Device-independent on demand synchronization in the Unico file system

This paper presents Unico, a storage platform that presents users with a single view of all their data, independently of the device they are using. Each of the user's devices has full and up-to-date information about the entire data structure and metadata, and is able to retrieve any file transparently as needed. File content is efficiently distributed among the user's own devices according to where it is used, with no need for centralized storage and no data stored in devices that are not owned by the user. Peers communicate with each other directly to maintain a consistent state. Users also have no need to know where the data is stored, or to remember in which device the latest update to a file has been performed. Unico is able to work with devices with different storage characteristics, and provides mechanisms for applications to adapt to data availability.