JP2010277374A - File storage system, server device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a de-duplication file storage system wherein only files expected to be de-duplicated are transmitted from a terminal device to a server device and are stored in the server device. <P>SOLUTION: When de-duplication uploading of a file is tried from the terminal device 2, summary information of the file is transmitted by a summary information transmission means 22 and is received by a summary information reception means 32 of the server device 3. This reception history is stored in a summary information reception history storage means 33. When the file is not stored yet, a hold information obtaining means 36 obtains hold information about the file of the other users on the basis of reception histories stored in the summary information reception history storage means 33 and transmits the hold information from the server device 3 to the terminal device 2. The terminal device determines whether the file is to be transmitted from a file transmission means 24 or not on the basis of the hold information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a file storage system used for an online storage service, for example.

  An online storage service that lends a disk space for storing files to a large number of unspecified users via a public line such as the Internet is provided. The online storage service can be used if there is an environment that can be connected to the public line, so it can be used for saving and reading files from any place such as home or work, or for transferring files between different users. It is utilized.

  However, the current online storage service has problems of file storage cost, communication cost, and communication time, so the number of files that users can store in disk space is relatively small, and the file size is several hundred megabytes Limited to degree.

  By the way, in a file backup system used in a closed network such as an intranet, a deduplication technique is employed in order to reduce the storage cost when storing a huge file in a disk space. That is, in a terminal device, files and file fragments (hereinafter, files are assumed to include file fragments) are managed together with summary information such as hash values, and the summary information is sent to the server before attempting to upload the file. To do. When the server determines that the file corresponding to the summary information is already stored in the file storage device, the server links to the already stored file. Thereby, without uploading the file from the terminal device to the server, the same effect as the terminal device uploading the file is produced. Only when the server determines that the file corresponding to the summary information is not stored in the file storage device, uploading of the file is started. Thus, by preventing duplication of uploading of the same file, backup time, communication resource consumption, and storage resource consumption are saved. As a result, communication resources and storage resources can be saved even if huge files can be stored in the disk space.

  By using such deduplication technology for online storage services via public lines, it is possible to reduce the storage cost and communication cost of files, shorten the communication time, and enable mass storage of huge files. .

  As a conventional technique in which a deduplication technique is applied to an online storage service, there is one described in Patent Document 1 below.

JP-T-2004-514968

  In a storage system using such deduplication technology, if the file to be uploaded is not stored on the server, normal upload is immediately performed. That is, the file is managed on the storage of the server device whether the file is unstored or already stored. Therefore, on the storage, a file from which duplication is eliminated and a file that originally did not include the duplicate portion are mixed.

  However, in deduplication type storage, the saving effect of storage resources and communication resources can be exhibited only in the case of files that are actually deduplicated. There is no effect. Compared with the case of storing in a local storage, storing a file that cannot be deduplicated in a deduplication online storage is rather an increase factor in communication cost and communication time.

  Therefore, the problem of the present invention is that, when a file is not stored in the server when the summary information is transmitted, the file is not unconditionally transmitted to the server, but only a file that is expected to be deduplicated. Is to provide a deduplication type file storage system in which only files that can be deduplicated are centrally managed by the server device.

  In this specification, as a general file storage system performs, “normal upload” means that a server device receives a file from a user terminal device, stores it, and grants the user access rights to the stored file. Call it. On the other hand, receiving the file summary information from the user's terminal device, and giving the user the access right of the file stored in the server device without receiving the file is referred to as "deduplication upload" Call.

In order to achieve the above object, a file storage system according to aspect 1 of the present invention provides:
A file storage system including a terminal device and a server device connected to each other via a network,
The terminal device is
Summary information generation means for generating summary information by summarizing files;
Summary information transmitting means for transmitting the summary information generated by the summary information generating means to the server device;
Holding information receiving means for receiving holding information from the server device;
File transmission means for transmitting the file to the server device based on the hold information received by the hold information receiving means;
The server device is
A file storage means for storing the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting the access right of the file searched by the search means to the user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
Receiving file storage means for storing the file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means.

  According to the above configuration, first, summary information is generated based on the file by the summary information generation unit in the terminal device, and is transmitted to the server device by the summary information transmission unit. The server device receives the summary information from the terminal device by the summary information receiving means. This reception history is left in the summary information reception history storage means. The server device further searches the file corresponding to the summary information by the search means using the summary information received from the terminal device as a search key from among the files stored in the file storage means. When the verification result is affirmative, the access right of the retrieved file is given by the access right granting unit to the user who operates the terminal device. On the other hand, if the search result is negative, based on the summary information reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means, another user stores a file corresponding to the summary information by the hold information acquisition means. The hold information expressing whether or not it is going to be acquired is acquired, and the hold information is transmitted to the terminal device by the hold information transmitting means.

  The terminal device receives the hold information by the hold information receiving means, and when it can be determined from the hold information that another user is going to perform deduplication type storage for the corresponding file, the file transmitting means normally Upload. On the other hand, if it cannot be determined that another user is attempting to perform deduplication type storage for the corresponding file, the corresponding file is not uploaded.

  As described above, according to the file storage system of aspect 1, when the deduplication type upload fails, whether or not another user is trying to store the file instead of performing the normal upload unconditionally is determined. The hold information shown is acquired from the server, and the file is normally uploaded only when it can be determined that another user is trying to store the file, that is, when it can be determined that deduplication type storage can be expected. If it cannot be determined that another user is trying to store the file, the upload is put on hold while the intention of “I am trying to store the file” remains in the server as a history. If you put the upload on hold, if the other user attempts a deduplicating upload and fails, the user will be notified that the upload is pending and that user will upload normally. Will do. As a result, the deduplication upload succeeds when the user tries the deduplication upload again.

  On the other hand, if the other user does not attempt the deduplication upload for the file for which the upload is put on hold, the file is not uploaded to the server. Therefore, a file for which deduplication cannot be expected is not managed on the server device side.

  Here, the summary information is information having a data size smaller than that of the file, and is information that summarizes the entire file. That is, for example, it is desirable that the summary information differs if any one bit of the file entity differs between the two files. Otherwise, there is a risk that a damaged file in which only one bit is inverted with respect to a normal file will be identified with the normal file. If a known one-way hash function is applied to the entire file, summary information summarizing the entire file is obtained. When retrying deduplication uploading, previously generated values may be saved and reused.

  Here, the reception history stored by the summary information reception history storage means is log information indicating when and from which situation the summary information was received, and information in which the history is degenerated. It is. For example, as a value indicating when “summary information is received”, the time when the summary information receiving means receives the summary information may be stored as a time stamp. Further, the source identification information may be stored as a value indicating the “from whom” summary information has been received. In addition, as information indicating the “under what circumstances” the summary information is received, for example, transmission of the summary information from the terminal device is the first transmission, or transmission for retrying. It is also possible to receive a Boolean value representing the Boolean value and store the Boolean value in association with the summary information. Alternatively, an option value set on the terminal device when the terminal device transmits the summary information may be stored in the log as additional information.

  Here, the hold information is information representing the upload hold status of other users in order to use it as a material for determining whether or not there is a demand for uploading the corresponding file. This is information that is acquired based on the stored reception history and transmitted to the terminal device. For example, it may be a Boolean value indicating whether the summary information has been received by the summary information receiving means even once in the past. Alternatively, for example, the number of times the summary information has been received in the past may be used. Alternatively, for example, the number obtained by counting the source identification information stored in association with the summary information, excluding duplication, may be used. This number can be said to be the “number of on-hold users” that is currently pending uploading of the file.

  When it is determined that a file is to be transmitted based only on whether summary information has been transmitted before, since there is only one pending user, the user manages the file on the server for some reason. When canceling, there is a risk that the file sent to the server will not be deduplicated. It is safer to send a file after a certain amount of user demand has accumulated. For example, when the threshold value, which is a criterion for determining whether or not the terminal device transmits a file, is 10, there are 10 users on hold when the number of reserved users reaches the threshold. become. In this case, it is unlikely that all 10 people cancel the storage, and the risk of managing non-overlapping files with the server device can be reduced.

  Here, the number of transmission source users acquired by the hold information acquisition unit may be the total number of users based on the number of times the summary information is received, or may be the actual number excluding duplication.

  Further, the number of held users may be calculated after limiting the reception time of the summary information to a case where the current time is within a certain time. Further, the number of reserved users may be calculated by weighting a value that becomes smaller as the difference is larger depending on the difference between the current time and the reception time. This is because a user who has transmitted summary information immediately before is considered to have a low probability of canceling management of the file in the server.

  Further, the number of reserved users may be calculated after limiting to users belonging to the same user group as the user who operates the terminal device. In that case, duplication is eliminated only between users who are closely related.

  Alternatively, the summary information receiving unit receives the file size together with the summary information, and stores the file size as additional information in association with the summary information in the summary information storage unit, so that the hold information is considered in consideration of the file size. You may get it. Since a large file has a large merit of being managed by deduplication, it is desirable to acquire the hold information by biasing in a direction in which the file is easily transmitted.

  Further, the hold information acquisition unit of the server device determines whether or not these values satisfy a predetermined condition, determines whether the file should be transmitted from the terminal to the server device, and determines the Boolean value of the determined result. It may be reserved information. For example, it may be determined whether or not the number of times the summary information has been received has reached a threshold, and a Boolean value that is “true” if it has reached or “false” if it has not been reached may be used as pending information.

  Furthermore, when the Boolean value is acquired as the hold information by the hold information acquisition unit of the server device, the hold information is transmitted to the terminal device by the hold information transmission unit only when the value is “true”, and nothing is transmitted when the value is “false”. You don't have to. Alternatively, even if it is “false” at the time when the summary information is received, it may be transmitted to the terminal device by the hold information transmitting means when it becomes “true” after the lapse of time.

  The determination as to whether or not the file transmission means of the terminal device transmits a file to the server device based on the hold information is as follows. In the case where the hold information has a Boolean value, the file is transmitted when the received value is “true”, and the file is not transmitted when the received information is “false”. If it is transmitted only when the hold information is a Boolean true value, the file is sent at the timing when the hold information is received. When the hold information is at least one numerical value, the file is transmitted when the numerical value satisfies a predetermined condition, and is not transmitted otherwise. For example, when the hold information is the number of users holding up uploading, if the number is equal to or greater than a certain threshold, the file is transmitted, and if not, the file is not transmitted.

  Since the history information stored in the summary information reception history storage means is stored for the purpose of obtaining the hold information based on the history information, the history information itself is stored in a degenerated form, and the summary information is stored. The stored information may be updated when receiving.

  Moreover, since the history information stored in the summary information reception history storage means is stored for the purpose of obtaining the hold information based on it, when it is no longer necessary to obtain the hold information after that, There is no need to store a new history. For example, when searching for a file by the search means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key, if the search result is affirmative, the corresponding file has already been stored. It is not necessary to obtain the history information for the reception of the summary information. Also, even if the search result is negative, it first obtains hold information based on the summary information reception history stored until just before the summary information that it sent was received, and then uploads the normal information based on it. The history information is stored only when the normal upload is not performed, and the history information may not be stored when the normal upload is performed.

The file storage system according to aspect 2 of the present invention is:
In the file storage system of aspect 1,
The server device is
The summary information reception history storage means is
The number of times of reception of the summary information is stored in association with the summary information received by the summary information receiving means.

  Since the history information stored in the summary information reception history storage means is stored for the purpose of obtaining hold information based on the history information, the history information itself may be expressed in a degenerated form. When the number of times of summary information reception is acquired as the hold information, the history information stored in the summary information reception history storage unit may be stored as a value of the number of times of reception when the reception history is degenerated. That is, when the summary information receiving means receives summary information for the first time, 1 is stored as the number of receptions, and every time the summary information receiving means receives the same summary information, the number of receptions should be counted up. .

  According to the file storage system of aspect 2 of the present invention, it is not necessary to save the detailed information of the reception history, so the amount of information of the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means can be kept small. Further, the hold information acquisition means can acquire the number of receptions stored in the summary information reception history storage means as hold information as it is, so that the processing cost can be saved.

  Here, the number of receptions may be the total number of receptions, or reception from the same transmission source may be the actual number of receptions regarded as one reception.

The file storage system according to aspect 3 of the present invention is:
In the file storage system of aspect 1 or 2,
The server device is
The summary information reception history storage means is
The transmission source identification information of the summary information is stored in association with the summary information received by the summary information receiving means.

  Here, the transmission source identification information is information for identifying a user who operates the terminal device that is the transmission source of the summary information. As the transmission source identification information, a user ID uniquely assigned to each user in providing an online storage service can be used. Alternatively, the transmission source identification information may be information including information that can uniquely identify the user of the terminal device, such as the IP address of the terminal device used exclusively by the user.

  According to the file storage system of aspect 3, information on who is pending uploading of the file can also be left as a history, so when the file is stored in the file storage means by the received file storage means, A notification corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in association with the summary information that summarizes the message can be transmitted by e-mail or the like to prompt the retry of the deduplication upload. Or it can be made into the material for analyzing a utilization condition for every user, such as who is holding many files or who is not retrying after holding a file.

A file storage system according to aspect 4 of the present invention provides:
In the file storage system of aspect 3,
The server device is
The holding information transmitting means is
The hold information acquired by the hold information acquisition unit is also transmitted to a terminal device operated by a user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage unit.

  According to the above configuration, the hold information transmission unit of the server device is not only the terminal operated by the user who has recently received the summary information, but also the user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage unit. The hold information is also transmitted to the terminal device operated by. Thereby, the user who is on hold can automatically release the hold state and upload the corresponding file normally.

  Here, the hold information receiving means of the terminal device operated by the user corresponding to each transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means continuously waits for the hold information transmitted from the server device. Alternatively, when the user logs in next time, the hold information after the previous logout may be received together. Alternatively, the hold information receiving means may receive the hold information as an e-mail including a URL at which file transmission from the terminal to the server is started by clicking on it.

  According to the file storage system of the side surface 4, when the hold status changes, the user who holds the upload in an event-driven manner can automatically retry. The user receives the hold information not only when he / she sends the summary information but also when another user sends the same summary information.

  Here, when a plurality of transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means are stored, the hold information is transmitted almost simultaneously to the terminal devices operated by the plurality of users. Any one of the users may send the file. Therefore, when the file transmission means of the terminal device tries to send a file, if someone else has already stored the file and you no longer need to send the file, you can usually stop uploading Deduplication upload may be performed.

  Alternatively, when the hold information is transmitted to a plurality of users almost simultaneously, the files may be shared by all or a part of the plurality of users and uploaded. For example, when N users are ready to send a file at a certain timing, one of the file fragments obtained by dividing the file into N files is assigned to each user, and the user uploads it. When N file fragments are prepared on the device, they may be combined and the entire file entity may be stored in the file storage device.

A file storage system according to aspect 5 of the present invention provides:
In the file storage system of aspect 3 or 4,
The server device is
When the received file storage means stores the file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means, the file access to the user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means A holding user access right granting unit for granting a right.

  According to the above configuration, the access right is automatically granted to the user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means when the corresponding file is stored. Therefore, when the received file storage unit stores the file received by the file receiving unit in the file storage unit, the duplication degree (link count) of the file immediately becomes plural, and deduplication type storage is started. Before actually granting the access right, a process for confirming whether or not the access right may actually be granted to each individual transmission source user may be inserted.

  According to the file storage system of aspect 5, storing the sender identification information in the summary information reception history storage means not only “holding” the deduplication type upload but also “reserving”. To do. Therefore, it can be said that the hold information that the terminal device receives from the server device represents an obvious demand, not a potential demand.

The server device according to aspect 6 of the present invention provides:
A server device connected to a terminal device via a network,
A file storage means for storing the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting the access right of the file searched by the search means to the user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
Receiving file storage means for storing the file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means.

  According to the above configuration, the file storage system according to aspect 1 of the present invention can be realized.

The program of aspect 7 of the present invention is:
A program for causing a computer to function as a server device connected to a terminal device via a network,
A file storage means for storing the file in association with summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting an access right of the file searched by the search means to a user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
The computer is caused to function as received file storage means for storing a file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means.

  According to the above configuration, by causing the computer to execute the above-described program, the computer is caused to function as each of the above-described units, and the server device according to aspect 7 of the present invention is configured using, for example, a general-purpose computer. 1 file storage system can be realized.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to select only a file that is expected to be stored with duplication eliminated and to transmit it to the server device. As a result, it is possible to avoid sending a file that is not expected to be duplicated to the server device. For users with poor communication environments, waste of communication costs and communication time can be prevented.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the file storage system of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the file storage system of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the file storage system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the flow of a process in the file storage system of 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a file storage system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A file storage system 1 according to the present embodiment is used to provide an online storage service to a user via a network, and a plurality of terminal devices 2 operated by a plurality of users are connected via a network 4 to a server device. 3 is configured.

  The terminal device 2 is a computer device having information processing resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a cache memory and having a function of connecting to a network. For example, a personal computer, a workstation, a mainframe, a portable information terminal, a game machine And a car navigation device. The terminal device 2 further includes a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, an input / output device, a communication interface, a memory interface, and the like. The terminal device 2 causes the CPU to execute system information and various control programs read from the auxiliary storage device to the main storage device as necessary, and cooperates with each device and interface as necessary. This functions as each means described later.

  The server device 3 is a computer device that has information processing resources such as a CPU and a cache memory and has a function of connecting to a network, and includes, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, a main frame, and the like. The server device 3 further includes a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive for storing files uploaded from the terminal device 2 in addition to a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, an input / output device, a communication interface, and a memory interface. The server device 3 cooperates with each device and interface as necessary by the CPU executing system information and various control programs read from the auxiliary storage device to the main storage device as necessary. This functions as each means described later. The server device 3 may have a mass storage device separated from the main body.

  Communication between the terminal device 2 and the server device 3 is performed according to a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) protocol via a communication interface between the terminal device 2 and the server device 3.

  The user of the terminal device 2 applies to the service provider prior to using the online storage service, and when the service provider permits the use of the service, the authentication information such as the user ID and password is registered. The user connects to the server device 3 with the predetermined terminal device 2 and transmits the ID and password to the server device 3. The server device 3 performs authentication by comparing the received ID and password with the registered authentication information. When the authentication is successful, the server device 3 uploads and downloads a file with the terminal device 2. Note that the user may be authenticated using another authentication method such as biometric authentication instead of the password. In addition, the online storage service may be in a form in which a file can be uploaded and downloaded between the terminal device 2 and the server device 3 without a user performing a registration procedure when the service is provided. For example, the user who operates the terminal device 2 may be distinguished by an IP address set when the terminal device 2 connects to the network 4. Files stored in the server device 3 by the online storage service are arbitrary files such as documents, images, music, and programs.

  Note that the terminal device 2 may be a virtual terminal device provided as an exclusive area for the user by an online storage service. The online storage service may be a service provided by the same service provider that provides the server apparatus 3 or may be a service provided by another person. When the person who provides the online storage service that realizes the virtual terminal device corresponding to the terminal device 2 and the person who provides the server device 3 as online storage are the same, the network 4 is not a public line such as the Internet, It may be a network whose access is restricted only within the provider's company.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the terminal device 2 and the server device 3 in the file storage system 1 of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 2 includes summary information generation means 21, summary information transmission means 22, hold information reception means 23, and file transmission means 24. The server device 3 includes summary information reception means 32, summary information reception history storage means 33, search means 34, file storage means 31, access right grant means 35, hold information acquisition means 36, hold information transmission means. 37, a file receiving means 38, and a received file storage means 39.

  The server device 3 may be realized by a system in which a plurality of devices that realize one or more of the respective means described in FIG. 2 are connected via the network 4. For example, only the file storage means 31 may be on a file storage device existing in a remote place via the network 4. In that case, there may be a plurality of file storage devices.

  The file storage system 1 of the present embodiment operates as follows. First, when the user performs deduplication type upload of a predetermined file stored in the auxiliary storage device of the terminal device 2, the summary information generation means 21 generates a 128-bit value by the MD5 of the hash function based on the file. Then, summary information is generated. The summary information is transmitted to the server device 3 through the network 4 by the summary information transmission means 22.

  When the summary information is received by the summary information receiving unit 32, the server device 3 searches the file storage unit 31 to determine whether a file corresponding to the summary information is stored in the file storage unit 31 by using the received summary information as a search key. . The file storage means 31 stores the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the stored file, that is, the MD5 value.

  If the search result of the search means 34 is affirmative, the access right granting means 35 gives the file access right of the search result to the user who operates the terminal device 2. For example, a file access right can be given to a user by associating and saving a list of user identification information of the user having the file access right to all the files stored in the file storage unit 31. This is done by adding user identification information. The user who is given the access right can download the file to the terminal device 2.

  If the search result of the search means 34 is negative, the hold information is acquired by the hold information acquisition means 36 based on the summary information reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means 33, and the hold information transmission means 37 It is transmitted to the terminal device 2.

  Here, the hold information acquired by the hold information acquisition unit 36 is the number of hold users. In this case, the summary information reception history storage means 33 needs to store information necessary for the hold information acquisition means 36 to acquire the number of hold users as the hold information. For example, the number of held users may be stored in the summary information reception history storage unit 33, and the number of held users stored in association with the summary information may be updated each time the summary information is received. When the same summary information is received from the same user, it may be determined that the purpose is to retry deduplicating upload of the same file, and may be excluded from the update processing target of the number of pending users. Alternatively, each time the summary information is received, the reception log may be stored in the log file by adding a time stamp, transmission source user identification information, and other additional information. Even in that case, based on the log file, the hold information acquisition unit 36 can extract the number of users who hold the upload of the file corresponding to the corresponding summary information and use it as the hold information.

  The file transmission unit 24 of the terminal device 2 determines whether or not to transmit the file based on the number of held users as the hold information received from the server device 3 by the hold information receiving unit 23. For example, if the number of pending users is 1 or more, the file is transmitted. If you send the file, you can expect the suspended user to try again later to gain access to the file.

  The threshold of the number of reserved users that determines whether or not to transmit a file can be set to an arbitrary value. If a large threshold is set, the server device 3 can manage only files that can be expected to have a high degree of duplication.

  Moreover, the threshold value of the number of reserved users for determining whether to transmit a file may be set as an option value for each user in the reserved information acquisition unit 36 of the server device 3. In this case, the hold information transmitted to the terminal device 2 is a Boolean value after threshold processing is performed on the number of hold users. Alternatively, the hold information transmission unit 37 may send hold information only when the Boolean value is “true”.

  The summary information reception history storage means 33 stores the summary information reception history in association with the summary information. The hold information acquisition means 36 may acquire hold information based on the state before storing the reception history related to the summary information transmitted by the user, and then store the reception history related to the summary information transmitted by the user. A reception history related to the summary information transmitted by the user may be stored first, and the hold information acquisition unit 36 may acquire the hold information based on the information including the history.

  Even after the access right of the file stored in the file storage means 31 of the server device 3 is obtained, the same file remains in the terminal device 2, but this file can be downloaded from the server. You may delete it immediately. Alternatively, if the file storage capacity of the terminal device 2 is not tight, the deletion capability flag may be set instead of immediately deleting. In that case, when the file storage capacity of the terminal device 2 is tight, it can be deleted preferentially. Alternatively, when the terminal device 2 is backed up on an auxiliary storage device such as an optical disk, a function may be added in which only a file having no erasable flag is selected and backed up.

  As described above, according to the file storage system 1 of the present embodiment, the terminal device 2 can select only the files that are expected to be stored with the duplication eliminated, and transmit the selected files to the server device 3. Thereby, it is possible to avoid sending a file that is not expected to be duplicated to the server device 3.

  In the above embodiment, the search unit 34 is described as being configured independently of the hold information acquisition unit 36, but the hold information acquisition unit 36 may also serve as the search unit 34. For example, as the number of pending users stored in the summary information reception history storage means 33 in association with the summary information, when the file entity is stored in the file storage means 31, -1 is stored as a convenient value. In addition, a pointer to a file stored in the file storage unit 31 is also stored in association with each other. When the hold information acquisition unit 36 acquires the number of hold users as hold information, it first determines whether or not the number of hold users is -1, and if the value is -1, the file is already stored. When the access right granting unit 35 grants the access right of the file pointed to by the stored pointer and the number of pending users is 0 or more, the value is considered as the number of pending users and the pending information transmitting unit 37 And hand over. At this time, it can be said that the hold information acquisition unit 36 also has a function to be performed by the search unit 34.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a file storage system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The file storage system 101 of the present embodiment is configured by the same hardware as the file storage system 1 of the first embodiment, and the control programs executed by the terminal device 2 and the server device 301 are different. In the second embodiment, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are used for the same components as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the file storage system 101 according to the second embodiment stores the identification information of the transmission source of the summary information received by the summary information reception unit 32 in the summary information reception history storage unit 33 of the server device 301. The hold information transmission unit 37 stores the summary information in association with the summary information and stores it in the summary information reception history storage unit 33 in association with the summary information. The hold information is also transmitted to the original identification information. Further, when the received file storage means 39 stores the file received by the file receiving means 38 in the file storage means 31, the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means 33 is automatically added to the file identification information. There is a reserved user access right granting means 351 for granting an access right.

  When the received file storage unit 39 stores the received file, the hold user access right grant unit 351 stores the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage unit 33 in association with the summary information that summarizes the file. The access right of the file is automatically given to the user corresponding to. Accordingly, it is possible to make the duplication degree (link count) plural without waiting for the user to retry the deduplication upload of the corresponding file from the time when the file entity is uploaded.

  In the following, when a certain user stores his / her sender identification information in the summary information reception history storage means 33 in association with the summary information is referred to as “holding deduplication upload”, and the other user corresponds to the corresponding file. By uploading, the release of the hold state and the granting of the access right will be referred to as “deduplication upload is complete”.

  FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of processing in the file storage system 101 of the present embodiment. First, the summary information generated by the summary information generating means 21 of the terminal device 2 is transmitted by the summary information transmitting means 22, and the summary information receiving means 32 of the server device 301 receives the summary information (401). The search unit 34 searches the file storage unit 31 for a file corresponding to the summary information (402). If there is a search result, the deduplication upload can be completed immediately (404).

  When there is no search result, the hold information acquisition unit 36 acquires the number of transmission source identification information stored as the hold information in the summary information reception history storage unit 33 as the hold information. The hold information is transmitted. The hold information receiving means 23 of the terminal device 2 receives the hold information and passes it to the file transmitting means 24. The file transmission unit 24 determines whether or not the number of pieces of transmission source identification information that is hold information is N or more (403), and if it can be determined that “N or more people are on hold”, the file entity is uploaded ( 406).

  In the server device 301, the file receiving unit 38 receives the file, the received file storage unit 39 stores the file in the file storage unit 31, and the summary information reception history storage unit 33 stores the file in association with the summary information. The reserved user access right granting means 351 automatically grants the access right of the file whose access right is uploaded to the user having the transmission source identification information. Of course, the access right of the file is also given to the person who sent the file.

  On the other hand, if the file transmission unit 24 of the terminal device 2 cannot determine that “N or more people are on hold”, the file is not transmitted. Source identification information is stored in the summary information reception history storage means 33 of the server device 301 in association with the summary information. This is a state in which the deduplication upload is suspended (405). After that, when another user sends the same summary information as the above summary information, when a normal upload (406) is performed, the user who has been put on hold has been given access right and has been put on hold. The deduplication upload is completed (407).

  The threshold value N for the number of reserved users for determining whether or not to transmit a file may be configured such that the terminal device 2 can be freely set as an option for each user. There may be a user who sets the threshold value N to 0 and immediately transmits a file regardless of whether there is a suspended user. That is, this user does not hold the deduplication upload. For users who can use a broadband communication environment, as with conventional deduplication storage, it is sometimes preferable to manage all files with the server device 301 regardless of the presence or absence of duplication. .

  Further, by setting the threshold value to infinity or a very large value, there may be a user who never or rarely sends a file. For users using a narrowband communication environment, this is advantageous because it can save communication costs and waste of communication time.

  In the above description, the hold information transmission unit 37 of the server device 301 transmits the hold information only to the terminal device 2 that has transmitted the summary information, but the summary information reception history storage unit 33 associates the hold information with the summary information. It may be transmitted substantially simultaneously to a plurality of terminal devices 2 operated by the user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the above. In that case, among the users who have received the hold information, the user who has set the threshold value N smaller will normally upload the file. Access rights are automatically granted to other users by the reserved user access right granting means 351.

  Alternatively, when the hold information is transmitted to a plurality of users substantially simultaneously, the files may be shared by the plurality of users and uploaded. For example, when N users are in a state to transmit a file at a certain timing, one of the file fragments obtained by dividing the file into K pieces is assigned to each user, the user is uploaded, and the server device 301 is uploaded. At the stage when K file fragments are prepared, they may be combined and the entire file entity may be stored in the file storage device. Here, N = K may be set, or in order to provide redundancy, for example, N = A × K may be set. In this case, if some of the A persons assigned to all the fragments upload, the entire file entity is prepared. In this case, the user who has not uploaded the file fragment is automatically granted the access right by the reserved user access right giving means 351.

  As described above, according to the file storage system 101 of the present embodiment, the terminal device 2 can select only the files that are expected to be stored without duplication and transmit the selected files to the server device 301. Furthermore, since the access right of the file is automatically given to the user who is on hold, the file is immediately deduplicated and stored without waiting for another user to retry the deduplication upload. Further, not only the user who sent the summary information most recently, but also any of the users who have suspended uploading of the corresponding file can upload the file entity.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,101 File storage system 2 Terminal device 3,301 Server device 4 Network 21 Summary information generation means 22 Summary information transmission means 23 Hold information reception means 24 File transmission means 31 File storage means 32 Summary information reception means 33 Summary information reception history storage Means 34 Search means 35 Access right grant means 36 Hold information acquisition means 37 Hold information transmission means 38 File reception means 39 Received file storage means 351 Hold user access right grant means

Claims (7)

A file storage system including a terminal device and a server device connected to each other via a network,
The terminal device is
Summary information generation means for generating summary information by summarizing files;
Summary information transmitting means for transmitting the summary information generated by the summary information generating means to the server device;
Holding information receiving means for receiving holding information from the server device;
File transmission means for transmitting the file to the server device based on the hold information received by the hold information receiving means;
The server device is
A file storage means for storing the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting the access right of the file searched by the search means to the user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
A file storage system comprising: a received file storage unit that stores the file received by the file reception unit in the file storage unit. The file storage system of claim 1,
The server device is
The summary information reception history storage means is
A file storage system characterized by storing the number of times the summary information is received in association with the summary information received by the summary information receiving means. The file storage system according to claim 1 or 2,
The server device is
The summary information reception history storage means is
A file storage system characterized by storing source identification information of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information receiving means. The file storage system of claim 3,
The server device is
The holding information transmitting means is
A file storage system, wherein the hold information acquired by the hold information acquisition unit is transmitted to a terminal device operated by a user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage unit. . The file storage system according to claim 3 or 4,
The server device is
When the received file storage means stores the file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means, the file access to the user corresponding to the transmission source identification information stored in the summary information reception history storage means A file storage system comprising: a reserved user access right granting unit for granting a right. A server device connected to a terminal device via a network,
A file storage means for storing the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting the access right of the file searched by the search means to the user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
A server apparatus comprising: received file storage means for storing the file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means. A program for causing a computer to function as a server device connected to a terminal device via a network,
A file storage means for storing the file in association with the summary information generated by summarizing the file;
Summary information receiving means for receiving summary information from the terminal device;
Summary information reception history storage means for storing a reception history of the summary information in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means;
Search means for searching the file from the file storage means using the summary information received by the summary information receiving means as a search key;
If the search result by the search means is affirmative, an access right granting means for granting the access right of the file searched by the search means to the user of the terminal device;
When the search result by the search means is negative, the hold information is acquired based on the reception history stored in the summary information reception history storage means in association with the summary information received by the summary information reception means. Holding information acquisition means;
Hold information transmitting means for transmitting the hold information acquired by the hold information acquiring means to the terminal device;
File receiving means for receiving a file from the terminal device;
A program for causing the computer to function as received file storage means for storing a file received by the file receiving means in the file storage means.

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