Providing a native desktop using cloud-synchronized data

• US 10,218,778 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2017
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Wesley, Ian Russell, Cao, Lin, Momchilov, Georgy, Valicherla, Chakravarthi
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Chirag R
• Application Number:
  US15/470,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20170201578A1
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2358/00 Arrangements for display data security
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/121 using a cache memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/025 LAN communication management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching

Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for providing a native desktop using cloud-synchronized data are presented. In some embodiments, a desktop management service provided by at least one computing device may selectively store data from a remote desktop. Subsequently, the desktop management service may synchronize the stored data with a cloud-based data storage platform. Thereafter, the desktop management service may cause a native desktop to be presented on a client device using the synchronized data. In some arrangements, the extracted, analyzed, and/or selectively stored data may include one or more application shortcuts, one or more documents, one or more registry keys, one or more personalization settings, or one or more layout settings. Additionally or alternatively, the remote desktop may be associated with a first operating system, and the native desktop may be associated with a second operating system different from the first operating system.

Claims

1. A virtualization server, comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the virtualization server to;

provide, using a hypervisor configured to create and manage one or more virtual machines, a remote virtual desktop to a client device; and

selectively store, using a desktop management service, on a cloud-based storage platform, remote desktop data comprising one or more files maintained on the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device,

wherein the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be synchronized with and locally cached on the client device via the cloud-based storage platform when a connection between the client device and the cloud-based storage platform is available,

wherein at least one remote file included in the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be opened in a native desktop presented by the client device when a native editor for the at least one remote file is available on the native desktop presented by the client device,

wherein the desktop management service comprises a data mining agent, a synchronization agent, and a management agent, and

wherein the data mining agent is configured to extract information from one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor, determine whether the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform, and store selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor based on determining that the selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform.

2. The virtualization server of claim 1, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the virtualization server to:

update, using the desktop management service, the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device based on changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device.

3. The virtualization server of claim 2, wherein the changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device are received by the desktop management service from the cloud-based storage platform.

4. The virtualization server of claim 1, wherein the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform comprises one or more application shortcuts, one or more documents, one or more registry keys, one or more personalization settings, or one or more layout settings.

5. The virtualization server of claim 1, wherein the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device is associated with a first operating system, and the native desktop presented by the client device is associated with a second operating system different from the first operating system.

6. The virtualization server of claim 1, wherein the synchronization agent is configured to upload, to the cloud-based storage platform, the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent.

7. The virtualization server of claim 6, wherein the management agent is configured to configure cause one or more native desktops to be presented on one or more client devices by configuring the one or more client devices to present the one or more native desktops using the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent and uploaded to the cloud-based storage platform by the synchronization agent.

8. The virtualization server of claim 1, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the virtualization server to:

provide, using the hypervisor, to the client device, a remoted application to open the at least one remote file when the native editor for the at least one remote file is not available on the native desktop presented by the client device.

9. A method, comprising:

at a virtualization server comprising at least one processor and memory;

providing, by the at least one processor, using a hypervisor configured to create and manage one or more virtual machines, a remote virtual desktop to a client device; and

selectively storing, by the at least one processor, using a desktop management service, on a cloud-based storage platform, remote desktop data comprising one or more files maintained on the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device,

wherein the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be synchronized with and locally cached on the client device via the cloud-based storage platform when a connection between the client device and the cloud-based storage platform is available,

wherein at least one remote file included in the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be opened in a native desktop presented by the client device when a native editor for the at least one remote file is available on the native desktop presented by the client device,

wherein the desktop management service comprises a data mining agent, a synchronization agent, and a management agent, and

wherein the data mining agent is configured to extract information from one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor, determine whether the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform, and store selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor based on determining that the selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising:

updating, by the at least one processor, using the desktop management service, the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device based on changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device are received by the desktop management service from the cloud-based storage platform.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform comprises one or more application shortcuts, one or more documents, one or more registry keys, one or more personalization settings, or one or more layout settings.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device is associated with a first operating system, and the native desktop presented by the client device is associated with a second operating system different from the first operating system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the synchronization agent is configured to upload, to the cloud-based storage platform, the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the management agent is configured to configure cause one or more native desktops to be presented on one or more client devices by configuring the one or more client devices to present the one or more native desktops using the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent and uploaded to the cloud-based storage platform by the synchronization agent.

16. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by a virtualization server comprising at least one processor and memory, cause the virtualization server to:

provide, using a hypervisor configured to create and manage one or more virtual machines, a remote virtual desktop to a client device; and

selectively store, using a desktop management service, on a cloud-based storage platform, remote desktop data comprising one or more files maintained on the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device,

wherein the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be synchronized with and locally cached on the client device via the cloud-based storage platform when a connection between the client device and the cloud-based storage platform is available,

wherein at least one remote file included in the remote desktop data stored on the cloud-based storage platform is configured to be opened in a native desktop presented by the client device when a native editor for the at least one remote file is available on the native desktop presented by the client device,

wherein the desktop management service comprises a data mining agent, a synchronization agent, and a management agent, and

wherein the data mining agent is configured to extract information from one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor, determine whether the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform, and store selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor based on determining that the selected portions of the information extracted from the one or more virtual desktops provided by the hypervisor should be stored for synchronization with the cloud-based storage platform.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, storing additional instructions that, when executed by the virtualization server, cause the virtualization server to:

update, using the desktop management service, the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device based on changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device, wherein the changes made to the remote desktop data on the client device are received by the desktop management service from the cloud-based storage platform.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the remote virtual desktop provided to the client device is associated with a first operating system, and the native desktop presented by the client device is associated with a second operating system different from the first operating system.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the synchronization agent is configured to upload, to the cloud-based storage platform, the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the management agent is configured to configure cause one or more native desktops to be presented on one or more client devices by configuring the one or more client devices to present the one or more native desktops using the selected portions of the information stored by the data mining agent and uploaded to the cloud-based storage platform by the synchronization agent.