IBM Assigned Twenty One Patents

Providing information on published configuration patterns
of storage resources to client systems in network computing environment
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,284,647) developed by Jain, Rakesh, Routray, Ramani R., Padbidri, Sumant, and Song, Yang, San Jose, CA, for a “providing information on published configuration patterns of storage resources to client systems in a network computing environment.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided are a computer program product, method, and system for providing information on published configuration patterns of storage resources to client systems in a network computing environment. Published configuration patterns of storage resources and storage performance models for the published configuration patterns are received from the client systems and stored in a catalog. The published storage performance models are based on storage performance and workloads realized at the configuration patterns of the storage resources. A determination is made from the catalog of at least one published configuration pattern that is similar to a requested configuration pattern requested by a client system according to at least one storage attribute. A result set is generated indicating the determined at least one published configuration pattern and the storage performance model and sent to the requesting client system.”

The patent application was filed on August 5, 2015 (14/819,020).

Distributed storage with auxiliary data interspersal
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,564) developed by Gladwin, S. Christopher, Templeton, Chuck Wilson, Resch, Jason K., Chicago, IL, and Grube, Gary W., Barrington Hills, IL, for “distributed storage with auxiliary data interspersal and method for use therewith.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data segment is encrypted to produce an encrypted data segment. The encrypted data segment is dispersed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded data slices. Auxiliary data is dispersed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded auxiliary data slices. A sequence of output slices is generated to obscure the set of encoded data slices by interspersing the set of encoded auxiliary data slices within the set of encoded data slices.”

The patent application was filed on August 5, 2014 (14/452,182).

Determining whether to destage write data in cache to storage
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,543) developed by Borlick, Matthew G., Gupta, Lokesh M., Mellgren, Carol S., and Thompson, John G., Tucson, AZ, for a “determining whether to destage write data in cache to storage based on whether the write data has malicious data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for determining whether to destage write data in cache to storage based on whether the write data has malicious data. Write data for a storage is cached in a cache. A determination is made as to whether the write data in the cache comprises random data according to a randomness criteria. The write data in the cache to the storage in response to determining that the write data does not comprise random data according to the randomness criteria. The write data is processed as malicious data after determining that the write data comprises random data according to the randomness criteria.”

The patent application was filed on May 3, 2017 (15/585,997).

Prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,440) developed by Dhuse, Greg, Chicago, IL, Khadiwala, Ravi, Bartlett, IL, Cocagne, Thomas Darrel, Elk Grove Village, IL, Baptist, Andrew, Mt. Pleasant, WI, and Kaczmarek, Joseph Martin, Chicago, IL, for a “prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method begins by a first computing device of a plurality of computing devices accessing a rebuild hierarchical index structure to identify a data object having encoded data slices requiring rebuilding, where the structure includes a plurality of nodes that organizes a plurality of data objects based on a level of need of rebuilding. The method continues with the first computing device utilizing a rebuilding function to rebuild one or more of the identified encoded data slices to be rebuilt to produce one or more rebuilt encoded data slices and sending a write request to memory of a dispersed storage network to store the one or more rebuilt encoded data slices. The method continues with the first or another computing device updating the level of need of rebuilding of the identified data object and updating the rebuild hierarchical index structure based on the updated level of need of rebuilding.”

The patent application was filed on January 26, 2016 (15/006,845).

Metadata storing technique
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,427) developed by Iwanaga, Masayuki, Urayasu, Japan, Ohta, Yumiko, Yokohama, Japan, and Oishi, Yutaka, Kawasaki, Japan, for a “metadata storing technique.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computer-implemented metadata processing method and a system includes writing metadata to or reading metadata from a storage medium in which an index that contains metadata of each of one or more pieces of data is stored. The method and system include determining, in response to a processing request, which includes a write request or a read request, when to communicate with a storage area outside the index. At least a portion of content of the metadata relating to the processing request is processed, and accessed, including storing or obtaining, in the index, location information indicating the storage area of the portion of content of the metadata.”

The patent application was filed on October 22, 2015 (14/919,757).

Data searching, storage and reduction
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,257) developed by Aronovich, Lior, Thornhill, CA, Asher, Ron, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, Bachmat, Eitan, Lehavim, Israel, Bitner, Haim, Raanana, Israel, Hirsch, Michael, Mazkeret Batya, Israel, and Klein, Shmuel T., Rehovot, Israel, for “systems and methods for efficient data searching, storage and reduction.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computer program product for searching a repository of binary uninterpretted data, according to one embodiment, includes a computer readable storage medium having program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a method comprising: analyzing, by the computer, segments of each of the repository and input data to determine a repository segment that is similar to an input segment, the analyzing including searching an index of representation values of the repository data for matching representation values of the input in a time independent of a size of the repository and linear in a size of the input data, and analyzing, by the computer, the similar repository segment with respect to the input segment to determine their common data sections while utilizing at least some of the matching representation values for data alignment, in a time linear in a size of the input segment.”

The patent application was filed on July 25, 2016 (15/219,127).

Resilient data storage and retrieval
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,253) developed by Araujo, Murilo O., Limeira, Brazil, Matinata, Ricardo M., and Sene, Rafael P., Campinas, Brazil, for “resilient data storage and retrieval.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Data recovery following the loss of a volume manager is described, wherein a volume manager receives a command, and location information and credentials to access a distributed storage. The data to be recovered may include one or more data files stored as one or more discrete portions. Each portion includes metadata, including at least a file ID tag. The volume manager retrieves each portion of data from the distributed storage and records, in an index, the location that each portion of data was retrieved from. The volume manager reads and stores the file ID tag with the associated location of the attached portion of data in the distributed storage in the volume manager index.”

The patent application was filed on July 26, 2017 (15/660,082).

Distributed content deduplication using hash-trees
with adaptive resource utilization in distributed file
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,125) developed by Korondi, Mark, Thalwil, Switzerland, Kovacs, Daniel, Adliswil, Switzerland, Osborne, Michael C., Richterswil, Switzerland, and Visegrady, Tamas, Zurich, Switzerland, for a “distributed content deduplication using hash-trees with adaptive resource utilization in distributed file systems.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods are provided for preserving data in a data deduplication system. A hash tree-based deduplication system balancing memory utilization and duplication-related storage access overhead is disclosed. The system preferably relies on distributed file system infrastructure and the system modifies this infrastructure. The data structures may be adapted to accommodate file-block distribution properties at runtime, such as runtime-specializing the hash tree to detect replicated chunks.”

The patent application was filed on April 17, 2017 (15/489,030).

Opportunistic handling of freed data in data de-duplication
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,282,124) developed by Rueger, Erik, Ockenheim, Germany, Schloesser, Heiko H., and Schmitt, Christof, Tucson, AZ, for an “opportunistic handling of freed data in data de-duplication.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A mechanism is provided for opportunistic handling of freed data in data de-duplication. Responsive to receiving a request to store a file in a storage device, the file is mapped to a set of virtual blocks. For each virtual block in the set of virtual blocks: a hash value is computed, a determination is made as to whether the computed hash value appears within a previously-used information table as associated with an existing data block, and, responsive to the computed hash value appearing within a previously-used information table as associated with an existing data block, a data block entry and hash value associated with the existing data block is moved to a de-duplication information table. The virtual block is then stored as a reference to the existing data block.”

The patent application was filed on June 23, 2016 (15/190,721).

Data storage library with acclimation chamber
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,276,214) developed by Miranda Gavillan, Jose G., Goodman, Brian G., and Qiu, Kenny Nian Gan, Tucson, AZ, for a “data storage library with acclimation chamber.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage library includes at least a first library portion and at least a second library portion, with the second library portion including an environmental conditioning unit configured to control environmental conditions within the second library portion. The data storage library also includes at least one acclimation chamber formed within the first library portion, which permits transition of environmental condition(s) within the at least one acclimation chamber toward at least one of the corresponding environmental condition(s) external and internal to the second library portion. At least one deployable environmental barrier is configured to extend at least partially between the first library portion and the second library portion to insulate the at least one environmental condition within the at least one acclimation chamber from the at least one environmental condition within the second library portion.”

The patent application was filed on November 2, 2017 (15/801,709).

File transfer using file backup times
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,275,478) developed by Clissold, David N., Austin, TX, Goldberg, Itzhack, Hadera, Israel, Liu, Su, Austin, TX, and Sondhi, Neil, Budapest, Hungary, for a “file transfer system using file backup times.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for synchronizing data to update backup files. In one embodiment, data associated with files to be synchronized is sent to a second computer system by a first computers system. The second computer system matches data associated with the files to be synchronized to a database, and the first computer system determines differences between an old and new version of the files to be synchronized and creates a backup of the files. The backup of the files is stored in a storage device.”

The patent application was filed on May 29, 2015 (14/724,896).

Writing encoded data slices in dispersed storage network
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,275,313) developed by Shirley, Jr., Thomas Franklin, Wauwatosa, WI, Grube, Gary W., Barrington Hills, IL, Cilfone, Bart, Chicago, IL, Khadiwala, Ravi, Bartlett, IL, Dhuse, Greg, Chicago, IL, Cocagne, Thomas Darrel, Elk Grove Village, IL, Storm, Michael Colin, Palo Alto, CA, Vedpathak, Yogesh Ramesh, Leggette, Wesley, Resch, Jason K., Chicago, IL, Baptist, Andrew, Mt. Pleasant, WI, and Volvovski, Ilya, Chicago, IL, for a “writing encoded data slices in a dispersed storage network.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computing device of a dispersed storage network, (DSN) includes a memory, interface and a processing module operable to identify an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices to produce an identified encoded data slice. The processing module generates a set of first write requests regarding the set of encoded data slices less the identified encoded data slice, and generates a set of second write requests regarding the identified encoded data slice. The set of second write requests include the identified encoded data slice and replications of the identified encoded data slice. The processing module sends the set of first write requests to storage units of the DSN, and sends the set of second write requests to a set of storage units of the DSN, where each storage unit of the set of storage units is sent a corresponding one of the set of second write requests.”

The patent application was filed on September 15, 2017 (15/705,782).

Migrating jobs from source server from which data is migrated to target server
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,275,276) developed by Helak, Dustin A., Reed, David C., Reed, Thomas C., and Smith, Max D., Tucson, AZ, for “migrating jobs from a source server from which data is migrated to a target server to which the data is migrated.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for migrating jobs from a source server from which data is migrated to a target server to which the data is migrated. Mirrored data is copied from a source storage to a target storage. A determination is made of at least one eligible job of the jobs executing in the source server having execution characteristics indicating that the job is eligible for migration to the target server. The determined at least one eligible job is migrated to the target server to execute on the target server and perform operations with respect to the mirrored data in the target storage. The migrated eligible job is disabled at the source server.”

The patent application was filed on August 19, 2013 (13/970,559).

Distributed storage network for storing data object based on storage requirements
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,275,161) developed by Resch, Jason K., Leggette, Wesley, Gladwin, S. Christopher, Dhuse, Greg, Chicago, IL, and Baptist, Andrew, Mt. Pleasant, WI, for a “distributed storage network for storing a data object based on storage requirements.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A distributed storage network, (DSN) includes a user device and a plurality of DSN memories, wherein each of the DSN memories includes a plurality of storage units. The user device includes at least one network interface to the plurality of DSN memories and at least one processing module that is operable to determine one of the plurality of DSN memories for storing a data object based on a comparison of one or more storage requirements of the data object and one or more DSN attributes of the plurality of DSN memories.”

The patent application was filed on June 20, 2017 (15/627,529).

Enhanced storage clients
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,270,877) developed by Iyengar, Arun K., Yorktown Heights, NY, for an “enhanced storage clients.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments include method, systems and computer program products for enhanced storage clients. In some embodiments, an interface for using a storage service may be provided. The interface for each of a plurality of storage services may be implemented within a storage client. A cache may be integrated within the storage client for reducing a number of accesses to a storage service of the plurality of storage services. A compression method may be provided in the storage client to reduce a size of data objects. An encryption method may be provided in the storage client to preserve data privacy. An application may select at least one storage services of the plurality of storage services and using the at least one storage service via the storage client.”

The patent application was filed on May 22, 2018 (15/986,123).

Integrated client for use with dispersed data storage network
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,270,855) developed by Palthepu, Srinivas, Naperville, IL, Thornton, Vance T., Columbus, OH, Young, Jesse L., Woodstock, IL, Quigley, John, Greenwich, CT, Baptist, Andrew, Mt. Pleasant, WI, and Dhuse, Greg, Chicago, IL, for an “integrated client for use with a dispersed data storage network.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method with a computer generating a first set of access requests regarding a first set of encoded data slices and storage units of a dispersed storage network. A first data segment is encoded into the first set of encoded data slices. The method continues with the computer generating a second set of access requests regarding a second set of encoded data slices and the storage units. A second data segment is encoded into the second set of encoded data slices. The method continues with the computer grouping the first set of access requests and the second set of access requests to produce a set of combined requests. The method continues with the computer sending the set of combined requests to the storage units.”

The patent application was filed on February 23, 2015 (14/628,817).

Data compression in storage clients
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,270,465) developed by Iyengar, Arun K., Yorktown Heights, NY, for a “data compression in storage clients.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments include method, systems and computer program products for data compression in storage clients. In some embodiments, a storage client for accessing a storage service from a computer program is provided. A compression method is provided in the storage client to reduce a size of data objects. A frequency of compressing data from the computer program or modifying a compression algorithm based on assessing costs and benefits of compressing the data is varied.”

The patent application was filed on December 31, 2015 (14/985,511).

Identifying data inconsistency in dispersed storage network
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,268,712) developed by Mark, Zachary J., Chicago, IL, for “method and apparatus for identifying data inconsistency in a dispersed storage network.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method includes sending a set of digest list requests to a set of storage units regarding integrity data for a set of encoded data slices. The method further includes receiving, in response to the integrity data requests, the corresponding integrity data from at least some storage units of the set of storage units regarding at least some of the encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices to produce a set of integrity data. The method further includes determining whether an inconsistency exists in the set of integrity data. When the inconsistency exists, the method further includes identifying an inconsistent encoded data slice of the at least some of the encoded data slices is inconsistent with other encoded data slices of the at least some of the encoded data slices. The method further includes updating the inconsistent encoded data slice to resolve the inconsistency.”

The patent application was filed on August 5, 2016 (15/230,113).

Transformation of logical data objects for storage
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,268,696) developed by Koifman, Chaim, Rishon Lezion, Israel, Zohar, Avi, Rosh Haain, Israel, and Amit, Jonathan, Omer, Israel, for “systems and methods for transformation of logical data objects for storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods for compressing a raw logical data object, (201) for storage in a storage device operable with at least one storage protocol, creating, reading, writing, optimizatic in and restoring thereof. Compressing the raw logical data object, (201) comprises creating in the storage device a compressed logical data object, (203) comprising a header, (204) and one or more allocated compressed sections with predefined size, (205-1-205-2), compressing one or more sequentially obtained chunks of raw data, (202-1-202-6) corresponding to the raw logical data object, (201) thus giving rise to the compressed data chunks, (207-1-207-6), and sequentially accommodating the processed data chunks into: said compressed sections, (205-1-205-2) in accordance with an order said chunks received, wherein said compressed sections serve as atomic elements of compression/decompression operations during input/output transactions on the logical data object.”

The patent application was filed on April 19, 2016 (15/132,688).

Real time and scalable space-time data recovery from existing backup
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,268,632) developed by Koeninger, R Kent, Nashua, NH, for “real time and scalable space-time data recovery from existing backup systems.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Time based protection of data stored in a source volume of a computer system uses a directory structure to store backups from a storage system. A first backup from a storage system is received. The first backup contains an image of the source volume for a first time. A first time stamp representing the first time is associated with the first backup. The first backup is stored as a first directory indexed by the first time stamp in a top backup directory. A second backup is received from the storage system. The second backup contains an image of the source volume for a second time. A second time stamp representing the second time is associated with the second backup. The second backup is stored as a second directory indexed by the second time stamp in the top backup directory. The first and second directories are linked to a section of the top backup directory at a root of the top directory.”

The patent application was filed on July 27, 2016 (15/221,064).

Caching data in redundant array of independent disks, (RAID) storage
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (10,268,589) developed by Galbraith, Robert, Gerhard, Adrian C., and Moertl, Daniel F., Rochester, MN, for “caching data in a redundant array of independent disks, (RAID) storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Caching data in a redundant array of independent disks, (RAID) storage system including receiving an operation instruction targeting a location in an attached memory of the RAID storage system, wherein the attached memory temporarily stores data for storage on RAID storage devices, and wherein the operation instruction is one selected from a group consisting of a read instruction and a write instruction, redirecting, based on a content of the operation instruction, the operation instruction from the attached memory to the embedded memory on the RAID storage system, and servicing the operation instruction by accessing a portion of the embedded memory corresponding to the location in the attached memory of the RAID storage system.”

The patent application was filed on November 20, 2017 (15/817,823).