable storage device, create the necessary free space by deleting the metadata accessed before the predetermined elapsed time Process,
A storage device management method comprising:   A metadata determination step for determining whether data read from the portable storage device is stored as metadata;
  An actual data recovery step of recovering the actual data stored in the storage device by the empty area generation step to the portable storage device when it is determined that the metadata is stored by the metadata determination step;
  The storage device management method according to claim 4, further comprising:   5. The capacity changing step of changing the content of the storage capacity holding area of the portable storage device to a capacity including a capacity of a storage device in which actual data is stored by the empty area generating step. 6. The storage device management method according to 5.

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