JP2003006032A - Distributed file sharing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] Regarding a file sharing system, in particular, individuals within a company or between companies disclose files to each other,
Provided is a system for easily and efficiently sharing a distributed file in a peer-to-peer format in which files are exchanged one-to-one. SOLUTION: A plurality of computers 21 to 23 having a network and local files 31 to 34 connected thereto, and a directory server 10 for displaying a virtual directory linked to each of the local files by address information thereof, Is provided. By accessing the virtual directory, corresponding local files of the plurality of computers are disclosed from the address information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a file sharing system, and more particularly to a peer-to-peer type content sharing system in which individuals in a company or between companies disclose files to each other and exchange files on a one-to-one basis.
The present invention relates to a file distribution type shared system that manages resources distributed on a network in a database, a directory service, a document management system, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, as a file sharing system via a network, (1) publication by WWW (World Wide Web) (2) replication / mirroring
(Mirroring) (3) Windows file sharing (4) Individual transmission by user operation such as mail and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used. For example, (1) and (4) are used for the Internet and intranet, ( 2) is a database or groupware, and (3) is a LAN (Local Area Area).
mainly used for two rk).

[0003]

Prior Art (1)-
(4) functions effectively in each of the above-mentioned fields of use, but these are files in a peer-to-peer format in which files are exchanged on a one-to-one basis by publishing their files on an individual basis within and / or between companies. There were the following problems when trying to apply to a shared system.

[0004] Here, the content of a peer-to-peer format based on an individual basis within a company and / or between companies means, for example, an engineer a of a software company A and an engineer b of its subsidiary B use an intranet or the Internet. In this case, the design files a ′ and b ′ are shared with each other through the work, and the content sharing system is a database, a directory service, a document management system, or the like in which each content is distributed on the network. A distributed system of content distribution type that exists as a result.

The WWW of (1) is suitable for unilaterally distributing predetermined information, but requires a complicated operation to successively update mutual files in a peer-to-peer format. That is, each time the update information provider side needs to upload the updated file on the HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) server by the user's own operation, and also HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).
It is necessary to edit the index file (index.html etc.) of the format and add a new link to the updated file. Furthermore, the HT placed inside the firewall
There is a problem that the contents of the TP server cannot be easily referenced.

In the replication / mirroring of (2), since it is necessary to send a copy of a file to all target servers, traffic and the management space of each computer increase, and a system construction that spans a firewall is required. There was a problem such as not being able to.

In the Windows (registered trademark) file sharing of (3), since the directory structure is limited to the physical structure of each computer, the directory is assigned to each user as a logical or conceptual hierarchical structure. There is a problem that the file cannot be obtained from the computer that holds the file when it is offline, and the system cannot be configured across the firewall.

In the mail / FTP of (4), since it is necessary to construct a shared file by a user operation, it is difficult to maintain a completely synchronized shared state between users due to mistakes or the like caused by a complicated operation. There was a problem that was.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to establish a peer-to-peer format in which files are opened to each other on an individual basis and a file is exchanged on a one-to-one basis between a plurality of sites within a company or between companies on a network. To provide a content sharing system of. Therefore, a peer-to-peer file sharing system that can be easily constructed by actively incorporating the simplicity of (1) and (4) among the conventional methods is provided.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a network, a plurality of computers having local files connected thereto, and a virtual directory linked to each of the local files by its address information are displayed. A distributed file sharing system is provided which includes a directory server, and by accessing the virtual directory, local files of the corresponding computers are disclosed from the address information.

The address information includes host information indicating one of the plurality of computers and file position information in the computer, and by rewriting the address information, one of the file sharers updates the public file. Is possible. A backup server that includes a message conversion server for communicating a message required for file disclosure through a firewall, and additionally publishes the stored public file when any of the plurality of computers is offline. Can be included.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 schematically shows the basic structure of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the directory server 10 corresponding to HTTP has various files 31 to 3 held by the host computers 21 to 23 in a distributed manner.
4 is displayed as one integrated virtual directory configuration screen. In this example, a tree-like hierarchical structure with the directory 11 as the root is formed, and each directory 12
The host information of each host computer 21 to 23 and the file information which is the link information to the files 31 to 34 inside each host are held in .about.15.

In this example, the directory 12 is linked to the file 31 of the host computer 21,
Similarly, the directory 13 is linked to the file 32 of the host computer 21, the directory 14 is linked to the file 33 of the host computer 22, and the directory 15 is linked to the file 34 of the host computer 23. As is clear from the examples of the directories 12 and 13, by virtualizing the directories, Windows
Is freed from the physical constraint that one-to-one correspondence exists between the directory and the host computer in the file sharing.

FIG. 2 shows an example of associating the host / file information stored in each directory 12-15 in the virtual directory with the substance of the file existing in each host computer 21-23. On the left side of FIG. 2, the directory server 10 has directories 12 to 1
URL (Universal Resource Loc)
ator) shows an example of information.

In this way, each of the above-mentioned directories 12
UR the host information and file information stored in
By holding in the L format, for example, “www.fjukubo” can be designated as the host information and “/spec/spec1.doc” can be designated as the file information at the same time. Further, the directory server 10 and the host computers 21 to 23 can be designated. The HTTP “http: ///” generally used on the Internet can be used as it is for communication between the two.

On the other hand, as shown on the right side of FIG.
In the case of supporting P, the host information “www.f” is used based on the URL received from the directory server 10.
It is judged that it is a request from "jokubo" to its own host, and file information "/ spec / spec" that follows
1. link information "/ user / okubo / docs / spec / sp" from "doc" to the request file using the alias function inside the host or the conversion table, etc.
ec1. doc "can be easily obtained.

In the following, the basic operation in FIG. 1 will be described on the premise of the above description. Here, it is assumed that the above URL is used, and therefore each host computer 21 to 23 has the function of a file server that supports HTTP. In order for each user to publish his or her own file, it is necessary to register the path of the file to be published on his or her file server. For this, the above-mentioned alias function or conversion table is used.

That is, each host computer 21-2
3 is a file server that generates address information (URL; host information and file information) that can uniquely identify the file from another arbitrary computer, and holds the address information and mapping information of the local path to the file to be disclosed. . Next, each host computer 21-2
3 registers and publishes the address information of its own public file in an arbitrary directory within the virtual directory in the directory server 10 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the host computers 21-2.
3 shows an example of a registration screen when registering a public file in the directory server 10. That is, the registration screen of FIG. 3 is sent from the directory server 10 in response to a public file registration request from each of the host computers 21 to 23. In this example, the public file “spec1.
doc ”is registered in the registration directory“ development project / specification / detailed specification. ”At this time, a password or the like for authenticating the registered user is required.

The registered directory corresponds to one directory on the virtual directory screen and can be arbitrarily selected by the user. Although not shown, the user can create a new directory by a predetermined screen operation and place it in an arbitrary position in the virtual directory, or delete an existing registration directory that is no longer needed. . At the time of creating this directory, as an example, the user registers the registered directory name “development project / specification /
URL information “www. fjok
Set ubo / spec / ".

As a result, the directory server 10 causes the URL information "www.fjok" to be mapped to the registration directory "development project / specification / detailed specification".
ubo / spec / spec1. doc "is generated and held. As another example, the directory server 10
The URL information “www.fjukubo / spe” corresponding to the registration directory from the already registered user information.
It is of course possible to configure c / "to be automatically generated.

Other computers access the directory server 10 by using a WWW browser or the like,
When the directory “development project / specification / detailed specification” in the virtual directory displayed on the browser is clicked, the directory server 10 selects “www.fjukubo / spec / s” from the mapping information held by itself.
pecl. public file "spec1.doc" to "doc". d
oc "is requested.

At this time, the directory server 10 replaces the source IP address of the IP packet with the IP address of the computer requesting the file. as a result,
The computer that holds the public file "spec1.doc" is the local file "/ user /
okubo / docs / spec / spec1. do
"c1.c", the public file "spec1.c. doc "will be transmitted.

As described above, according to the present invention, the public files of the computers 21 to 23, which are held in a distributed manner, are directly referred to by other users, and therefore, even when the files are locally updated, the conventional files can be used. The procedures such as file uploading and copying as in (1) and (2) are not required, and the latest file contents intended by the user are always disclosed.

Further, by sharing the virtual directory on the network, it becomes possible to refer to the file without being aware of the physical position of the file. This virtualization does not limit the directory structure in units of physical computers as in (3) of the conventional example, and further eliminates the manual file operation by the user as in (4) of the conventional example.

Further, when a computer user other than the computer user who owns the public file updates the shared file, the user of the other computer acquires the shared file via the network and stores it on his or her own computer. Change with. Next, the directory server 10 is accessed and the above-mentioned address information of the corresponding registration directory on the virtual directory is rewritten to its own.

As described above, the mutual sharing of files can be easily performed by the file sharing users, and the limitation of one-way distribution in the conventional example (1) is solved.
In this case, each file sharing user needs to be allowed to rewrite the address information of the registered directory in the directory server 10.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of file acquisition via a firewall according to the present invention. When the public file is held in a computer in another domain across the firewall 30, it may not be possible to directly communicate with the computer in the firewall depending on the protocol due to the limitation of the application set in the firewall. Therefore, by converting the protocol format before and after the firewall 30 into a protocol format that can pass through the firewall, files can be exchanged even between organizations having a unique firewall.

Message relays 32 and 33 placed before and after the firewall 30 convert the file request message and the public file into a predetermined application format that can pass through the firewall. In this example, mail is used as such an application. First,
When the requesting computer 31 (for example, the directory server in FIG. 1 or a computer that has accessed it) sends a file request message, the message relay 3
1 receives the request. The message relay 31 passes the firewall 30 by including the received message in the mail body.

The mail that has passed through the firewall 30 is restored to the original message by the message relay device 33 of the request destination, and then the computer 3 holding the public file.
Received at 4. When the computer 34 responds by transmitting the requested public file, the message relay 33 of the request destination converts the response message from the destination address into a mail format that can pass through the firewall. At that time, the received public file passes through the firewall 30 as a mail body or an attachment file of the mail.

After that, the requesting message relay 32 restores the public file and transmits it to the requesting computer 31. In this way, communication through the firewall can be easily realized. In the case of communication through the firewall, all the response messages including the file request message and the public file may be relayed to the directory servers located on both sides of the firewall. In this case, the firewall setting between both directory servers can be a simple packet filtering process that allows only packet communication between them.
It is also possible to omit the message relay that passes through the firewall at the application level.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the distributed file sharing system according to the present invention. In FIG.
Reference numerals 10 and 46 are directory servers, and reference numerals 21, 22 and 34 are host computers. Here, the system enclosed by each frame of quotation marks 40 and 41 shows that it is a system inside each firewall.

File servers 21-1, 22-1, and 34-1 inside the host computers 21, 22 and 34
Corresponds to a function module for releasing the file owned by itself, and makes a request or response for the released file to H
It is executed by TTP and has the same function as a normal HTTP server. The mapping information, the public file, etc. are as described above. The directory servers 10 and 46 are also the same as those described with reference to FIG.

The proxy server 43 is the same as a normal proxy server installed in each firewall,
By caching the published file, access and response to it can be performed at high speed. The message relay servers 32 and 33 correspond to the message relays 32 and 33 of FIG. 4, respectively, and the HTTP and SMTP ((S
imple Mail Transfer Protocol / POP (PostOffice
Protocol) to and from the message protocol. Also, prepare a mail account for sending and receiving for each message relay server.

The mail servers 44 and 45 use the SMTP /
A POP is used to send and receive a file request message and its response message through a firewall. Each of these server operations has already been described in relation to the present invention, and the other server operations are similar to the general ones, and therefore will not be described further here.

The backup server 42 backs up the published file and transmits the requested file in response to the request for the backed up file. To request a backup file, use the U described above.
The address information in the RL format is used as it is, except that the host information indicates the backup server.

In addition to the normal backup operation, the backup server 42 has an advantage of being able to provide the requested file even when the computer holding the requested public file is offline. Therefore, the directory server 10 can send a file request message to the backup server 42 to enable file acquisition when there is no response from the file request destination. However, in this case,
There is no guarantee that the retrieved files will be up to date.

6 to 12 are sequence diagrams showing the basic procedure of file sharing in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a file disclosure procedure. In FIG. 6, the user specifies a directory in which a file is disclosed from the virtual directories, and the URL of the file and the mapping information between the URL and the local path are generated in the own file server 21-1. It is held (S101).

In the basic operation of the present invention described above, an example of the registration procedure for the directory server 10 is used and the registration screen of FIG. 3 is used. However, the same procedure is used in the embodiments after FIG. File server 21 in the computer
-1, and the file server 21-1 automatically executes a similar registration operation with the directory server 10. Therefore, the registration screen (FIG. 3) provided by the file server 21-1 is displayed on the WWW browser of the user.

That is, the file server 21-1 automatically sends to the directory server 10 1) file name, 2) file URL, and 3) directory information for registering the file, and requests the release of the file. Yes (S102). The directory server 10 adds the file name and URL on the virtual directory.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for referring to a file. First, the user has his own computer 2
When a certain registered directory on the virtual directory of the directory server 10 displayed on the WWW browser of No. 1 or a file icon in that directory is selected (S201), the URL of the corresponding file is used from the directory server 10 not shown and the IP An HTTP file request message in which the source of the packet is rewritten to the IP address of the host computer 21 is transmitted (S202).

When the file server 22-1 in the host computer 22 on the file providing side receives the above message, the public file is specified by referring to the mapping information of its own URLL and local path. Next, the file is directly transmitted to the host computer 21 of the user in the HTTP response format (S203).

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a file updating procedure. First, the user acquires and changes the file. Next, the file server 21-
The file server 21-1 is instructed using the update screen from 1 (S301). The file server 21-1 newly generates a URL corresponding to the updated file or updates an existing URL. Here, when a URL is newly generated, there is an advantage that the file before update can be reused later.

Next, the file server 21-1 makes an update request to the directory server 10 (S302). The directory server 10 replaces the URL registered in the public file on the virtual directory with the URL of the newly published file. As a result, subsequent public files will be updated files.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for disclosing a file existing outside the firewall. When the directory server 10 registers a file, the directory server 10 transmits information to another directory server 46 existing outside its own firewall, 1) file name, 2) URL, and 3) directory for registering the file, and sends the file. Request registration (S401).

The message relay server 32 receives the request message, converts it into a mail, and sends it to another message relay server 33 existing outside the firewall (S402). In this case, the mail address of the transfer source message relay server is added to the transmitted message.

The other message relay server 33 receives the message via the mail server 45 (not shown), converts it into the original message format, and transfers it to the directory server 46 in its own firewall (S403). As a result, the directory server 46 1) file name,
2) URL, and 3) provider side message relay server 33
Add your email address to the virtual directory.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a file acquisition procedure existing outside the firewall. First, when the user selects a certain registered directory on the virtual directory of the directory server 10 displayed on the WWW browser of his / her computer 21 or a file icon in the directory, the directory server 10 (not shown) corresponds to the selected file. Create an HTTP request message with the mail address and URL to be sent and send it to the message relay server 32 (S50).
1).

The message relay server receives the HTTP
The message is converted to a mail format and the request message is sent to the mail address in the message (S50
2). The request message passes through the firewall as a mail, and the message relay server 33 on the providing side receives it, converts it into an HTTP request again, and transmits it to the file server 34-1 in the host computer 34 on the providing side (S503). .

File server 34-1 on the file providing side
When the HTTP request is received, the public file is identified by referring to the URL and the local path mapping information. The identified public file is transmitted to the message relay server 33 in the HTTP response format (S504). The message relay server 33 converts it into a mail format and sends it to the request-side message relay server 32 (S50).
5). The request-side message relay server 32 converts it into the original HTTP format and sends it to the user's computer 21 (S506).

11 and 12 are sequence diagrams showing a procedure for obtaining a file on the computer when offline. There are two methods for acquiring a file held by an offline computer: 1) acquiring from a cache left in the proxy server 43 and 2) acquiring from a file on the backup server 42. Here, the latter method 2) will be described.

FIG. 11 shows a backup procedure. When the file is disclosed, the directory server 10 requests the backup server 42 to back up the file (S601), and in response, the backup server 42 saves the file in the server. Then, the corresponding URL at the time of publication is generated and notified to the directory server 10 (S602). As a result, the directory server 10 publishes the backup reference URL of the file in the virtual directory, or holds it for access when the file providing computer is offline.

FIG. 12 shows a procedure for acquiring a backup file. When the user fails to acquire the normal public file described above (S701 to 703), the user uses the above-mentioned directory as another method. Server 10
Access the backup URL above (S70)
4). The directory server 42 creates an HTTP request based on the stored URL and sends it to the backup server 42 (S705).

When the backup server 42 receives the HTTP request, the backup file is specified by referring to the URL and the mapping information of the local path, and the backup file is transmitted to the user's computer 21 in the HTTP response format. Although not shown, if the directory server 10 recognizes in advance that the host computer on the file providing side is offline by some means, a normal procedure is performed using the URL of the backup file held by the directory server 10. Backup server 42
May be directly transmitted to the computer 21 of the user.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a plurality of bases within a company or between companies on a network, files are opened to each other on an individual basis and a file is exchanged on a one-to-one basis. A file sharing system can be easily constructed using existing technology. According to the present invention, the latest file is always published without paying attention to the existence positions of the distributed files, and the shared files can be easily updated by each other.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a basic configuration example of a distributed file sharing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing association between host / file information in a virtual directory and a file entity in a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a public file registration screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of file acquisition via a firewall.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a distributed file sharing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a file disclosure procedure.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a file reference procedure.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a file update procedure.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for disclosing a file existing outside the firewall.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for acquiring a file existing outside the firewall.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a backup procedure of files on a computer when offline.

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing a backup file acquisition procedure of a file on the computer when offline.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 46 ... Directory server 11, 12 to 15 ... Virtual directory 21-23 ... Host computer 21-1, 22-1, 34-1 ... File server 30, 40, 41 ... Firewall 31-34 ... Public files 32, 33 ... Message relay server 42 ... Backup server 43 ... Proxy server 44, 45 ... Mail server

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B082 HA01 HA09                 5B085 AA01 BG07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A virtual directory comprising: a network; a plurality of computers having local files connected to the network; and a directory server for displaying a virtual directory linked to each of the local files by its address information. A distributed file sharing system characterized in that local files of the plurality of computers corresponding to the address information are opened by accessing the file. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the address information includes host information indicating one of the plurality of computers and file position information within the computer. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein one of the file sharers can update the public file by rewriting the address information. 4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a message conversion server for communicating a message required for file publication through a firewall. 5. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a backup server that publishes a public file that is stored instead of when any of the plurality of computers is offline. .