Method and System for Providing a Roaming Remote Desktop

• US 20140258533A1
• Filed: 03/06/2013
• Published: 09/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnissa, LLC
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: ANTONY, Jinto
• Granted Patent: US 9,069,608 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5088 involving task migration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• 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 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for migrating a linked clone virtual machine (VM) based on a location of a client device. In one embodiment, a client device transmits its location to a VM management center, and a migration application running thereon determines whether the client device and a linked clone VM to which the client device is attempting to connect are at the same location. If the client device and the linked clone VM are not at the same location, the migration application identifies a VM hosting site proximate to the client device, and instructs a hypervisor to “cold” migrate the linked clone VM and its associated redo log to a VM host and a storage device, respectively, at the identified VM hosting site. The link clone VM may then be “actively” linked to a base VM at the VM hosting site, while maintaining “passive” links to base VM(s) at other locations.

Claims

1. A method for providing a roaming remote desktop, comprising:

identifying a virtual machine (VM) hosting site proximate to a location of a client device;

migrating a linked clone VM to a VM host at the identified VM hosting site; and

establishing a remote desktop connection between the client device and the linked clone VM.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, maintaining a plurality of identical base disks at respective VM hosting sites, wherein, at any given time, the linked clone VM is actively linked to one of the base VMs and passively linked to the remaining base VMs.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, changing a link between the linked clone VM and a base VM at the identified VM hosting site to an active link.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the active and passive links are maintained as metadata in a file representing a redo log of the linked clone VM.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving the location of the client device from the client device, wherein the location is determined by the client device based on one of a latitude and longitude, an internet protocol (IP) address of a Wi-Fi router, an IP address of an internet service provider, and a private IP address.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the location of the client device is received during an attempt by the client device to connect to the linked clone VM, and wherein the migration is performed before the client device is connected to the linked clone VM.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the migration of the linked clone VM is a cold migration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the migration is over a wide area network (WAN).

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, the operations further comprising, maintaining a plurality of identical base disks at respective VM hosting sites, wherein, at any given time, the linked clone VM is actively linked to one of the base VMs and passively linked to the remaining base VMs.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, the operations further comprising, changing a link between the linked clone VM and a base VM at the identified VM hosting site to an active link.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the active and passive links are maintained as metadata in a file representing a redo log of the linked clone VM.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the migration is over a wide area network (WAN).

18. The system of claim 16, the operations further comprising, maintaining a plurality of identical base disks at respective VM hosting sites, wherein, at any given time, the linked clone VM is actively linked to one of the base VMs and passively linked to the remaining base VMs.

19. The system of claim 16, the operations further comprising, changing a link between the linked clone VM and a base VM at the identified VM hosting site to an active link.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising, receiving the location of the client device from the client device, wherein the location is determined by the client device based on one of a latitude and longitude, an internet protocol (IP) address of a Wi-Fi router, an IP address of an internet service provider, and a private IP address.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program instructions for providing a roaming remote desktop, the operations comprising:

identifying a virtual machine (VM) hosting site proximate to a location of a client device;

migrating a linked clone VM to a VM host at the identified VM hosting site; and

establishing a remote desktop connection between the client device and the linked clone VM.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, the operations further comprising, receiving the location of the client device from the client device, wherein the location is determined by the client device based on one of a latitude and longitude, an internet protocol (IP) address of a Wi-Fi router, an IP address of an internet service provider, and a private IP address.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the location of the client device is received during an attempt by the client device to connect to the linked clone VM, and wherein the migration is performed before the client device is connected to the linked clone VM.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the migration of the linked clone VM is a cold migration.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, wherein the memory includes a program for reducing perceived read latency, the program being configured to perform operations for providing a roaming desktop, comprising;

identifying a virtual machine (VM) hosting site proximate to a location of a client device,

migrating a linked clone VM to a VM host at the identified VM hosting site, and

establishing a remote desktop connection between the client device and the linked clone VM.