Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Digital data processing system initialization or configuration
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-26
2001-09-18
Iqbal, Nadeem (Department: 2184)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Digital data processing system initialization or configuration
C713S002000, C713S002000, C709S220000, C709S221000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292889
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly, to the highly automated central management of resources contained on computers connected to the network.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
A. Traditional Data Centers and Networks
As large scale corporate computing has evolved, on-line systems and applications have been made increasingly available to virtually all segments of commerce through the widespread proliferation of desktop computers linked via telecommunication networks to centralized computing centers. Traditionally, these networks have been centrally managed as part of the responsibilities of an information technology administrative center. The complexity of managing strategically vital computing resources; managing significant numbers of critical business applications and their associated data; providing networked desktop computer access to the appropriate systems and applications; and all the while safeguarding the integrity, security, and availability of such assets have been some of the most significant challenges addressed by both the information management and the computer science disciplines.
Systems management software which traditionally has run on centralized computing centers typically is involved with tasks such as, library and configuration management, version control, resource security, network control, data and storage management, job scheduling, session management, resource monitoring and reporting. Much of the earlier distributed systems management software was developed to operate in highly structured environments readily susceptible to centralized control. In the past, users at desktop computers on the network often had relatively little flexibility in configuring their personal desktop computers (their “desktops”) to meet their specific needs.
Recently, the revolutionary strides in hardware and software technology and in the human-to-computer interface have made an enormous range of different application programs available for desktop use on personal computers. Moreover, desktop computers have become so easy to operate that users have come to rely upon them for a broad array of specialized tasks such as word processing, spread sheet analysis and personal information management. The proliferation of application programs for desktop computers and the wide usage of computers in vast networks continues to make the job of managing networks ever more challenging.
Referring to the illustrative drawing of
FIG. 1
, there is shown an illustrative block diagram of a typical distributed computing environment, with a central computer which manages application software and network activities for a network which comprises a multiplicity of end-terminals such as desktop personal computers. A typical data center includes a central computer, often a powerful mainframe computer, and one or more administrative computer terminals. Ordinarily, programs such as security management programs, configuration change management programs, library management programs and presentation management programs run on the central computer.
B. Migration of Data Center Functions to the Desktop
The development of more powerful desktop personal computers has led to the migration of many functions to the desktop computer. In the past, these functions were managed by a central computer located in the data center. The migration of functions to the desktop has been spurred by the advent of the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which represent a computing environment in terms of simple pictures in which applications and other resources are depicted as icons to be manipulated. A GUI can permit a user to interact with images on a computer screen in much the same way that he would interact with a real object such as a telephone, a file folder, or other objects that often can be found on a real desk. The resulting easily understood and intuitive environment provides the foundation upon which innumerable new robust and powerful application programs have been built.
As a result, desktop computer users have come to demand from their desktop computers much of the computing functionality that once was reserved for centralized computers and computer centers. In addition, many existing centralized computer applications, and much data critical to an organization, often must be accessible to newly emerging client/server applications. For example, a desktop application for use in sales analysis may require access to product ordering and availability information that is managed by a central computer. Alternatively, for example, a desktop spread sheet application may need data stored in a central database.
In short, a central computer often is called upon to serve as a central repository of services and data that are to be available to different departments within an organization. Different departments often have different needs, and the challenge of centralized management increases as individual users within departments are able to specify their individual needs with greater particularity. Thus, the managers of networks of distributed desktop computers increasingly are being called upon to support a wide range of end-user involvement with the desktop, most notably the productivity enhancements of personalized desktop computing.
C. Deployment Management Issues
The deployment issues in centralized systems management include the configuration of networked desktop computers, distribution of resources and ongoing maintenance of distributed desktop resources. Once a desktop computer has been configured with the proper resources, those resources must be properly maintained. One of the challenges confronting in centralized systems management is that there may be a large variety of software resources available on the network and a large number of desktops. The question of, “who gets what?”, can be a difficult one. The complexity of this question increases with the need to specify not only which application programs should be available at which desktops but also by issues such as which version of an application to use, security, policy based limitations and compatibility.
The lack of sufficiently automated technology to dynamically reconfigure any or all desktop computers in a network on an as-required basis can be a significant systems management shortcoming that can slow an entire enterprise's responsiveness to changing technical and business requirements. For example, in the banking industry, computer software based training information may have to be distributed to hundreds of branch offices and may have to be kept current with changes in bank lending policies and banking regulations. In such a banking scenario, for example, the efficient distribution and updating of the software is critical. Failure to promptly distribute new lending policies or new banking regulations to all branches could have serious harmful business consequences. As the number of distributed computers and the complexity and variety of their resource configurations grow, the lack of sufficiently automated technology to perform these distributions can result in unacceptable delays or large administrative personnel costs.
Referring to the illustrative drawing of
FIG. 2
, there is shown an exemplary centralized configuration management structure. It includes multiple administrator computer terminals and multiple desktop computers, all of which are connected to a central computer. The administrator terminals allow network administrative personnel to manage the desktops. The central computer provides a centralized locale for the distribution of applications and data to the desktops. The management of such resources can entail maintaining lists of resources available to the desktop computers; or the maintenance of rules for the use of resources on the desktop computers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,273 issued to Ushio, et al., for example, describes an Enterprise Information System Having Three Level Hierarcy Of Data Bases And Communication Paths. The '273 patent discusses problems that arise fr
Fitzgerald Albion J.
Fitzgerald Joseph J.
Bonzo Bryce
Iqbal Nadeem
Morrison & Foerster / LLP
Novadigm, Inc.
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