DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is responsive to the following communication: Application filed on 25 August 2025.
Claim(s) 1-17 is/are pending and present for examination. Claim(s) 1, 7, and 13 is/are in independent form.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 26 September 2025 and 22 June 2026 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 25 August 2025. These drawings are accepted.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Singh et al, USPGPUB No. 2007/0094659, filed on 18 July 2005, and published on 26 April 2007.
As per independent claims 1, 7, and 13, Singh teaches:
A log synchronization method, comprising:
storing, by a storage system that is of a database system and that comprises an active node, wherein the database system comprises an active node, a log of the active node, wherein the log indicates an operation performed by the active node {See Singh, [0017], wherein this reads over “Log generator 28 is a software utility that takes incremental snapshots of the differential content of the data structure or file comprising the active virtual machine 24A. A differential snapshot is a log file that identifies the difference between the virtual machine at a first point in time and the virtual machine at an immediately preceding point in time. A representation of a log file is shown at 26. The differential snapshot is defined as the difference in the file image of the active virtual machine at time t+x and the file image of the active virtual machine at time t. The differential snapshot is sometimes referred to as a delta file because the file represents the difference between the active virtual machine at two points in time.”};
receiving, by the storage system, a log synchronization request from a standby node of the database system {See Singh, [0018], wherein this reads over “The function of the log applicator module 32 is to periodically apply the log files to the content of the standby virtual machine 24B so that the content or file image of the standby virtual machine is a duplicate or near duplicate of the content or file image of the active virtual machine. The process of creating a log file of the active virtual machine at the active node, transmitting the log file to the standby node, and updating the content of the standby virtual machine at the standby node is repeated every few seconds to ensure that the content of the active virtual machine and the standby virtual machine are the same or nearly the same.”};
generating a differential log based on the log synchronization request and the log {See Signh, [0018], wherein this reads over “At step 42, a delta file is created that represents the difference in the content between current snapshot and a snapshot taken at the preceding time interval.”}; and
sending the differential log to the standby node, wherein the differential log indicates an operation not performed by the standby node {See Singh, [0019], wherein this reads over “At step 52, the log applicator module merges the changes represented by the delta file with the existing standby virtual machine. At step 54, the newly merged standby virtual machine is complete and available to be accessed by a client in the event of a failure of the standby node. At step 56, the flow diagram halts until the next delta file is transmitted from the active node.”}.
As per dependent claims 2, 8, and 15, Singh teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the storage system comprises a first storage device and a second storage device that belong to different regions {See Singh, Figure 1}; and
wherein the storing, by the storage system, the log of the active node comprises:
storing, by the first storage device, the log {See Singh, [0017], wherein this reads over “Log generator 28 could also be configured to generate a differential snapshot of the active virtual machine each time that the active virtual machine is modified. The creation of log files is accomplished such that each modification to the active virtual machine is recorded in a log file.”}; and
performing, by the first storage device and the second storage device, log synchronization {See Singh, [0019], wherein this reads over “Shown in FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a series of method steps for receiving a delta file at a standby node and applying the delta file to a standby virtual machine at the standby node. At step 50, the delta file is received at the standby node from the active node. The delta file is received at the log receiver module of the standby node. At step 52, the log applicator module merges the changes represented by the delta file with the existing standby virtual machine. At step 54, the newly merged standby virtual machine is complete and available to be accessed by a client in the event of a failure of the standby node. At step 56, the flow diagram halts until the next delta file is transmitted from the active node.”}.
As per dependent claims 5, 11, and 17, Singh teaches:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: storing, by the active node, the log in the storage system {See Singh, [0017], wherein this reads over “Log generator 28 could also be configured to generate a differential snapshot of the active virtual machine each time that the active virtual machine is modified. The creation of log files is accomplished such that each modification to the active virtual machine is recorded in a log file.”}.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 4, 6, 10, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singh, in view of O’Krafka et al, USPGPUB No. 2011/0320403, filed on 28 June 2011, and published on 29 December 2011.
As per dependent claims 4, 10, and 14, Singh, in combination with O’Krafka, discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: writing, by the storage system, the differential log into a relay log of the standby node based on a write operation of the standby node on the differential log {See O’Krafka, [0052], wherein this reads over “After the change information is stored in the bin log, one or more slave instances are able to read the change information from the master's bin log and save it locally to a relay log. A new slave can join the asynchronous replicated cluster by providing the binary log file name and an offset (offset represents a point in time) in the file where it can begin or continue applying updates that are read from the master. Thereafter, the relay log is read and the change information applied to the object store of the slave.”}.
The prior art of Singh fails to expressly disclose the features of the instant claim. O’Krafka is directed to the invention of replicating write sets. Specifically, O’Krafka discloses that “[a]fter the change information is stored in the bin log, one or more slave instances are able to read the change information from the master's bin log and save it locally to a relay log.” See O’Krafka, [0052]. That is, O’Krafka discloses a system wherein data from a bin log (i.e., the claimed differential log) may be stored into a relay log (i.e., the claimed relay log). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to improve the prior art of Singh with that of O’Krafka such that the relay log of O’Krafka may be used to make incremental updates in view of a differential log. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the aforementioned combination such that write operations may be easily propagated to a backup standby node.
As per dependent claims 6 and 12, Singh, in combination with O’Krafka, discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising performing at least one of:
receiving, by the standby node, the differential log, and writing the differential log into a relay log stored in the standby node; or
receiving, by the standby node, the differential log, and writing the differential log into a relay log of the standby node that is stored in the storage system {See O’Krafka, [0052], wherein this reads over “After the change information is stored in the bin log, one or more slave instances are able to read the change information from the master's bin log and save it locally to a relay log. A new slave can join the asynchronous replicated cluster by providing the binary log file name and an offset (offset represents a point in time) in the file where it can begin or continue applying updates that are read from the master. Thereafter, the relay log is read and the change information applied to the object store of the slave.”}.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 9, and 16 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-2737. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM.
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/Paul Kim/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2166
/PK/
