Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Digital data processing system initialization or configuration
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-07
2004-01-20
Lee, Thomas (Department: 2185)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Digital data processing system initialization or configuration
Reexamination Certificate
active
06681324
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processor-based device having minimum prescribed hardware requirements enabling an operating system environment and an application process to be initiated from a CDROM.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology advances at a rapid pace, application development teams are put in the difficult position of trying to keep up with advancements in the operating system(s) (OS) as well as the hardware platforms that the OS run on. With the network becoming the prevalent technology within many industries, increasing amounts of specialized applications are being built to exist solely within the networked environment. These applications are expected to have the same, if not better, features and functionality that exist in the standard PC environment of today. In addition to the features and functionality, the network applications are now also expected to have the resiliency which the networking equipment of today provides, including low recovery rime, redundancy, high availability, and a small footprint. The network applications are also required to show the same performance as if they were on a standard PC or server. Higher expectations, coupled with a shorter “time to market”, means more time should be spent developing applications rather than having to troubleshoot the surrounding facilities i.e.: operating systems and hardware platforms. In deployment scenarios as well as the support of deployed product, the introduction of too many variables can consume the time of personnel while they isolate problems. These variables are introduced in many ways, of which the most common are system patches and hardware upgrades. Because of the infinite amount of changes that can be introduced into an environment, it is impossible to test all of the different scenarios.
Without resolving these issues, a software development company may see a significant impact on their ability to produce quality product in a timely manner. Further, many man-hours will be spent in the field trying to isolate problems with software versus problems within the operating system or the hardware itself.
Presently, software engineers need to be concerned with hardware requirements in developing software. Since todays computers are not considered to be throw-away items, software must be updated often to correspond with any hardware updates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is a need for an arrangement that enables a software development company to provide software applications with minimal concern with hardware requirements.
These and other needs are attained by the present invention, where a machine having a non-volatile storage medium interface such as a CDROM drive and a local hard drive is configured for execution of an application process from a non-volatile storage medium such as a CDROM. The method includes first loading into the machine, from a removable non-volatile storage medium in communication with the non-volatile storage medium interface, an operating system environment. The local hard drive is accessed to determine if the machine has a signature indicating that the machine had been configured previously. In response to a determination that the machine was not previously configured, a network connection to a server is established to access configuration files for use by the operating system environment and/or the application process. A local file system is loaded from the removable non-volatile storage medium onto the local hard drive, based on the accessed configuration files. The application process is executed from the removable non-volatile storage medium.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a device is provided for enabling an operating system environment and an application process to be initiated from a removable non-volatile storage medium. The device includes a processor, memory, a non-volatile storage medium interface, and a local hard drive. The device is configured such that when the removable non-volatile storage medium is loaded into the non-volatile storage medium interface, the device
1
) initiates the operating system environment based on loading a first sequences of instructions from the removable non-volatile storage medium into the memory, and
2
) executes the application process based on loading a second sequence of instructions from the removable non-volatile storage medium into the memory.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a non-volatile storage medium is constructed and arranged to be removably loaded into a non-volatile storage medium interface of a processor-based device. The storage medium has stored thereon a first sequence of instructions for generation of an operating system environment by a processor, second sequence of instructions for generation of an application process by a processor, a first executable routine for causing the processor to initiate execution of the operating system environment in the device, and a second executable routine for causing the processor to configure the device for executing the application process from the non-volatile storage medium.
Hence, in accordance with the invention, having the operating system environment as well as the application process “locked” on the storage medium or CDROM prevents any chance of changes being made to the environment in which the application functions.
Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the present invention may be realized and attained by means of instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
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Eckert et al. “A top-down driven, object-based approach to application-specific operating system design”, Object-Orientation in Operating Systems, 1995., Fourth International Workshop on Aug. 14, 1995-Aug. 15, 1995.
Chang Eric
Cisco Technology Inc.
Lee Thomas
Steimberger Edward J.
Turkevich Leon R.
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