Dropbox, Inc.
Predictive models of file access patterns by application and file type

Abstract:

The speed at which files can be accessed from a remote location is increased by predicting the file access pattern based on a predictive model. The file access pattern describes the order in which blocks of data for a given file type are read by a given application. From aggregated data across many file accesses, one or more predictive models of access patterns can be built. A predictive model takes as input the application requesting the file access and the file type being requested, and outputs information describing an order of data blocks for transmitting the file to the requesting application. Accordingly, when a server receives a request for a file from an application, the server uses the predictive model to determine the order that the application is most likely to use the data blocks of the file. The data is then transmitted in that order to the client device.