Administrative interface for managing shared resources

• US 8,892,628 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2010
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Nicholson, Clark David, Schmieder, Robert Wilhelm
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazaro, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUQ, FARZANA B
• Application Number:
  US12/752,840
• Publication Number:
  US 20110246552A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,692 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/223, 709/227, 709/228, 715751-753, 715/759, 715778-779, 715/792
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066

Abstract

A shared resource computing (SRC) system that provides a mechanism for creating a shared session among individual sessions is described. In an ad hoc peer model, a session is created by individual users. One individual session assumes an administrative session role and invites other user sessions to join the shared session. Local environments from the individual sessions are published and the resources of the individual sessions form linked device groups that allow the resources to be aggregated for the shared session.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing an administrative session on a host computer, the administrative session being accessible by an administrator terminal;

receiving from the administrator terminal a request to create a shared session accessible by multiple terminals, the request defining permissions to be associated with the shared session;

creating the shared session in response to receiving the request, the shared session being accessible by the multiple terminals and having the permissions defined in the request;

receiving, at the host computer, input from the multiple terminals having access to the shared session;

aggregating, by using a processor, the input received from the multiple terminals;

outputting the aggregated input to the multiple terminals, in which the multiple terminals comprise a user terminal including a user session that publishes an environment to make available hardware resources of the user terminal to be shared by a plurality of users in the shared session;

controlling, by the administrator terminal, allocation of the hardware resources of the user terminal for use by the plurality of users in other user sessions; and

configuring an administrative user interface within the administrative session to provide control over the aggregated input of the shared session, the control including at least changing permissions associated with multiple terminal sessions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating an agent with each of multiple terminal sessions and the administrator session for communication between each of the multiple terminal and the administrator sessions.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying, using the agent associated with each of the multiple terminal and the administrator sessions, a user interface for a user to communicate with each of the multiple terminal and the administrator sessions.

4. The method of claim 3, creating, in response to input to the user interface, a local environment that includes selected hardware devices, applications, operating system settings and drivers from each of the multiple terminals.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more multiple terminal sessions are assigned privileges within the shared session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the assigned privileges are accomplished by one of:

a first come first serve basis;

a token passed by one or more of the plurality of individual sessions;

or

an underlying operating system group membership.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a user having access to one of the multiple terminals is able to move between a plurality of underlying individual sessions and the shared session.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the shared session is represented as:

a plurality of windows within the plurality of underlying individual sessions at one of the multiple terminals to provide individual control during the shared session;

or

a central control window in the administrative terminal for controlling each of the multiple terminals.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the control includes forcing one of the multiple terminals from the shared session or to the shared session.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control includes detecting an unlicensed application in the shared session and removing the unlicensed application from the shared session.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the changing permissions of the multiple terminal sessions is based at least in part on a context switching during the shared session to allow the multiple terminals to switch to other applications during a break in the shared session.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the host computer runs the shared session on:

a virtual machine;

a terminal server;

or

a console session.

13. A system comprising:

a plurality of agents stored in memory on a host computer or host computers;

a plurality of user sessions executing on one or more processors on the host computer or host computers;

a plurality of input/output devices coupled to a shared computing resource to form a linked device group;

a shared session, the plurality of user sessions assigned to the shared session;

an agent, assigned from the plurality of agents, resident on each of the plurality of user sessions that displays a user interface for management of the shared session;

an administrative session created from one of the plurality of user sessions to provide monitoring, reporting and enforcement of the shared session, in which the at least one of the plurality of user sessions publishes an environment to make available a hardware resource to be used in the shared session by a plurality of users in other user sessions, such that the administrator session has control over allocating the hardware resource of the user session to the other user sessions; and

an administrative user interface within the administrative session, configured to provide control over the published environment of the shared session, the control including at least changing permissions associated with individual ones of the plurality of user sessions.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of user sessions is configured to, via the agent of the respective user session, publish a local environment, the local environment including hardware, software and data resources.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the agent is configured to monitor the shared session and in response to the monitoring of the shared session, enforce and report interactions within the shared session between the plurality of user sessions and the administrative session.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the administrative user interface is further configured to provide control over an aggregated output in the shared session.

17. One or more computer readable storage devices comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor, direct the processor to perform acts comprising:

establishing a shared computing resource environment on a host computer, the shared resource environment including an administrative session;

establishing a shared session on the host computer in response to a command from the administrative session that defines user terminals that are part of the shared session;

receiving, at the administrative session, input allocating multiple user terminals to the shared session;

mapping an aggregated output of the shared session to a plurality of user terminals, in which at least one of the user terminals comprises a user session that publishes a local environment to make available hardware resources to be utilized by the user session participating in the shared session;

controlling, by the administrator terminal, allocation of the hardware resources of the user session for use by the plurality of user terminals in other user sessions; and

configuring an administrative user interface within the administrative session to provide control over the aggregated output of the shared session, the control including at least changing permissions associated with multiple user terminals.

18. The one or more computer readable storage devices of claim 17, further comprising updating a display for each of the plurality of user terminals based at least in part on an output of the shared session.

19. The one or more computer readable storage devices of claim 17, further comprising controlling access to and display of:

an entire desktop;

an individual application and its associated windows;

a plurality of individual application windows;

or

a portion of an application window in a shared session.

20. The one or more computer reader storages devices of claim 17, wherein the changing permissions of the multiple user terminals is based at least in part on a context switching during the shared session to allow the multiple user terminals to switch to other applications during a break in the shared session.