System for and method of network booting of an operating system to a client computer using hibernation
First Claim
1. A method of booting an operating system (O/S) to one or more client computers from a server in a network, the server storing a hibernation image and communicating with the one or more client computers through one or more client interfaces, the hibernation image having O/S files for the client computer, the method comprising the steps of:
- issuing a first set of one or more requests to the server to download contents of a first set of sectors residing on the server, wherein;
the first set of sectors collectively store a hibernation file which contains the hibernation image; and
the server emulates, in response to the first set of one or more requests, behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the hibernation file are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the one or more client computers requesting the download, and wherein the request issuing step further comprises the steps of;
generating a second set of one or more requests, to the server, by executing emulation code and client disk access interrupt handler procedures resident on the one or more client computers, to download a second set of sectors that collectively comprise a boot file such that the one or more client computers receive the boot file from the server, executing the boot file and the client disk access interrupt handler procedures, at each of the one or more client computers, so as to generate a third set of one or more requests to the server, to download a third set of sectors collectively storing an O/S boot file containing O/S drivers, wherein the server emulates behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the third set of sector are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the one or more client computers requesting the download, executing the O/S boot file, once the O/S boot file is downloaded from the server, so as to subsequently generate the first set of one or more requests such that the one or more client computers receive, on a sector-by-sector basis from the server, the transmitted contents of the first set of sectors that collectively comprise the hibernation image file;
storing the contents of each of the sectors received from the server on each of the one or more client computers;
resuming operation of the O/S of the one or more client computers in a usable state through the steps, on each client computer, of;
restoring the hibernation image into client memory; and
initializing drivers, data structures and applications associated with the O/S.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for and method of network booting of an operating system (O/S) on one or more client devices, such as personal computers (PC'"'"'s), employing a hibernation image. Remote booting of sets of client devices is facilitated by employing virtual disk emulation and, in certain preferred embodiments, broadcasting or multicasting of data residing on a network server which is necessary to appropriately boot and configure the one or more client devices, the data including hibernation, O/S and application files.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of booting an operating system (O/S) to one or more client computers from a server in a network, the server storing a hibernation image and communicating with the one or more client computers through one or more client interfaces, the hibernation image having O/S files for the client computer, the method comprising the steps of:
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issuing a first set of one or more requests to the server to download contents of a first set of sectors residing on the server, wherein;
the first set of sectors collectively store a hibernation file which contains the hibernation image; and
the server emulates, in response to the first set of one or more requests, behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the hibernation file are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the one or more client computers requesting the download, and wherein the request issuing step further comprises the steps of;
generating a second set of one or more requests, to the server, by executing emulation code and client disk access interrupt handler procedures resident on the one or more client computers, to download a second set of sectors that collectively comprise a boot file such that the one or more client computers receive the boot file from the server, executing the boot file and the client disk access interrupt handler procedures, at each of the one or more client computers, so as to generate a third set of one or more requests to the server, to download a third set of sectors collectively storing an O/S boot file containing O/S drivers, wherein the server emulates behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the third set of sector are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the one or more client computers requesting the download, executing the O/S boot file, once the O/S boot file is downloaded from the server, so as to subsequently generate the first set of one or more requests such that the one or more client computers receive, on a sector-by-sector basis from the server, the transmitted contents of the first set of sectors that collectively comprise the hibernation image file;
storing the contents of each of the sectors received from the server on each of the one or more client computers;
resuming operation of the O/S of the one or more client computers in a usable state through the steps, on each client computer, of;
restoring the hibernation image into client memory; and
initializing drivers, data structures and applications associated with the O/S. - View Dependent Claims (3, 12, 13, 15, 16)
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2. (canceled)
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4-11. -11. (canceled)
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14. A method of booting an operating system (O/S) to one or more client computers from a network, the network storing a hibernation image on a first server, the hibernation image having O/S files for the client computer, the method comprising the steps of:
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issuing one or more requests to the first server to download contents of a plurality of sectors residing on the first server, wherein;
the plurality of sectors collectively stores a hibernation image file which contains the hibernation image; and
the first server emulates, in response to the one or more requests, behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the hibernation image file are accessed by the first server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the first server and transmitted, via the network, to the one or more client computers requesting the download, and wherein the request issuing step comprises the steps of;
generating a request, to the first server, to download a boot sector contained in the hibernate image file; and
executing the boot sector, once the boot sector is downloaded from the first server, so as to subsequently generate the one or more requests such that the one or more client computers receive, on a sector-by-sector basis from the first server, the transmitted contents of the individual physical sectors that collectively comprise the hibernation image file;
storing the contents of each of the sectors received from the first server on each of the one or more client computers;
resuming operation of the O/S of the one or more client computers in a usable state through the steps, at each of the one or more client computers, of;
restoring the hibernation image into memory of each of the one or more client computers; and
initializing drivers associated with the O/S. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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17. (canceled)
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18. A method of booting one or more operating systems (O/S'"'"'s) to one or more client computers from a server in a network, the server storing one or more hibernation images and communicating with the one or more client computers through one or more client interfaces, the hibernation images including O/S files for the client computers, the method comprising the steps of:
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issuing, for a first set of client computers desiring a first hibernation image, a first set of one or more requests to the server to download contents of a first set of sectors residing on the server, wherein;
the first set of sectors collectively store a hibernation file which contains the first hibernation image; and
the server emulates, in response to the first set of one or more requests, behavior of a disk drive on the first set of client computers such that the contents of individual sectors of the hibernation file are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the first set of client computers requesting the download, and wherein the request issuing step further comprises the steps of;
generating a second set of one or more requests, to the server, by executing emulation code and client disk access interrupt handler procedures resident on the first set of client computers, to download a second set of sectors that collectively comprise a boot file such that the first set of client computers receive the boot file from the server, executing the boot file and the client disk access interrupt handler procedures, at each of the client computers in the first set, so as to generate a third set of one or more requests to the server, to download a third set of sectors collectively storing an O/S boot file containing O/S drivers, wherein the server emulates behavior of a disk drive on each client computer in the first set such that the contents of individual sectors of the third set of sector are accessed by the server in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server and transmitted, via the network, to the first set of client computers requesting the download, executing the O/S boot file, once the O/S boot file is downloaded from the server, so as to subsequently generate the first set of one or more requests such that each computer in the first set receives, on a sector-by-sector basis from the server, the transmitted contents of the first set of sectors that collectively comprise the first hibernation image file;
issuing requests as in the previous step for a second set of client computers desiring a second hibernation image;
storing the contents of each of the sectors received from the server on each computer in the first and second sets of client computers;
resuming operation of the O/S of each computer in the first and second sets of client computers to a usable state through the steps, on each client computer, of;
restoring the desired hibernation image into client memory; and
initializing drivers, data structures and applications associated with the O/S.
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19. Apparatus for booting an operating system (O/S) to one or more client computers from a server in a network, the server storing a hibernation image and communicating with the one or more client computers through one or more client interfaces, the hibernation image having O/S files for the client computer, the apparatus comprising:
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one or more client computers each having;
a processor;
a memory, in communication with the processor, for storing executable computer instructions therein;
wherein the processor, in response to the instructions;
issues a first set of one or more requests to the first server to download contents of a first set of sectors residing on the server, wherein;
the first set of sectors collectively store a hibernation file which contains the hibernation image; and
the server emulates, in response to the first set of one or more requests, behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers, and wherein the request issuing step further comprises the steps of;
generating a second set of one or more requests, to the server, by executing emulation code and client disk access interrupt handler procedures resident on the one or more client computers, to download a second set of sectors that collectively comprise a boot file, executing the boot file and the client disk access interrupt handler procedures, at each of the one or more client computers, so as to generate a third set of one or more requests to the server, to download a third set of sectors collectively storing an O/S boot file containing O/S drivers, wherein the server emulates behavior of a disk drive on the one or more client computers, executing the O/S boot file, once the O/S boot file is downloaded from the server, so as to subsequently generate the first set of one or more requests such that the one or more client computers receive, on a sector-by-sector basis from the server, the transmitted contents of the first set of sectors that collectively comprise the hibernation image file;
stores the contents of each of the sectors received from the server;
resumes operation of the O/S in a usable state through the steps, on each client computer, of;
restoring the hibernation image into client memory; and
initializing drivers, data structures and applications associated with the O/S;
and a server having;
a server processor;
a server memory, in communication with the server processor, for storing executable computer instructions therein;
wherein the server processor, in response to the instructions;
accesses the first set of sectors in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server;
transmits via the network to the one or more client computers requesting download of the first set of sectors, after a predetermined invitation period, the first set of sectors such that the actual source of the sectors remains transparent to the one or more client computers;
accesses the second set of sectors in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server;
transmits via the network to the one or more client computers requesting download of the second set of sectors;
accesses the third set of sectors in a predetermined manner from a disk drive associated with the server; and
transmits via the network to the one or more client computers requesting download of the third set of sectors, after a predetermined invitation period, the third set of sectors such that the actual source of the sectors remains transparent to the one or more client computers.
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21. A method of booting an operating system, comprising:
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issuing a first set of one or more requests to a server to download contents of a first set of sectors residing on the server, wherein the first set of sectors collectively store a hibernation file which contains a hibernation image;
issuing a second set of one or more requests to the server to download a second set of sectors that collectively comprise a boot file such that the one or more client computers receive the boot file from the server;
executing the boot file once the boot file is downloaded from the server, so as to subsequently generate the first set of one or more requests, wherein the one or more client computers receive, on a sector-by-sector basis from the server, the transmitted contents of the first set of sectors that collectively comprise the hibernation file in a synchronous manner;
storing the contents of each of the sectors received from the server on each of the one or more client computers;
restoring the hibernation image into memories of each of said one or more computers;
resuming operation of the operating system of the one or more client computers in a usable state.
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Specification