Patentable(?) idea day

[gmcnaughton]

Patentable ideas for you!  (Or maybe business ideas, or both.)

Computers

• Lossy zip (aka LLZW: lossy-lempel-ziv-welch).
• 3rd-party file compression.  Automatic distribution of file chunks via a CDN, using block checksums, ala ZFS de-duplication (this might be what BitTorrent is already doing; this just uses a CDN instead of p2p)
  
  • the coolest part about

Comments

[hansandersen]

Windows' Distributed File System Replication (DFSr) uses a clever compression-scheme called Remote Differential Compression, which in turn has a fiendishly cool thing called Cross-File Remote Differential Compression. If it's already pushed a file to two servers, it replicates changes by only pushing binary diffs. If you add a second file to the replicated folder, and that file is largely based on an existing other file, it replicates the new file by referring to the old one and only pushing cross-file diffs across the wire.