US-12619943-B2 - Shippable network-attached data storage device with updateable electronic display

US12619943B2US 12619943 B2US12619943 B2US 12619943B2US-12619943-B2

Abstract

A network-attachable data transfer device housed within a shippable enclosure that incorporates an updateable electronic display for displaying shipping destination information is disclosed. The device may be initialized (e.g., prepared to receive data, and the updateable electronic shipping display set to the shipping destination) by a service provider and shipped, in accordance with the displayed destination address, as a self-contained shipping unit. The device may be installed onto a network at the destination and loaded with data. The display may also be updated with the next destination address such that the device is shipped to the updated destination address (e.g., back to the service provider, or onto other destinations before being send back to the service provider). When the device is received back at the service provider, the data is transferred from the device to a service provider storage facility, wiped of data, and prepared to be sent out again.

Inventors

Colin Laird Lazier
William J. VASS

Assignees

AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230421

Claims (20)

1 . A network-attachable data transfer device, comprising: an enclosure configured to ship the network-attachable data transfer device as a self-contained shipping unit; an electronic display; a persistent storage medium inside the enclosure, the persistent storage medium configured to store data during shipment, wherein the stored data is encrypted one or more times, with one or more keys; a network connection configured to provide external access to the persistent storage medium as a network attached storage device; and an external power connection configured to provide power, from a source external to the network-attachable data transfer device.
2 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the electronic display comprises an electronic ink screen configured to maintain display during shipping without power.
3 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , the device further comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) such that the network-attachable device is uniquely identifiable and trackable by the RFID.
4 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein: the network-attachable data transfer device is configured to display data, comprising sensor data or instructions, about the network-attachable data transfer device.
5 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein: the electronic display comprises a touch-screen configured to receive touch-based input to configure the network-attachable data transfer device for data transfer on a network; or the network-attachable data transfer device comprises a physical keypad to receive input.
6 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the network-attachable device is provisioned with a keystore comprising one or more certificates that authenticate the network-attachable device and one or more keys for encrypting data stored to the persistent storage medium of the network-attachable data transfer device.
7 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , the device further comprising at least one of a temperature sensor, pressure sensor, or humidity sensor configured to sense a respective characteristic of an environment of the network-attachable data transfer device, and wherein the network-attachable device is configured to display information obtained from the at least one sensor on the electronic display.
8 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the network-attachable data transfer device is ruggedized in accordance with one or more standards comprising MIL STD 810 (MIL-SPEC) or IPXX (ingress protection) for dust and water protection.
9 . The network-attachable data transfer device as recited in claim 1 , wherein persistent storage medium comprises one or more hard disk drives, optical media, magnetic tapes or solid-state storage devices, and wherein the network-attachable data transfer device is configured to instruct display of one or more operational characteristics of the persistent storage medium via the electronic display.
10 . A method, comprising: receiving, by one or more computers of a service provider network of a service provider, a request for a customer data import job, wherein the request specifies a customer location of the data; provisioning, at the service provider, a quantity of data transfer devices, distinct from the one or more computers, based on the customer data import job, wherein said provisioning comprises, for each of the quantity of data transfer devices: installing, at the service provider, security information on the provisioned data transfer device, wherein the security information is usable to protect customer data stored on the data transfer device; and for each of the quantity of data transfer devices, directing shipment to the customer according to a shipping address on an enclosure of the data transfer device, wherein the enclosure provides a self-contained shipping unit for the data transfer device, and wherein the data transfer device comprises an electronic display and is configured for installation as network-attached storage on a network at the customer location in the enclosure.
11 . The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein said installing security information on the provisioned data transfer device comprises installing one or more security keys or one or more security certificates on the provisioned data transfer device.
12 . The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein said receiving the request for the customer data import job comprises receiving the request over a network via a client-facing console of the service provider.
13 . The method as recited in claim 12 , the method further comprising: providing, via the client-facing console, access and management functionality for the customer data import job.
14 . The method as recited in claim 10 , the method further comprising: receiving a given one of the data transfer devices at the service provider; connecting the given data transfer device to a storage service of the service provider; reading, decrypting, and transferring customer data from the given transfer device to a storage service of the service provider; and preparing the given data transfer device for re-use, preparing comprising wiping the customer data and security information from the given data transfer device.
15 . The method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising: displaying, via the electronic display, instructions for using the device or a warning message.
16 . A method, comprising: subsequent to receiving a shipment of a data transfer device, wherein the data transfer device has an electronic display and comprises an enclosure and a persistent storage medium storing customer data inside the enclosure: connecting the data transfer device, via a network connection configured to provide access to the persistent storage medium as a network attached storage, to a service provider network through the enclosure; reading and decrypting the customer data from the data transfer device; storing the customer data to a storage service of a service provider; and, preparing the data transfer device for re-use; wherein the enclosure provides a self-contained shipping unit for the data transfer device.
17 . The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising: displaying, via the electronic display, instructions for using the device or a warning message.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein said storing the customer data to a storage service of a service provider comprises storing the customer data to a customer-specified storage location at the storage service.
19 . The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising displaying, via the electronic display of the data transfer device, instructions for connecting the data transfer device to the service provider network.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises: determining progress of the data transfer device connection and data transfer; and displaying, via the electronic display of the data transfer device, an indication of the progress.

Description

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/517,311, filed Jul. 19, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/788,671, filed Jun. 30, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,360,529, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND Growth of data storage capacity and big data has far outpaced the rate of increase of data transmission bandwidth capable of transferring big data. The discrepancy is so great that transmitting big data from one storage facility to another storage facility can be prohibitively costly (e.g., requiring costly system upgrades) or lengthy (e.g., transmission taking months to years). Physically moving the storage media may leave the data on legacy hardware or may not be an available option (e.g., when the data was stored by a storage service on behalf of the customer). Some solutions have involved transferring the data to a portable storage device (e.g., network attached storage devices) and shipping the portable storage device to another storage facility where the data is transferred to another storage system. However, when it comes to shipping, placing items into containers and labels onto the containers offers numerous opportunities for human mistakes that may prevent the correct item from being shipped to the correct destination. For example, the wrong item may be placed in a box or the wrong label may be placed on the box, causing a customer to receive the wrong item. In particular, when an order is placed for an item, the item is fetched and a box for shipping the item selected. Sometimes items are boxed in an area with other items and human or other error may cause an item to be placed into a box that was not intended for the item. In another example, labels for shipping container may be printed and placed onto the containers. Again, human or other error may cause a label to be printed incorrectly or placed on a box that was not intended for the label. Furthermore, disposable shipping containers, such as cardboard shipping containers may not be the best use of resources as they are often only used once or a few times before being disposed. Further, some such errors may happen either at a place of business that is fulfilling the order or at a customer site, for example, a customer site that is returning the item to the place of business where it was ordered. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a system and process for a shippable data storage device with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 2 illustrates a shippable data storage device with a network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a shippable data storage device with a network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process of using a shippable data storage device with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a provisioning process associated with a shippable data storage device with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a client side process associated with a shippable data storage device with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display at a customer location, according to some embodiments. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a service provider data ingestion process associated with a shippable data storage device with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 8 illustrates a shippable tote/shipping container a with network-updateable electronic ink shipping display, according to some embodiments. FIGS. 9A-9D illustrate various types of information displayed via an updateable electronic display, according to some embodiments. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system that implements some or all of the techniques described herein, according to different embodiments. While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “includ