KR20150073136A - Mobile storage device providing mass virtual storage space and providing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a mobile storing device for providing a large capacity virtual storing space and a method for producing the same. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a mobile storing device connected to a host computer and providing a large capacity virtual storing space comprises: a networking module for receiving remote file information stored in at least one network storage server from the network storage server; a mapping module for setting a correspondence between data of the remote file and at least one of a plurality of virtual unit spaces included in a virtual storing space based on the received remote file information; a file system module for generating file system information about the virtual storing space based on the received remote file information and the correspondence, wherein the file system information is formed in a type of a host file system supported in an operation system installed in the host computer; a determining module for determining a receiving object network storage server corresponding to a reading object virtual unit space by the correspondence by responding to a request for reading of data corresponding to the reading object virtual unit space included in the virtual storing space inputted from the host computer; and a data input and output module for receiving remote file data corresponding to the reading object virtual unit space from the receiving object network storage server and providing the same to the host computer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a mobile storage device and a method for providing the same,

The present invention relates to a portable storage device providing a large-capacity virtual storage space and a method of providing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space for providing a large-capacity storage space provided by a network storage server in the form of a file system of the host computer when a portable storage device is connected to the host computer, .

As time goes by, people want to use or store their data anywhere, anytime, and there are a variety of network storage services (such as iCloud, Skydrive, Dropbox, Box.net, SugarSync, SiderOak, GoogleDrive, Service) has been exploding. Early users were able to use only a small amount of cloud services by storing only simple data such as documents, and did not have to spend much time receiving and storing data. However, due to the change of the age, the use of multimedia is increasing, and it manages its own music / image / image. Therefore, the capacity required for cloud service is increasing from several GB to several hundred GB.

There are three main ways to use network storage services.

- Web

- Dedicated synchronization program

- Embedded application

A method of data access using the Web is a method used before a network storage service became popular, a method of accessing a network storage server using a web browser, and downloading or uploading data through a web service. The web-based approach has the advantage of being easy to use because it requires only downloading the corresponding data if the user has little data to use. However, if the user wants to access more than two data, There is a cumbersome process that needs to be repeated. In addition, illegal leakage of ID and password may occur during the web connection process, and data leakage due to deletion of downloaded data may occur.

A method using a dedicated synchronization program is provided by most network storage services and is installed in a personal PC or a personal smart device to synchronize data in a network storage server with data in a user's device, Each service provides a separate program. The dedicated synchronization program is always active during the operation of the system and reacts immediately to changes in the data to download data on the network storage server or to upload data of the user device to the network storage server. This is a very convenient function for everyday personal use devices, but it can be exposed to serious security risks such as unauthorized data leakage when used in non-personal devices such as public PCs.

In addition, when the user intends to receive a large amount of data from the network storage server using the dedicated synchronization program, the dedicated synchronization program checks whether the data stored in the network storage service exists in the user's local PC, The data is downloaded and stored in order to synchronize the network storage server with the local PC. At this time, the problem that may occur is the time to download the data. If there is not enough data to synchronize, this is not a problem. However, if the capacity of the data is several tens of megabytes to several gigabytes, the time required for the synchronization is greatly increased.

In addition, since the data is stored in the local PC as in the web-based method described above, when used in a non-personal device such as a public PC, data must be deleted before leaving the place to prevent illegal data leakage.

Another way to use the data on the network storage server is to use the functionality built into the application. This method is troublesome to connect to the web and download data one by one, but the above problems that may occur when using the data synchronization program will be reduced, but the problem of downloading large data and the problem that it can be used only in a specific program Lt; / RTI >

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a large-capacity virtual storage space capable of providing a large storage space to a user in cooperation with a network storage service such as a cloud service To provide a removable storage device.

In addition, it does not require installation of a separate dedicated program or drive driver, and can be used to store data on a local PC while providing a user experience such as using a removable storage device (e.g., USB memory) And to provide a portable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space that can solve the problem of illegal data leakage.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a removable storage device coupled to a host computer for providing a large amount of virtual storage space, the removable storage device comprising: at least one network storage server; networking for receiving remote file information stored in the at least one network storage server; A mapping module for setting a correspondence relation between at least one of the data of the remote file and the plurality of virtual unit spaces included in the virtual storage space based on the received remote file information, Wherein the file system information is configured in the form of a host file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer, wherein the file system information is generated from the host computer The virtual storage space A determination module for determining a reception target network storage server corresponding to the read target virtual unit space by the corresponding relationship in response to a read request of data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space, There is provided a portable storage device for receiving a remote file data corresponding to a target virtual unit space and providing a large-capacity virtual storage space including a data input / output module for providing the remote file data to the host computer.

In one embodiment, the file system information generated by the file system module may include information on the remote file and information on a virtual unit space in which a correspondence relationship with the remote file is set.

In one embodiment, in response to a storage request to store a predetermined recording object file in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, The data input / output module sets a correspondence relationship between each of the recording target virtual unit spaces and the at least one network storage server, and the data input / output module sets, for each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space, Data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space may be transmitted to the transmission target network storage server corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space and stored in the transmission target network storage server.

In one embodiment, the mapping module can set a correspondence relationship between each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space and the at least one network storage server, based on the attribute of the recording object file.

In one embodiment, the attribute of the recording object file includes a file type, and the mapping module has a correspondence relationship with the network storage server corresponding to the type of the recording object file, .

In one embodiment, the removable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space includes a caching module that stores the file to be recorded in the internal memory device of the removable storage device in response to a storage request to store the file to be recorded Wherein the determination module determines whether a cache file corresponding to the read target virtual unit space is stored in the internal memory device in response to a data read request corresponding to the read target virtual unit space, The data input / output module may provide data included in the cache file to the host computer as a result of the determination by the determination module.

In one embodiment, the portable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space may be connected to the host computer through a universal serial bus (USB) interface.

In one embodiment, the networking module may perform connection and data communication with the at least one network storage server through a wireless network.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable storage device connected to a host computer for providing a large-capacity virtual storage space, the network storage device including at least one network storage server for providing a network storage service, And a file system module for providing file system information on a virtual storage space including a plurality of virtual unit spaces to the host computer, wherein the file system information on the virtual storage space includes information In response to a storage request to store a predetermined recording object file in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, Each of the virtual unit spaces and the above- A mapping module for setting a correspondence relationship with at least one network storage server and data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space among data included in the recording object file for each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space, And a data input / output module for transmitting the virtual storage space to a transmission target network storage server corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space and storing the virtual storage space in the transmission target network storage server.

In one embodiment, the removable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space may include a storage unit for storing the virtual storage space in response to a read request of data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, And a determination module that determines a reception target network storage server corresponding to the virtual unit space, wherein the data input / output module receives data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space from the reception target network storage server, And can be provided by a computer.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing a removable storage device coupled to a host computer to provide a large amount of virtual storage space, the method comprising: (a) transferring, from at least one network storage server, Receiving, by the portable storage device, remote file information stored in a storage server; and (b) receiving, by the portable storage device, data of the remote file and at least one of a plurality of virtual unit spaces included in the virtual storage space (C) generating, by the removable storage device, file system information for the virtual storage space based on the received remote file information and the corresponding relationship, The system information is stored in a form of a host file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer (D) in response to a read request of data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, the portable storage device stores the read target virtual unit (E) receiving, by the portable storage device, remote file data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space from the receiving target network storage server and transmitting the remote file data to the host computer There is provided a method of providing a removable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space including a step of providing a large-capacity virtual storage space.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a removable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space, comprising the steps of: (f) storing, in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, Setting a correspondence relationship between each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space and the at least one network storage server in response to a storage request for storing the at least one recording target virtual unit space, A step of transmitting data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space among the data included in the recording object file to the transmission target network storage server corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space and storing the data in the transmission target network storage server As shown in FIG.

In one embodiment, the step (f) may set a correspondence relationship between each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space and the at least one network storage server, based on the attribute of the recording object file.

In one embodiment, the method for providing a removable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space includes storing the file to be recorded in the internal memory device of the removable storage device in response to a storage request to save the file to be recorded Determining whether a cache file corresponding to the read target virtual unit space is stored in the internal memory device in response to a read request of data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space, And providing the data included in the cache file to the host computer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a removable storage device connected to a host computer to provide a large capacity virtual storage space, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a removable storage device with at least one network storage server (B) providing the host computer with file system information for a virtual storage space including a plurality of virtual unit spaces, wherein the virtual storage unit Wherein the file system information on the space is configured in the form of a file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer, (c) the removable storage device has at least one record included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer Store a predetermined recording target file in the target virtual unit space Setting a correspondence relationship between each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space and the at least one network storage server in response to the at least one recording target virtual unit space; and (d) To the target network storage server corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space and storing the data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space among the data included in the recording object file in the target network storage server There is provided a method of providing a removable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space.

In one embodiment, the portable storage device providing method for providing the large-capacity virtual storage space includes storing the virtual storage space in response to a read request of data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer Determining a receiving target network storage server corresponding to the read target virtual unit space based on the correspondence relationship, receiving data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space from the receiving target network storage server, And a second step of providing the second step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for performing the above-described method.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a portable storage device providing a large virtual storage space, the storage device comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program executed by the processor, There is provided a portable storage device providing a large-capacity virtual storage space for allowing a portable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space to perform the above-described method.

According to the technical idea of the present invention, it is possible to provide a portable storage device that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space capable of providing a large-capacity storage space to a user in cooperation with a network storage service such as a cloud service.

In addition, according to the technical idea of the present invention, a user's host computer can access a file through a conventional host file system, so that a user can use a UI or a command provided by an operating system (for example, a search engine of a Windows operating system) To access files stored on a network storage server. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that the user needs to install a separate dedicated program, and it is possible to provide a user experience such as using a conventional portable storage device (for example, a USB memory).

 In addition, since it is possible to prevent a user from accidentally leaving room for data on the local PC in advance, illegal data leakage can be prevented.

In addition, there is an effect that a user can quickly access the data by caching the data that the user has recently used or enjoyed in the internal memory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A brief description of each drawing is provided to more fully understand the drawings recited in the description of the invention.
1 is a view for explaining a use environment of a mobile storage device providing a large-capacity virtual storage space according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3A is a diagram illustrating an example of a remote file stored in a network storage server.
3B is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence relationship between a remote file and a virtual storage space.
3C is a diagram showing an example of file system information.
4A is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence relationship between a remote file and a virtual storage space when a host computer records a file in the situation of FIGS. 3A to 3C. FIG.
4B is a diagram illustrating a state of a network storage server when a host computer records a file in the situation of FIGS. 3A to 3C.
FIG. 4C is a diagram showing an example in which the host computer records files and the file system information is changed in the situations of FIGS. 3A to 3C. FIG.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is capable of various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Also, in this specification, when any one element 'transmits' data to another element, the element may transmit the data directly to the other element, or may be transmitted through at least one other element And may transmit the data to the other component. Conversely, when one element 'directly transmits' data to another element, it means that the data is transmitted to the other element without passing through another element in the element.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a usage environment of a mobile storage device (hereinafter referred to as a 'mobile storage device') that provides a large-capacity virtual storage space according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a portable storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be connected to a predetermined host computer 200. The portable storage device 100 may be defined to include any type of data storage medium in which the host computer 10 can recognize a connection when the host computer 200 is connected to the host computer 200. [

The portable storage device 100 may be connected to the host computer 200 through connection interfaces 101 and 201, such as a universal serial bus (USB) interface. For convenience of description, the portable storage device 100 is connected to the host computer 200 via USB. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. The portable storage device 100 and the host computer 200 can be connected through a wired / wireless connection interface.

When the portable storage device 100 is connected to the host computer 200, the host computer 200 may recognize that the portable storage device 100 is connected. The recognition of whether or not the portable storage device 100 is connected can be performed by the USB interface 201 provided in the host computer 200 and software for driving the interface. The software may be a device driver for driving the USB interface.

The host computer 200 may be defined to include any type of data processing apparatus to which the portable storage device 100 may be connected. The host computer 200 may be, for example, a mobile terminal such as a user's desktop, a notebook, a tablet PC, or a smart phone.

Meanwhile, the mobile storage device 100 is connected to a plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N via a wired / wireless network to transmit / receive various information and data necessary for implementing the technical idea of the present invention .

In particular, the removable storage device 100 may be connected to the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N via a wireless network such as Wi-fi. In this case, May include a wireless NIC (Network Interface Controller) such as a Wi-fi module. The mobile storage device 100 may access the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N via a wireless router or a wireless access point 300 connected to the Internet to transmit and receive data.

Each of the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N may be a server for providing a network storage space for storing data. That is, the user transmits data stored in his / her local PC to the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N via the network, If necessary, the stored data can be downloaded to the local PC via the network and used. The size of the storage space provided by each of the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N may be all different. For example, the network storage server 400-1 may provide a storage space of 5 GB, and the network storage server 400-2 may provide a storage space of 10 GB.

In order to access / log into each of the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N, the mobile storage device 100 transmits login information of each of the network storage servers 400-1 to 400- (E.g., a connection ID and a connection password). The login information for logging in each server may be preset by the user before the portable storage device 100 connects to the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N.

According to the technical idea of the present invention as described below, the portable storage device 100 may store a plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N that correspond to the sum of sizes of network storage provided by the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400- It is possible to provide the host computer 200 with a virtual storage space of a small size. For example, the number of the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N is 10, each network storage server provides a capacity of 10GB, and the plurality of network storage servers 400-1 to 400- 400-N provide a total of 100 GB of network storage, the portable storage device 100 can provide a virtual storage space of 100 GB size to the host computer 200. Accordingly, when the portable storage device 100 is connected to the host computer 200, the host computer 200 can recognize the portable storage device 100 as a portable storage device having a capacity of 100 GB .

The provision of the virtual storage space by the portable storage device 100 allows the user to store data of the size of the virtual storage space through the portable storage device 100, 100 may not have a physical storage medium of the same size as the virtual storage space.

Meanwhile, the portable storage device 100 manages the virtual storage space by a file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer 200, so that a user can provide a user experience such as using a general USB memory device have. That is, the user can access the virtual storage space provided by the portable storage device 100 according to the technical idea of the present invention through a method of searching a general USB memory device (for example, a method using a browser program of a Windows operating system) You can explore the virtual storage space.

The type of the file system can be determined by an operating system installed in the host computer 200. [ For example, if the operating system installed in the host computer 200 is a Windows operating system, the file system may be FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, or the like.

Hereinafter, the technical idea of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG.

2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the portable storage device 100 includes a networking module 110, a mapping module 120, a file system module 130, a determination module 140, a data input / output module 150, a caching module 150, (160) and an internal memory device (170). According to an embodiment of the present invention, some of the above-mentioned components may not necessarily correspond to the components necessary for the implementation of the present invention, It goes without saying that more components may be included. For example, the removable storage device 100 may include other components included in the removable storage device 100 (e.g., networking module 110, mapping module 120, file system module 130, (Not shown) that can control the functions and / or resources of the data processing module 140, the data input / output module 150 and / or the caching module 160, and the like.

The portable storage device 100 may include hardware resources and / or software necessary for implementing the technical idea of the present invention, and the term " device " no. That is, the portable storage device 100 may mean a logical combination of hardware and / or software provided to implement the technical idea of the present invention. If necessary, the portable storage device 100 may be installed in a separate device, The present invention may be embodied as a set of logical structures for realizing the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the portable storage device may mean a set of configurations separately implemented for each function or role for implementing the technical idea of the present invention. For example, the networking module 110, the mapping module 120, the file system module 130, the determination module 140, the data input / output module 150, and / or the caching module 160 may be connected to different physical devices Or may be located in the same physical device. Also, depending on the implementation, each of the networking module 110, the mapping module 120, the file system module 130, the determination module 140, the data input / output module 150 and / or the caching module 160 Elements constituting individual modules may also be located in different physical devices, and elements located in different physical devices may be organically coupled to each other to realize the functions performed by the respective individual modules.

In this specification, a module may mean a functional and structural combination of hardware for carrying out the technical idea of the present invention and software for driving the hardware. For example, the module may refer to a logical unit of a predetermined code and a hardware resource for executing the predetermined code, and it does not necessarily mean a physically connected code or a kind of hardware But can be easily deduced to the average expert in the field of the present invention.

2, the networking module 110 may access the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N via a wired / wireless network and transmit / receive necessary information. For example, the networking module 110 can log into the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N through preset login information, and the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N Information of each stored remote file can be received.

The information of the remote file may include location information (e.g., directory information) and file name in the network storage server. In addition, the information of the remote file may be various information for identifying the remote file. The remote file information may further include size information of the remote file, file attributes (read / write attributes, hidden attributes, etc.), creation time / modification time information, and the like.

The networking module 110 may perform login or transmission / reception of data / information through an Open API (Application Programming Interface) provided by the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N.

The mapping module 120 may store the remote file information received from the networking module 110 and the plurality of pieces of data included in the virtual storage space provided by the portable storage device 100, And a virtual unit space.

The virtual storage space provided by the mobile storage device 100 may include a plurality of virtual unit spaces. For example, the virtual unit space may be a sector or a cluster. The size and / or the shape of the virtual unit space may depend on the host file system supported by the operating system installed in the host computer 200. Hereinafter, for the convenience of understanding, An example where the space is configured in a cluster unit will be described.

3A shows remote files stored in three network storage servers NSS1 to NSS3. FIG. 3B shows a case where remote files are stored in the network storage servers NSS1 to NSS3 as shown in FIG. 3A, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between the remote files generated by the mapping module 120 and a virtual unit space. FIG.

That is, when remote files are stored in the three network storage servers NSS1 to NSS3 as shown in FIG. 3A, the mapping module 120 can generate corresponding relationship information as shown in FIG. 3B. On the other hand, FIG. 3B is only an example of information indicating a corresponding relationship, and the mapping module 120 does not generate corresponding relationship information in the same manner as FIG. 3B. The mapping module 120 may generate the mapping relationship information in any format capable of deriving a mapping relationship as shown in FIG. 3B.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the three network storage servers NSS1 to NSS3 may store a plurality of remote files, and may store the remote files in accordance with the directory structure. For example, the network storage server 1 (NSS1) includes a movie directory and a music directory, and stores B.avi files having a size of 165KB and B.mp4 having a size of 158KB in a movie directory, C.mp3 having a size of 95 KB and D.wav having a size of 90 KB are stored.

Assuming that the size of each unit storage space (i.e., cluster) constituting the virtual storage space is 32 KB, A.avi having a size of 165 KB has 5 pieces of unit data a 1 to a 5 having a size of 32 KB, And one piece of unit data a6 having a size of 5 KB, and each unit data a1 to a6 may correspond to one cluster.

Therefore, the mapping module 120 can associate each unit data constituting the remote file with one cluster, and can generate corresponding relationship information in the form of FIG. 3B. Meanwhile, the mapping module 120 may store the generated corresponding relationship information in the internal memory 170 of the portable storage device 100 so that other modules can use the corresponding relationship information.

For example, based on the size information (165 KB) and the cluster size (32 KB) for A.avi, the mapping module 120 calculates five pieces of unit data (a 1 to a 5) and a size And the unit data a6 of 5 KB. Then, the mapping module 120 can correspond to the unit data a1 to a6 constituting A.

The mapping module 120 may associate remote files with successive clusters, but not all of the unit data constituting the remote files correspond to successive clusters. For example, in the example of FIG. 3B, the mapping module 120 stores the movie / B.mp4 file of the network storage server 1 (NSS1) in a discontinuous manner such as cluster 8, cluster 11, cluster 13, cluster 14, It can also be stored in a cluster.

There are various ways in which the mapping module 120 associates each unit data constituting the remote file with the cluster. For example, the mapping module may map the unit data to the cluster in the frontmost of the currently empty clusters.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the file system module 130 determines whether or not the remote file information received by the networking module 110 and the mapping relationship established by the mapping module 120 are identical to each other Can generate file system information about the file system. Meanwhile, the file system module 130 may store the generated file system information in the portable storage device 100 so that other modules and the host computer 200 can use the file system information.

The file system information generated by the file system module 130 may include information on a remote file and information on a virtual unit space in which a correspondence relationship with the remote file is set. In the case where the remote file and the correspondence correspond to the example of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the file system module 130 may generate file system information as shown in FIG. 3C. For example, the information generated by the file system module 130 may include information indicating that unit data stored in the clusters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are read in order to read NSS1 / movie / have. However, the file system module 130 does not generate the file system information in the same manner as in FIG. 3C, and the file system module 130 determines that the host computer 200 can obtain the information as shown in FIG. 3C The file system information can be generated in a form in which the file system information can be generated.

Meanwhile, the file system module 130 may configure the file system information in the form of a host file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer 200. For example, when the host file system is FAT16, the file system module 130 stores, as file system information on the virtual storage space, information about each remote file and virtual A file allocation table including information on a unit space can be generated.

Since the file system module 130 configures the file system information in the form of a host file system supported by the operating system installed in the host computer 200, the host computer 200 can access the local storage device Disk drive) or a conventional USB removable storage device. For example, the host computer 200 may determine that the data of the C.mp3 file is stored in the clusters 9, 10, and 15 from the file system information in order to read the NSS1 / music / C.mp3 file, You may want to read the data stored in clusters 9, 10, and 15. However, since the C.mp3 file is not stored in the portable storage device 100 and the C.mp3 file is stored in the network storage server 1 (NSS1), the portable storage device 100 can access the network storage server 1 NSS1, and provide the C.mp3 file to the host computer 200. [

In response to the read request for data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, the determination module 140 determines the read target virtual unit space The data input / output module 150 may receive the remote file data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space from the reception target network storage server and provide the received remote file data to the host computer .

For example, when the host computer 200 reads NSS1 / music / C.mp3 file, it determines that the first unit data constituting C.mp3 is located in the cluster 9, 3 (b), the determination module 140 determines whether or not the data corresponding to the cluster 9 corresponding to the cluster 9 is to be read based on the correspondence relationship as shown in FIG. 3 (b) It can be determined that the data is the first unit data c1 of NSS1 / movie / C.mp3. Therefore, the determination module 140 may determine the reception target network storage server as the network storage server 1 (NSS1).

The data input / output module 150 receives the movie / C.mp3 from the network storage server 1 (NSS1), which is the receiving network storage server, and provides the first unit data c1 to the host computer 200 can do.

Then, the host computer 200 judges that the second unit data constituting the C.mp3 is located in the cluster 10, and judges whether the second unit data is located in the virtual unit space (i.e., the cluster 10) to be read by the portable storage device 100 The data input / output module 150 may provide the second unit data c2 of the already received C.mp3 to the host computer 200. In this case,

Meanwhile, the portable storage device 100 may provide a method for storing data stored in a local storage space (for example, a hard disk drive) of the host computer 200 in a network storage server. In this case, The user of the host computer 200 may receive a user experience such as storing data in the USB memory device.

In response to the storage request to store a predetermined recording object file in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer 200, It is possible to set a correspondence relationship between each of the recording target virtual unit spaces and the network storage servers 400-1 to 400-N.

For example, in the state as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, when the host computer desires to store L.avi having a size of 121 KB, the host computer 200 stores L.avi in the clusters 36 to 39, which are four empty clusters. the user can input a write request to the removable storage device 100 to record each unit data constituting avi. Then, in response to this write request, the mapping module 120 firstly writes the write target virtual unit space (i.e., cluster 36 to cluster 39) and the network storage servers NSS 1 to NSS 3 ) Can be set.

The manner in which the mapping module 120 establishes a correspondence relationship in response to a write request may vary. In one embodiment, the mapping module 120 may map each of the network storage servers having the largest free space and the recording target virtual unit space (i.e., the clusters 36 to 39) And the network storage server having the remaining storage space for storing the recording object file (i.e., L1.avi) may be mapped to each of the recording target virtual unit spaces (i.e., the clusters 36 to 39).

Meanwhile, the mapping module 120 may set a corresponding relationship according to a preset policy. For example, the mapping module 120 may determine a correspondence relationship according to attributes (e.g., file type or file size) of a file. For example, if the recording target file is a moving image or a music file, the mapping module 120 collects the moving image data and the music data in one network storage server, Can be set. An example of storing L.avi in this manner is shown in Figs. 4A to 4C.

When the host computer 200 makes a recording request to write L.avi, which is a recording object file, in the recording target unit storage space (that is, the cluster 36 to the cluster 39), the mapping module 120 stores Type is a moving image and judges the network storage server 1 (NSS1) as a transmission target network storage server. Then, the mapping module 120 can establish a correspondence relationship with the recording target unit storage space (i.e., the cluster 36 to the cluster 39) and the transmission target network storage server NSS1. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the mapping module 120 can generate information indicating that the data mapped to the cluster 36 to the cluster 39 is each unit data of L.avi stored in the network storage server 1 (NSS1) have.

Then, the data input / output module 150 can transmit the L.avi, which is a recording object file, to the network storage server 1 (NSS1), which is the transmission target network storage server, and the network storage server 1 can store L.avi , And the stored results are shown in FIG. 4B.

Thereafter, the host computer 200 determines that the recording object file L.avi is recorded in the recording target unit storage space (i.e., the cluster 36 to the cluster 39), reflects the result in the file system information, The file system information can be changed as well.

As described above, the portable storage device 100 according to the technical idea of the present invention can provide a large storage space to a user by interlocking with a network storage service such as a cloud service. Also, since the host computer 200 of the user using the portable storage device 100 can access the file through the normal host file system supported by the operating system installed in the user, the user can access the UI or command For example, a Windows operating system explorer) can be used to access files stored on a network storage server. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that the user needs to install a separate dedicated program, and it is possible to provide a user experience such as using a conventional portable storage device (for example, a USB memory).

 In addition, since it is possible to prevent a user from accidentally leaving room for data on the local PC in advance, illegal data leakage can be prevented.

Meanwhile, the caching module 160 caches unnecessary communication by caching the file to be recorded in the internal memory device 170 provided in the removable storage device 100, so that the host computer 200 ) Can access the recording object file. To this end, the caching module 160 may store the file to be recorded in the internal memory device 170 of the removable storage device 100 in response to a storage request of the host computer to store the file to be recorded, And may store information indicating that the file to be recorded is cached in the internal memory device 170 as a cache file.

The storage capacity of the internal memory device 170 may be relatively small. Accordingly, the caching module 160 can cache all files to be recorded in the internal memory device, but can cache the files in accordance with a certain caching policy. For example, the caching module 160 can cache only files having a certain size or less. If there is no empty space in the internal memory device, the caching module 160 deletes the earliest cached file or the file having the smallest access frequency, After that, the file to be recorded can be cached.

When a read request for data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space is input from the host computer 200, the determination module 140 determines that the cache file corresponding to the read target virtual unit space is stored in the internal memory device The data input / output module 150 may transmit the data included in the cache file to the host computer 200, instead of receiving the file to be read from the network storage server. .

Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect that a user can access the data quickly by caching data recently used or enjoyed by the user in the internal memory.

The mobile storage device 100 may be any type of mobile storage medium. In some implementations, the removable storage device 100 may include a unique hardware chip for use with a particular host. The hardware chip may be a chip that plays a role of authenticating that the portable storage device 100 can be used for the specific host. Of course, depending on the embodiment, the portable storage device 100 may be connected to a predetermined host through a predetermined connector including the hardware chip.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, the portable storage device 100 providing the large-capacity virtual storage space may include a processor and a memory for storing a program executed by the processor. The processor may include a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU. The memory may include high speed random access memory and may include non-volatile memory such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state memory devices. Access to the memory by the processor and other components can be controlled by the memory controller. Here, when the program is executed by a processor, the program may cause the removable storage device 100 according to the present embodiment to perform a method of providing a removable storage device that provides the above-described large-capacity virtual storage space.

The portable storage device providing method for providing a large-capacity virtual storage space according to an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as a computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored.

Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROM and DVD, a floptical disk, And hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute program instructions such as magneto-optical media and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The above-mentioned medium may also be a transmission medium such as a light or metal wire, wave guide, etc., including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal designating a program command, a data structure and the like. The computer readable recording medium may also be distributed over a networked computer system so that computer readable code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as devices for processing information electronically using an interpreter or the like, for example, a high-level language code that can be executed by a computer.

The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

It is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. .

Claims (7)

A portable storage device coupled to a host computer for providing a large amount of virtual storage space,
A networking module for receiving, from at least one network storage server, remote file information stored in the at least one network storage server;
A mapping module for setting a correspondence relation between at least one of data of the remote file and a plurality of virtual unit spaces included in the virtual storage space based on the received remote file information;
A file system module for generating file system information for the virtual storage space based on the received remote file information and the corresponding relationship, wherein the file system information includes at least one of a host file system supported by an operating system installed in the host computer, In the form of;
In response to a read request of data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, judges a receiving target network storage server corresponding to the read target virtual unit space by the corresponding relationship ; And
And a data input / output module for receiving remote file data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space from the reception target network storage server and providing the remote file data to the host computer.
The portable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the portable storage device providing the large-
And is connected to the host computer through a universal serial bus (USB) interface.
A portable storage device coupled to a host computer for providing a large amount of virtual storage space,
A networking module for performing network connection and data communication with at least one network storage server providing network storage service;
A file system module for providing file system information for a virtual storage space including a plurality of virtual unit spaces to the host computer, wherein the file system information for the virtual storage space includes at least one of files supported by the operating system installed in the host computer Consists of the format of the system;
In response to a storage request to store a predetermined recording object file in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space and the at least one A mapping module for establishing a correspondence relationship with a network storage server of the network; And
For each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space, data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space among the data included in the recording target file is transmitted to the transmission target network storage server corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space And a data input / output module for storing the data in the transmission target network storage server.
A method of providing a removable storage device connected to a host computer to provide a large-capacity virtual storage space,
(a) receiving a remote file information stored in the at least one network storage server from at least one network storage server;
(b) setting a correspondence between at least one of data of the remote file and a plurality of virtual unit spaces included in the virtual storage space, based on the remote file information received by the mobile storage device;
(c) generating, by the removable storage device, file system information for the virtual storage space based on the received remote file information and the corresponding relationship, wherein the file system information is stored in the host computer Consists of a host file system format supported by the operating system;
(d) in response to a read request of data corresponding to a read target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, the portable storage device stores, in the read target virtual unit space Determining a corresponding receiving target network storage server; And
(e) receiving, from the receiving network storage server, remote file data corresponding to the read target virtual unit space and providing the received remote file data to the host computer; and (e) / RTI >
A method of providing a removable storage device connected to a host computer to provide a large-capacity virtual storage space,
(a) performing a network connection and data communication with the at least one network storage server providing a network storage service;
(b) the portable storage device providing file system information for a virtual storage space including a plurality of virtual unit spaces to the host computer, wherein the file system information for the virtual storage space is stored in the host computer In the form of a file system supported by the operating system installed in the computer;
(c) in response to a storage request to store a predetermined recording object file in at least one recording target virtual unit space included in the virtual storage space input from the host computer, Setting a correspondence relationship between each of the target virtual unit spaces and the at least one network storage server; And
(d) for each of the at least one recording target virtual unit space, data corresponding to the recording target virtual unit space among the data included in the recording object file is corresponded to the recording target virtual unit space To the target network storage server, and storing the virtual storage space in the target network storage server.
A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for performing the method according to claim 4 or 5.
A portable storage device providing a large-capacity virtual storage space,
A processor; And
A memory for storing a computer program executed by the processor,
The computer program, when executed by the processor, provides a large-capacity virtual storage space for allowing the removable storage device providing the large-capacity virtual storage space to perform the method according to claim 4 or claim 5.

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