Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2003-09-02
Mizrahi, Diane D. (Department: 2175)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
active
06615217
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to interconnected heterogeneous data processing systems, and more specifically to reading and writing files by an application on a first system to a disk on a heterogeneous second system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1
is a block diagram illustrating a General Purpose Computer
20
in a data processing system. The General Purpose Computer
20
has a Computer Processor
22
, and Memory
24
, connected by a Bus
26
. Memory
24
is a relatively high speed machine readable medium and includes Volatile Memories such as DRAM, and SRAM, and Non-Volatile Memories such as, ROM, FLASH, EPROM, and EEPROM. Also connected to the Bus are Secondary Storage
30
, External Storage
32
, output devices such as a monitor
34
, input devices such as a keyboard
36
(with mouse
37
), and printers
38
. Secondary Storage
30
includes machine-readable media such as hard disk drives (or DASD) and disk sub-systems. External Storage
32
includes machine-readable media such as floppy disks, removable hard drives, magnetic tapes, CD-ROM, and even other computers, possibly connected via a communications line
28
. The distinction drawn here between Secondary Storage
30
and External Storage
32
is primarily for convenience in describing the invention. As such, it should be appreciated that there is substantial functional overlap between these elements. Computer software such as data base management software, operating systems, and user programs can be stored in a Computer Software Storage Medium, such as memory
24
, Secondary Storage
30
, and External Storage
32
. Executable versions of computer software
33
, can be read from a Non-Volatile Storage Medium such as External Storage
32
, Secondary Storage
30
, and Non-Volatile Memory and loaded for execution directly into Volatile Memory, executed directly out of Non-Volatile Memory, or stored on the Secondary Storage
30
prior to loading into Volatile Memory for execution.
FIG. 2
is a block diagram illustrating file reading and writing across heterogeneous systems, in accordance with the Prior Art. In a first computer system
110
, an application
120
writes records to a file
114
. When the application
120
completes writing to the file
114
, the file
114
is closed. Then, a utility, such as FTP, is utilized to transfer the file
114
to a second computer system
112
, where a corresponding utility
124
writes the file
116
on disk on that second computer system
112
. A second application
126
can then read and process the second file
116
. Any necessary translations between the two heterogeneous computer systems is performed by the two utility programs
122
,
124
.
In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the first computer system
110
is a GCOS® 8 mainframe system that operates utilizing 36-bit words with either 4 9-bit or 6 6-bit characters per word. The preferred second computer system
112
is a UNIX system utilizing 8-bit bytes. The preferred UNIX variant is IBM's AIX. One application that is commonly utilized here is the dumping of a database on the GCOS 8 system
110
to a “flat” file
114
. The “flat” file is then moved as bulk data to a Teradata system
112
from NCR, where the “flat” file
114
is loaded into a second database utilizing a “FastLoad” program
126
from NCR.
There are a number of problems with this implementation. Most notably, it is necessary to write the data twice, once on each system, and read it twice, again, once on each system. In large systems, this overhead can be substantial.
FIG. 3
is a block diagram illustrating writing of a file
116
on a second computer system
112
by an application
130
executing on a first computer system
110
. The file
116
can then be read and processed by an application
136
on the second computer system
112
.
This functionality is available in some homogeneous computer systems. For example, the Solaris operating system sold by Sun provides a Remote File System functionality that allows an application on a first computer system
110
to write files
116
on a second computer system
112
. Microsoft Windows (various levels) also supports similar functionality.
However, this functionality has been limited in the prior art to homogeneous computer systems such as Solaris or Windows. It has not been available between heterogeneous computer systems. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason that this functionality has been limited in prior art systems to homogeneous computer systems is that in such cases, there is no requirement to perform any translation between systems, such as between 9 and 8 bit bytes as required in the preferred embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 4
is a block diagram illustrating transferring data directly between an application
130
on a first computer system
110
to a second application
136
on a second computer system
112
. This is currently available between applications on heterogeneous computer systems as message passing. One example of a message passing mechanism between heterogeneous computer systems is the FlowBus product sold by the assignee of this invention. However, in the prior art, this is typically fairly slow and expensive due to the requirement to acknowledge messages. It would thus be advantageous to provide this functionality between heterogeneous computer systems utilizing more efficient protocols. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide this functionality for bulk data transfers.
Another problem encountered when utilizing heterogeneous computer systems is that of synchronizing jobs executing on the two computer systems
110
,
112
. Many variants of UNIX provide the capability to start jobs or tasks on other UNIX systems, to wait for results from the execution of those jobs or tasks, and to receive and act upon those results. However, this capability has not been available in the prior art between heterogeneous computer systems. Some of the problems that have prevented this in the prior art are different formats of data on the two systems, different methods of starting jobs or tasks, and different methods of returning job or task status information. It would thus be advantageous to be able to execute jobs or tasks on a second computer system
112
started from a first heterogeneous computer system
110
, which then receives the results of that execution when the jobs or tasks complete.
Another problem encountered when utilizing heterogeneous computer systems is that of checkpointing and restarting jobs or tasks operating on. Again, this feature has been present to some extent when operating across multiple homogeneous computer systems, but not across multiple heterogeneous computer systems. Part of the reason for this problem is that each computer architecture involved utilizes its own unique methods of checkpointing and restarting jobs or tasks. It would thus be advantageous to be able to order checkpointing on a second computer system
112
from a first heterogeneous computer system
110
, and then later optionally restarting the checkpointed job or task on that second computer system
112
.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5296636 (1994-03-01), Siegel et al.
patent: 6098129 (2000-08-01), Fukuzawa et al.
patent: 6442663 (2002-08-01), Sun et al.
patent: 6529976 (2003-03-01), Fukuzawa et al.
Allen Ken
Lawrance William
Rosensteel, Jr. Kenneth R.
Bull HN Information Systems Inc.
Hayden Bruce E.
Mizrahi Diane D.
Mofiz Apu
Phillips James H.
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