Abstract: A protocol and system for securely communicating a financial transaction between a customer and a merchant and a distributed computer network employing the protocol or system. A central authority having a central authority private key Ksca assigns a customer account (“CACCT”) to the customer and a merchant account (“MACCT”) to the merchant. The customer has a customer public key Kpc; the merchant has a merchant public key Km.

Abstract: A uniform application programming interface (API) provides efficient generation and control of resource reservations so as to ensure a desired quality of service (QoS) for applications running on an operating system of a computer system. The uniform API is based on a hierarchical file system which associates resource reservations with references to shared objects, rather than with the objects themselves. The uniform API permits the use of a variety of different proportional share schedulers for controlling access to physical resources, e.g., CPU, memory, disk, network interfaces, etc. of the computer system. The hierarchical file system includes a separate directory for each independently-scheduled physical resource of the computer system. A parent of the resource reservation in the hierarchical file system is either a root node of the file system or another reservation for the same resource.

Abstract: Physical connectivity is determined between elements such as switches and routers in a multiple subnet communication network. Each element has one or more interfaces each of which is physically linked with an interface of another network element. Address sets are generated for each interface of the network elements, wherein members of a given address set correspond to network elements that can be reached from the corresponding interface for which the given address set was generated. The members of first address sets generated for corresponding interfaces of a given network element, are compared with the members of second address sets generated for corresponding interfaces of network elements other than the given element. A set of candidate connections between an interface of the given network element and one or more interfaces of other network elements, are determined.

Abstract: A number of protocols are disclosed for providing simplified security for a series of low-cost transactions carried out between a client and a server within an on-going client-server relationship. A key establishment protocol is used to generate a shared key which will be used by the client and server for the series of transactions. The client generates the shared key as a function of a client identifier, a server identifier and secret client information, encrypts the shared key using a public key of the server, and sends the encrypted shared key to the server. The server responds by incorporating server information into a response which is encrypted using the shared key and sent to the client. The client decrypts the response, verifies that the server has accepted the shared key, and then sends additional client information, such as a credit card number, to the server, using the shared key for encryption. The client may then use the shared key in a series of subsequent transactions with the server.

Abstract: A computer operating system that allows legacy applications to be run automatically with quality of service (QoS) guarantees matching required QoS performance levels. In accordance with the invention, files have QoS requirement attributes that can be set-by users. Additionally, users may interpose a requirement broker between a given legacy application and the operating system. The requirement broker may be in the form of a modified version of a library that is dynamically linked with applications at load time. The requirement broker intercepts certain system calls and automatically requests from the system QoS guarantees in accordance with the QoS requirement attributes of the accessed files, whether local or remote.

Abstract: A network server stores database tables for use in resolving labels into network addresses as requested by a remote browser client. Each user has an associated address-table which stores user defined labels associated with network addresses. Users may access other user's address-tables if such other users grant authority to do so. Each user defines the address-tables to be searched, along with a search order, to be used when the user requests that a label be resolved into a network address. During address resolution, the server will resolve a received label into the network address associated with the label as defined by the first accessed address-table which contains the label. The search order as defined by the user may be overridden for a particular address resolution request by an appropriate user command. In various embodiment, the network addresses may be WWW addresses and electronic mail addresses.

Abstract: Received packets are processed utilizing protocol processing stages in an operating system, in accordance with a technique referred to as signaled receiver processing (SRP). A given protocol processing stage uses a next stage submit (NSS) function to pass a packet to a subsequent protocol processing stage. Each protocol processing stage is associated with one or more sockets. Each socket is associated with the input function of a protocol processing stage, an unprocessed input queue (UIQ) that contains packets destined to the socket but not yet processed by the socket's input function, and a list of owner processes, which expect input from the socket. NSS uses a multi-stage early demultiplexing (MED) function, which determines a packet's next destination socket, based on the stage currently processing the packet and on information contained in the packet.

Abstract: A computer network management arrangement employs enhanced network elements that include database technology. This, in turn, allows such enhanced network elements to filter management information intelligently and also to notify an associated network manager of the occurrence of complex events of interest. More specifically, the network elements are enhanced through use of database technology to process declarative queries and to support triggers. Additionally, auxiliary network managers, that perform as proxies for network elements that have not been enhance with database technology, are employed to collect and integrate management information from one or more non-enhanced network elements. Consequently, the management information supplied to a network manager from the auxiliary network mangers could be significantly less than that collected from the network elements. Thus, the auxiliary network managers further reduce the network management traffic.

Abstract: A computer operating system in which transfer of control of executing threads between protection domains is implemented using specific portals dedicated to the particular transfer of control between two protection domains. The transfer of control may also include parameter manipulation. A server registers a portal specification with a portal manager, the portal specification defining the behavior of portals which transfer control to the server. Thereafter, when a client application desires service from the server, the client application requests instantiation of a portal which will transfer control of an execution thread from the client application protection domain to the server protection domain. Upon receipt of the request, the portal manager dynamically generates portal code and updates a portal table associated with the client application, thus instantiating the portal.

Abstract: A method for managing a buffer pool containing a plurality of queues is based on consideration of both (a) when to drop a packet and (b) from which queue the packet should be dropped. According to the method a packet drop is signaled with the global average queue occupancy exceeds a maximum threshold and is signaled on a probabilistic basis when the global occupancy is between a minimum threshold and the maximum threshold. Each queue has a particular local threshold value associated with it and is considered to be “offending” when its buffer occupancy exceeds its local threshold. When a packet drop is signaled, one of the offending queues is selected using a hierarchical, unweighted round robin selection scheme which ensures that offending queues are selected in a fair manner. A packet is then dropped from the selected offending queue.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of lazy updates in a distributed database described by a directed acyclic copy graph. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a timestamp module that creates a unique timestamp for each of the lazy updates and (2) a propagation module, associated with the timestamp module, that employs edges of the directed acyclic copy graph to propagate the lazy updates among replicas in the distributed database according to said unique timestamp and ensure the serialization.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of updates from a replica site in a distributed database that is described by a copy graph and a distributed database incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a directed acyclic copy graph (DAG) creation module that identifies backedges in, and removes the backedges from, the copy graph to yield a DAG and (2) a propagation module, associated with the DAG creation module, that initially employs eager updating to propagate the updates along the backedges and thereafter employs lazy updating to propagate the updates along edges of the directed acyclic copy graph to ensure the serialization.

Abstract: A real-time event processing system (EPS) for processing a sequence of events generated by one or more applications. In an illustrative embodiment, the EPS includes a set of real-time analysis engines (RAEs) operating in parallel, e.g., a set of clusters each including one or more RAEs, and one or more mappers for mapping a given input event to a particular one of the clusters. A main-memory database system is coupled to the RAEs, and the RAEs process events associated with input streams from one or more data sources and deliver output streams to one or more data sinks. The data source and data sinks may be, e.g., network elements, clients, databases, etc. The events are processed in accordance with services implemented in the RAEs, and utilize data stored in a memory portion of the main-memory database system accessible to the RAEs. The data may include, e.g., a subscription table storing subscription information indicating the service or services that should be executed for a given event.

Abstract: A method of detecting and recovering from data corruption of a database is characterized by the step of logging information about reads of a database in memory to detect errors in data of the database, wherein said errors in data of said database arise from one of bad writes of data to the database, of erroneous input of data to the database by users and of logical errors in code of a transaction. The read logging method may be implemented in a plurality of database recovery models including a cache-recovery model, a prior state model a redo-transaction model and a delete transaction model. In the delete transaction model, it is assumed that logical information is not available to allow a redo of transactions after a possible error and the effects of transactions that read corrupted data are deleted from history and any data written by a transaction reading Ararat data is treated as corrupted.

Abstract: A method and system for servicing disk I/O requests from domains which have been guaranteed minimum quality of disk service maintains I/O requests for each domain are in separate queues. The queues are serviced by a disk scheduler which selects requests from the queues in accordance with a fair queuing scheduling algorithm that considers the estimated time required to service the request at the head of a queue with regard for the size of the input or output associated with the request, the proportion of disk bandwidth assigned to the particular domain, and the state of the other queues.

Abstract: A method of detecting and recovering from data corruption of a database is characterized by the step of logging information about reads of a database in memory to detect errors in data of the database, wherein said errors in data of said database arise from one of bad writes of data to the database, of erroneous input of data to the database by users and of logical errors in code of a transaction. The read logging method may be implemented in a plurality of database recovery models including a cache-recovery model, a prior state model a redo-transaction model and a delete transaction model. In the delete transaction model, it is assumed that logical information is not available to allow a redo of transactions after a possible error and the effects of transactions that read corrupted data are deleted from history and any data written by a transaction reading Ararat data is treated as corrupted.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of lazy updates in a distributed database described by a directed acyclic copy graph. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a timestamp module that creates a unique timestamp for each of the lazy updates and (2) a propagation module, associated with the timestamp module, that employs edges of the directed acyclic copy graph to propagate the lazy updates among replicas in the distributed database according to said unique timestamp and ensure the serialization.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, ensuring serialization of lazy updates in a distributed database described by a directed acyclic copy graph. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a forest construction module that creates a forest having trees and edges from the directed acyclic copy graph and (2) a propagation module, associated with the forest construction module, that employs the edges of the forest to propagate the lazy updates among replicas in the distributed database and ensure the serialization.

Abstract: A method of detecting and recovering from data corruption of a database is characterized by the step of protecting data of the database with codewords, one codeword for each region of the database; and verifying that a codeword matches associated data before the data is read from the database to prevent transaction-carried corruption. A deferred maintenance scheme is recommended for the codewords protecting the database such that the method of detecting and recovering from data corruption of a database may comprise the steps of protecting data of the database with codewords, one codeword for each region of the database; and asynchronously maintaining the codewords to improve concurrency of the database. Moreover, the database may be audited by using the codewords and noting them in a table and protecting regions of the database with latches.

Abstract: A reference counting a garbage collection process employs a reference counting technique in which only the “last” detected strong pointer is followed to an object. Moreover, no assumptions are made about the phase locking used in the transaction and strict WAL is not followed. Indeed, a relatively restricted local traversal of the object graph is employed which leads to higher efficiency. Furthermore, in a client-server arrangement, updates made by a transaction running at the client may be reflected at the server after the transaction ends, and the updates are not required to be forced to the server before the end of the transaction.