VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL ENTERPRISE SYSTEM IMAGING

• US 20120066682A1
• Filed: 09/13/2010
• Published: 03/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Al-Aziz, Daniel, Karatutlu, Murat, Ivanov, Dennis, Perry, Martin, McGuinness, Keith
• Granted Patent: US 8,544,007 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A web page behavior enhancement (WPBE) control element is provided on a rendered web page enabling a user to perform actions on at least a portion of the web page content such as customizing, editing, analyzing, forwarding, and/or annotating the content. The processed content may be presented on the original web page, on a locally stored version of the web page, or archived for subsequent use, where any changes to the original web page content may be tracked and the user notified about the changes. The WPBE control element(s) may be embedded into the web page at the source web application or at the local browser based on factors like web application capabilities, browser capabilities, user preferences, usage pattern, and comparable ones.

Claims

1. A method executed at least in part in a computing device for enterprise system imaging, the method comprising:

receiving an imaging job request;

creating a workflow comprising job steps based on a configuration context of the imaging job request;

executing the workflow, wherein an image related to each job step is retrieved from a cache tree for each job step;

if an image is created for a job step, updating the cache tree with the newly created image; and

notifying a client submitting the imaging job request through a callback.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a developer created customized deployment job; and

registering the customized deployment job.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the customized deployment job is registered as one of an image deployment job and an existing operating system deployment job.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transferring the received imaging job request to a machine management service; and

requesting the imaging job from a workflow host, wherein the workflow host executes the workflow.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the machine management service manages a plurality of workflow hosts.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if a target for the imaging job is a storage area network (SAN), employing cloning caching for image retrieval; and

if the target for the imaging job is a computer, employing a compression algorithm for image retrieval.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if a customization task is performed as part of the imaging job, adding a result of the customization task to one of the cache tree as a new clone and a desktop cache as a differencing disk.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

extending the cache tree such that machines with similar imaging demand are supported without executing the customization task again.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the workflow further comprises automatic domain joining and renaming for machines receiving the image.

10. A system for providing imaging of computing devices, the system comprising:

a finite state machine management (FSM) client configured to;

receive a developer created customized deployment job;

register the customized deployment job with a machine management service;

a machine management server executing the machine management service configured to;

provide machine configuration data context to a workflow host;

request an imaging job from the workflow host; and

an FSM server executing at least one workflow host configured to;

create a workflow comprising job steps based on the machine configuration context associated with the imaging job request;

execute the workflow, wherein an image related to each job step is retrieved from a cache tree for each job step;

if an image is created for a job step, update the cache tree with the newly created image; and

provide a result of the workflow execution to the machine management service upon completion of the workflow.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the imaging job request is executed for at least one of a physical computer and a virtual computer.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the system employs a virtualization service that includes a first layer comprising managed application programming interfaces (APIs), a second layer comprising interfaces for implementation of classes, and a third layer comprising stacked services for each pool of machines to be imaged.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the FSM server is further configured to provide functionality associated with at least one from a set of:

machine state serialization/deserialization for job step execution, tracing, logging, and status reporting on jobs that are currently running in the system.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the FSM server is further configured to:

delete a virtual machine if a target of the imaging job is the virtual machine requiring reimaging; and

deploy an operating system and bring a machine to an operational state if the target of the imaging job is a physical machine.

discover a relevant part of an image to be deployed if a job step requires image transfer; and

transfer the image if parts of the image are already downloaded to a target machine.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the FSM server is further configured to:

discover a relevant part of an image to be deployed if a job step requires image transfer; and

transfer the image if parts of the image are already downloaded to a target machine.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the FSM server is further configured to de-allocate resources upon completion of the workflow execution.

17. A computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon for enterprise system imaging, the instructions comprising:

receiving a developer created customized deployment job;

registering the customized deployment job with a machine management service;

receiving an imaging job request;

transferring the received imaging job request to the machine management service;

requesting the imaging job from a workflow host by the machine management service, wherein the workflow host executes the workflow;

creating a workflow at the workflow host, the workflow comprising job steps based on a configuration context of the imaging job request;

executing the workflow at the workflow host, wherein an image related to each job step is retrieved from a cache tree for each job step;

if an image is created for a job step, updating the cache tree with the newly created image; and

notifying a client submitting the imaging job request through a callback from the machine management service.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the job steps are serialized as they start to ensure persistence.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the cache tree is employed to share a state of the job steps across a plurality of requested jobs.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein cacheable job steps to be executed following non-cacheable job steps are treated as non-cacheable job steps.