Patent ID: 8843903
Filing Date: 2014-09-23
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for operating a layered computing environment, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: maintaining layering system software for a first computer comprising a base operating system and a base file system; capturing a first version of an application in a first virtualization layer and a second version of an application in a second virtualization layer, the first and second virtualization layers overlaying the base file system and being prioritized with respect to the base file system by: storing the first and second versions of the application on the first computer within the first and second virtualization layers that overlay the base file system and are prioritized with respect to the base file system to facilitate reverting back to the first version of the application in the event that the second version of the application is unstable, the first version of the application being stored in the first virtualization layer such that when the first virtualization layer is enabled: enabling the second version of the application stored in the second virtualization layer by activating the second virtualization layer; assigning a first priority weight to the second virtualization layer; assigning a second priority weight to the first virtualization layer, the first priority weight indicating a higher priority than the second priority weight; receiving, from the application, a request to perform a file operation on a file object; identifying the first and second virtualization layers; determining, based on the first and second priority weights, that the second virtualization layer has higher priority than the first virtualization layer; searching the first and second virtualization layers for the file object in order of the determined priority; after activating the second virtualization layer: wherein the layering system software is programmed to merge a listing of files in the base operating system with a file in at least one of the first and second virtualization layers such that: