Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Network computer configuring
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-17
2001-03-06
Maung, Zarni (Department: 2758)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Network computer configuring
C709S221000, C370S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199108
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a system, method and program for the configuration of a computer network and particularly a local network of server computers and client computers in a manner which is expeditious and involves very little down time of the network or its components.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computers and their application programs are used in all aspects of business, industry and academic endeavors. In recent years, there has been a technological revolution driven by the convergence of the data processing industry with the consumer electronics industry. This advance has been even further accelerated by the extensive consumer and business involvement in the Internet. As a result of these changes, it seems as if virtually all aspects of human productivity in the industrialized world require human/computer interaction. The computer industry has been a force for bringing about great increases in business and industrial productivity. Almost every week seems to bring computer industry advances which promise even further increases in productivity. These advances offer to drive down business and industry costs and increase efficiency in addition to increasing productivity. In addition, the cost of “computer power” continues to drop as result of rapid advances in computer related technologies.
Despite all of these advantages there still remains great resistance in all industries and business fields to new computer systems and significant system upgrades which offer much in productivity increases. This resistance results from past experience which equates to installing new computer systems or significant upgrades in existing systems with large amounts of down time, during which the business, manufacturing facility or individual worker functions are inoperative or operate at diminished levels. When a business or production facility is trying to decide whether to install a new computer system, the concern about down time, the possible loss of business, as well as stress on the workers involved very often outweighs the cost of the installation in influencing the decision. The concern about business and production delays resulting from installation has become so great that fewer and fewer small businesses are trying to make system and program changes on their own. This concern is even greater when the business is considering the installation of a computer network. While many businesses would likely be much more productive if their computers were interconnected with each other, the thought of a network may be very frightening to many small businesses without too much computer experience. They are likely to consider the concepts to be learned and the technology required to connect two or more computers in a network as too complex, time consuming or error prone to be attempted by the average small business user or owner.
The professional computer service industry which carries out and supports installations and upgrades for the business and industrial sector has been rapidly expanding over the past decade. However, even with such computer professional support, the threat of such down time, coupled with the costs of such professional services caused by installation delays remains of great concern.
There is a substantial challenge in the installation of computer network systems for small businesses. In this marketplace, we are dealing with a group whose available time is being stressed to its limits by the pressures of current economic systems. Even though the network computer systems procurable by these business people may offer eventual salvation to their other business stresses, the prospect of a new computer installation is often quite ominous to them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a solution to the above problems by providing to small businesses and like enterprises what is practically a “plug and play” network set up and configured to their business needs. A network of a server computer and a plurality of client computers is shipped to the small business with the server computer already preloaded with a network operating system, an operating system for each of said client computers and substantially all application programs to be used by said client computers. Display interface means are provided in said server computer for interactively prompting a user to make a sequence of data entries relative to the computing needs of said client computers and the users of said client computers. Thus, the users or their business manager, essentially unpacks the server and makes the above sequence of simple data entries. Then the server is interconnected with the client computers and the network is up and ready to go. The server computer has means for allocating the client operating systems and said application programs to the clients and users based upon the above data entries. These allocations are usually responsive to user interactive entries on the interconnected client computers in response to specific needs of users as indicated by profiles of application programs allocated for each user based upon said data entries, which profiles are stored under the control of the server computer. Among the programs allocated would be Internet access programs, as well as E-Mail programs.
The system of the present invention also provides for means through the display interface to the server computer for adding an additional client computer to said network by prompting a user to make a sequence of data entries relative to the computing needs of said additional client computer and the users of said client computer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5684952 (1997-11-01), Stein
patent: 5842011 (1998-11-01), Basu
patent: 5974547 (1999-10-01), Llimenko
patent: 6012088 (2000-01-01), Li et al.
Casey Walter William
Dean Jeffrey Randell
Rodriguez Ingrid Milagros
Dinh Khanh Quang
Henkler Richard A.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Kraft J. B.
Maung Zarni
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