TRANSFERRING BINARY LARGE OBJECTS (BLOBS) IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A data transport system has application for transferring binary large objects (blobs) to one or more clients (160, 170, 180). The data transport system includes a mass storage device (140), a high bandwith network (150), a blob server (130) and an applications server (110). The blobs are pre-packetized in a general format compatible with a network protocol in that the packets do not include specific control information that identifies a particular client and a particular request for a blob. At run time, a requesting client generates a request to the applications server to request a blob stored in the mass storage device. In turn, the applications server generates a request, that includes control information to identify the requesting client and the particular request, to the blob server. The blob server accesses the mass storage device to retrieve packets corresponding to the blob requested, and transfers the packets and the control information from the blob server to the requesting client. The requesting client modifies each packet to include the control information, thereby conforming the packets to the network protocol.