Geo-aware RESTful Caching Service for Content Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content management systems face challenges in efficiently and stably transferring large content files across branch offices to a centralized content management system, particularly due to the requirement for thick clients and lack of support for failover in High Availability environments.
Innovation Solution
A RESTful API-based geo-aware content caching service that allows content upload without a thick client on the client machine, utilizing a stateless protocol and caching servers to facilitate asynchronous transfers over HTTP, enabling failover and High Availability support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If thick client is installed on client machine to enable content transfer, then content transfer functionality is provided, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the content transfer functionality from the client machine by removing the requirement for thick client installation. Instead, the content management server provides web-based interfaces and APIs that allow clients to upload content directly without installing additional software, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The content management server is designed to handle multiple functions including content upload, download, storage, and management through a unified web-based interface. This universal approach allows any standard web browser to interact with the system, eliminating the need for specialized thick client software and simplifying the overall system architecture.
2Productivity
If web server installs agent to communicate with thick client, then content transfer is enabled, but device complexity and ease of repair worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the agent component from the web server architecture. Instead of requiring an agent to communicate with thick clients, the system uses standard web protocols and APIs where the server responds to client requests without needing additional software components, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The content management server provides self-service capabilities through web-based interfaces where clients can directly upload and manage content without requiring intermediary agents. The server handles all communication through standard web protocols, eliminating the need for complex agent-based architecture and improving ease of repair.
3Reliability
If stateful session is required for web server agent, then content transfer reliability is improved, but adaptability and ease of operation worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the session management functionality by implementing stateless HTTP communication where each request contains all necessary information for processing. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliability through proper request-response handling while improving adaptability by enabling any standard web client to interact with the system without requiring stateful sessions.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of maintaining stateful sessions, the system copies all necessary context information within each HTTP request itself. This approach ensures reliability by including all required data in each request while improving adaptability by allowing any stateless web client to communicate with the server without requiring session management infrastructure.
4Ease of manufacture
If thick client and agent architecture is used, then content transfer functionality is provided, but ease of manufacture and adaptability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal web-based architecture where the content management server can be deployed on any standard web server platform without requiring specialized thick client software or agent installations. This universal approach simplifies manufacturing and deployment while dramatically improving adaptability to different client devices and platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the platform-specific components (thick clients and agents) from the system architecture, leaving only the standard web server and web-based interfaces. This extraction simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating complex client-side software development while improving adaptability by allowing any web browser to serve as a client.
Data Source
AI summary
Representational state transfer (REST) based geo-aware content transfer includes a REST server configured for receiving an application programming interface (API) request from a client device. The REST server obtains a upload universal resource locator (URL) targeting a caching server that is geographically closest to the client device, constructs an upload link containing the upload URL and a completion callback, and sends the upload link to the client device. The client device uses the upload URL to upload content to the caching server. The caching server interprets the completion callback to obtain a completion URL and, upon completion of content uploading, makes a REST API call using the completion URL. Responsive to the REST API call, the REST server executes an inbound operation to complete the uploading to a content management system and returns the content URL to the caching server which sends the content URL to the client device.