System Of And Method For Transparent Management Of Data Objects In Containers Across Distributed Heterogenous Resources

Abstract

A system of and method for maintaining data objects in containers across a network of distributed heterogeneous resources in a manner which is transparent to a client. A client request pertaining to containers is resolved by querying meta data for the container, processing the request through one or more copies of the container maintained on the system, updating the meta data for the container to reflect any changes made to the container as a result processing the request, and, if a copy of the container has changed, changing the status of the copy to indicate dirty status or synchronizing the copy to one or more other copies that may be present on the system.

1 . A method of reading a data object from a container comprising the steps of:
 querying meta-data for the container, including an offset within the container where the object is stored;   locating on or staging to a selected physical resource a copy of the container; and   using the offset to retrieve the data object from the copy of the container.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected physical resource is a cache resource. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected physical resource is a principal cache resource. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reading the data object in response to a client request. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the client is a user on a remote system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the client is a program on a local server. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the client is a program on a remote server. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the client is a program on a remote client.