Method and apparatus enabling migration of clients to a specific version of a server-hosted application, where multiple software versions of the server-hosted application are installed on a network

• US 7,155,462 B1
• Filed: 02/01/2002
• Issued: 12/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tamasi, Dave, Singh, Shaiwal, Gilbert, John Eric, Devlin, William D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Application Number:
  US10/062,944
• Time in Patent Office: 1,789 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707100-1041, 707200-205, 709/223, 709/226
• US Class Current: 717/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

A method and apparatus enabling migration of clients to a specific version of a server-hosted application, where multiple software versions of the server-hosted application are installed on the network, such that clients using the application experience minimal downtime related to upgrades and revisions of the application. When a new version of the application is to be deployed, a selected small portion of the clients is directed to the new version, to verify the functionality of that version, while the remaining clients use the previous version. If problems are discovered in the new version, the upgrade is terminated without impacting all of the clients. A register retains the identity of the clients and the version of the software with which each client is associated. The direction of the selected portion of clients to the new version of the software is done in a manner that can be completely transparent to the clients.

Claims

1. A method of migrating at least one client to a selected version of a server-hosted application on a network, where at least two different versions of the server-hosted application are available on the network, comprising the steps of:

(a) installing the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application on the network, wherein the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application are not simply copies of a single release of the server-hosted application, but wherein each different version of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application corresponds to a different release of the server-hosted application, each different release incorporating at least one modification relative to any other release of the server-hosted application;

(b) creating a register identifying clients having access to the server-hosted application and indicating in the register which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application is associated with each client having access to the server-hosted application;

(c) changing an association in the register of at least one client selected from those clients identified in the register to a different version of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application; and

(d) directing each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the version corresponding to one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated in the register.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the register comprises meta information for each client.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the meta information for each client includes a status of the client and a version identifier that indicates which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application is associated with the client.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the meta information further comprises a location from where server-hosted application data of a client can be retrieved.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of grouping together version specific server-hosted application data into different data structures, such that at least one data structure exists for each of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application, and each at least one data structure includes version specific server-hosted application data unique to only one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of grouping together non version specific server-hosted application data into a single data structure.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of grouping together client specific server-hosted application data into different data structures based on the version of the server-hosted application that is associated with the client specific server-hosted application data, so that a different client data structure exists for each of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the register comprises a separate data structure.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of directing each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the corresponding one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application associated with the client comprises the step of examining a request from each client for access to the server-hosted application to determine if the request contains a reference to the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application with which the client making the request is associated.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein when a request from a client does not include a reference to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed, further comprising the step of incorporating a reference to the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed in a cookie returned to the client from the server, such that when the client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of examining a request from a client for access to the server-hosted application to determine if the request contains a reference to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed, before consulting the register to determine to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client is to be directed.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein when a request from a client does not include a reference to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed, further comprising the step of incorporating a reference to the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed in a cookie returned to the client from the server, such that when the client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein when a client attempts to access the server-hosted application and is not identified in the register, further comprising the steps of defining one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application as a default version of the server-hosted application, and associating the client with the default version of the server-hosted application;

and, adding information identifying the client as being associated with the default version of the server-hosted application, to the register.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of incorporating a reference to the default version of the server-hosted application in a cookie returned to the client from the server, such that when that client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein when a client attempts to access the server-hosted application, and the request from the client includes a reference to the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application to which the unique client should be directed, but that reference fails to define the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application with which data of the client are associated, further comprising the step of consulting the register to determine to which of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of changing the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application contained in the request cookie to correspond with the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application identified by the register, and returning the cookie that is thus corrected to the client, so that when the client makes a future request, the future request will properly reference the one of the at least two different versions of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated.

17. A machine-readable medium having machine instructions for performing the steps of claim 1.

18. A system for migrating at least a portion of a plurality of clients to a specific unique version of a server-hosted application on a network to which the plurality of clients is coupled, where at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application are available on the network, comprising:

(a) a computing device for each client coupled to the network; and

(b) a server having a processor and a memory in communication with the processor, said memory storing machine instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

(i) install the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application for access over the network, wherein the at least two unique versions are not simply identical copies of a single release of the server-hosted application, but each of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application corresponds to a different release of the server-hosted application, each different release including at least one modification relative to any other release of the server-hosted application;

(ii) create a register identifying the plurality of clients having access to the server-hosted application and including an association of a specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application with each client having access to the server-hosted application;

(iii) change an association in the register of a first group of clients selected from the plurality of clients, to a different one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application; and

(iv) direct each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated in the register.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the machine instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to direct each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated, by consulting the register to determine the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the machine instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to direct each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated, by examining a request from each client to the server to determine if the request contains a reference to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein when the request does not include a reference to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed, the machine instructions cause the processor to identify the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed, by consulting the register.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein when the request does not include a reference to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed, the machine instructions further cause the processor to incorporate a reference to the specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application to which the client should be directed in a cookie returned to the client from the server, such that when the client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine to which specific one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application the client should be directed.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein when a client attempts to access the server-hosted application, and the client is not identified in the register, the machine instructions further cause the processor to define one of the at least two unique versions of the server-hosted application as a default version of the server-hosted application, and to associate the client with the default version of the server-hosted application, and add the client in association with the default version of the server-hosted application, to the register.

24. A method of enabling a provider of a server-hosted application accessible via a network to migrate selected clients from a first version of said server-hosted application to a second version of said server-hosted application, such that at least one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application remains accessible to at least some clients of the network during the migration, comprising the steps of:

(a) creating a register identifying each client having access to the server-hosted application, and associating each client having access to the server-hosted application with the first version of the server-hosted application, wherein the first version of the server-hosted application is already installed on the network, and wherein the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application are not simply copies of a specific release of the server-hosted application, but rather the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application are different releases of the server-hosted application, each different release of these server-hosted application including at least one modification relative to any other release of the server-hosted application;

(b) making the second version of the server-hosted application available on the network;

(c) selecting a first group of clients from those clients identified in the register to be migrated to the second version of the server-hosted application;

(d) changing the register so that the register indicates each client included in the first group of clients is associated with and allowed to access the second version of the server-hosted application, but not the first version of the server-hosted application;

(e) each time that a client attempts to access the server-hosted application, automatically identifying which one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access; and

(f) automatically directing said client to the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that the client is allowed to access.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the register comprises meta information for each client, said meta information including at least a status of each client and a version identifier that identifies which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that the client is allowed to access.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the status comprises at least one of an active state and a being migrated state.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein when data of any of the first group of clients must be reformatted to be compatible with the second version of the server-hosted application, for each client in the first group of clients whose data requires reformatting, further comprising the steps of:

(a) modifying the register to identify the status of the client as in the being migrated state;

(b) reformatting the data associated with the client to be compatible with the second version of the server-hosted application; and

(c) when the reformatting is completed, modifying the register to identify the status of the client as being in the active state.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein if an error occurs in reformatting the data associated with the client, further comprising the steps of:

(a) modifying the register to identify the status of the client as in the being migrated state;

(b) reformatting the data associated of the client to be compatible with the first version of the server-hosted application; and

(c) when the reformatting is completed;

(i) modifying the register to identify the status of the client as in the active state; and

(ii) changing the register so that the register indicates the client is associated with and allowed to access the first version of the server-hosted application, but not the second version of the server-hosted application.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of determining the status of each client attempting to access the server-hosted application, and if the status of the client is identified as being migrated, preventing the client from accessing the server-hosted application, until the status of the client is changed to the active state.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of determining the status of each client attempting to access the server-hosted application, and if the status of the client is identified as being migrated, allowing the client only limited access to the server-hosted application, until the status of the client is changed to the active state.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of determining the status of each client attempting to access the server-hosted application, and if the status of the client is identified as being migrated, allowing the client only limited access to the client'"'"'s data stored by the server-hosted application, until the status of the client is changed to the active state.

32. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of making the first version of the server-hosted application unavailable to the network, if each client identified in the register as having access to the server-hosted application, is associated with the second version of the server-hosted application.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of automatically identifying the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access comprises the step of consulting the register to determine the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of automatically identifying the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access comprises the step of examining a request from said client to the server, to determine if the request contains a reference to which one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein if the request does not include the reference to which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access, the step of automatically identifying which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access comprises the step of consulting the register to determine which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein if the request does not include any reference to the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access, further comprising the step of incorporating a reference to the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access in a cookie returned to said client from the server, such that when said client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine the version of the server-hosted application.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein when said client is not identified in the register, further comprising the steps of defining one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application as a default version of the server-hosted application, associating said client with the default version of the server-hosted application, and updating the register to identify said client and to indicate that said client is allowed to access the default version of the server-hosted application.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said default version is the first version of the server-hosted application.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein said default version is the second version of the server-hosted application.

40. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of incorporating a reference to the default version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access in a cookie returned to said client from the server, such that when said client makes a future request, the register does not need to be consulted to determine which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

41. The method of claim 24, wherein when a request from said client to access the server-hosted application includes a reference to the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access, but the reference fails to indicate the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application with which data of said client are associated, the step of automatically identifying the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application comprises the step of consulting the register to determine which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising the steps of:

(a) changing the reference in the request to correspond to the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access that is defined in the register; and

(b) returning the changed reference to said client, such that when said client makes a future request, said future request properly references the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

43. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of selecting a second group of clients from those clients identified in the register that are allowed to access the first version of the server-hosted application, and changing the register so that the register indicates each client included in the second group of clients is associated with and allowed to access the second version of the server-hosted application, but not the first version of the server-hosted application.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein when all clients identified in the register are associated with and only allowed access to the second version of the server-hosted application, further comprising the step of making the first version of the server-hosted application unavailable to the network.

45. A machine-readable medium having machine instructions for performing the steps of claim 24.

46. A system for enabling a provider of a server-hosted application to migrate at least some clients from a first version of the server-hosted application to a second version of the server-hosted application, such that at least one version of the server-hosted application remains accessible to at least some of the clients during the migration, comprising:

(a) a plurality of computing devices, each computing device comprising a different client; and

(b) a server having a processor and a memory in communication with the processor, said memory storing machine instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

(i) maintain a register that identifies each client having access to the server-hosted application, for each client having access to the server-hosted application, associates the client with the first version of the server-hosted application, wherein the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application are not simply copies of a single release of the server-hosted application, but instead, the first version and the second version of the server-hosted application correspond to different releases of the server-hosted application, each different release of the server-hosted application including at least one modification relative to any other release of the server-hosted application;

(ii) enable the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application to be made available to the clients at the same time;

(iii) enable a first group of clients to be selected from those clients identified in the register, for migration to the second version of the server-hosted application;

(iv) change the register so that the register indicates that each client included in the first group of clients is associated with and allowed to access the second version of the server-hosted application, but not the first version of the server-hosted application;

(v) each time that any client attempts to access the server-hosted application, automatically identify which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access; and

(vi) direct said client to the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access.

47. A method of migrating at least one client to a selected version of a server-hosted application on a network, comprising the steps of:

(a) installing a first version of the server-hosted application and a second version of the server-hosted application on the network, the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application corresponding to different releases of the server-hosted application, each different release of the server-hosted application incorporating at least one change relative to any other release of the server-hosted application, wherein each release of the server-hosted application is configured to execute processing remote from the client, and to transmit a result to the client, wherein the server-hosted application could have been executed by the client, if the server-hosted application resided on the client instead of on the network hosting the server-hosted application, even if the client did not have access to the network;

(b) creating a register identifying clients having access to the server-hosted application and indicating in the register which of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application is associated with each client having access to the server-hosted application;

(c) changing an association in the register of at least one client selected from those clients identified in the register to a different one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application; and

(d) directing each client attempting to access the server-hosted application to the one of the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application with which the client is associated in the register.

48. A method of enabling a provider of a server-hosted application to replace a first version of said server-hosted application with a second version of said server-hosted application, comprising the steps of:

(a) creating a register identifying each client having access to the server-hosted application, and associating each client having access to the server-hosted application with the first version of the server-hosted application;

(b) making the second version of the server-hosted application available on the network, wherein the first version of the server-hosted application and the second version of the server-hosted application correspond to different releases of the server-hosted application, each different release of the server-hosted application incorporating at least one change relative to any other release of the server-hosted application;

(c) selecting a first group of clients from those clients identified in the register to be migrated to the second version of the server-hosted application;

(d) changing the register so that the register indicates each client included in the first group of clients is associated with and allowed to access the second version of the server-hosted application, but not the first version of the server-hosted application;

(e) each time that a client attempts to access the server-hosted application, automatically identifying the version of the server-hosted application that said client is allowed to access;

(f) automatically directing said client to the version of the server-hosted application that the client is allowed to access; and

(g) once all of the clients of the server-hosted application have been migrated to the second version of the server-hosted application, removing the first version of the server-hosted application from the network, thereby replacing the first version of the server-hosted application with the second version of the server-hosted application.