The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 15, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1999
Chakkalamattam Jos Paul, Austin, TX (US);
Steven Michael French, Austin, TX (US);
Aidon Paul Jennery, Round Rock, TX (US);
Glenn Edwards Brew, Austin, TX (US);
James Richard Schoech, Round Rock, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a system for creating server-managed configuration information for computing devices. The configuration information is composed of individual configuration components. The configuration components can be grouped for convenience into templates called machine classes, which can be used to manage a set of similar machines. Configuration components and machine classes can be stored permanently in a database. Machine classes are instantiated with machine-specific information such as network addresses and configuration information for peripherals to produce fully configured operating systems for a computing device. Software and configuration information is installed based on the machine class selected. Individual configuration components can be added or overridden when the machine instance is created. The machine instance can be customized with additional configuration information, such as its network address(es), machine name, and video resolution. The machine instance can be used either to boot a device remotely or to install the operating system locally on the computing device.