US 12,111,796 B2
System and method for maintaining a comprehensive catalog of hierarchical file data
Marcin W. Gozdalik, Warsaw (PL); Marcin Barczynski, Warsaw (PL); Stanislaw K. Skonieczny, Warsaw (PL); Dariusz Dzialak, Warsaw (PL); Douglas H. Hughes, Pipersville, PA (US); Bradley C. Elkin, Mendota Heights, MN (US); and Michal K. Albrycht, Warsaw (PL)
Assigned to Starfish Storage Corporation, Waltham, MA (US)
Filed by Starfish Storage Corporation, Waltham, MA (US)
Filed on Jun. 15, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/210,493.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/353,686, filed on Jun. 20, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0409541 A1, Dec. 21, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 16/185 (2019.01); G06F 16/14 (2019.01); G06F 16/16 (2019.01); G06F 16/17 (2019.01)
CPC G06F 16/185 (2019.01) [G06F 16/148 (2019.01); G06F 16/164 (2019.01); G06F 16/1734 (2019.01)] 26 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for maintaining a comprehensive catalog of metadata records that describes hierarchical file data held in one or more file systems, the system comprising:
a Modular Change Processor (MCP) communicably couplable to one or more specialized file systems containing hierarchical file data, and to a catalog containing metadata corresponding to the hierarchical file data;
an Enumerator Computer (EC) communicably couplable to the catalog and to the one or more specialized file systems;
the MCP having a first memory, a first processor, and a first stored program in the first memory executable by the first processor, the first stored program configured to:
(a) cause the MCP to capture event notifications in one or more native formats generated by the one or more specialized file systems, the event notifications pertaining to contents of affected directories within the hierarchical file data;
(b) cause the MCP to translate the event notifications into a common format;
(c) cause the MCP to coalesce the translated event notifications into one or more coalesced notifications for particular ones of the affected directories; and
(d) cause the MCP to use the coalesced notifications to generate and transmit to the catalog, instructions to mark metadata corresponding to the affected directories as ‘out-of-sync’ independently of any reference to the contents of the affected directories;
the EC having a second memory, a second processor, and a second stored program in the second memory executable by the second processor, the second stored program configured to:
(e) cause the EC to receive from the catalog, identities of directories having metadata marked ‘out-of-sync’ (the ‘out-of-sync’ directories) independently of any reference to the contents of the affected directories;
(f) cause the EC, after said cause (e), to receive; from the one or more specialized file systems, updated contents of the ‘out-of-sync’ directories;
(g) cause the EC to generate replacement metadata for the updated contents; and
(h) cause the EC to send the replacement metadata to the catalog.