JP2006146293A - Data storage mediating system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the degree of freedom of condition selection in storing data, and to reduce facility investment costs. <P>SOLUTION: A storage mediator installs a data storage mediating system 100, and applies for a storage assignor and a storage trustee. A performance evaluating part 170 evaluates performance related with speed and reliability of servers X, Y and Z provided by the trustee, and records it in an evaluation result recording part 140. When a data storage request is made from the terminal A of the trustee, a condition input part 110 inputs the storage conditions related with the speed and reliability, and a storage destination deciding part 120 decides a server matching the storage conditions as a storage destination referring to the performance of each server. A mediation processing part 130 stores the storage object data from the terminal A in the servers X to Z being the storage destinations. A charge processing part 160 charges the storage fee to the assignor, and a reward calculation processing part 180 calculates a reward for the trustee. The storage fee and the reward are decided depending on the performance of the server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a data storage mediation system, and more particularly, to a data storage mediation system that mediates between a storage consignor entrusting data storage and a storage consignor entrusting data storage.

  It is widely performed to transfer the backup data of the created data from the computer or the like that created the data to another file server or the like connected via a network and store valuable data. If this network is extended to a global wide area network such as the Internet, data can be stored and stored from anywhere in the world as long as there is an environment that can access the Internet. You can retrieve your data from anywhere in the world.

  In consideration of such convenience, a data storage business in which a so-called rental server is provided and data is stored from customers is becoming widespread. The storage consignor entrusting data storage rents a part of the storage area of the server device managed by the storage trustee after concluding a data storage contract with the storage trustee entrusting data storage. Data can be stored there.

Sufficient security must be ensured when storing data that requires confidentiality. From such consideration, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, only the person who has deposited the data or a specific person authorized to access the data can safely access the data deposited from any place. There has been disclosed a distributed data archive device that does not require any special device or software preparation on the server side for storing data. In the apparatus disclosed in this document, storage target data is divided into a plurality of divided files and distributed and stored in a plurality of storage locations on the network. If such a storage method is adopted, even if the security of each individual divided file stored in each storage location is low, unless the original division method of the file to be stored and the storage location of each individual divided file can be recognized, It is difficult to restore the original file to be stored, and sufficient security can be ensured.
PCT International Publication No. WO01 / 46808

  Usually, the performance of a data storage device such as a server is different for each device. For example, some storage devices have a fast access speed and others have a slow access speed. In addition, there is a highly reliable storage device and a low storage device in terms of reliability of securely storing data without error. On the other hand, there are various storage conditions required by the storage consignor. For example, when storing “data that you want to retrieve as quickly as possible when you need it,” you might want to store it in a storage device with high access speed even if the storage fee is high. When storing "data", you will want to store it in a storage device with low storage fees even if the reliability is low.

  However, in the general data storage business currently being implemented, the storage consignor requests the storage consignor to store the data based on a contract between the storage consignor and the storage consignor. Therefore, from the standpoint of the storage consignor, there is a problem that the degree of freedom of selection of storage conditions is low. In other words, depending on the contractor performing the contracted storage business, there may be several storage forms with different storage conditions, but there are limits to the variations of storage forms that can be prepared by the same contractor. From the perspective of the consignor, it is desirable that the degree of freedom of choice is further expanded. In addition, from the standpoint of the storage trustee, it is necessary to install a data storage device having a sufficient storage capacity before the start of actual operation, which causes a problem that a large equipment cost is required.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a data storage mediation system that can further increase the degree of freedom of condition selection during data storage and can reduce the cost during operation.

(1) A first aspect of the present invention is a data storage mediation system that mediates between a storage consignor entrusting data storage and a storage consignor entrusting data storage.
A storage device registration unit for registering the location of the data storage device provided by the storage trustee;
A performance evaluation unit for evaluating the performance of the data storage device registered in the storage device registration unit;
An evaluation result recording unit for recording the evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit;
A condition input section for inputting the storage conditions desired by the storage consignor;
A storage destination determination unit that determines a data storage device to be a storage destination based on the storage condition input in the condition input unit and the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit;
An intermediary processing unit that performs mediation processing for storing the storage target data in the storage destination determined by the storage destination determination unit;
Is provided.

(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first aspect described above,
According to the storage conditions input to the condition input unit and the results of the mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit, a billing processing unit that performs billing processing for the storage consignor is further provided.

(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first or second aspect described above,
According to the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit and the result of the mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit, a reward calculation processing unit that performs a reward calculation process for the storage trustee is further provided.

(4) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to third aspects described above,
The performance evaluation unit has a function to access the data storage device via the network, evaluates the performance by sending and receiving predetermined test data to and from the data storage device via the network, and evaluates the result A process of recording in the result recording unit is performed.

(5) According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the fourth aspect described above,
The performance evaluation unit has a function to evaluate the performance by monitoring the storage of data to / from the data storage device during the actual operation when the mediation processing by the mediation processing unit is started. Based on the evaluation result, a process for updating the recorded contents of the evaluation result recording unit is performed.

(6) According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to fifth aspects described above,
The performance evaluation unit has a function of evaluating the data storage speed of the data storage device or the reliability of data storage, or both as the performance of the data storage device,
The condition input unit has a function of inputting data input / output speed and / or data storage reliability, or both as storage conditions.

(7) According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the sixth aspect described above,
The performance evaluation unit further has a function of evaluating the geographical installation location of the data storage device as one of the reliability measures for the data storage device.

(8) According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to seventh aspects described above,
The condition input unit performs a process of presenting a plurality of storage conditions as a menu to the terminal device of the storage consignor, and the specific storage condition selected by the selection operation of the storage consignor for this menu is displayed as “storage consignor”. Is entered as "desired storage conditions".

(9) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the eighth aspect described above,
In the menu, the condition input unit presents accounting conditions corresponding to individual storage conditions.

(10) According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to ninth aspects described above,
The storage location determination unit has a function to determine multiple storage locations for the same data,
The mediation processing unit has a function of performing mediation processing for storing the same data redundantly in a plurality of storage destinations.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the data storage mediation system according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The storage destination determination unit has a function of determining different storage destinations for each part constituting the storage target data,
The mediation processing unit has a function of performing mediation processing for dividing the storage target data into individual parts and storing the individual parts in each storage destination.

(12) According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to eleventh aspects described above,
The storage destination determination unit determines an optimal combination based on a predetermined optimization algorithm from a plurality of combinations in which a plurality of portions are assigned to a plurality of storage destinations.

(13) According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to twelfth aspects described above,
The mediation processing unit receives the data to be stored from the storage consignor's terminal device via the network, and transfers the data to a predetermined storage location via the network to perform mediation processing.

(14) According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to twelfth aspects described above,
The intermediary processing unit notifies the storage device of the storage consignor of the storage destination, so that the storage target data is transferred from the terminal device to the storage destination via the network. It is what I do.

(15) According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the data storage mediation system according to the first to fourteenth aspects described above,
When the evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit falls below a predetermined lower limit for a specific data storage device, the mediation processing unit changes the storage target data stored in the specific data storage device to another data storage device. The evacuation process for re-storing is executed.

  (16) According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, a program for causing a computer to function as the data storage mediation system according to the first to fifteenth aspects is prepared, and the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. So that it can be distributed.

  According to the data storage mediation system of the present invention, it becomes possible to mediate between a large number of storage entrustees and a large number of storage trustees, and provides a storage service that meets the conditions desired by the storage entrusters. Since mediation to the storage trustee can be performed, it becomes possible to further increase the degree of freedom in selecting conditions when storing data. Further, since the broker can perform the brokerage work by using the data storage device of the storage trustee, a large capital investment is not required.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments.

<<< §1. Basic concept of the present invention >>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration and operation mode of a data storage mediation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the operation mode shown here, the storage intermediary operates and manages the data storage intermediary system 100 according to the present invention, and mediates between the storage entrustor entrusting data storage and the storage entrustor entrusting data storage. The example which performs the work to perform is shown.

  Here, the terminal devices A, B, and C are terminal devices (for example, a personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, etc.) used by the storage consignor, and the data storage devices X, Y, and Z are used by the storage consignor. It is a server device. However, the terminal device used by the storage consignor is not necessarily a relatively small data processing device such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, or a PDA, and may be a large server device. Similarly, the data storage device used by the storage trustee is not necessarily a server device, and may be a general personal computer. In short, the storage consignor prepares some terminal device for providing the storage target data, and the storage consignor only needs to prepare some data storage device for storing the storage target data. However, in practice, since the data storage devices X, Y, and Z need to store and store data to be stored, it is common to construct using a data server device having a sufficient storage capacity. .

  On the other hand, a data storage mediation system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a condition input unit 110, a storage destination determination unit 120, a mediation processing unit 130, an evaluation result recording unit 140, a storage device registration unit 150, as shown in the figure. The charging processing unit 160, the performance evaluation unit 170, and the reward calculation processing unit 180 are configured by each component. The functions of these components will be described in detail later. These components indicate individual functional blocks when the data storage mediation system 100 is grasped as a plurality of functional blocks. Actually, the data storage mediation system 100 sends these functional blocks to the computer. It will be realized by incorporating a program that fulfills the function.

  As shown in the figure, each of the terminal devices A, B, C, the data storage devices X, Y, Z, and the data storage mediation system 100 are all connected via a network N. Practically, it is preferable to use the Internet as the network N. In the drawing, for the sake of convenience, an operation example using three terminal devices A, B, and C and three data storage devices X, Y, and Z is shown. And a large number of data storage devices are used. In particular, if the Internet is used as the network N, this mediation system can be operated on a global scale.

  The scenario of the business form using the data storage mediation system according to the present invention is as follows. First, as a storage broker, a business operator who operates this business installs the data storage brokerage system 100 and invites a large number of people to participate as a storage trustee and uses a large number of people as a storage trustee. Make a recruitment. Here, the storage consignor is a general customer who wants to store some data by a third party by paying the storage fee, and may be a company or a general individual. . On the other hand, the storage trustee wants to provide a part or all of the storage area of the data storage device (usually a server device) that he owns or manages as a resource and wants to receive a reward for this. It is a person who thinks, and it may be a company or a general individual. In short, the storage area provided by the storage consignor is used as the data storage area of the storage consignor. The business operator as a storage broker pays a part of the storage fee paid from the storage trustee as a reward to the storage trustee, and secures the difference as brokerage revenue. Eventually, the storage intermediary itself does not need to install a data storage device, and it is sufficient to prepare the data storage intermediary system 100 as hardware necessary at the start of operation. For this reason, the cost at the time of operation can be reduced significantly.

  Actually, in order to start such a business, it is preferable to conduct a campaign with various advertising means and recruit a large number of storage entrustees and storage entrustees. Here, a contract in accordance with a predetermined rule is concluded for each applicant. In addition, for the custody contractor, a payment method should be established in order to ensure that the custody fee is charged, and for the custody contractor, a transfer destination account, etc. should be established in order to pay the compensation. Is preferable. Practically, it is preferable to issue a predetermined ID code and password to the storage consignor and the storage consignor so that sufficient security can be ensured after the operation.

  Once the applications of the storage consignor and the storage trustee are gathered at a certain scale, the operation of this brokerage system can be actually started. The storage consignor accesses the data storage mediation system 100 from the terminal device (for example, the terminal device A) through the network N, and makes a storage request for specific storage target data. In response to this storage request, the data storage mediation system 100 performs mediation processing so that the storage target data is stored in a specific data storage device (for example, the data storage device Y). If it becomes necessary for the storage consignor to retrieve the data to be stored, if a request to that effect is sent to the data storage mediation system 100, the storage destination (for example, for example, under the mediation of the data storage mediation system 100) Necessary data is taken out from the data storage device Y) and transmitted to the terminal device (for example, the terminal device A) of the storage consignor. It is not always necessary to mediate the data storage mediation system 100 at the time of data extraction, and it is also possible for the storage consignor to directly access the storage destination and directly extract necessary data. It is also possible to retrieve the data deposited from the terminal device A from the terminal device B. Of course, in practice, security measures are taken such as checking the password at the time of retrieval.

  As in the illustrated example, if access is made between the terminal devices A, B, C, the data storage devices X, Y, Z, and the data storage mediation system 100 via the Internet N, it is standard on the Internet. In principle, it is not necessary to incorporate a special dedicated program into the terminal devices A, B, C and the data storage devices X, Y, Z. . However, in practice, in order to ensure smooth operation and operability of data deposit processing and retrieval processing mediated by the data storage mediation system 100, it is preferable to incorporate a dedicated program in each. Actually, the storage entrustor and the storage entrustee communicate with the data storage intermediary system 100 and provide a dedicated program for performing necessary processing, respectively, and install it in the terminal device and the data storage device. Is preferred.

  As described above, the unique point of the data storage mediation system according to the present invention is that the data storage device provided by the storage trustee is publicly recruited as described above. If the Internet is used as the network N, data server devices everywhere in the world are subject to public offering. In fact, not all server devices around the world are fully operational, so server device owners with ample storage capacity want to provide extra storage space and get some reward. Will. However, when the data storage device is solicited in general, there is a problem that the performance of each data storage device varies. For example, the three data storage devices X, Y, and Z shown in the figure are devices set by different owners, and the capacities that can be provided are different, as well as access speeds for data in and out, and data The storage reliability is also different. In particular, the access speed is a factor that is influenced not only by the performance of the data storage device itself but also by the transmission speed of the connection path through the network.

  In this way, considering that data is stored in storage devices with various performances, it is not appropriate to perform uniform mediation processing for the storage consignor. The present invention is based on such an idea. The basic idea of the present invention is to objectively evaluate the performance of each data storage device provided by a storage contractor while storing it in a storage contractor. A request for a condition is asked, and a data storage device having performance that meets this request is determined as a storage destination.

<<< §2. Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the function of each component block of the data storage mediation system 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, the storage device registration unit 150 is a component having a function of registering the location of the data storage device provided by the storage trustee, and information indicating which data storage device is located is registered. become. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration contents of the storage device registration unit 150. In this example, the storage device name, storage trustee, and URL (information indicating the location of the data storage device) are registered for the three data storage devices X, Y, and Z. For example, regarding the data storage device X, it is indicated that the storage trustee is the former (the owner or administrator of the data storage device X), and the location is a URL of http://www.xxx. It is shown. Such information is set when the storage trustee is solicited. Of course, each data storage device X, Y, Z needs to be placed in an environment that is always connected to the Internet N.

  The performance evaluation unit 170 is a component that performs processing for evaluating the performance of each data storage device registered in the storage device registration unit 150, and the evaluation result recording unit 140 displays the evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit 170. A component for recording. As a specific performance evaluation scale of the data storage device, data input / output speed and reliability of data storage can be used. As described above, the data transfer rate is a factor that is influenced not only by the performance of the data storage device itself, but also by the transmission speed of the connection path through the network. The time from the start of the process of writing a predetermined amount of data to the data storage device X until the report that the writing is completed is obtained as the speed for writing, conversely, The time from when the data storage intermediation system 100 gives an instruction to read out predetermined data to the data storage device X via the network N until the data storage mediation system 100 actually reads the data is read out. Obtained as a speed for.

  On the other hand, as the reliability of data storage, an objective value can be obtained as the probability that an error will occur when written data is read out. For example, if data of a predetermined capacity is written 1 million times and the number of times an error occurs when this data is read out, the reliability can be obtained as an objective numerical value. Normally, an error correction code is added to the data. Even if an error occurs in the read data, it is possible to repair the error by using this error correction code, and the data is lost. Often not fatal. However, in the performance evaluation process by the performance evaluation unit 170, even if repair by error correction is possible, if an error actually occurs in any of the bits, it is counted as one error and the reliability value is calculated. It is preferable to measure.

  Practically, it is preferable to use several stages of evaluation values instead of using numerical values such as the access time and the number of errors as the speed and reliability. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit 140. In this example, the evaluation value is represented by a five-step evaluation of 1 to 5. As described above, the speed evaluation value is a value that objectively indicates the speed of writing and reading data to each data storage device, and the reliability evaluation value is an objective that indicates the error occurrence probability when writing and reading are performed. This value is shown as an example. If the network includes an asymmetric signal transmission path, the writing speed and the reading speed are naturally different evaluation values. In such a case, the writing speed and the reading speed are different. An evaluation value may be used (of course, a comprehensive evaluation value considering both may be used).

  Practically, when applicants gather for the open recruitment of the storage trustee, first, the data storage device provided by the applicant is registered in the storage device registration unit 150, and then the performance evaluation unit 170 The data storage device is accessed via the network N, a test for inputting / removing predetermined test data to / from the data storage device via the network N is performed, the performance is evaluated, and the result is recorded as an evaluation result. The process of recording in the unit 140 is performed. Of course, if the performance evaluation value does not reach a predetermined standard as a result of this test, the application is preferably disqualified and the registration is preferably canceled. The evaluation results as shown in FIG. 3 are obtained by such a test. As will be described later, a predetermined reward is paid to the storage trustee who provided each data storage device according to the performance evaluation result and the actual storage performance. Of course, the higher the performance evaluation value, the higher the reward is set.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the speed evaluation value and the reliability evaluation value, an evaluation value that is a discrete degree evaluation value is further used. This discrete degree evaluation value is an evaluation value determined based on the geographical installation location of the data storage device, and as a result, is one of the reliability standards for the data storage device. For convenience, it is handled as an evaluation value separate from the reliability evaluation value. Specifically, how far the data storage device is geographically separated from other devices (which may be other data storage devices or storage consignor terminal devices). It is an evaluation value indicating a factor of whether or not. The farther away, the higher the rating value. This should be a factor that indicates safety in the event of a disaster in a specific area.

  For example, the three terminal devices A, B, and C shown in FIG. 1 are all installed in Tokyo, and the three data storage devices X, Y, and Z are set in Shizuoka, Hokkaido, and Yokohama, respectively. Try. In this case, the three storage contractors expect that important data will be backed up safely even if an earthquake occurs in Tokyo and the three terminal devices A, B, and C stop functioning. Thus, the data storage mediation system 100 will be used. However, the data storage device Z installed in Yokohama is highly likely to be damaged when an earthquake occurs in Tokyo. In contrast, the data storage device X installed in Shizuoka is less likely to have such a possibility, and the data storage device Y installed in Hokkaido is even less likely to have such a possibility. In the example shown in FIG. 3, in view of such an example, the discreteness evaluation values for the data storage devices X, Y, and Z are set to 3, 5, and 2.

  As described above, the discreteness evaluation value is actually one of the evaluation values indicating the reliability, but does not indicate the physical performance of the data storage device itself, and is merely the geographical location of the data storage device. Since the evaluation value is used as one of the reliability standards based on the installation location, in the example of FIG. 3, the evaluation value is recorded as a separate evaluation value from the reliability evaluation value.

  Now, when the evaluation results as shown in FIG. 3 are prepared in the evaluation result recording unit 140, the actual operation can be started. When the operation is started, a storage request is made for specific storage target data from the terminal device used by the storage consignor. For example, assume that a storage request is made by a storage consignor using the terminal device A. In this case, the terminal device A accesses the data storage mediation system 100 via the network N, and the storage condition desired by the storage consignor is input by the condition input unit 110. As described above, there are variations in performance related to speed and reliability in the data storage device provided by the storage trustee. In the condition input unit 110, desired conditions are input according to this performance variation. That is, the storage consignor performs an operation of inputting desired conditions regarding speed and reliability to the condition input unit 110 when storing the storage target data.

  For example, if the data needs to be retrieved immediately when needed, you will want a condition with a high speed rating, and if it is very important data that you do not want to lose, it is highly reliable. You will want the conditions. Of course, in practice, these conditions are also related to storage charges, and if stored under conditions with high evaluation values, a high storage charge will be imposed as such.

  In the embodiment shown here, as a device for facilitating the input operation of such storage conditions, the condition input unit 110 presents a plurality of storage conditions as a menu to the storage contractor's terminal device. The specific storage condition selected by the selection operation of the storage consignor for this menu can be input as the “storage condition desired by the storage consignor”. In addition, in this menu, billing conditions for storage charges are also presented in correspondence with individual storage conditions. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of such menu presentation. This menu is displayed as a storage fee menu on the display screen of the terminal device used by the storage consignor. As shown in the figure, this menu displays the two performance evaluation factors, speed and reliability, in three levels: fast / medium / slow and high / medium / low. (In this example, a charge for storing data per MB for one month) is presented.

  The storage consignor selects a desired storage condition from a plurality of storage conditions presented as such a menu. In the example shown in FIG. 4, since a total of nine storage conditions are presented, the storage consignor may select any one storage condition with reference to the storage fee. Specifically, for example, a selection operation such as a mouse click on one of the charge cells may be performed.

  In this way, when a predetermined storage condition is input to the condition input unit 110, the storage destination determination unit 120 performs a process of determining the storage destination of the storage target data. The storage destination determination unit 120 executes processing for determining a data storage device to be a storage destination based on the storage condition input to the condition input unit 110 and the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit 140. . The algorithm for determining the storage destination may be determined as appropriate so that the performance of each data storage device provided by the storage contractor and the storage conditions desired by the storage contractor are well balanced.

  For example, regarding the speed, the speed evaluation value “4” or “5” is obtained for the storage condition “fast”, and the speed evaluation value “2” or “3” is “slow” for the storage condition “medium”. In the case of the storage condition, the data storage device having the speed evaluation value “1” is selected, and regarding the reliability, in the case of the storage condition “high”, the reliability evaluation value “5” and the discrete evaluation value “4” or When the storage condition is “5” or “medium”, the reliability evaluation value is “3” or “4” and the discrete evaluation value is “3” or more, and when the storage condition is “low”, the reliability evaluation value is “5”. A selection criterion such as selecting the data storage device may be provided, and the corresponding data storage device may be appropriately assigned. When there are a plurality of candidates that meet the conditions, for example, it is preferable to perform random processing using random numbers or the like, and to perform processing that averages the allocation probabilities of the respective data storage devices.

  Of course, in actuality, it is necessary to make a selection in consideration of the capacity of the storage target data, and a data storage apparatus having insufficient free capacity is excluded from the candidates. In practice, it is preferable to allow more flexible allocation processing. For example, when there is no data storage device that meets the conditions, a data storage device with a higher evaluation value is substituted. It does not matter if you perform any processing.

  Thus, when the storage destination is determined by the storage destination determination unit 120, the mediation processing unit 130 executes mediation processing for storing the storage target data in the storage destination. Specific mediation processing methods are roughly divided into two methods. In the first method, the mediation processing unit 130 receives data to be stored from the terminal device of the storage consignor via the network N, and this is determined by the predetermined storage destination (storage destination determination unit 120 via the network N. To the storage location. In this method, the data storage mediation system 100 functions as a relay location for data to be stored, and the storage target data is transmitted from the terminal device A to the data storage mediation system 100 and then from the data storage mediation system 100, for example. The data is transferred to the data storage device Y.

  In the second method, the mediation processing unit 130 notifies the storage device of the storage consignor of the storage destination, and the storage target data is transferred from the terminal device to the storage destination via the network N. This is how to do it. In this method, for example, the data storage mediation system 100 notifies the terminal device A of the URL of the data storage device Y that is the storage destination, and the terminal device A directly sends the storage target data to the data storage device Y. Will be sent. Of course, in practice, it is preferable that the data transmission process from the terminal device A to the data storage device Y is automatically performed by a dedicated program installed in the terminal device A. It is preferable that the transmission operation for the storage device Y need not be performed manually.

  In the embodiment shown here, mediation by the data storage mediation system 100 is also performed when the storage consignor retrieves data stored in the past. There are two types of mediation methods for retrieving the data. In the first method, when the mediation processing unit 130 receives a predetermined data retrieval request from the terminal device, it reads the data from the data storage device that is the storage destination of the data, and issues a retrieval request. This is a method of transferring to the terminal device that has issued. In this method, the retrieval target data is transmitted to the terminal device via the data storage mediation system 100. For example, the data stored in the data storage device Y is once transmitted to the mediation processing unit 130 and then transferred to the terminal device A.

  The second method is a method in which the mediation processing unit 130 instructs the data storage device that is the storage destination of the extraction target data to directly transmit the data to the terminal device that has issued the extraction request. . In this method, for example, data stored in the data storage device Y is directly transmitted to the terminal device A.

  In any method, the mediation processing unit 130 needs to recognize where the data to be retrieved is stored in response to the retrieval request from the terminal device, so when performing mediation processing to store the data , Information indicating which data is stored where is stored. Alternatively, when a mediation process for storing data is performed, information indicating a storage destination may be transmitted to the terminal device as a so-called “custody”. In this case, even if the mediation processing unit 130 does not record where the individual data is stored, it can receive information that functions as a “deposit card” from the terminal device side together with the retrieval request. It becomes possible to recognize whether it is stored.

  If there is data that is no longer required to be stored, the storage consignor can delete the stored data. Specifically, when an instruction for erasure processing for predetermined stored data is given to the mediation processing unit 130, the mediation processing unit 130 erases data from the storage destination of the data to be erased. Will be issued. As a result, there is a vacancy in the data capacity of the storage destination, and the charging of the storage fee to the storage consignor is stopped.

  The billing processing unit 160 has a function of performing billing processing for the storage consignor in accordance with the storage conditions input to the condition input unit 110 and the results of mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit 130. As described above, the storage consignor inputs desired storage conditions using the storage fee menu as shown in FIG. 4 when storing the storage target data. Data storage mediation processing to the data storage destination that matches the storage conditions is performed. The charging processing unit 160 executes a process of charging a storage fee based on the storage conditions according to the results of the mediation process performed in this way. For example, if mediation processing for storing 5 MB of data is performed under the conditions that the speed is “fast” and the reliability is “medium”, the storage fee per month is 80 yen per MB. The processing unit 160 executes a charging process of 400 yen every month until the stored data is deleted.

  On the other hand, the remuneration calculation processing unit 180 performs a function of performing remuneration calculation processing for the storage trustee in accordance with the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit and the results of the mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit. As described above, the performance evaluation unit 170 performs performance evaluation on the data storage device provided by the storage trustee, and the result is recorded in the evaluation result recording unit 140. The reward for the storage trustee is calculated based on the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit 140, the volume of the data actually stored, and the storage period. Even if there is a track record of storing data of the same capacity for the same period, the reward paid to the storage trustee who provided the data storage device having a high performance evaluation value is higher.

  In general, the performance of the data storage device has a property of changing over time. For example, if the built-in hard disk device becomes obsolete, the reliability will decrease accordingly, and if the hard disk device is replaced with a new one, the reliability will be improved. The access speed also varies with time due to changes in hardware resources constituting the network and changes in access frequency. Therefore, in actual operation, performance evaluation of each data storage device is performed not only during testing but also periodically during actual operation, and the evaluation results in the evaluation result recording unit 140 are updated as needed. preferable.

  For that purpose, the performance evaluation unit 170 monitors the storage / extraction of data to be stored in each data storage device X, Y, Z during the actual operation in which the mediation processing by the mediation processing unit 160 is started. Thus, it is sufficient to provide a function for evaluating performance and to perform processing for updating the recorded contents of the evaluation result recording unit 140 based on the latest evaluation result. Of course, if the evaluation result in the evaluation result recording unit 140 is updated, the standard of the reward calculation processing by the reward calculation processing unit 180 will also change. Therefore, even if the storage performance is the same, the compensation amount also varies due to performance fluctuations. Will do. Eventually, the custodian will be obliged to make an effort to maintain the performance of the provided data storage device.

  In addition, when the evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit 170 falls below a predetermined lower limit for a specific data storage device, the mediation processing unit 130 separates the storage target data stored in the specific data storage device. It is preferable to execute a save process for storing the data again in a data storage device. By doing so, the data archiving is not continued from the data archiving device for which the custodian has neglected the effort to maintain the performance, so that it is possible to prevent an accident from occurring. Alternatively, for a data storage device whose performance has deteriorated, it is possible to set a low probability of being selected as a data storage destination in the storage destination determination unit 120 and take measures to reduce the storage performance It is.

  Furthermore, when a response is not returned as a result of performing a call process for actually storing data for a specific data storage device determined as a storage destination, the intermediary processing unit 130 It is preferable to select an alternative data storage device as appropriate and execute processing for storing data in the alternative device. In this case, for the data storage device that cannot respond, the reward calculation processing unit 180 may perform a reduction process for a penalty.

<<< §3. Various modifications >>
Finally, some modified examples for carrying out the present invention will be described. First, in the basic embodiment described above, an example in which storage target data stored by a storage consignor is stored in any one storage destination has been described. However, in practice, in order to ensure redundancy, the same data is stored. Is preferably stored in a plurality of storage locations in duplicate. That is, the storage destination determination unit 120 determines a plurality of storage destinations for the same data, and the mediation processing unit 130 performs mediation processing for storing the same data redundantly in a plurality of storage destinations. Just do it.

  Thus, if the same data is stored redundantly at a plurality of locations, the reliability as a whole is improved accordingly. For example, suppose that the reliability Ck of the kth data storage device is expressed as a probability that data can be correctly extracted. Specifically, if the reliability Ck = 0.9999, data is lost once every 10,000 times, but data can be correctly extracted 9999 times. In this case, if the data is stored redundantly in a total of n data storage devices having such reliability, the overall reliability C is C = 1 − ((1-C1) · (1-C2). (1-Ck) (1-Cn)).

  When evaluating the reliability, not only the accuracy rate at the time of data retrieval (the probability of retrieving exactly the same data as the original data when the stored data is retrieved), but also the operation rate It is preferable to use an evaluation value in consideration. For example, if the storage is performed only once and it can be accurately taken out, the accuracy rate is 100%. On the other hand, if storage is performed 1 million times and an error occurs only once, the accuracy rate is 99.9999%. In this case, the accuracy rate value is larger in the former case, but the latter should be evaluated higher in terms of reliability. Therefore, the actual reliability is preferably defined as reliability C = accuracy rate × operation rate.

  Whether the retrieved data is accurate or not can be confirmed by adding an error check code, etc. at the time of storage and checking it at the time of extraction. However, the same data is stored in multiple places. In some cases, it is also possible to make a determination by majority vote among a plurality of extracted data. In making such a determination by majority vote, it is preferable to set the storage destination to an odd number of three or more places. In this case, as the operation rate, it is preferable to use a value that considers not only the number of times data has been taken in and out (the number of transactions) but also the number of participation in majority voting. In other words, a time limit from issuing a data retrieval instruction to executing a majority vote is set in advance, and only a data storage device from which data has been extracted by this time limit can participate in the majority vote. In addition, data storage devices with very slow data retrieval time should not be allowed to participate in the majority decision. And if there is a transaction that could not participate in the majority decision, the operating rate may be reduced. Specifically, for example, the operating rate can be defined by an expression such as operating rate = total number of transactions × number of majority participants.

  In this way, if a method of storing the same data in a plurality of storage destinations is employed, the degree of freedom in determining the storage destination that matches the storage conditions desired by the storage consignor is dramatically increased. For example, when a storage condition of “high” reliability is designated, two data storage devices having a reliability evaluation value “5” may be determined as storage destinations, and the reliability evaluation value is “ It would also be possible to determine four data storage devices 4 ”as storage destinations. If the storage destination is specified in a plurality of locations, as described above, it becomes possible to obtain a higher reliability than the reliability of the data storage device alone, so even a data storage device with low reliability can be obtained. By using a plurality of units in parallel, it becomes possible to entrust a storage operation that requires high reliability.

  The technique of storing the same data in multiple places is a technique for improving reliability called so-called mirroring in a RAID system. On the other hand, it is also possible to apply a technique for speed improvement called so-called striping. Specifically, one piece of storage target data may be divided into a plurality of partial files, and each partial file may be stored in a different storage destination.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which one storage target data D is divided into three divided files D1, D2, and D3 and stored in different data storage devices W1, W2, and W3, respectively. Theoretically, the time required for storing and retrieving data is obtained by dividing the original data D to be divided into three equal parts based on the capacity and obtaining three divided files D1, D2, and D3. Will be reduced to 1/3. When such a technique is adopted, the storage destination determination unit 120 determines a different storage destination (W1, W2, W3) for each part (divided files D1, D2, D3) constituting the storage target data. In the mediation processing unit 130, the storage target data D is divided into individual parts (divided files D1, D2, D3), and these individual parts are stored in the respective storage destinations (W1, W2, W3). A function for performing an intermediary process for this purpose may be provided.

  Of course, the division mode of the storage target data D is not necessarily equal. For example, when the loading / unloading speed of the data storage device W1 is twice the loading / unloading speed of the data storage devices W1 and W2, the capacity ratio of the three divided files D1, D2, and D3 is 2: 1: 1. When such division is performed, the theoretical time required for taking out each divided file can be made coincident with each other, and very efficient extraction processing becomes possible.

  In this way, if one data is divided and stored in different storage destinations, the degree of freedom in determining the storage destination that matches the storage conditions desired by the storage consignor is dramatically increased. For example, when the storage condition of speed “speed” is designated, the data storage device having the speed evaluation value “5” may be determined as the only storage destination, and the speed evaluation value is “3”. Two data storage devices may be determined as storage destinations and stored in two divided files. Alternatively, it is possible to select four data storage devices having a speed evaluation value “1” as storage destinations and store them in four divided files. If the data to be stored is divided into a plurality of divided files and stored, the speed can be improved compared to storing in a single data storage device. Even so, by using a plurality of devices in parallel, it is possible to entrust a storage operation requiring a high speed.

  Practically, a combination of the above-described mirroring and striping methods results in a plurality of combinations for determining the storage destination. Therefore, the storage destination determination unit 120 has a predetermined combination among the plurality of combinations. Based on the optimization algorithm, a function for performing a process of determining an optimal combination may be provided. Of course, in determining the optimal combination, the remuneration paid to the storage trustee is also taken into consideration, and when there are multiple combinations of storage destinations that can obtain the same speed and the same reliability, the payment remuneration It is preferable to adopt an algorithm that selects the combination that yields the lowest price. As specific algorithms for selecting such optimum conditions, for example, various algorithms such as an annealing method are known, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the method of dividing the storage target data D into a plurality of divided files D1, D2, and D3 and distributing the divided files and storing them in different storage destinations also improves security. Useful. When operating the present invention in the real world, when taking out the data stored in each data storage device, it is natural that security measures such as requesting a password are taken. Even if there is an unauthorized access avoiding security, as shown in FIG. 5, if the storage target data D is distributed and stored in a plurality of storage destinations as divided files D1, D2, and D3, unauthorized acquisition of data is prevented. Above is more effective.

  For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 5, in order to illegally obtain the entire storage target data D, the security of the three locations of the data storage devices W1, W2, and W3 is broken, and the three divided files D1, D2, and D3 You will have to get everything. Even if all three of the divided files D1, D2, and D3 are illegally obtained, it is unclear what kind of division method has been implemented, so the original storage target data D can be restored by combining them in any order. You can't know if you can. If the number of divisions increases, it becomes difficult to restore the original storage target data D by trial and error.

  In order to further improve security, it is preferable to perform an encryption process in the mediation processing unit 130 before storing in each storage destination. This encryption processing may be performed before the storage target data D is divided or may be performed after the division. FIG. 6A is a conceptual diagram in which encryption is performed before division. In this example, the encrypted data Dc is first generated by performing an encryption process on the original storage target data D, and the divided encrypted file Dc1 is generated by performing a division process on the encrypted data Dc. , Dc2, Dc3 are generated. These divided encrypted files Dc1, Dc2, and Dc3 are stored in each storage destination.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6B is a conceptual diagram in which encryption is performed after division. In this example, the original storage target data D is first divided to generate divided files D1, D2, and D3, and then encryption processing is performed on each of the divided files D1, D2, and D3, and the encryption is performed. Divided files D1c, D2c, and D3c are generated. These encrypted divided files D1c, D2c, and D3c are stored in each storage destination.

  In any case, the file itself stored in each data storage device is not meaningful data, so even if it is downloaded by a person who does not have legitimate authority, there is no security problem. Reduced.

  As a method different from encryption, a method of adding unnecessary dummy data to the original data to be stored is also effective. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the concept of the method of adding the dummy data. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), when processing for adding dummy data (hatched portion) irrelevant to the original data is performed, unnecessary data that is originally unnecessary is mixed. The correct data cannot be used. In particular, as shown in FIG. 7B, if a method of inserting dummy data in a format in which the original data is divided at a plurality of locations, it becomes almost impossible to use the original data. Of course, this dummy data addition processing may be performed before the storage target data D is divided, or may be performed on each divided file after the division.

  However, if encryption processing or dummy data addition processing is performed during data storage, decryption processing or dummy data removal processing must be performed during data extraction. For that purpose, information indicating what kind of encryption was performed at the time of data storage and what kind of dummy data was added was recorded somewhere, and based on this record at the time of data retrieval Therefore, it is necessary to restore the original storage target data D. This record may be stored in the mediation processing unit 130 or may be transmitted to the terminal device used by the storage entrustor and stored.

It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the data storage mediation system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and its operation | movement form. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration content of the storage apparatus registration part 150 in the data storage mediation system 100 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the evaluation result recorded on the evaluation result recording part 140 in the data storage mediation system 100 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the storage charge menu shown by the condition input part 110 in the data storage mediation system 100 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example which divides | segments one storage object data D into three division | segmentation files D1, D2, and D3, and stores them in respectively different storage apparatuses W1, W2, and W3. It is a figure which shows an example of the encryption process at the time of storing data using the data storage mediation system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the dummy data addition process at the time of storing data using the data storage mediation system which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Data storage mediation system 110 ... Condition input part 120 ... Storage destination determination part 130 ... Mediation processing part 140 ... Evaluation result recording part 150 ... Storage apparatus registration part 160 ... Charge processing part 170 ... Performance evaluation part 180 ... Reward calculation processing part A, B, C: Terminal device D of storage consignor D: Storage target data D1, D2, D3 ... Divided file Dc ... Encrypted data Dc1, Dc2, Dc3 ... Divided encrypted file D1c, D2c, D3c ... Encrypted divided file N ... Network (Internet)
W1, W2, W3 ... Data storage device of storage trustee X, Y, Z ... Data storage device of storage trustee

Claims (16)

A data storage intermediary system that mediates between a storage consignor entrusting data storage and a storage consignor entrusting data storage,
A storage device registration unit for registering the location of the data storage device provided by the storage trustee;
A performance evaluation unit for evaluating the performance of the data storage device registered in the storage device registration unit;
An evaluation result recording unit for recording an evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit;
A condition input section for inputting the storage conditions desired by the storage consignor;
A storage destination determination unit that determines a data storage device to be a storage destination based on the storage condition input to the condition input unit and the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit;
An intermediary processing unit that performs an intermediary process for storing the storage target data in the storage destination determined by the storage destination determination unit;
A data storage mediation system comprising: The system of claim 1, wherein
A data storage mediation system, further comprising a billing processing unit that performs billing processing for a storage consignor in accordance with a storage condition input to the condition input unit and a result of mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit. The system according to claim 1 or 2,
Data storage characterized by further comprising a reward calculation processing unit that performs a reward calculation process for the storage trustee in accordance with the evaluation result recorded in the evaluation result recording unit and the results of the mediation processing executed by the mediation processing unit Mediation system. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The performance evaluation unit has a function of accessing the data storage device via a network, and performs performance evaluation by putting predetermined test data into and out of the data storage device via the network, and the result is A data storage mediation system that performs a process of recording in an evaluation result recording unit. The system of claim 4, wherein
The performance evaluation unit has a function to evaluate the performance by monitoring the storage of data to / from the data storage device during the actual operation when the mediation processing by the mediation processing unit is started. A data storage mediation system, which performs a process of updating the recorded contents of the evaluation result recording unit based on the evaluation result. In the system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The performance evaluation unit has a function of evaluating the data storage speed of the data storage device or the reliability of data storage, or both as the performance of the data storage device,
A data storage intermediary system characterized in that the condition input unit has a function of inputting data input / output speed and / or data storage reliability as storage conditions. The system of claim 6, wherein
The data storage mediation system, wherein the performance evaluation unit further has a function of evaluating the geographical installation location of the data storage device as one of the reliability standards for the data storage device. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The condition input unit performs a process of presenting a plurality of storage conditions as a menu to the terminal device of the storage consignor, and the specific storage condition selected by the selection operation of the storage consignor for this menu is displayed as “storage consignor”. Data storage intermediary system, characterized in that it is input as "reserved storage conditions". The system of claim 8, wherein
A data storage mediation system, wherein the condition input unit has a function of presenting accounting conditions corresponding to individual storage conditions in a menu. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The storage location determination unit has a function to determine multiple storage locations for the same data,
A data storage mediation system, wherein the mediation processing unit has a function of performing mediation processing for storing the same data redundantly in a plurality of storage destinations. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The storage destination determination unit has a function of determining different storage destinations for each part constituting the storage target data,
A data storage mediation system, wherein the mediation processing unit has a function of performing mediation processing for dividing storage target data into the individual parts and storing the individual parts in each storage destination. The system of claim 11, wherein
A data storage mediation system, wherein a storage destination determination unit determines an optimal combination from a plurality of combinations in which a plurality of parts are assigned to a plurality of storage destinations based on a predetermined optimization algorithm. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
An intermediary processing unit receives data to be stored from a storage consignor's terminal device via a network, and transfers the data to a predetermined storage destination via the network to perform mediation processing. system. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The intermediary processing unit notifies the storage device of the storage consignor of the storage destination, so that the storage target data is transferred from the terminal device to the storage destination via the network. Data storage mediation system characterized by performing. The system according to claim 1,
For a specific data storage device, when the evaluation result by the performance evaluation unit falls below a predetermined lower limit value, the mediation processing unit changes the storage target data stored in the specific data storage device to another data storage device. A data storage mediation system characterized in that an evacuation process for re-storing is executed.   A program for causing a computer to function as the data storage mediation system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.