Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080028008A1/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 01:07:14
Document Index: 349555852

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

US20080028008A1 - Optical disc initiated data backup - Google Patents
Optical disc initiated data backup Download PDF
US20080028008A1
US20080028008A1 US11/546,176 US54617606A US2008028008A1 US 20080028008 A1 US20080028008 A1 US 20080028008A1 US 54617606 A US54617606 A US 54617606A US 2008028008 A1 US2008028008 A1 US 2008028008A1
US11/546,176
2006-07-31 Priority to US83424706P priority Critical
2006-08-09 Priority to US83622806P priority
2006-10-10 Application filed by Storage Appliance Corp filed Critical Storage Appliance Corp
2006-10-10 Priority to US11/546,176 priority patent/US20080028008A1/en
2006-10-10 Assigned to STORAGE APPLIANCE CORPORATION reassignment STORAGE APPLIANCE CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BRUNET, JEFFREY, CHOWDHARY, YOUSUF, COLLINS, IAN
2008-01-31 Publication of US20080028008A1 publication Critical patent/US20080028008A1/en
An optical disc comprising computer-readable instructions is provided. The computer-readable instructions include a backup application. When the optical disc is inserted into an optical drive of a data source, such as a personal computer, the operating system of the data source automatically launches the backup application. The backup application is configured to find files on the data source that satisfy search criteria, which can be predefined or user-selected. The backup application copies those files to a networked storage such as a storage area network or a server of a commercial service provider.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/834,247 filed on Jul. 31, 2006 and entitled “A Portable Electronic Data Backup Appliance Utilizing a Hybrid Optical Disc” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/836,228 filed on Aug. 9, 2006 and also entitled “A Portable Electronic Data Backup Appliance Utilizing a Hybrid Optical Disc.” This application is related to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/546,263 filed on even date herewith and entitled “Optical Disc for Simplified Data Backup” which also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/834,247, and U.S. Provisional patent Application No. 60/836,228. This application is related to, and incorporates by reference, U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/492,380 filed on Jul. 24, 2006 and entitled “Emulation Component for Data Backup Applications” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/725,225 filed on Oct. 12, 2005 and entitled “A Method, Apparatus and a System for Removable Media Device Emulation on an External Storage Device via an Emulation Component for the Purpose of an Electronic Data Backup Appliance,”U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/814,687 filed on Jun. 19, 2006 and entitled “Portable Electronic Data Backup Appliance Based on Integrated Circuit (IC) Memory,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/817,540 filed on Jun. 30, 2006 and entitled “Portable Data Backup Appliance for Utilizing a Recordable Media Burner Dwevice.”
An exemplary business method is also provided. The business method comprises distributing an optical disc including computer-readable instructions, the computer readable instructions including a backup application configured to selectively back up data files from a data source to a server across the Internet. The method further comprises maintaining the server to store received data files and associate the stored files with the data source, and charging a fee based on the data files. In some embodiments the fee is charged for storing the data files, accessing the data files, or using the data files.
FIG. 5 is a flow-chart representation of an exemplary method for backing up data files from the data source according to still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flow-chart representation of an exemplary method for manipulating backed-up data files with the data source according to another embodiment of the present invention.
A data backup device is provided for personal, as well as commercial, applications. The data backup device of the present invention allows files to be selectively copied from a data source, such as a personal computer, to the data backup device according to some criterion such as file type. For example, the device can be configured to backup audio files having recognized music file extensions such as .mp3 and .wav, or image files having recognized image file extensions such as .jpg, .pct, and .tif. The data backup device stores a backup application that automatically launches when the data backup device is connected to the data source. The backup application can be configured to require little or no user input to perform the backup process. The data backup device can take the form of a hybrid optical disc divided into sections characterized by different media formats. Although the example of a hybrid optical disc is used for explanatory purposes herein, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to hybrid optical discs as is explained further herein.
As noted, the portions 110, 120 can comprise either the same or different media formats. In those embodiments where the portions 110, 120 of the optical disc 100 comprise the same media format, the media format is one that can only be written once. Examples of write-once media formats include Compact Disc-Recordable (CD-R), DVD-Recordable (DVD-R and DVD+R), DVD-Recordable Dual Layer (DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL), Blu-ray disc Recordable (BD-R), and High-Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) formats. These media formats are defined in various industry standards known in the art such as the Orange Book Recordable Compact Disc Standard developed by Philips and Sony. In these embodiments, the read-only portion 110, having computer-readable instructions already written thereto, cannot be rewritten, whereas the writable portion 120 remains initially unwritten.
Optical discs 100 having portions 110, 120 comprising different media formats are referred to herein as hybrid optical discs. Where the optical disc 100 comprises a hybrid optical disc, suitable media formats for the read-only portion 110 include CD-ROM and DVD-ROM formats where the computer-readable instructions are placed on the read-only portion 110 by stamping. Other suitable media formats for the read-only portion 110 include the write-once media formats listed above where the computer-readable instructions are written to the read-only portion 110. In hybrid optical disc embodiments, the writable portion 120 can either comprise a write-once media format, or a rewritable media format such as Compact Disc-Rewritable (CD-RW), DVD-Rewritable (DVD-RW and DVD+RW), DVD-Rewritable Dual Layer (DVD-RW DL and DVD+RW DL), Blu-ray disc Re-writeable (BD-RE), and DVD Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM). The writable portion 120 can either be initially unwritten or, if the writable portion 120 comprises a rewritable format, can include computer-readable instructions that can be overwritten with data files.
It will be appreciated that the portions 110, 120 can also be distributed across the layers of a multi-layered optical disc 100. In one example, the read-only portion 110 is disposed on a first layer of a dual layer optical disc 100, such as a CD-ROM layer, and the writable portion 120 is disposed on a second layer, such as a DVD-R layer. As another dual layer example, both layers can comprise the DVD-R format with only a segment of a first layer comprising the read-only portion 110. In this example the remainder of the first layer, as well as a second layer, comprise the writable portion 120. In other embodiments, the different layers comprise different media formats, for instance, a triple layer optical disc 100 can comprise a CD-ROM layer, a DVD-R layer, and a DVD+R layer. In this example, the CD-ROM layer comprises the read-only portion 110 and the DVD-R and DVD+R layers comprise the writable portion 120. Providing both DVD-R and DVD+R formats on a single optical disc 100 can be particularly advantageous as many optical drives 210, 220 are configured to write to one of the two formats but not the other.
The following list provides examples of media format combinations that can be implemented for either a single-layer optical disc 100, where the two media formats are provided in a side-by-side configuration, or for a dual-layer optical disc 100 where the each media format is provided as a separate layer. Although the following list is extensive, the list is not meant to be exhaustive: CD-ROM/CD-R; CD-ROM/CD-RW; CD-ROM/CD+RW; CD-ROM/DVD-R; CD-ROM/DVD+R; CD-ROM/DVD-RW; CD-ROM/DVD+RW; CD-ROM/DVD+R DL; CD-ROM/BD-R; CD-ROM/BD-RE; CD-ROM/HD-DVD; DVD-ROM/DVD-R; DVD-ROM/DVD+R; DVD-ROM/DVD-RW; DVD-ROM/DVD+RW; DVD-ROM/DVD+R DL; DVD-ROM/BD-R; DVD-ROM/BD-RE; and DVD-ROM/HD-DVD-R. Additional media format combinations that can be implemented as the layers of a three-layer optical disc 100 include: CD-ROM/DVD-R/DVD+R; CD-ROM/DVD-RW/DVD+RW; DVD-ROM/DVD-R/DVD+R; DVD-ROM/DVD-RW/DVD+RW; CD-ROM/BD-R/HD-DVD-R; CD-ROM/BD-RE/HD-DVD-R; DVD-ROM/BD-R/HD-DVD-R; and DVD-ROM/BD-RE/HD-DVD-R. As above, this list of three-layer media format combinations is not meant to be exhaustive.
The backup application finds 320 files that meet one or more predefined criteria, such as file type (e.g., .jpg) or type of content (e.g., audio files). The backup application can also find 320 files that meet at least one of several predefined criteria. Other examples of types of content include e-mails, business application data (e.g., Accpac and Simply Accounting files), digital video files, ebook files, contacts files, calendar files, text files, tasks files, settings files, bookmark files, and password files. Another criterion, in some embodiments, is whether a file has been previously backed up. Still other can be a particular date or a range of dates. The backup application, in some embodiments, finds 320 files that meet the predefined criteria by searching e-mail attachments and files embedded within other files, such as compressed files within a zip file. The backup application can find 320 files that are stored directly on the data source 200, or additionally on associated peripheral devices and networks.
With continued reference to FIG. 3, the backup application looks 325 for installed data burning software and determines 330 whether installed data burning software is present. If already installed data burning software is present on the data source 200, the operating system initiates the use 335 of 3rd party Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). If direct access to the 3rd party APIs is not available, the installed software is launched 340. The files found 320 can then be written 345 by the installed software to the writable portion 120 of the optical disc 100. If installed software is not found, the Windows OS native APIs are used 350. If the Windows OS native APIs are disabled, bundled data burning software optionally included as part of the computer-readable instructions on the read-only portion 110 is launched 355 and the found files can then be written 345 by the bundled software. It will be understood that although looking 325 for installed data burning software is shown in FIG. 3 as sequentially following finding 320 files, looking 325 for installed data burning software and finding 320 files take place concurrently in some embodiments.
The further optical discs need not include the read-only portion 110 and can be any writable or rewritable optical disc that is compatible with the optical drive 210 or 220. In such a situation, the backup application marks with an internal label and sequentially numbers the optical disc 100 and the subsequent optical discs so that the user will be notified that the backed-up files span more than the optical disc 100 when the backed-up data is later accessed. In some instances the storage capacity needed to back up all of the found files is more than the available capacity of the writable portion 120, but less than the standard capacity of a blank optical disc. In this situation, the backup application can suggest a suitable media, for example, that the user insert a DVD-R where the files to be backed-up do not exceed the standard DVD-R capacity of 4.7 gigabytes (GB). The user can then opt to back up all of the found files to a single optical disc rather than distribute the found files between the writable portion 120 of the optical disc 100 and one or more additional optical discs.
FIG. 5 is a flow-chart representation of still another exemplary method 500 for backing up data files from the data source 200. The method 500 does not require the use of the optical disc 100 as the method 500 backs up the data files to storage options other than optical discs 100. The method 500 begins with inserting 305 an optical disc into either of the optical drives 210 or 220. In the method 500 the optical disc can be the optical disc 100, but can also be any optical disc that can be read by either of the optical drives 210 or 220 and that comprises computer-readable instructions including the backup application. For the purposes of method 500, the optical disc does not need to have a writable portion. In some embodiments, the optical disc including the computer-readable instructions is a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
As in the embodiments described above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, the Windows operating system looks 310 for the Autorun.inf file that points to the backup application. The Windows operating system auto-launches 315 the backup application to run on the data source 200. The backup application then finds 320 data files to be backed up. Next, the backup application backs up 510 the found data files to either a pre-defined location or a user-specified location. In the case of a user-specified location, the backup application prompts the user to specify a backup destination and waits for a response. The user can specify, for example, a network drive, an attached storage drive, a memory card, Network Attached Storage (NAS), and so forth. In some embodiments the user specifies the backup destination by selecting the backup destination from a drop-down menu or other list. Alternately, the user can enter the backup destination in a text box.
Payment for the storage service can be arranged in numerous different ways. As one example, the backup application asks the user to provide an e-mail address after the data files have been copied to the online service provider's servers. The online service provider can then send an e-mail to the user with pricing information based on the amount of storage used, for example, and requesting a credit card number for billing purposes. Rather than charge for the storage itself, the storage can be free but subsequent access or use can be billed. Examples of uses that can be billed for include printing copies of the data files, and where the data files are images, using the images in merchandising such as printing on T-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons, and so forth. In other embodiments, the backup application installs an access application on the data source 200. Launching the access application opens a browser such as Internet Explorer and directs the browser to the website of the online service provider. The online service provider can then charge the user for access to the data files.
Regardless of the destination for the data files, whether selected by the user or pre-determined, backing up 510 the data files proceeds as otherwise described with respect to FIG. 3 starting with looking 325 for installed data burning software. After completion, the backup application can display 360 a message indicating successful completion.
FIG. 6 is a flow-chart representation of an exemplary method 600 for manipulating backed-up data files with the data source 200. As in the previous methods 300-500, the method 600 commences with inserting 305 the optical disc 100 into either of the optical drives 210 or 220. The Windows operating system looks 310 for the Autorun.inf file that points to the backup application. The Windows operating system launches 315 the backup application to run on the data source 200. The backup application looks for backed-up data on the writable portion 120, and if such data is found 610, then the backup application provides 620 manipulation options to the user. In this way the user can opt to display the data files, restore the data to the data source 200, copy the data files to another storage device, share online, send by e-mail, print files, etc. After receiving the user options the backup application performs 630 the designated tasks. Although the above discussion describes the backup application as providing 620 manipulation options to the user, it will be understood that in the alternative, the backup application can launch another application to provide 620 manipulation options to the user.
1. A method for backing up data from a data source, the method comprising:
detecting an optical disc in an optical drive of the data source;
auto-launching a data backup application stored on the optical disc; and
using the data backup application to copy a data file across a network to a networked storage.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the networked storage comprises a storage area network.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the networked storage comprises a server of a commercial service provider.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the commercial service provider is predetermined.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the networked storage comprises a user-selected location.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising finding on the optical disc an Autorun.inf file that points to the data backup application.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising finding the data file according to a criterion.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the criterion is pre-determined.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the criterion is user-specified.
10. A data backup device comprising:
an optical disc comprising computer-readable instructions including auto launch instructions and a backup application, the auto-launch instructions configured to point to the backup application, the backup application configured to find data files on the data source according to a criterion, and back up the data files across a network to a networked storage.
11. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the auto-launch instructions further comprise an Autorun.inf file.
12. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the criterion is a type of content.
13. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the criterion is pre-determined.
14. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the backup application is further configured to allow a user to specify the criterion.
15. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the networked storage comprises a storage area network.
16. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the networked storage comprises a server of a commercial service provider.
17. The data backup device of claim 16, wherein the commercial service provider is predetermined.
18. The data backup device of claim 10 wherein the backup application is further configured to allow a user to specify a location of the networked storage.
19. A business method, comprising:
distributing an optical disc including computer-readable instructions, the computer readable instructions including a backup application configured to selectively back up data files from a data source to a server across the Internet;
maintaining the server to store received data files and associate the stored files with the data source; and
charging a fee based on the data files.
20. The business method of claim 19 wherein charging the fee based on the data files includes charging the fee for storing the data files.
21. The business method of claim 19 wherein charging the fee based on the data files includes charging the fee for accessing the data files.
22. The business method of claim 19 wherein charging the fee based on the data files includes charging the fee for using the data files.
US11/546,176 2006-07-31 2006-10-10 Optical disc initiated data backup Abandoned US20080028008A1 (en)
US83424706P true 2006-07-31 2006-07-31
US83622806P true 2006-08-09 2006-08-09
US11/546,176 US20080028008A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2006-10-10 Optical disc initiated data backup
US11/492,380 Continuation-In-Part US7813913B2 (en) 2005-10-12 2006-07-24 Emulation component for data backup applications
US11/506,386 Continuation-In-Part US7818160B2 (en) 2005-10-12 2006-08-18 Data backup devices and methods for backing up data
US20080028008A1 true US20080028008A1 (en) 2008-01-31
ID=38987657
US11/546,176 Abandoned US20080028008A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2006-10-10 Optical disc initiated data backup
US (1) US20080028008A1 (en)
2006-10-10 US US11/546,176 patent/US20080028008A1/en not_active Abandoned
US7216114B2 (en) 2007-05-08 Transfer of mail folders between e-mail users
EP1752917B1 (en) 2017-11-29 Memory card, access device, and memory card processing method
US8195444B2 (en) 2012-06-05 Systems and methods for automated diagnosis and repair of storage devices
US8751457B2 (en) 2014-06-10 Mobile device data archiving
JPH11353240A (en) 1999-12-24 Computer system, computer terminal device, and storage medium
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:BRUNET, JEFFREY;CHOWDHARY, YOUSUF;COLLINS, IAN;REEL/FRAME:018411/0295