Local and remote client computer system booting
View Patent ↗Alternative desktop computing solutions provide client devices configured with a local boot image and a connection to a remote storage device having a boot image. The clients are configured to boot either locally or remotely, and furthermore to determine from which image (local or remote) they have booted.
1. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory accessible to the one or more processors;
a network interface configured to access a bootable image over a network; and
one or more storage devices comprising processor-executable program code configured to:
load a boot image to the memory;
determine from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded to the memory; and
responsive to a determination that the boot image was loaded from the local storage device to the memory, proceed booting the apparatus.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein to determine from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded further comprises:
conducting a first check if the boot image was loaded from the remote storage device.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein to determine from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded further comprises:
conducting a second check if the boot image was loaded from the remote storage device.
4. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the first check comprises determining if the apparatus contacted a server and obtained remote storage device information.
5. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the second check comprises matching a local boot device with root path data.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor executable program code further comprises:
processor executable program code configured to, responsive to a determination that the boot image has been loaded from the local storage device, determine if updated boot information is available on the remote storage device.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the updated boot information comprises one or more of updated boot code and meta data.
8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the meta data includes configuration data.
9. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein determining if updated boot information is available on the remote storage device further comprises comparing a checksum value of a local boot image with a checksum value of a remotely stored boot image.
10. A method comprising:
in an apparatus having a network interface configured to access a bootable image over a network, loading a boot image to a memory of the apparatus;
determining from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded to the memory; and
responsive to a determination that the boot image was loaded from the local storage device to the memory, booting the apparatus.
11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein determining from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded, further comprises conducting a first check if the boot image was loaded from the remote storage device.
12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein determining from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded, further comprises conducting a second check if the boot image was loaded from the remote storage device.
13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first check comprises determining if the apparatus contacted a server and obtained remote storage device information.
14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the second check comprises matching a local boot device with root path data.
15. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising, responsive to determining that the boot image has been loaded from the local storage device, determining if updated boot information is available on the remote storage device.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein updated boot information comprises one or more of updated boot code and meta data.
17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the meta data includes configuration data.
18. The method according to claim 15 , wherein determining if updated boot information is available on the remote storage device further comprises comparing a checksum value of a local boot image with a checksum value of a remotely stored boot image.
19. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising, responsive to a determination that updated boot information is available on the remote storage device, downloading the updated boot information from the remote storage device and rebooting the apparatus.
20. A computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage device having computer executable program code embodied therewith, the computer executable program code comprising:
computer executable program code configured to, in an apparatus having a network interface configured to access a bootable image over a network, load a boot image over the network to a memory of the apparatus;
computer executable program code configured to determine from which one of a remote storage device and a local storage device the boot image was loaded to the memory; and
computer executable program code configured to, responsive to a determination that the boot image was loaded from the local storage device to the memory, boot the apparatus.