Patent ID: RE43346

Claim:
A method of processing a user request for performing a transaction on a user file that is stored, along with other user files, in a shared data computer network, where each user file of at least a plurality of the user files is divided into different portions stored separately on a plurality of file servers, among a group of file servers in a computer network, comprising: receiving a user request , using a file switch, to perform a specified transaction on a specified user file; identifying a subset of the file servers that separately store the different portions of the user file needed to perform the specified transaction; sending commands , using the file switch, to each respective file server in the subset of file servers to perform the transaction on a respective separately stored different portion of the user file, and receiving replies from the subset of file servers; aggregating the received replies , using the file switch, to produce an aggregated reply; and sending the aggregated reply , using the file switch, to a sender of the user request; wherein the method is performed in a manner that is transparent to both the sender and the file servers by using a respective network file protocol of the sender and a respective file network protocol of the file servers.