Shared Content Sync Using Shadow Items for Storage Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content management systems face challenges in efficiently synchronizing content items between client devices due to constrained storage allocation, leading to reduced space for other items and applications.
Innovation Solution
Implementing shadow items that store metadata instead of actual content data, allowing selective removal and replacement of locally stored content items to maintain access while optimizing storage usage, and using predictive retention scores or idle-state management to manage storage efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If content management system synchronizes all shared content items to client devices, then complete content access is maintained, but storage space on client devices is substantially reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments content items into two distinct types: full content items (with actual data) and shadow items (with only metadata). This segmentation allows the system to store minimal information locally while maintaining access to complete content through the content management system, thereby resolving the contradiction between complete content access and limited local storage space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates shadow items that are simplified copies containing only metadata (name, location, attributes) rather than full content data. These shadow items serve as placeholders that enable local access operations while the actual content remains stored remotely, thus maintaining content access completeness without consuming substantial local storage space.
2Volume of stationary object
If shadow items are used to represent remote content, then storage efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to additional management mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal shadow item structure that can represent any type of content (files, folders, media) using a standardized metadata format. This multi-functional approach simplifies management by providing a consistent mechanism for handling diverse content types, reducing the complexity that would otherwise arise from managing different representations for different content kinds.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically manages shadow item creation, updates, and removal based on synchronization events. When content is added, modified, or removed in the cloud, the client device autonomously creates or updates corresponding shadow items without requiring manual intervention, thereby managing the increased complexity through automated self-service mechanisms.
3Volume of stationary object
If selective content removal is implemented to free storage space, then available storage increases, but access time to removed content increases due to remote retrieval
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary actions by maintaining shadow items that contain all necessary metadata (name, location, attributes) before actual content retrieval is needed. This preliminary metadata storage enables instant identification and retrieval of content from the cloud, significantly reducing access time compared to having no local information about remote content.
Solution Approach 2:
The shadow item acts as an intermediary between the user and remote content. It provides a local representation that enables quick content identification, selection, and initiation of retrieval, while the actual content remains in the cloud. This intermediary mechanism balances storage efficiency with acceptable access time by providing immediate metadata access and streamlined content retrieval.
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, or open a large content item remote to the client device, 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.