Patents by Inventor Thomas Alexander Mahon

Thomas Alexander Mahon has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7716305
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for preserving cluster level serialization during file server serialization reinitialization. The apparatus includes a permission request module, a cluster negotiation module, and a completion notification module. The permission request module communicates a permission request to a remote file server in anticipation of a reinitialization of a local file server. The cluster negotiation module implements a reinitialization protocol on the remote file server during the reinitialization of the local file server. The completion notification module notifies the remote file server when the reinitialization of the local file server is complete. The apparatus, system, and method beneficially facilitate continued serialization negotiation among the remote file servers during the reinitialization of the serialization data on the local file server and, thereby, preserve the integrity of shared data resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerard Maclean Dearing, William Stuart Edwards, Elmer Enrique Latorre, Thomas Alexander Mahon, Lyle LeRoy Merithew, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7711721
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for suspending a data access request during serialization reinitialization of a file server. The apparatus includes a request recognition module, an availability module, and a suspension module. The request recognition module recognizes a request to be processed by a file server. The availability module determines if the file server is available. The suspension module suspends the data access request if the file server is not available due to serialization reinitialization. In one embodiment, the suspension module implements a hardware interrupt delay loop to suspend an interruptible data access request, such as an application request. In another embodiment, the suspension module queues a non-interruptible data access request and notifies the operating system, for example, that the non-interruptible request has been initiated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerard Maclean Dearing, William Stuart Edwards, Elmer Enrique Latorre, Thomas Alexander Mahon, Lyle LeRoy Merithew, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7627578
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for reinitializing serialization data in a file server. The apparatus includes a failure recognition module, a discard module, and a serialization module. The failure recognition module recognizes a file system serialization failure on a file server. Upon recognition of the serialization failure, the discard module discards existing serialization data located in a first memory address space, such as a file server address space. In certain embodiments, the entire file server address space may be destroyed by the operating system. The serialization module then generates new serialization data from existing connection/position data. The connection/position data is located in a second address space, such as a client address space, that is maintained during the serialization reinitialization process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerard Maclean Dearing, William Stuart Edwards, Elmer Enrique Latorre, Thomas Alexander Mahon, Lyle LeRoy Merithew, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7490088
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for preserving connection/position data integrity during reinitialization of serialization information in a file server. The apparatus includes a completion rights module, a completion termination module, and a postponement module. The completion rights module grants a completion right to a sensitive process, which is characterized by an associated period of data instability. The completion termination module terminates a grant of the completion right to the sensitive process in anticipation of a reinitialization of a file server. The completion right may be terminated after the connection/position data is stable or, if necessary, in response to completion of a time out period. The postponement module postpones the reinitialization of the file server and the serialization information until after the completion rights are terminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerard Maclean Dearing, William Stuart Edwards, Elmer Enrique Latorre, Thomas Alexander Mahon, Lyle LeRoy Merithew, Jr.