Method and system for synchronizing data shared among peer computing devices

揭示的是用于对等计算环境中的数据同步服务。所选的数据对象被拷贝到所选的计算设备上。在每个设备上运行的服务监视数据对象的改变。当检测到一改变时，服务发送改变通知到其他设备，使得他们能更新他们的数据对象的拷贝。用户能从任何设备访问数据对象，知道他将检索数据对象的最新版本。替代在每个设备上存储大文件引起的代价，通往在某些设备"虚象"该文件。虚象设备只存储有关文件的元数据而不是整个文件。用户通过虚象访问文件：访问请求发送到保持真实内容的设备，当若它们被本地存储时，那些内容给予用户。 Disclosed is a data synchronization service for use in a peer-to-peer computing environment. Selected data objects are copied onto selected computing devices. A service running on each device monitors data objects for changes. When a change is detected, the service sends a change notification to the other devices so that they can update their copies of the data object. A user can access a data object from any device, knowing that he will retrieve the latest version of the data object. Instead of incurring the costs of storing a large file on every device, a user "ghosts" the file on some devices. A ghosting device stores only metadata about the file rather than the entire file. The user accesses the file through the ghost: access requests are sent to a device that holds the actual contents, and those contents are presented to the user as if they were stored locally.