Mediator Server for Enterprise Content Management Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content management systems (CMS) face challenges in managing access to unstructured data items across multiple business applications with disparate security profiles, leading to inconsistent access permissions and the need for multiple data copies, which complicates secure and efficient data sharing.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a mediator server to manage access to business entity attachments by assigning unique identifiers and creating universal resource indicators, allowing multiple business applications to access shared unstructured data items while enforcing specific security models, and selecting the appropriate content management server based on the request.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple business applications use their own data repositories to store data items, then each application can access data independently, but data duplication occurs and access consistency across applications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mediator server as an intermediary component between business applications and the content management system. This mediator receives requests from multiple applications, translates them into unified identifier requests, and coordinates access to the same data items through a common identification mechanism, thereby eliminating data duplication while maintaining application-specific access flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal identification system where a single identifier can represent the same data item across multiple business applications. This universal approach allows different applications to access the same underlying data without requiring separate data copies, achieving both data sharing and application-specific access control
2Reliability
If each application has disparate security profiles for the same user, then application-specific security control is maintained, but access consistency and trust across applications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mediator server acts as a security intermediary that receives access requests from multiple applications with different security profiles. It translates these application-specific security contexts into a unified security model for accessing content items, ensuring consistent access control across applications while preserving the security requirements of each individual application
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the security control into two layers: application-level security profiles that handle user authentication and authorization for each application, and a unified content-level security model that ensures consistent access control across all applications. This segmentation allows both application-specific security and cross-application consistency to coexist
3Ease of operation
If a content management system directly serves multiple applications with different security models, then data access is simplified, but the system complexity to manage disparate security profiles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mediator server serves as a complexity-absorbing intermediary that sits between the content management system and multiple business applications. It handles the translation and coordination of different security models, allowing the content management system to maintain simple, unified data access interfaces while the mediator manages the complexity of disparate security profiles across applications
Data Source
AI summary
Various arrangements for managing access to unstructured data are presented. A plurality of access requests may be received from a plurality of remote computer systems to a plurality of business entities stored by a content management server. In response to receiving a request for access to a business entity of the plurality of business entities stored by a content management server from a remote computer system, an identifier request may be transmitted to the content management server. A response from the content management server may be received in response to the identifier request. A resource locator that comprises the identifier may be created. The resource locator may be transmitted to the remote computer system for use in accessing the business entity.