Patent ID: 8255806
Filing Date: 2012-08-28
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for accessing a virtual machine (VM), the method comprising: receiving user log-in information, the log-in information identifying a user and a corresponding VM, the VM having a local copy and a remote copy, wherein the user is permitted to check in or check out the corresponding VM, the checking in comprising creating or synchronizing the remote copy of the VM from the local copy of the VM when the local copy is the most recently modified copy of the VM, the checking out comprising creating or synchronizing the local copy of the VM from the remote copy of the VM when the remote copy of the VM is the most recently modified copy of the VM; identifying a selected copy of the VM based on at least one of a policy and a user selection, the selected copy being one of the local copy and the remote copy of the VM, the selected copy of the VM is the local copy of the VM when the VM was most recently checked out and the selected copy of the VM is the remote copy of the VM when the VM was most recently checked in; and presenting a desktop generated by the selected copy of the VM to the user in a common application graphical user interface, the common application graphical user interface being used regardless as to whether the selected copy of the VM is the local copy or the remote copy.