Provision of remote system recovery services

• US 8,055,892 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2008
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Reed, Michael, Scott, Linda Jones, Williamson, Robert Vernon
• Primary Examiner(s): BUTLER, DENNIS
• Application Number:
  US12/176,116
• Publication Number:
  US 20100017589A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,208 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2, 713/100, 714/2, 714/23
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1417 Boot up procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00

Abstract

In an illustrative embodiment, a computer implemented method for providing remote system recovery services is provided. The computer implemented method generates bootable system recovery images to form a set of bootable system recovery images, creates a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers, and receives a request for a bootable system recovery image, including a subscriber identifier, to form a received request. The computer implemented method further authenticates the subscriber identifier in the received request and sends the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber. Responsive to a determination that the user selected additional services, the computer implemented method performs the selected services.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing a service of remote system recovery services, the computer implemented method comprising:

generating bootable system recovery images to form a set of bootable system recovery images;

creating a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers, wherein each subscriber of the set of subscribers has a client computer comprising a pre-boot execution environment firmware installed therein, and wherein the client computer, responsive to the client computer becoming unbootable, is configured to run the pre-boot execution environment and send a request for a remote boot from a bootable system recovery image stored on a server of a service provider;

receiving the request for the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image, including a subscriber identifier, to form a received request;

authenticating the subscriber identifier in the received request; and

sending the bootable system recovery image to the client computer of the subscriber, wherein the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image stored on the server of the service provider further includes performing examination of the client computer in a problem determination mode after the client computer has been recovered.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing the set of bootable system recovery images in a storage area, wherein the set of bootable system recovery images comprising a plurality of images representing different operating system platforms and subscriber unique images.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein creating a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers further comprises:

receiving a request from a user to subscribe to the remote system recovery services; and

receiving a predetermined payment from the user for use of the remote system recovery services.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein sending the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber further comprises:

sending a network bootstrap program in response to receiving the request for a bootable system recovery image; and

determining whether the request includes selected additional services.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

responsive to determining the request, includes selected additional services, performing the selected additional services in addition to the sending of the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber, wherein the selected additional services include a service to scan the client computer for possible problem areas to improve performance or reliability of the client computer and a service to adjust system settings of the client computer to improve performance or reliability of the client computer.

6. A data processing system for providing a service of remote system recovery services, the data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a memory connected to the bus, wherein the memory comprising computer executable instructions;

a communication unit connected to the bus;

a processor unit connected to the bus, wherein the processor unit executes the computer executable instructions to direct the data processing system to;

generate bootable system recovery images to form a set of bootable system recovery images;

create a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers, wherein each subscriber of the set of subscribers has a client computer comprising a pre-boot execution environment firmware installed therein, and wherein the client computer, responsive to the client computer becoming unbootable, is configured to run the pre-boot execution environment and send a request for a remote boot from a bootable system recovery image stored on a server of a service provider;

receive the request for the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image, including a subscriber identifier, to form received request;

authenticate the subscriber identifier in the received request; and

send the bootable system recovery image to the client computer of the subscriber wherein the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image stored on the server of the service provider further includes performing examination of the client computer in a problem determination mode after the client computer has been recovered.

7. The data processing system of claim 6, wherein the processor unit further executes the computer executable instructions to direct the data processing system to:

store the set of bootable system recovery images in a storage area, wherein the set of bootable system recovery images comprising a plurality of images representing different operating system platform images and subscriber unique images.

8. The data processing system of claim 6, wherein the processor unit executes the computer executable instructions to direct the data processing system to create a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers further comprises:

direct the data processing system to receive a request from a user to subscribe to the remote system recovery services; and

direct the data processing system to receive a predetermined payment from the user for use of the remote system recovery services.

9. The data processing system of claim 6, wherein the processor unit executes the computer executable instructions to direct the data processing system to send the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber further comprises:

direct the data processing system to send a network bootstrap program in response to receiving the request for a bootable system recovery image; and

direct the data processing system to determine whether the request includes selected additional services.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the processor unit executes the computer executable instructions to direct the data processing system to:

respond to determining the request includes selected additional services, and perform the selected additional services in addition to the sending of the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber, wherein the selected additional services include a service to scan the client computer for possible problem areas to improve performance or reliability of the client computer and a service to adjust system settings of the client computer to improve performance or reliability of the client computer.

11. A computer program product for providing a service of remote system recovery services, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable recordable medium tangibly embodying computer executable instructions thereon, the computer executable instructions comprising;

computer executable instructions for generating bootable system recovery images to form a set of bootable system recovery images;

computer executable instructions for creating a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers, wherein each subscriber of the set of subscribers has a client computer comprising a pre-boot execution environment firmware installed therein, and wherein the client computer, responsive to the client computer becoming unbootable, is configured to run the pre-boot execution environment and send a request for a remote boot from a bootable system recovery image stored on a server of a service provider;

computer executable instructions for receiving the request for the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image, including a subscriber identifier, to form a received request;

computer executable instructions for authenticating the subscriber identifier in the received request; and

computer executable instructions for sending the bootable system recovery image to the client computer of the subscriber, wherein the remote boot from the bootable system recovery image stored on the server of the service provider further includes performing examination of the client computer in a problem determination mode after the client computer has been recovered.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprises:

computer executable instructions for storing the set of bootable system recovery images in a storage area, wherein the set of bootable system recovery images comprising a plurality of images representing different operating system platforms and subscriber unique images.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein computer executable instructions for creating a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers further comprises:

computer executable instructions for receiving a request from a user to subscribe to the remote system recovery services; and

computer executable instructions for receiving a predetermined payment from the user for use of the remote system recovery services.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein computer executable instructions for sending the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber further comprises:

computer executable instructions for sending a network bootstrap program in response to receiving the request for a bootable system recovery image; and

computer executable instructions for determining whether the request includes selected additional services.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprises:

computer executable instructions responsive to determining the request includes selected additional services, for performing the selected additional services in addition to the sending of the bootable system recovery image to the subscriber, wherein the selected additional services include a service to scan the client computer for possible problem areas to improve performance or reliability of the client computer and a service to adjust system settings of the client computer to improve performance or reliability of the client computer.

16. A computer implemented method for providing a service of remote system recovery services, the computer implemented method comprising:

generating bootable system recovery images by a service provider to form a set of bootable system recovery images;

storing the set of bootable system recovery images in a bootable system recovery image database, wherein the set of bootable system recovery images comprises a plurality of images representing different operating system platforms and subscriber unique images;

creating a list of authorized users from a set of subscribers by receiving a first request through a network from a set of users to subscribe to the remote system recovery services, wherein each subscriber of the set of subscribers has a client computer comprising a pre-boot execution environment firmware installed therein, and wherein the client computer, responsive to the client computer becoming unbootable, is configured to run the pre-boot execution environment and send a second request for a remote boot; and

receiving a predetermined payment from each subscriber for use of the remote system recovery services;

receiving the second request at the service provider from a subscriber through the network for a bootable system recovery image, including a subscriber identifier, to form a received request;

authenticating the subscriber identifier in the received request; and

sending the bootable system recovery image from the service provider to the client computer of the subscriber by sending a network bootstrap program in response to receiving the request for a bootable system recovery image;

determining whether the request includes selected additional services

responsive to a determination that the request includes selected additional services, obtaining the selected additional services from an additional support offerings database of the service provider and performing the selected additional services, wherein the selected additional services include performing examination of the client computer in a problem determination mode after the client computer has been recovered.