System and method for synchronization of large amounts of data while maintaining control over access rights to such data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10387666-B2
Application number	US-201615383315-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2016
Priority date	Jan 15, 2016
Publication date	Aug 20, 2019
Grant date	Aug 20, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed are system and method for synchronization of large amounts of data while maintaining control over access rights to such data in electronic data storage. An exemplary method comprises: partitioning a volume of data into a plurality of data blocks; assigning a synchronization status to at least one data block in the plurality of data blocks; determining access rights to the data contained in the at least one data block, based upon at least one of information identifying an owner or administrator associated with the at least one data block, or a set of allowed or prohibited operations that may be performed on the at least one data block; controlling access to the data contained in the at least one data block based upon the determination of access rights; and updating the synchronization status of the at least one data block.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of synchronizing electronic data, comprising:
partitioning, by a processor, a volume of data into a plurality of data blocks;
assigning, by the processor, a synchronization status to at least one data block of the plurality of data blocks;
determining, by the processor, access rights to the data contained in the at least one data block, based upon at least one of information identifying an owner or administrator associated with the at least one data block, or a set of allowed or prohibited operations that may be performed on the at least one data block;
controlling, by the processor, access to the data contained in the at least one data block based upon the determination of access rights;
updating, by the processor, the synchronization status of the at least one data block;
transmitting, by the processor, the at least one data block to an intermediate storage node, wherein the data block is encrypted prior to transmission; and
transmitting, the at least one data block from the intermediate storage node to a central data center, optionally through one or more intervening intermediate storage nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting an intermediate storage node for the transmission of the at least one data block based upon at least one of the following: geographic proximity, latency, available bandwidth, user input, or a priority list.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization status indicates at least one of the following: whether a data block is accessible for revision, ready to be archived, an archival copy, or in transit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein data blocks generated by the partitioning which contain the same file, or the same portion thereof, are identifiable by a unique identifier.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the unique identifier is stored in a header included in the at least one data block and comprises at least one of a serial number, a digital signature or a hash value.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining whether the contents of the at least one data block have changed prior to transmitting the at least one data block to the intermediate storage node, and only proceeding to the transmitting if a change is identified.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining whether the contents of the at least one data block have changed comprises comparing the unique identifier assigned to the at least one data block to a unique identifier assigned to a second data block stored at the intermediate storage node or the central data center.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the partitioning, assigning, and controlling are performed by a device or a data center connected to the same intranet as the central data center.

9. A system for synchronizing encrypted electronic data, the system comprising:
an electronic memory; and
a processor configured to:
partition a volume of data into a plurality of data blocks;
assign a synchronization status to at least one data block of the plurality of data blocks;
determine access rights to the data contained in the at least one data block, based upon at least one of information identifying an owner or administrator associated with the at least one data block, or a set of allowed or prohibited operations that may be performed on the at least one data block;
control access to the data contained in the at least one data block based upon the determination of access rights;
update the synchronization status of the at least one data block; and
transmit the at least one data block to an intermediate storage node, wherein the data block is encrypted prior to transmission; and
the intermediate storage node is configured to:
transmit the at least one data block from the intermediate storage node to a central data center, optionally through one or more intervening intermediate storage nodes.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select an intermediate storage node for the transmission of the at least one data block based upon at least one of the following: geographic proximity, latency, available bandwidth, user input, or a priority list.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization status indicates at least one of the following: whether a data block is accessible for revision, ready to be archived, an archival copy, or in transit.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein data blocks generated by the partitioning which contain the same file, or the same portion thereof, are identifiable by a unique identifier.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the unique identifier is stored in a header included in the at least one data block and comprises at least one of a serial number, a digital signature or a hash value.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the contents of the at least one data block have changed prior to transmitting the at least one data block to the intermediate storage node, and to only transmit the at least one data block to the intermediate storage node if a change is identified.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the contents of the at least one data block have changed by comparing the unique identifier assigned to the at least one data block to a unique identifier assigned to a second data block stored at the intermediate storage node or the central data center.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the partitioning, assigning, and controlling are performed by a device or a data center connected to the same intranet as the central data center.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for synchronizing electronic data, including instructions for:
partitioning, by a processor, a volume of data into a plurality of data blocks;
assigning, by the processor, a synchronization status to at least one data block of the plurality of data blocks;
determining, by the processor, access rights to the data contained in the at least one data block, based upon at least one of information identifying an owner or administrator associated with the at least one data block, or a set of allowed or prohibited operations that may be performed on the at least one data block;
controlling, by the processor, access to the data contained in the at least one data block based upon the determination of access rights;
updating, by the processor, the synchronization status of the at least one data block;
transmitting, by the processor, the at least one data block to an intermediate storage node, wherein the data block is encrypted prior to transmission; and
transmitting, the at least one data block from the intermediate storage node to a central data center, optionally through one or more intervening intermediate storage nodes.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , further including instructions for:
selecting an intermediate storage node for the transmission of the at least one data block based upon at least one of the following: geographic proximity, latency, available bandwidth, user input, or a priority list.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein data blocks generated by the partitioning which contain the same file, or the same portion thereof, are identifiable by a unique identifier.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , further including instructions for:
determining whether the contents

Assignees

• Acronis Int Gmbh

Inventors

• Beloussov Serguei
• Tormasov Alexander
• Protasov Stanislav
• Shmulevich Mark

Classifications

• G06F21/602

  Providing cryptographic facilities or services · CPC title

• G06F21/64

  Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures · CPC title

• H04L63/123

  received data contents, e.g. message integrity · CPC title

• H04L63/0435

  wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply symmetric encryption, i.e. same key used for encryption and decryption (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for symmetric key encryption H04L9/06) · CPC title

• H04L67/1095

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title