Shadow Items for Constrained Storage Synchronization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content management systems face challenges in efficiently managing storage allocation for synchronized content items, leading to reduced space for other items and applications on client devices due to large shared content storage requirements.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of shadow items, which store metadata without the actual content data, allows for selective storage and retrieval of content items, enabling client devices to maintain access to all shared content while optimizing storage space by replacing locally stored items with shadow items when storage limits are approached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If content management systems synchronize all content items to all client devices, then content availability and accessibility are improved, but storage space consumption on client devices increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments content items into two types: shadow items (containing only metadata) and full content items (containing actual data). This segmentation allows the system to store minimal information locally while maintaining access to full content through the content management system, thereby resolving the contradiction between content availability and storage space consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates shadow items as simplified copies of content items that contain only metadata instead of full content data. These shadow items occupy minimal storage space while still providing sufficient information for content management operations, allowing clients to maintain content availability without consuming excessive storage resources.
2Speed
If client devices store large amounts of shared content items locally, then content access speed is improved, but the amount of storage available for other items and applications is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing different levels of detail for different content items. Shadow items are stored locally for all content, providing basic metadata and quick reference, while full content items are stored locally only when needed for immediate access. This differentiated storage approach optimizes both access speed and available storage space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic storage management where the system can transition between shadow items and full content items based on access patterns and storage requirements. Content items can be dynamically loaded from the content management system when full access is needed, allowing the system to adapt storage consumption to actual usage requirements.
3Stability of the object's composition
If client devices maintain full copies of all shared content items, then data consistency and synchronization are improved, but device storage capacity is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces shadow items as intermediary objects between the content management system and client devices. Shadow items maintain the necessary metadata and indexing information to ensure data consistency and proper synchronization, while the actual full content is accessed through the content management system rather than being stored locally, thereby preserving storage capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
A content management system synchronizes content items across client computing systems connected by a network. Each client device has a storage allocation for synchronized shared content items. If the storage allocation for shared content items on a client device is exceeded by the request to add or edit a content item such that it is enlarged, a client application or the host of content management system selects content items to remove from residence on the client device but keep remotely on content management system. Upon removal of the selected content items, the client application creates shadow items, representing the content item but only containing the metadata of the content item. This creates sufficient space for the initial request to be completed while maintaining user access to all synchronized shared content items. The processes of replacing content items with shadow items may be completed while the client device is idle.