Id management for a network attached storage system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016004693-A1
Application number	US-201414320785-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 1, 2014
Priority date	Jul 1, 2014
Publication date	Jan 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

ID management for a network attached storage system using layered ID mapping virtualization. When a connection request is received at a NAS server, it is determined whether the request is for a new user, and if so, user IDs are created for the new user. External user ID and filesystem user ID are mapped to the internal user ID, and user ID is verified at the NAS server kernel on subsequent logins with an external database. The user IDs are remapped for the changed user account, and updated mappings are transmitted from the NAS server to one or more NAS server kernel repositories.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for layered user identifier (user ID) mapping virtualization, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors at a network attached storage (NAS) server, a connection request; determining, by one or more processors at a NAS server, if the connection request is for a new user, and if so, creating a filesystem user ID and an internal user ID for the new user; mapping, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, external user ID and filesystem user ID to the internal user ID; verifying, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, user ID on subsequent logins with an external database; remapping, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the filesystem user ID and the internal user ID for the changed user account; and transmitting, by one or more processors at a NAS server to one or more processors on one or more NAS server kernel repositories, the updated mapping for the user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving, by one or more processors at a NAS server, a connection request further comprises:
receiving, by one or more processors at the NAS server, a connection request from one or more computers or servers using Windows or UNIX-like operating systems.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by one or more processors at a NAS server, if the connection request is for a new user, and if so, creating a filesystem user ID and an internal user ID for the new user further comprises:
allocating, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, an internal user ID representing the external user; assigning, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, a filesystem user ID for the external user; and writing, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, internal and filesystem user IDs for the external user to a kernel repository.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein mapping, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the external user ID and filesystem user ID to the internal user ID further comprises:
mapping, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the external user ID to the internal user ID; and mapping, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the filesystem user ID to the internal user ID.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein verifying, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the user ID on subsequent logins with an external database further comprises:
retrieving, by one or more processors at the NAS server, a user ID record for the external user and verifying user, group, and filesystem IDs have not changed.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein remapping, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the internal IDs for the changed user account further comprises:
remapping, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the external user ID to another internal user ID; and remapping, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the filesystem user ID to another internal user ID.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting, by one or more processors at a NAS server to one or more processors on one or more NAS server kernel repositories, the updated mapping for the user further comprises:
writing, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, updated external, internal, and filesystem user ID mapping for the changed account to the kernel repository; and transmitting, by one or more processors at the NAS server, updated external, internal, and filesystem user ID mappings for the changed account to all NAS nodes in the environment.

8 . A computer program product for layered user identifier (user ID) mapping virtualization, the computer program product comprising:
one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to receive, by one or more processors at a network attached storage (NAS) server, a connection request; program instructions to determine, by one or more processors at a NAS server, if the connection request is for a new user, and if so, creating a filesystem user ID and an internal user ID for the new user; program instructions to map, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the external user ID and filesystem user ID to the internal user ID; program instructions to verify, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the user ID on subsequent logins with an external database; program instructions to remap, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the internal IDs for the changed user account; and program instructions to transmit, by one or more processors at a NAS server to one or more processors on one or more NAS server kernel repositories, the updated mapping for the user.

9 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to receive, by one or more processors at a NAS server, a connection request further comprises:
program instructions to receive, by one or more processors at the NAS server, a connection request from one or more computers or servers using Windows or UNIX-like operating systems.

10 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to determine, by one or more processors at a NAS server, if the connection request is for a new user, and if so, creating a filesystem user ID and an internal user ID for the new user further comprises:
program instructions to allocate, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, an internal user ID representing the external user; program instructions to assign, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, a filesystem user ID for the external user; and program instructions to write, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, internal and filesystem user IDs for the external user to a kernel repository.

11 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to map, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the external user ID and filesystem user ID to the internal user ID further comprises:
program instructions to map, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the external user ID to the internal user ID; and program instructions to map, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the filesystem user ID to the internal user ID.

12 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to verify, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the user ID on subsequent logins with an external database further comprises:
program instructions to retrieve, by one or more processors at the NAS server, a user ID record for the external user and verifying user, group, and filesystem IDs have not changed.

13 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to remap, by one or more processors at a NAS server kernel, the internal IDs for the changed user account further comprises:
program instructions to remap, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the external user ID to another internal user ID; and program instructions to remap, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, the filesystem user ID to another internal user ID.

14 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein program instructions to transmit, by one or more processors at a NAS server to one or more processors on one or more NAS server kernel repositories, the updated mapping for the user further comprises:
program instructions to write, by one or more processors at the NAS server kernel, updated external, internal, and filesystem user ID mapping for the

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Chen Lior
• Cohen Dan
• Gan-Levi Daniel
• Koffman Shai M
• Sapir Nimrod

Classifications

• G06F16/166

  File name conversion · CPC title

• G06F3/067

  Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• G06F3/0631

  by allocating resources to storage systems · CPC title

• G06F3/0605

  by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator · CPC title

• H04L67/1097 Primary

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title