Granted Patent B2

US 9,270,785 · App. 13/651,886 · Granted Feb 23, 2016

Inventor: Simon Graham (Bolton, MA)

Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc.

H04L67/42G06F9/4445G06F9/45533G06F21/41

Abstract

Claims (37)

1. A computer-implemented method for providing distributed virtualized desktops, the method being performed at a first computer including at least one processor, the method comprising:

receiving user credential data for at least one user;

transmitting, to a management server, at least a portion of the user credential data and identifying information of the first computer;

receiving, from the management server, an identification of a home system for the at least one user based at least partially on the user credential data, the home system comprising a second computer executing at least one virtual machine including a desktop;

establishing communication between the first computer and the second computer;

receiving, at the first computer, display data from the second computer, the display data configured to generate a representation of at least a portion of the desktop on the first computer, such that the at least one user is able to access the desktop while the at least one virtual machine on the second computer is executing;

receiving, at the first computer, a copy of a memory state of the at least one virtual machine from the second computer;

identifying, at the first computer, at least one portion of the memory state that was modified while receiving the copy of the memory state; and

repeatedly identifying portions of the memory state that changed during a previous iteration of copying and receiving the identified portions of the memory state until no further changed portions of the memory state are identified or the changed portions of the memory state are less than a predetermined threshold.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first computer and the second computer comprise a client management application configured to communicate with the management server.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first computer and the second computer are in communication through a local area network (LAN).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the communication between the second computer and the first computer is established through a direct connection facilitated by a traversal of at least one network address translation (NAT) gateway.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the repeated identification:

receiving a copy of the at least one portion of the memory state;

identifying at least one other portion of the memory state that was modified while receiving the copy of the at least one portion of the memory state, wherein the at least one other portion of the memory state is a subset of the at least one portion of the memory state;

receiving a copy of the at least one other portion of the memory state.

6. A system for providing distributed virtualized desktops, the system comprising at least one management server including at least one processor, the at least one management server being configured to:

receive, from a first computer, user credential data for a user and device identification data for the first computer;

identify a home system for the user based at least partially on the user credential data, the home system comprising a second computer executing at least one virtual machine including at least one desktop;

transmit, to the first computer, data configured to facilitate a direct connection between the first computer and the second computer, such that the first computer displays the at least one desktop while the at least one virtual machine continues to execute on the second computer; and

cause at least one of the first and second computers to migrate the at least one virtual machine from the second computer to the first computer while the at least one virtual machine is executing,

wherein the at least one virtual machine is migrated by copying, at the first computer, a memory state of the at least one virtual machine from the second computer, and identifying, at the first computer, at least one portion of the memory state that is changed during the copying of the memory state, and

wherein the at least one virtual machine is migrated by repeated identification of portions of the memory state that changed during a previous iteration of copying and receipt of the identified portions of the memory state until no further changed portions of the memory state are identified or the changed portions of the memory state are less than a predetermined threshold.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one virtual machine is migrated by a further copying, prior to the repeated identification, of the at least one portion of the memory state that is changed during the copying of the memory state from the second computer.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first and second computers comprise a client management application configured to communicate with the management server.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first and second computers are in communication through a local area network (LAN).

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the management server is further configured to receive at least one of a desktop state and a desktop status for at least one desktop on the second computer.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one of a desktop state and a desktop status is transmitted to the first computer at predetermined intervals.

12. The system of claim 6 , wherein the management server is further configured to power on at least one of the first computer and the second computer.

13. A distributed virtual desktop infrastructure system, comprising:

at least one management server comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one management server is configured to provide a plurality of centrally managed virtual machines to a plurality of client systems, the at least one management server is further configured to determine a home system of the plurality of client systems for at least one user; and

the plurality of client systems comprising a plurality of client management applications that are in communication with the at least one management server, the plurality of client management applications being configured to execute on the plurality of client systems, and to display, on at least one client system, a virtual desktop of at least one virtual machine executing on the home system,

wherein the plurality of client management applications are configured to migrate the at least one virtual machine from the home system to the at least one client system while the at least one virtual machine is executing on the home system, wherein the migration of the at least one virtual machine includes copying a memory state of the at least one virtual machine from the home system, and identifying at least one portion of the memory state that is changed during the copying of the memory state, and wherein the migration of the at least one virtual machine includes repeated identification of portions of the memory state that changed during a previous iteration of copying and receipt of the identified portions of the memory state until no further changed portions of the memory state are identified or the changed portions of the memory state are less than a predetermined threshold.

14. The distributed virtual desktop infrastructure system of claim 13 , wherein, if the home system is local to a first computer being used by the at least one user, the virtual desktop is displayed from the at least one virtual machine local to the first computer.

15. The distributed virtual desktop infrastructure system of claim 13 , wherein the migration of the at least one virtual machine further includes a copying, prior to the repeated identification, of the at least one portion of the memory state that is changed during the copying of the memory state from the home system.

16. The distributed virtual desktop infrastructure system of claim 13 , further comprising a storage area network in communication with the plurality of client systems.

17. The distributed virtual desktop infrastructure system of claim 13 , wherein the home system is at least one other client system of the plurality of systems, and wherein the at least one client system displays the virtual desktop through a communication link with the at least one other client system.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (3)