Methods and systems for an intermediate graphical desktop sharing protocol

• US 10,209,850 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skytap Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Skytap Incorporated
• Inventors: Schick, Bradley M., Novodvorskiy, Petr, Pearson, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nabi, Reza
• Application Number:
  US14/855,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20160004392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: 715733
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 5/00 Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/08 specially adapted for terminal emulation, e.g. Telnet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Generating a universal graphical desktop sharing protocol is disclosed. The universal graphical desktop sharing protocol is configured to communicate information (e.g., a sequence of one or more desktop sharing events) that has been translated from a first graphical desktop sharing protocol and is available to be translated into a final graphical desktop sharing protocol.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

translating a first direction of a graphical desktop sharing stream from a first graphical desktop sharing protocol to a second graphical desktop sharing protocol upon having an indication that the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is available for communicating with a client, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol facilitates communicating information of a computing resource;

communicating the graphical desktop sharing stream using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol for display by the client;

receiving from the client a second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol; and

translating the second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream from the second graphical desktop sharing protocol to the first graphical desktop sharing protocol, wherein the first desktop sharing protocol is available when the computing resource has not loaded an operating system, and the second desktop sharing protocol is available when the operating system has at least partially loaded.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing resource is a virtual machine, and wherein the information is boot firmware information.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is a virtual network computing (VNC) graphical desktop sharing protocol, and wherein the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is a remote desktop protocol (RDP).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an indication that the computing resource is available for communicating the first graphical desktop sharing stream via the first graphical desktop sharing protocol.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to receiving an indication that the computing resource is available for communicating via the first graphical desktop sharing protocol, recording at least that the computing resource is available via the first graphical desktop sharing protocol.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an indication that the computing resource is available for communicating a second graphical desktop sharing protocol stream via the second graphical desktop sharing protocol.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to receiving an indication that the computing resource is available for communicating via the second graphical desktop sharing protocol, recording at least that the computing resource is available via the second graphical desktop sharing protocol.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising sending a graphical representation of the computing resource to a location accessible to a user associated with the client, and, when the graphical representation is selected, receiving a request from the client for access to the computing resource.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, when a client request is received for access to the computing resource, verifying that the client or a user associated with the client has permission to access the computing resource.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the information is received via the first graphical desktop sharing protocol from the computing resource, and wherein the information is sent for delivery via the second graphical desktop sharing protocol to the client.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is a remote frame buffer protocol.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is a remote frame buffer protocol used by a hypervisor to communicate the information associated with the computing resource, wherein the information is boot firmware information.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is a remote frame buffer protocol.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is the T.128 application sharing protocol.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

16. A computer-readable medium that is not a signal per se, the computer-readable medium storing contents adapted to cause a computing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

adapting a first direction of a graphical desktop sharing stream of graphical desktop display data from using a first graphical desktop sharing protocol to using a second graphical desktop sharing protocol upon having an indication that the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is available for communicating with a client, wherein the graphical desktop display data is associated with graphical display information from a computing resource; and

communicating the graphical desktop sharing stream via the second graphical desktop sharing protocol for delivery to the client;

receiving from the client a second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol; and

adapting the second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream from using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol to using the first graphical desktop sharing protocol, wherein the first desktop sharing protocol is available when the computing resource has not loaded an operating system, and the second desktop sharing protocol is available when the operating system has at least partially loaded.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein adapting the first graphical desktop sharing stream includes determining a third graphical desktop sharing protocol that is extensible to each of the first graphical desktop sharing protocol and the second graphical desktop sharing protocol.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is available at the computing resource before the computing resource has loaded an operating system, and a second graphical desktop sharing protocol is available at the computing resource after the computing resource has loaded the operating system.

19. One or more hardware computing systems each including at least one processor, comprising:

a translation component for translating a first direction of a graphical desktop sharing stream from using a first graphical desktop sharing protocol to using a second graphical desktop sharing protocol upon having an indication that the second graphical desktop sharing protocol is available for communicating with a client, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol facilitates communicating display data from a computing resource;

one or more virtual network interface components for communicating the graphical desktop sharing stream using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol for display by the client, wherein the one or more virtual network interface components receive from the client a second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol; and

wherein the translation component translates the second direction of the graphical desktop sharing stream from using the second graphical desktop sharing protocol to using the first graphical desktop sharing protocol,

wherein the first desktop sharing protocol is available when the computing resource has not loaded an operating system, and the second desktop sharing protocol is available when the operating system has at least partially loaded.

20. The one or more hardware computing systems of claim 19, wherein the one or more virtual network interface components receive data indicating whether the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is available at the computing resource, wherein the first graphical desktop sharing protocol is available at the computing resource before the computing resource has loaded an operating system and wherein a second graphical desktop sharing protocol is available at the computing resource after the computing resource has loaded the operating system.