JPH1165911A - Client/server type filing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a client/server type filing system in which resources in the auxiliary storage device of an entire network can be effectively utilized by utilizing empty areas on the disks of clients or the like connected to the network. SOLUTION: A file server 100 requests the provision of partial area on the disk of the client through a client managing part 1, and a file managing data base 3 stores disk area provision information and file information preserved at the client. A file managing part 2 divides a file into an instructed number by a file dividing part 4 at the time of file writing and the divided files are dispatched by the instructed client while using a divided file distributing part 5. At the time of reading, the divided files are collected from the instructed clients by a divided file collecting part 7, reconstituted into original file by a file constructing part 6 and dispatched to the request source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a client / server type file system, and more particularly to a client / server type file system that uses a disk such as a client other than a file server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a client / server network, a file server stores a file on a disk connected to the file server itself.

[0003] Also, JP-A-8-77054 discloses that
Client that connects multiple computers via a network /
In a server-type distributed file system, a technique has been disclosed in which a file stored in a file server is divided into record units, and the divided files are distributed and stored in a plurality of servers.

According to this technique, a client has a mechanism for dividing a file, and a file server has a mechanism for managing the divided file. Then, in response to a file access request from the client, the file server returns the shared information of the divided file, and the client accesses the file based on the information.

[0005]

In the conventional client / server type file system described above, in the system using only the disks connected to the file server itself, the request for increasing the resources accompanying the increase in the number of clients is sufficient for the client. Even if there is a free disk space, it cannot be used, there is no effective solution other than increasing the capacity of the disk itself, and there is a drawback that the resources of the entire network are not effectively used.

In the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-77054, since a client directly accesses a divided file to a server, many mechanisms such as a distributed file creation unit and an update request distribution unit must be realized in the client. In addition, in order to access distributed files, access rights must be set for each server where distributed files are stored, and user management of each server is complicated. It also has the disadvantage of becoming

An object of the present invention is to use the free space of a disk such as a client connected to a network as an auxiliary storage device of a file server so that the capacity of the auxiliary storage device of the file server due to an increase in the number of clients can be minimized. Another object of the present invention is to provide a client / server type file system capable of effectively using the resources of the auxiliary storage device of the entire network by using the free space of a disk such as a client.

[0008]

A client / server type file system according to a first aspect of the present invention is a client / server type file system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, wherein the file server monitors connection status of the client. Client management means for requesting provision of a partial area of the disk of the client, a file management database having disk area provision information of the client and information of files stored in the client, and writing from the client File dividing means for dividing the requested file into the designated number of divisions, divided file distributing means for sending the divided file to be written on the designated client disk, and a read request from the client Against a failed file File collecting means for collecting a divided file to be divided from a designated client, file constructing means for reconstructing the collected divided file into one file before division and sending the file to a request source, and the file management database When there is a file write request from the client based on the above, an instruction is given to the file division number and the client for storing the divided file, and the result is registered in the file management database, and when there is a read request from the client, It is configured to include a divided file corresponding to the file and a file management means for instructing the storage client.

A client / server type file system according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the client / server type file system according to the first aspect, the client includes a server other than the file server.

[0010] The client / server type file system of the third invention is a client / server file system of the first or second invention.
In the server type file system, the file dividing means divides the file by one less than the instructed division number,
Redundancy information is created from the divided files to form one redundant information file to create a distribution target file, and the file construction means lacks one of the distribution target files including the redundant information file. Is also characterized by restoring the file before division.

A client / server type file system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the client / server type file system according to the first or second or third aspect of the present invention, wherein the file management database includes a client providing a disk area and the client providing the area. A first table for storing data of unused capacity of the capacity and the provided capacity, a second table for storing names of files managed by the file server and their IDs, File ID
And a third table storing the IDs and names of the divided files constituting the files, and a fourth table storing the IDs of the divided files and the IDs of the clients storing the divided files.
And a table.

[0012]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a client / server type file system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a client / server type file system according to the first embodiment comprises a plurality of clients 200-1 connected on a network 8.
200-n and a file server 100 that uses the disks of these clients as auxiliary storage devices.

To realize such a client / server type file system, the file server 100
The client management unit 1 periodically communicates with the clients 200-1 to 200-n (hereinafter simply referred to as clients), monitors the connection status of the clients, and requests the clients to provide a part of the disk. File management unit 2 which receives a file write / read request and performs file management; a file management database 3 which has information on a disk area provided by a client and divided files stored on the disk; and a write from the client File management unit 2 stores the requested file
A file dividing unit 4 for dividing the file into the number designated by the user, a divided file dispersing unit 5 for sending the divided file to the designated client disk, and dividing the file requested to be read from the client. A divided file collecting unit 7 that collects files from the client instructed by the file management unit 2, and a file constructing unit 6 that reconstructs the collected divided files into one file and sends it to the request source. I have.

The file management database 3 is, as shown in FIG. 2, a relational database, and a client table 31 which records the area provision information of the disks of the clients connected to the network 8.
, A file table 32 that records information on files managed by the file server 100, and a divided file table 33 that records division information on divided files.
And a distribution table 34 that records in which client the divided files are stored.

The client table 31 stores the ID of the client providing the disk area to the file server 100, the provided capacity, and data on the remaining capacity remaining unused among the provided capacity. ing.

The file table 32 stores the names of files managed by the file server 100 and their IDs.

The divided file table 33 stores the ID of a file before division, the names of divided files constituting the file, and their IDs.

In the distribution table 34, the I
D and the ID of the client in which the divided file is stored.

The client ID field between the client table 31 and the distribution table 34, the file ID field between the file table 32 and the divided file table 33, the divided file table 33 and the distribution table 3
4, a relation is set for each of the divided file ID fields, and the integration of each table is achieved.

The file server 100 uses the client management unit 1 to monitor the connection status of the client connected to the network 8, and requests the client to provide a disk area. The file management unit 2 stores the provided capacity and the provided client ID in the client table 3 of the file management database 3.
Register to 1.

The operation of the client / server type file system according to the first embodiment will be described separately for a write request and a read request.

First, a case where a file write request is issued from a client will be described with reference to FIG.

File management section 2 of file server 100
Is the file table 3 of the file management database 3
2, a file name of the file of the write request and a unique file ID corresponding to the file name are registered. At the same time, the client table 31 of the file management database 3 is searched to select a suitable plurality of clients having a sufficient free disk space for storing the divided files. As the selection method, a method of selecting the remaining capacity of the provided capacity of each disk so as to be equal, a method of selecting according to the remaining capacity, and the like can be considered.

The file management unit 2 requests the file division unit 4 to divide the file into the same number as the number of clients selected in the previous search.

In response to this request, the file division unit 4 receives the file for which the write request has been made, and divides the file into the number specified by the file management unit 2. The division information of the divided file is registered in the division file table 33 of the file management database 3 by the file management unit 2.

When the division of the file is completed, the file management unit 2 stores the divided file in the divided file distribution unit 5 together with the distribution list in which the division file name, the division file ID and the ID of the client storing the division file are described. Asks the specified client to save.

The divided file distribution unit 5 is a file management unit 2
Receives the divided file from the file dividing unit 4 to store the divided file for the client of the distributed list passed from the client, and transfers it. At this time, which file is saved for which client is registered in the distribution table 34 of the file management database 3 via the file management unit 2, and the file management unit 2 is based on the division result of the file division unit 4. Then, the remaining capacity (stored in the client table 31 of the file management database 3) of the provided capacity of the disk of the client in which the divided file is newly stored is updated.

In this way, the file requested to be written by the client is divided into a plurality of divided files, and the files are distributed and stored on disks of different clients (for which a disk area is provided). Becomes

Next, a case where a file read request is issued from a client will be described with reference to FIG.

The file management unit 2 searches the file table 32 of the file management database 3 for the file ID of the file requested to be read, thereby searching the division status of the file from the division file table 33.
Further, by searching the distribution table 34 for the storage status of the divided files, a collection list of the divided files of the file requested to be read, that is, the names and the IDs of the divided files constituting the requested file and the IDs thereof are stored. A list of client IDs is created and passed to the divided file collection unit 7, and a request is made to the file composition unit 6 to reconstruct the divided files collected by the divided file collection unit 7 and transmit them to the request source.

The divided file collecting unit 7 collects divided files distributed and stored in each client based on the collected list of divided files.

When the collection of the divided files is completed, the file construction unit 6 reconstructs the files to the state before the division and transmits the reconstructed read file to the client which has made the read request.

In this way, when a file read request is received from the client, the divided files stored in a distributed manner are collected and reconstructed to respond to the request.

Next, in the first embodiment, the client /
An embodiment of the server type file system will be described with reference to FIGS.

Referring to FIG. 5, the client / server type file system of this embodiment comprises three clients (CL-1, CL-2, CL-3) and a file server 1
(SV-1).

The client provides 50 megabytes from the disk connected to the client to the file server SV-1. The contents of the file management database 3 are as shown in FIG. 6A (the asterisks indicate data to be added by the operation described below).

When a request to write a file having the file name "file-b" is issued from the client CL-1 to the file server SV-1, the file management section 2 of the file server SV-1 makes the file table 32 of the file management database 3 available. , A unique file ID “F2” and a file name “file-b” are added. The file management unit 2 searches the client table 31 and selects a plurality of clients having sufficient remaining capacity to store the divided files.

This time, the clients CL-1, CL-
2. It is determined that the divided files are stored in the three clients CL-3, and the file management unit 2 issues a request to the file division unit 4 to divide the file into three.

The file dividing section 4 receives the file (file ID is F2) for which a write request has been made from the client CL-1 requesting the file, and the divided file name is F2-
At 1, F2-2 and F2-3, the divided file ID is divided into three divided files of f4, f5 and f6, respectively, and registered in the divided file table 33 of the file management database 3 via the file management unit 2.

The file management section 2 searches the file management database 3, creates a distribution list for distributing the divided files to a plurality of clients, and creates a distributed file distribution section 5.
Pass to.

The divided file distribution unit 5 stores the divided files in the clients shown in the distribution list (FIG. 6B), registers the divided files in the distribution table 34 of the file management database 3, and registers each client in the client table. Is updated via the file management unit 2 to update the remaining capacity of the provided capacity after storing the divided file to which the file is assigned.

When a read request for the file name "file-a" is issued from the client CL-1 to the file server SV-1, the file management section 2 of the file server SV-1 searches the file management database 3 for division. A file collection list (FIG. 6C) is created and passed to the divided file collection unit 7.

The divided file collection unit 7 reads the request distribution file from the client indicated in the collection list,
collect.

The collected divided files are reconstructed into one original file "file-a" by the file construction unit 6, and transmitted to the client CL-1 which has requested the reading.

Next, a client / server type file system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a client / server file system according to the second embodiment.

The client / server type file system according to the second embodiment is a system in which divided files are stored using not only the disk of the client but also the disk of another server.

The client / server type file system of the second embodiment is a system in which another server is included as a part of the client of the client / server type file system of the first embodiment. In the client table 31 and the distribution table 34 of the file management database 3, not only the ID of the client but also the ID of the server that provides the disk may be added to manage the provided capacity, the remaining capacity, the storage division file, and the like.

Next, a client / server type file system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the third embodiment.
In the client / server type file system according to the embodiment, the file division unit 10 of the file server divides the file into one less than the number of divisions requested by the file management unit 2 when dividing into divided files. The parity information at the time of execution is created as a redundant information file.

Further, the file construction section 9 checks for errors based on the redundant information at the time of reconstructing, and at the same time, even if a divided file is destroyed due to a client failure, it is recovered by using the redundant information. .

As an example, consider a case where the file management unit 2 instructs the file division unit 10 to divide a file having the file name "file-a" into three divided files.

The file dividing section 10 stores the file "file"
-A "is divided into F1-1, F1-2 and F1-3. At this time, F1-3 is a redundant information file having parity information at the time of division.

"File-a" is changed to "01h 02h 0
3h 04h 05h 06h 07h 08h 09
When this is first divided into (3-1) = 2 as “h 0Ah 13h 38h 5Bh DCh”, F1-1 becomes “01h 02h 03h 04h 05h 06h”.
07h ”and F1-2 is“ 08h 09h 0Ah
13h 38h 5Bh DCh ".

Since F1-3 is a file having the parity information of these data, the data is composed of F1-1 and F1-1.
It is created as a value obtained by taking the XOR (exclusive or) of each data of 1-2. Therefore, F1-
3 is “09h 0Bh 09h 17h 3Dh 5D
h DBh ”, and F1-1, F1-2 and F
1-3 are distributed and stored in designated clients.

Here, even if F1-2 is broken,
If 1-1 and F1-3 are collected and the value obtained by XORing the data of these files is obtained, F1-
2 can be created, and using this and F1-1,
"File-a" can be recovered.

FIG. 8 shows the operation of the client / server file system according to the third embodiment when a failure occurs in the client storing the file.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

When the connection status of the client is monitored by the client management unit 1 of the file server, and a failure of the client on the network 8 is detected, the client ID of the failed client is detected in the file management unit 2.
To inform. The file management unit 2 searches the file management database 3 to create a list of files related to the divided files stored in the failed client, and the divided file collection unit 7 divides the relevant files. The file is read from a normally operating client, and the file reconstructing unit 9 reconstructs the file based on the redundant information and the like. The reconstructed file is re-divided by the file dividing unit 10 according to the instruction of the file management unit 2, and the re-divided divided file includes a file having redundant information and is transmitted to a normally operating client. Stored for Do this for all files associated with the split file stored on the failed client. Rebuilding,
File management unit 2 based on the re-divided and redistributed information
As a result, the data of each table in the file management database 3 is updated.

As described above, the client / server file system according to the first to third embodiments uses the disk resources of the client and the like other than the file server as the file storage location of the file server. This has the effect that the above disk resources can be used effectively.

Further, the client / client of the third embodiment
The server type file system also has an effect that the reliability can be improved by recovering the file destruction due to the failure of the client or the like which is distributed and stored by adding redundant information.

[0062]

As described above, the client / server type file system of the present invention utilizes the disk resources of the clients other than the file server as the file storage location of the file server, thereby enabling the disk resources on the network. Can be used effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a client / server file system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of each table of a file management database 3 and their relationships.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation at the time of a write request from a client.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation at the time of a read request from a client.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an example of a client / server file system according to the first embodiment.

6A is a diagram showing the contents of each table of the file management database 3 of the embodiment of FIG. 5, FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the contents of a distributed list of the embodiment of FIG. 5, and FIG. It is a figure showing contents of a collection list of a 5th example.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a client / server type file system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the client / server type file system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Client management part 2 File management part 3 File management database 4, 10 File division part 5 Division file distribution part 6, 9 File construction part 7 Division file collection part 8 Network 31 Client table 32 File table 33 Division file table 34 Distribution table 100 File server 200-1 to 200-n Client

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a client / server type file system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, a file server includes a client management unit for monitoring a connection status of the client and requesting provision of a partial area of a disk of the client. A file management database having disk area providing information of the client and file information stored in the client;
File dividing means for dividing the file requested to be written by the client into a designated number of divisions, and divided file distributing means for sending the divided file to be written on the designated client disk; ,
A divided file collecting means for collecting a divided file corresponding to the file requested to be read from the client from the designated client; reconstructing the collected divided file into one file before division and requesting the request source The file construction means to be transmitted, and when there is a file write request from the client based on the file management database, an instruction is given to the file division number and the client for storing the divided file, and the result is sent to the file management database. A client / server type file system, comprising: a file management means for registering a divided file corresponding to the file when a reading request is received from the client and for storing the divided file. 2. The client / server file system according to claim 1, wherein the client includes a server other than the file server. 3. A file dividing means divides a file by one less than the instructed division number, creates redundant information from the divided files, forms one redundant information file, and creates a distribution target file. 3. The client / server file system according to claim 1, wherein the file construction means restores the file before division even if one of the files to be distributed including the redundant information file is missing. 4. A file management database comprising: a client providing a disk area, a provided capacity thereof, a first table for storing data of an unused remaining capacity of the provided capacity, and a file server managing the file. A second table that stores the name of the file being run and its ID,
A third table for storing the ID of the file before division and the IDs and names of the division files constituting the file, the ID of the division file and the ID of the client storing the ID.
D. and a fourth table storing D. 4.
Server type file system.