US Patent 8099758 Policy based composite file system and method

A policy configurable file system includes a computer system upon which the policy configurable file system operates, a policy source for providing the configuration policies, and one or more file servers. The computer system includes software for enforcing one or more configuration policies. The policy source is typically either a policy server such that the policy is derived from the policy server, or a policy configurable file system, such that the policy is embedded in the policy configurable file system. The one or more file servers each uses a protocol, wherein the protocols of the one or more file servers are not all the same. In one case, the one or more of the configurable policies are separable from the policy configurable file system. In another case, the one or more configurable policies are downloadable to the computer system.