Hierarchical system and method for centralized management of thin clients
First Claim
1. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program comprises a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are configured to:
- detect a plurality of computers that are connected by a network; and
construct a management hierarchy for the plurality of computers, wherein one of the computers is designated as a master administrative server, wherein one or more of the computers are designated as remote administrative servers, and wherein one or more of the computers are designated as thin clients, wherein the master administrative server is configured to manage configuration updates for the remote administrative servers which are configured to manage configuration updates for the thin clients.
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Abstract
A system and method for managing a network of thin clients is disclosed. The thin clients may be organized into a hierarchy with multiple administrative servers in a hierarchy, each managing one or more thin clients. Updates to thin client configurations may be performed by propagating update information to a top-level master administrative server, which in turn conveys the update information to one or more lower-level remote administrative servers, which in turn convey the update information to their managed thin clients. To simplify network management, the thin clients may be organized into arbitrary clusters, regardless of their position within the hierarchy structure. The hierarchy may also be used to control the propagation of error messages from thin clients. The hierarchy may be implemented using a thin client management program that configures thin clients according to their position within the hierarchy.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program comprises a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions are configured to:
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detect a plurality of computers that are connected by a network; and
construct a management hierarchy for the plurality of computers, wherein one of the computers is designated as a master administrative server, wherein one or more of the computers are designated as remote administrative servers, and wherein one or more of the computers are designated as thin clients, wherein the master administrative server is configured to manage configuration updates for the remote administrative servers which are configured to manage configuration updates for the thin clients. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for managing a network of computers, the method comprising:
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displaying at least part of a hierarchical network diagram of the network, wherein the diagram comprises a plurality of icons each representing one computer in the network;
prompting a user to configure a first computer in the network with a default configuration, wherein the first computer is a thin client;
allowing the user to select one or more additional computers in the network by selecting one or more icons corresponding to the one or more additional computers, wherein the one or more additional computers are thin clients;
comparing the one or more additional computers'"'"' hardware with the first computer'"'"'s hardware; and
copying the default configuration to the each of the one or more additional computers that meet the first computer'"'"'s level of hardware. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for managing a network of thin clients and servers, wherein the method comprises:
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designating a first server as a top-level master administrative server in a management hierarchy;
designating a second server as a remote administrative server managed by the top-level master administrative server;
specifying a first subset of thin clients that will receive configuration update information from the top-level master administrative server;
specifying a second subset of thin clients that will receive configuration update information from the remote administrative server; and
performing a thin client configuration update by;
conveying update information from the top-level master administrative server to the remote administrative server, and conveying the update information from the top level master administrative server to the first subset of thin clients at least partially in parallel with conveying the update information from the remote administrative server to the second subset of thin clients. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A computer network configured to allow hierarchical management, wherein the network comprises:
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a top-level master administrative server;
one or more remote administrative servers, wherein each remote administrative server is connected to the top-level master administrative server via a network;
one or more thin clients, wherein each thin client is connected to one of the remote administrative servers or the master administrative server via the network, wherein the top-level master administrative server is configured to convey update information for one or more of the thin clients to the remote administrative servers, wherein the remote administrative servers are configured to forward the update information to the one or more thin clients. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification