Shareable Unit Manager for Cloud Content Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy techniques for sharing cloud-based content with dynamically changing dependencies and versions are inefficient and insecure, leading to unauthorized access and increased manual management demands, limiting collaboration and requiring multiple access tokens and content copies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a secure manifest file managed by a shareable unit manager that provisions access and updates to cloud-based content, using a single access token and automatically detecting changes to ensure secure and efficient collaboration across dynamically changing content units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If legacy techniques use fixed folder boundaries for sharing cloud-based content, then access control is simplified, but collaborators cannot reference content outside shared folders or efficiently manage dynamically changing content units
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments cloud-based content into discrete shareable units with individually manageable access tokens. Each unit can be independently accessed and shared, allowing collaborators to reference specific content units regardless of folder boundaries. This segmentation enables flexible content referencing while maintaining simplified access control through unit-level token management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal access token system that works across different content units and locations in the cloud storage hierarchy. A single access token can grant access to multiple shareable units, and the same token can be used whether accessing content within or outside traditional folder boundaries. This universal approach eliminates the need for separate access management for each folder or location.
2Reliability
If legacy techniques require multiple access tokens for different content units, then access control granularity is improved, but operational complexity and manual management demands increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple access token functions into a unified token system. Instead of requiring separate tokens for each content unit, the system combines access rights across multiple shareable units into single tokens. This merging maintains security by preserving access control granularity while dramatically reducing the number of tokens users must manage, thereby easing operational complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service automation where the cloud storage service automatically generates, manages, and updates access tokens for shareable units. Users don't need to manually create or distribute multiple tokens; the system handles token provisioning automatically based on shareable unit definitions. This self-service approach maintains secure access control while eliminating manual token management burdens.
3Adaptability or versatility
If legacy techniques allow dynamic content changes, then content flexibility is improved, but unauthorized access risks and manual management demands increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining shareable units with their access control parameters before content changes occur. When content is updated or added to a shareable unit, the pre-established access tokens automatically apply to the new content state. This preliminary setup ensures that dynamic content changes maintain authorized access patterns while preventing unauthorized access, as the access control framework is already in place before changes happen.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the cloud storage service continuously monitors changes to shareable units and automatically updates access token validity and permissions. When content within a shareable unit changes, the system provides feedback to the access control system, which then automatically adjusts token permissions to maintain security. This real-time feedback loop ensures content flexibility while preventing unauthorized access through automated permission management.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems for managing multiple shared content objects using access tokens that cover the multiple shared content objects are disclosed. A method commences upon assigning the shared content objects to have individual permissions grantable to two or more users. A user configures a shareable unit to include attributes that describe a plurality of constituent shared content objects stored on one or more storage devices in the cloud-based storage system. An administrator or other user configures allow/deny access privileges to the shareable unit. Upon receiving a request from a user to access the shareable unit, a single access token is generated to provide access to the shared content objects that comprise the shareable unit. Ongoing access to the shareable unit is accomplished using the single access token, without the need to provision an access token or tokens pertaining to individual ones of the constituent shared content objects of the shareable unit.