On-the-fly repair of a computer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the computer comprising:
- a main computer hardware box;
at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box;
at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU;
the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment;
first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; and
means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers;
wherein the supporting environment is operative to interact with the user computing environment and is operative to initiate or cause the user computing environment to shut-down, restart, log off, log on, or terminating applications executing on the computer.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method of supporting the backup and recovery of a computing device. The computing device typically includes both a user computing environment and a supporting environment which enhances the stability and functionality of the user computing environment.
-
Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the computer comprising:
-
a main computer hardware box; at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box; at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU; the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment; first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; and means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers; wherein the supporting environment is operative to interact with the user computing environment and is operative to initiate or cause the user computing environment to shut-down, restart, log off, log on, or terminating applications executing on the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the computer comprising:
-
a main computer hardware box; at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box; at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU; the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment; first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; and means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers; wherein the user computing environment system comprises a separate data storage device, random access memory, and processor from the supporting computing environment, and a video processor. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the computer comprising:
-
a main computer hardware box; at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box; at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU; the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment; first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers; means for obtaining a snap-shot of the user computing environment; and means for subsequently using the snap-shot to restore, analyze, or enhance the stability of the user environment; wherein the snap-shot includes at least one of;
(i) a stable image of the operating system, software applications, and user data;
(ii) an idealized or stable version of a data storage device utilized by the user environment;
(iii) a subset of the data storage device of the user environment such as an individual partition of a hard disk drive data storage device;
(iv) an idealized version or image of the user system random access memory;
(v) an idealized version or image of the user system disk drive;
(vi) an idealized version or image of the user system partition image, memory of the video card, or any other memory stored or utilized in the user computing environment. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the Computer comprising:
-
a main computer hardware box; at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box; at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU; the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment; first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers; and means for running a plurality of different programs at the same time on one computing system where the data and applications for each of the plurality of different programs are isolated from one another but share output and/or input devices. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A computer that self-repairs to maintain an operational status at any time during operation, the computer comprising:
-
a main computer hardware box; at least one CPU disposed within the main computer hardware box; at least one random access memory disposed within the main computer hardware box and coupled to the at least one CPU; the at least one CPU and random access memory providing at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment and operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment; first and second controllers for respective first and second data storage devices disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair, the first data storage device storing programs and data for the user computing environment and the second data storage device being associated with the supporting computing environment and containing at least one backup snap-shot; and means for controlling the self-repair of the computer cooperatively coupled with said at least one CPU, said at least one random access memory, and said first and second controllers; wherein a first hard disk drive storage device associated with a first user computing environment that does not contain sensitive data is connected to a network but is isolated from a second hard disk drive storage device associated with a second user computing environment by means of switching, the processing for the first and second computing environments being maintained in isolated secure zones within a single computer; and
the video signals associated with the isolated first and second computing environments and the data coming from the first and second hard disk drive storage devices is merged for display onto a common computer display screen so that it appears to a user that the first and second processes were being performed on the same computer without isolation. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
-
-
33. A method for repairing and maintaining operation of a computer on the fly, the method comprising:
-
defining at least one user computing environment and a supporting computing environment substantially isolated from the user computing environment within at least one processor and coupled random access memory, the supporting computing environment operative to enhance the stability and functionality of the user computing environment by monitoring processes running or enabled within the user computing environment and identifying a change signaling the need for a repair; storing programs and data for the user computing environment on a first data storage device and storing a back-up snap-shot of at least portions of the first data storage device on a second data storage associated with the supporting computing environment and both the first and second data storage device disposed within the main computer hardware box of the computer prior to a need for repair; the snap shot including at least one of;
(i) a stable image of the operating system, software applications, and user data;
(ii) an idealized or stable version of a data storage device utilized by the user environment;
(iii) a subset of the data storage device of the user environment such as an individual partition of a hard disk drive data storage device;
(iv) an idealized version or image of the user system random access memory;
(v) an idealized version or image of the user system disk drive;
(vi) an idealized version or image of the user system partition image, memory of the video card, or any other memory stored or utilized in the user computing environment;executing a plurality of individual computing processes selected from the set of computing processes consisting of monitoring the user computing environment, tracking the user computing environment, predicting the stability of the user computing environment, backing-up the user computing environment, restoring the user computing environment, and recovering attributes within the user computing environment; and repairing the computer using the snap-shot backup in response to the identification of the change signaling the need for a repair.
-
Specification