Patent ID: 8661429
Filing Date: 2014-02-25
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: causing an application of a portable device to use a network attached storage (NAS) device via a local area network; detecting, in response to a user starting the application via the portable device, a firmware update for the NAS device, wherein the firmware update is identified, without user intervention, as being available via a data source of an external wide area network, and wherein the NAS device lacks a capability to directly access the external wide area network; responsive to the detecting of the firmware update, authenticating the portable device with the data source and downloading the firmware update to the portable device from the external wide area network via the application, wherein at least one of the authenticating and the downloading occur automatically as a background process; uploading the firmware update to the NAS device from the portable device via the local area network, wherein the firmware update is uploaded via an application program interface of the NAS device that facilitates applying the firmware update in response to the uploading of the firmware update; and validating the firmware update and communicating a status of the firmware update to the user.