APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR MONITORING THE USAGE OF COMPUTERS AND GROUPS OF COMPUTERS
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring the usage of one or more clients or groups of clients, the method comprising:
- creating lab definitions and assigning clients to a lab instance;
monitoring a client for a change in status at regular intervals and sending client usage data to a server if there is a change in status; and
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, system, and method for monitoring the usage of computers and groups of computers. A small program called the client module is installed on a client, and a corresponding server module program is installed on a server. The client agent monitors the client for a change in status at regular intervals and sends client usage data to the server if there is a change in status. The client agent also sends client usage data to the server at a regular update interval regardless of whether a status change on the client occurs. A user can group clients into labs and generate reports detailing lab usage, client usage, and user activity. The program also alerts a system administrator of possible problems with individual computers and labs. The program additionally provides a dynamic map which displays real-time status information on labs and computers.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring the usage of one or more clients or groups of clients, the method comprising:
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creating lab definitions and assigning clients to a lab instance;
monitoring a client for a change in status at regular intervals and sending client usage data to a server if there is a change in status; and
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus to monitor the usage of one or more clients or groups of clients, the apparatus comprising:
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a client agent module configured to monitor a client for a change in status at regular intervals and send client usage data to the server if there is a change in status, and to transmit client usage data to the server at regular user-defined intervals;
a lab creation module configured to create lab definitions and assign one or more clients to a lab instance according to a lab definition;
a population module configured to receive messages from one or more client agent modules and auto-populate a database with client usage data provided by one or more client agents such that each client has a unique client record in a database;
a monitor module configured to query the status of each client record at regular intervals and store the result in a separate record in a database;
a lab management module configured to allow a user to modify a lab definition and add and remove one or more clients from a lab instance;
a client management module configured to modify data gathering settings on a client agent, to log a user off of a client and change a client'"'"'s status to offline if a client fails to send an update for a specified number of update intervals, and to send a notification to a specified user if a client is offline for a given time interval or if the client is online but has not been logged into for a given time interval;
a report module configured to generate reports of client, user, and lab events; and
a mapping module configured to create graphical maps of clients assigned to a lab instance, provide client status and lab information for a given client or lab, and update client status and lab information in response to changes in status. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for monitoring the usage of one or more clients or groups of clients, the system comprising:
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one or more clients;
one or more labs, each comprising one or more clients;
a server in electronic communication with one or more clients;
a database in electronic communication with the server;
a lab creation module configured to create a lab instance and assign one or more clients to a lab instance according to a lab definition;
a client agent module configured to monitor a client for a change in status at regular intervals and send client usage data to the server if there is a change in status, and to autonomically transmit client usage data to the server at regular intervals; and
a server agent module configured to receive messages from a client agent module and to query the status of each client record at regular intervals and store the result in a separate record in a database. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification