Patent ID: 8095791

Claim:
In a distributed storage and processing system in which object data are each divided into fragments which are distributedly stored in the system, and which has a plurality of device groups which have different security levels, including at least a first device group, a second device group containing at least two devices, and a third device group, the third device group having a lower security level than the first and second device groups, a first device, which is in the first device group, said first device comprising: a displaying unit which lists the object data that have each been divided into fragments which are distributedly stored in the devices in the third device group; a selecting unit which allows a user to select an object datum listed by said displaying unit for reconstitution of the selected object datum; an instructing unit which instructs each of the at least two devices in the second device group to reconstitute intermediate data constituting a part of the object datum selected by said selecting unit, causing each of the at least two devices in the second device group to collect the fragments of the selected object datum directly from devices in the third device group and reconstitute the intermediate data using the collected fragments of the selected object datum; and a collecting unit which collects the intermediate data constituting parts of the object datum selected by said selecting unit directly from the at least two devices in the second device group and reconstitutes the selected object datum using the collected intermediate data, wherein said displaying unit further displays, for an object datum which has been divided into fragments which are distributedly stored in the devices in the third device group, status information which indicates that the object datum is distributedly stored, and updates, when the object datum has been reconstituted, the status information to indicate that the restored object datum is stored in the first device.