System and method for integrated on-demand delivery of operating system and applications

• US 8,230,095 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2004
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Marketing Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wyse Technology Incorporated (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsui, Andrew Kin Ning, Mylvara, Satya, Calomeni, Mark, Deshpande, Amit, Fausak, Andy
• Primary Examiner(s): LAZARO, DAVID R
• Application Number:
  US10/840,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031547A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,000 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system and a method for integrated on-demand delivery of operating system and applications, where operating system images are separate and distinct from application images. Integration of operating system streaming and application streaming services makes streaming delivery possible to a wide range of client devices, including those without any local disk space such as thin-clients and diskless workstations. In addition, by integrating the centralized management of operating system delivery and application delivery, the present invention provides a complete solution to server-centric application management, thereby further reducing the total cost of ownership of network-based computing approach. Implementing the operating management functions at the client machine level of specificity and application management functions at the user level of specificity combined with providing separate and distinct operating system images and application images provides an inherently canonical architecture that allows proper scaling and affords appropriate security management functions. The result is a complete, scalable, robust, and reliable server-centric application and operating system management system with a lower total cost of ownership than existing products.

Claims

1. A system for streaming one or more operating system images and one or more application images to a remote device, comprising:

an applications module configured to determine a dependency between at least one operating system and at least one application;

an integrated interface module configured to permit a user to independently select, based on the determined dependency, at least one operating system image comprising the at least one operating system, and at least one application image comprising the at least one application, to stream to the remote device;

an application streaming agent configured to stream a first portion of the at least one application image to the remote device to allow the at least one application to initially run, and configured to stream, on-demand, a second portion of the at least one application image to the remote device in response to the at least one application initially running; and

a memory configured to store at least one of the at least one operating system image and the at least one application image,

wherein the determined dependency between the at least one operating system and the at least one application comprises determining whether the at least one application is compatible with the at least one operating system.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an operating system streaming agent configured to stream the at least one operating system image to the remote device.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an integrated common database configured to manage streaming of the at least one operating system image and streaming of the selected at least one application image to the remote device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the integrated interface module includes a web-based user interface.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a virtual disk configured for at least one of writing out paging files when running applications on the remote device, streaming the at least one operating system image, and streaming the at least one application image.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a virtual file system by which the at least one application image is streamed.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of a portion of the at least one operating system image and a portion of the at least one application image is configured to be stored in a storage cache local to the remote device.

8. A method for streaming one or more operating system images and one or more application images to a remote device, comprising:

receiving, from a user, independent selections of at least one operating system and at least one application to stream to the remote device;

determining a dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application; and

streaming, based on the dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application, at least one operating system image comprising the selected at least one operating system to the remote device;

streaming to the remote device a first portion of at least one application image comprising the selected at least one application to allow the selected at least one application to initially run; and

streaming, on-demand to the remote device, a second portion of the at least one application image in response to the selected at least one application initially running,

wherein the determining the dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application comprises determining whether the selected at least one application is compatible with the selected at least one operating system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the streaming the selected at least one operating system image to the remote device is in response to accessing of the remote device by a user local to the remote device.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising managing the streaming of the at least one operating system image and the streaming of the at least one application image to the remote device using an integrated common database.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the integrated interface module includes a web-based user interface.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising at least one of writing out paging files when running applications on the remote device, streaming the at least one operating system image, and streaming the at least one application image, using a virtual disk.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one application image is streamed using a virtual file system.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

storing, on a storage cache local to the remote device, at least one of a portion of the selected at least one operating system image and

a portion of the at least one application image.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions, the instructions comprising code for:

receiving, from a user, independent selections of at least one operating system and at least one application to stream to a remote device;

determining a dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application; and

streaming, based on the dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application, at least one operating system image comprising the selected at least one operating system to the remote device;

streaming to the remote device a first portion of at least one application image comprising the selected at least one application to allow the selected at least one application to initially run; and

streaming, on-demand to the remote device, a second portion of the at least one application image in response to the selected at least one application initially running,

wherein the determining the dependency between the selected at least one operating system and the selected at least one application comprises determining whether the selected at least one application is compatible with the selected at least one operating system.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one application image is streamed using a virtual file system.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising code for at least one of writing out paging files when running applications on the remote device, streaming the at least one operating system image, and streaming the at least one application image, using a virtual disk.