Abstract: An e-appliance 110 detects that certain resources are lacked and offers to augment them by utilising the resources of an external service provider 120. The resources experiencing the deficiency may be either functional resources 116 within the e-appliance or may be resources involved in the pursuits of the user in which the e-appliance is being exploited.

Abstract: A fileserver connected to client computers by a network includes a data store partitioned into one or more client-accessible volumes. The data store is also partitioned into one or more back-up volumes of a client-accessible volume, store in a corresponding back-up volume data which will permit reversal of the modification of the contents of said file, detect if a client requests restoration of said file to a previous version and restore said file to the requested previous version on detecting said request. Such a configuration of fileserver allows clients to restore the fileserver files to various previous versions without recourse to the more time-consuming process of retrieving required reconstruction data from, for example, a tape streamer back-up system.

Abstract: A plurality of computers in a network (503-505) each have a processor and a non-volatile data storage device (500-502) such as a hard disk, a raid array, or the like. Each data storage device is divided into a first data storage area (203-205) and a second data storage area (509-511). The first data storage area is reserved for use by at least one processor to which it is assigned, whereas the second data storage area is hidden from use by the file system of the computer, and is used to store replicated data of other ones of the plurality of computer entities. In the event of failure of any one of the data storage devices, data can be recovered from the second data storage areas of the other data storage devices.

Abstract: A plurality of computers in a network (503-505) each have a processor and a non-volatile data storage device (500-502) such as a hard disk, a raid array, or the like. Each data storage device is divided into a first data storage area (203-205) and a second data storage area (509-511). The first data storage area is reserved for use by at least one processor to which it is assigned, whereas the second data storage area is hidden from use by the file system of the computer, and is used to store replicated data of other ones of the plurality of computer entities. In the event of failure of any one of the data storage devices, data can be recovered from the second data storage areas of the other data storage devices.

Abstract: Data are stored on magnetic tape along successive tracks extending obliquely across the tape, in each of several areas including a lead-in area, a data area and an end-of-data (EOD) area. Each track comprises successive blocks or fragments of data, and each fragment has a compact header containing a synchronization byte, six information bytes and two parity bytes. The information bytes include a fragment ID, an area ID sub code identifying the area in which the fragment is located, and various other sub codes relating to logical structure of the data. The inclusion of an area ID sub code and logical structure sub codes in the (compact) header of every fragment facilitates reliable searching of the data stored on the tape at high tape advance speeds.