Abstract:
A system for consolidating multiple discrete machines and applications into a single rack mounted server system. Dedicated application servers maintain the discrete machines as virtual machines accessible by thin clients through secure hardwire or wireless connections and through client management servers. The system polls the application servers to compile lists of available and active applications. The list of available applications is displayed to users via an application navigation graphical user interface. The graphical user interface presents a menu from which users can point and click to select the application they wish to access.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     N/A  
       STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     N/A  
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0003]     N/A  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present invention relates to networked computer environments comprising portable, secure, client/server relations; particularly, rack-mounted server systems operating multiple, complete virtual machines to which thin clients, or dumb terminals, and traditional “thick” clients can have access. This invention provides a system and method to consolidate legacy servers and a method for remote resource kiosking.  
         [0005]     Rack mounted server systems have become common replacements for server farms. Rack systems save space by allowing numerous servers to occupy a single rack. The previous methods have consisted of large numbers of individual servers, often different hardware and operating system platforms, running different software. Unfortunately, such systems require users who wish to access different applications to search the multiple server systems for the specific application that they wish to access. In addition, such server systems are not designed to be portable. Moreover, unique server configurations and compatibilities make scalability such systems burdensome. The disadvantages of previous systems are overcome by and through the current invention.  
         [0006]     Devine et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,242 B1, discloses and describes a virtual machine monitor (VMM) and a virtual machine (VM) that operates a virtual processor. The VM functions as if it were a complete operating system with its own dedicated hardware. However, the VM has no dedicated hardware and is operable through the VMM on any hardware architecture through directly-executed instruction or binary translation. The VMM can directly execute the received instructions from the VM through the actual hardware, if compatible. Or, if the instructions from the VM are not compatible with the hardware through which the request must be processed, the VMM translates the instructions, through binary translation, so that the specific hardware may execute the instructions. The direct execution-binary translation dichotomy allows any program to be operated on any physical architecture. This patent is incorporated herein by specific reference thereto as the current invention virtualizes legacy and current machines so that they are available through the established network to the end user clients.  
         [0007]     The current invention also takes advantage of virtual local area network (VLAN) technology such that the computers on the logically-independent network can act as if they are connected to the switch through the same port regardless of when and where the actual physical computer is moved without having to reconfigure any hardware. Chan et al. disclose such a system of virtual network connections in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,338, which is incorporated herein specifically by reference thereto.  
         [0008]     End users may access the network established by the current invention through thin clients. Richardson, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,892, discloses and describes one method and apparatus for managing clients with limited memory. The invention may utilize thin clients, but can be accessed by tradition, “thick” clients with complete memory and hard disk. However, the thin clients preferred are little more than graphics cards with incorporated keyboard and display. The thin clients access the homogeneous server package through any of the known secure means of network connectivity, including a secure satellite link. When the thin client is powered down, all memory caches and buffers are flushed such that if the client is lost there remains no recoverable data. This is an added level of security management present in the current invention.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The current invention provides a system for rapid deployment of portable, homogeneous server, which provides for flexibility due to the homogeneity of the individual servers and scalability due to the interconnectivity of the individual systems, for applications including military tactical, medical, logistical, and civilian arenas. The server system can be accessed through standard land-line, wireless, or satellite uplinks. Security is maintained through use of common access cards that identify individual users and security clearances. The network system provides a small footprint, a completely self-contained server stack with dimensions measuring about 21″×28″×33″, resulting in a highly mobile network capable of being moved quickly from place to place.  
         [0010]     To further ease administration and to improve security, all applications are accessible via stateless thin-client workstations that are centrally managed within the homogeneous server package through the use of dedicated client servers, capable of being securely backed up on any of the other servers so as to maintain fail-safe operations.  
         [0011]     For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below that will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art highly mobile, securely accessible, and readily supportable network solution.  
         [0012]     The preferred embodiment of this invention includes an application selection interface. The interface allows users to see a menu of available applications. Users can then quickly select an application to run from the menu. This is an important advance. Prior to this invention, users were unable to quickly discern what applications were available. With the present invention the available services are identified and presented via a java-based selector that allows easy point-and-click connections to any desired application. Likewise, when each thin client initially starts and registers with the client server it immediately displays the dynamically updated menu of all application available on all servers. With a mouse click, the end user selects the application from any of the servers and applications available, virtual or real, to run on that thin client. This makes choosing an application quick and easy while preventing frustrations associated with not being able to access applications that are not available but are still presented to the user in a “canned” or static environment.  
         [0013]     One object of the invention is to displaying the exported kiosk applications on the thin clients via the customized application navigator GUI. Through this GUI, the user is presented with a dynamically updated list of available applications available (hosted on virtual machines running in the package) and can select which is displayed with a simple point and click of the mouse. From there, the user&#39;s display is connected, for example, via Windows-native rdesktop protocols to the application, and interaction commences just like the user was on a local machine running the application natively. Upon termination, the session is completely flushed, reset, and the application navigator GUI is redisplayed for the next application selection. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  illustrates how a plurality if discrete servers can be virtualized into a rack mounted server system, serving a plurality of thin clients.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2A  illustrates a front view of the homogeneous server package.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2B  illustrates a rear view of the homogeneous server package.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates the back of the SAN.  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  illustrates the connectivity of the power distribution system.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  illustrates the application navigator GUI.  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  illustrates the kiosk script flow.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  demonstrates the component connectivity to the power distribution system. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]     An embodiment of the invention is shown in the representation of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  demonstrates a low cost, rapidly deployable, light-weight miniature data center and network  10  that consolidates a heterogeneous group of real servers  71  into a single homogenous server package  11 . In this depiction, the heterogeneous group of real servers  71  is understood to represent different computer systems that may be running different hardware architectures, operating systems and software. For example, legacy server  72  could represent a Hewlett-Packard machine running Microsoft Windows XP on an Intel x86 architecture. Legacy server  73  could be a Z-Micro machine running Microsoft Windows 2000 on an Intel x86 architecture. Legacy server  74  could be a Dell machine running a Linux Red-Hat operating system on an AMD Athlon architecture. Legacy server  75  could be an Apple machine running a Macintosh OS X operating System on an Intel Core Duo architecture. Other types of legacy servers could be main frame and mini-main frames running forms of Unix or proprietary operating systems. The group of real servers  71  can comprise any number of actual servers but is only represented as containing four systems for ease of representation and understanding. Through server consolidation technology, represented by the arrow in  FIG. 1 , the current invention does not require legacy servers or their applications to be reconfigured or migrated from their existing operating systems or software environments. The current invention exhibits a developed process and procedure to configure a master system that allows all of the legacy servers  72  through  75  of heterogeneous server group  71  to be represented and accessible to any number of users through homogeneous server package  11 . The server consolidation technology herein described allows homogenous server package  11  to maintain a plurality of virtualized images  12  of each of the constituent legacy servers  72  through  75  of heterogeneous server group  71  to be available to users through network  20  via a plurality of client workstations  13 . Such maintenance of the plurality of virtualized images  12  in homogeneous server package  11  and the granting of access to plurality of client workstations  13  through network  20  is known and understood in the art as described by Devine et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,242 B1, here incorporated by specific reference thereto. The homogeneous server package can host the plurality of client workstations  13 , comprising any number of client workstations  14  through  19 . Again, the plurality of client workstations  13  is represented as only comprising six client workstations  14  through  19 , but the plurality of client workstations  13  may support any number of actual client workstations. Client workstations  14  through  19  can be traditional “thick” personal computers or laptops with full memory and disks connecting to homogeneous server package  11  through industry-standard Microsoft Windows-compatible remote rdesktop protocols. Or, client workstations  14  through  19  can be stateless thin client workstations that lack memory, disk, and operating system independent of the applications available on homogeneous server package  11 . Client workstations  14  through  19  may take the form of portable laptop type computers. The client workstations  14  through  19  may be thin, stateless, dumb terminals that do not contain any substantial memory or a hard disk. Only a boot rom or removable media, such as thumb drives or compact-disk read only memory, may be provided. Or, client workstations  14  through  19  may be restricted based upon location so as to further protect sensitive data. Thin client workstations are known and understood in the art and described in such patents as Richardson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,892, incorporated here by specific reference thereto. Specifically, client workstations  14  through  19  may be Sun Ray stateless, ultra-thin virtual display clients model  170  available from Sun Microsystems, Inc.; however, plurality of client workstations  13  can comprise and homogeneous server package  11  can support both traditional “thick” clients and thin clients. Network  20  may be any secure network comprising any means of data transfer available including direct land line connections, wireless connections, or, secure satellite communications.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 2A , the hardware of the invention will be more specifically described. Viewing the front of homogeneous server package  11 , the various components are visible, including a console and KVM tray  21 . Console and KVM tray  21  provides direct control over the components of homogeneous server package  11 . Console and KVM tray  21  may comprise a Tripplite Rackmount Keyboard/Monitor/KVM tray. The chassis of homogeneous server package  11 , containing components  21  through  34 , is selected to provide ruggedized transit and deployment housing for the commercial, off-the-shelf, equipment, which holds the components  21  through  34  with standard-spaced pre-drilled mount holes. The chassis of homogeneous server package  11  also provides mounts between the outer plastic shell and the mounting frame in order to reduce shock transfer to the internally mounted equipment. The chassis of homogeneous server package  11  may be military specification rated and includes handles (not shown) to aid in transport of such. Server blades  22  through  29  are separated into two groups: client servers,  22  and  23 , and consolidated application servers,  24  through  29 . The servers in each group may be of identical configuration and the configuration between each group is close enough to allow a server in one group to be easily repurposed as a server in the other group if the need should arise. In addition, the personality of each homogeneous server package  11  is determined by the make up and configuration of each of the servers and the task that they perform. Each homogeneous server package can be tailored to meet the requisites and demands of any task, such as minimizing weight for portability or increasing storage area  30  so as to hold more information.  
         [0024]     To simplify management, all the servers may be from the same manufacturer. Each server blade  22  through  29  may comprise a SunFire X4100 Galaxy Server Blade with at least 2xAMD Opteron 275 dual-core processors, 16 GB RAM, a DVD-ROM, Q-Logic dual-channel fiber channel host bus adapters, rails and cable management arms, and with no internal hard drives. For redundancy and failover, there are two client servers,  22  and  23 . The client servers hold the state of all clients in the environment and provide stateful failover in the event the primary client server should fail. The preferred embodiment of homogeneous server package may contain between three and six consolidated application servers,  24  through  29 . Consolidated application servers  24  through  29  may have generic configurations so as to allow for rapid repurposing in the event that one physical piece of hardware is rendered unserviceable.  
         [0025]     In the preferred embodiment, the two client servers,  22  and  23 , may be configured as client servers running Sun Solaris with SunRay Server software. In this embodiment, the remaining consolidated application servers  24  through  29  may be loaded with VMWare ESX server and host the applications in virtual server “containers” that can be started, stopped, and relocated from server to server. Also, the management of the plurality of servers  22  through  29  may be handled via VMWare&#39;s Virtual Center and VMotion, normally running on the first blade of the consolidated application servers  24  through  29 , specifically application server  24 . The preferred embodiment further provides that during initial configuration and disaster recovery situations, the management center may be provisioned to run on client server  23  in a native-installation of Microsoft Windows XP.  
         [0026]     Still referring to  FIG. 2A , storage area  30  may contain all important data pertaining to the application environment. Particularly, storage area  30  may include all server image and configurations as well as the running images of all virtual servers and their applications. Storage area  30 &#39;s functions to provide reliable, pervasive storage while facilitating rapid server failover in the event a problem arises. Since storage area  30  is available to all servers in the pack, client servers  22  and  23  and consolidated application servers  24  through  29 , storage area  30  also facilitates the transfer of any one of the running virtual machines, represented as constituents of plurality of virtualized images  12  in  FIG. 1 , from server blade to another without having to shutdown the hosted application and restart it afterward. This operation and application mobility is a key advantage that provides the ability to load balance applications across homogeneous server package  11  or to relocate an application from any one of the plurality of servers  22  through  29  that is scheduled to be taken out of service for maintenance to any of the remaining operable servers of the plurality of servers  22  through  29  such that no mission-critical application is interrupted.  
         [0027]     All random access storage may be handled in the central storage area  30 , which may comprise a storage area network (SAN) array located in the center of the pack. In the preferred embodiment, all server blades  22  through  29  may be maintained in a non-persistent state condition, and can assume different roles based on the boot logical unit number (LUN) provided to them by storage area  30 . Additionally, fail-over and redundant storage requirements are handled on a hardware level of storage area  30 , thus reducing administrative overhead on the blade systems and increasing speed and efficiency. Storage area  30  demonstrates the overall effective break point between reliability, ruggedness, scalability, weight, and cost. In one embodiment, LC connections via Fiber channel is employed as the connection media due to its standard makeup in common off the shelf equipment combined with fast transmission capabilities. The client servers  22  through  29  may manage storage area  30 , by running Sun StorEdge management software or similar management software. Storage area  30  contains two independent controllers (not shown), each with two Fiber-Channel LC ports (not shown) providing multipath and failover conduits to the SAN fabric switches  33  and  34 . In that embodiment, each controller is connected to each SAN fabric switch  33  and  34 , ensuring connectivity under all conditions of controller, storage area  30 , or SAN fabric switch  33  or  34  failure.  
         [0028]     As mentioned, homogeneous server package  11  may also contain two SAN fabric switches  33  and  34 . For reliability and throughput, each server blade  22  through  29  may be connected to the SAN fabric switches  33  and  34  via dual paths, one to each storage switch  33  and  34 . These connections help ensure connectivity under conditions of failure while providing multiple paths to and from storage area  30  for efficient 2 or 4 GBit/sec access. Additionally, two network switches  31  and  32  provide homogeneous server package  11  with the capability to network to outside networks and allow for the use of multiple homogeneous server packages  11  in conjunction with each other or outside networks. One configuration may comprise two identical, dual power supply Cisco Catalyst Ethernet switches  31  and  32  that are route capable. Interconnect ports are used to connect to external networks through external FC-AL connections, which may include other packs, special-use networks (i.e. the JNN), or the internet in general. Each switch may have 48 Gig-E ports, 4 SPF ports, and 2 switch interconnect (ICT) ports.  
         [0029]     The connectivity of components is designed to provide optimum, reliable and redundant communications between all components of the homogeneous server package  11 . Within the pack, virtual local area networks, or VLANs, are established to segregate traffic, minimize traffic density and chatter, and maintain consistency with existing network configurations. Such configurations are well known and understood in the art such as described by Chan et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,338, here incorporated by specific reference thereto.  
         [0030]      FIG. 2B  depicts a rear view of homogeneous server package  11 , which shows the power connections rear consolidation panel  35 . Rear consolidation panel  35  allows for connectivity of the internal components of homogeneous server package  11  to the outside world or networks by providing multiple ports specifically for those purposes. Network connections  36  are bypass connectors that allow for outside networks or other homogeneous server packages  11  to connect and transmit and receive data from the internal network switches  31  and  32 . Power busses  37   a ,  37   b ,  37   c , and  37   d  are external connections to internal power distribution strips  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c , and  50   d , respectively and shown in  FIG. 4 , which are arranged in a priority power distribution system described below. Connectors  38  are also connections to the external networks available to internal components, and may comprise LC-TFOCA connectors.  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the back of storage area  30  is shown and contains two independent controllers  42  and  46 , each with two Fiber-Channel LC ports,  43  and  47 , providing multipath and failover conduits to the SAN fabric switches  33  and  34 , shown in  FIG. 2A . Each controller,  42  and  46 , is connected to each SAN fabric switch,  33  and  34 , ensuring connectivity under all conditions of controller  42  or  46  or SAN fabric switch  33  or  34  failure. For reliability and throughput, each server blade  22  through  29 , shown in  FIG. 2A , is connected each SAN fabric switch  33  and  34  resulting in dual paths. This built in redundancy helps ensure connectivity under all conditions of controller  42  or  46 , SAN fabric switch  33  or  34  failure, while providing multiple paths to and from the storage area  30  for efficient 2 or 4 GBit/sec access. The controllers&#39;  42  and  46  network ports  44  and  48  are connected to the network switches  31  and  32 , shown in  FIG. 2A , for out-of-band management, and may be accomplished via Sun StorEdge management software running on the client servers  22  and  23 . The serial ports  45  and  49  are not used in this configuration.  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates a power distribution system used to supply the necessary electrical input to support the functionality of every component. The power distribution system may operate at  120 V to  240 V alternating current, 50 to 60 Hz, single phase power, with at least a maximum draw of 96 amps. No uninterrupted power supplies are provided for in the described embodiment of the current invention so as to decrease the overall weight and while increasing portability of homogeneous server package  11 . However some type of uninterrupted power supply could be used. Also, power to homogeneous server package  11  is preconditioned externally so as to minimize deployable weight and reduce redundancy when preconditioned power is already provided for by the facility in which homogeneous server package  11  is installed. Power to homogeneous server package  11  is divided between four independent electrical busses,  37   a ,  37   b ,  37   c , and  37   d ; each bus may draw up to 30 Amps. Electrical busses  37   a ,  37   b ,  37   c , and  37   d  are arranged in a priority system, as illustrated explicitly in  FIG. 7 , and the power system is connected such that components draw power only when the resources are needed. In this described embodiment, pack-critical components, such as storage area  30  and console and KVM tray  21 , may be operated on a reduced power load through electrical bus  37   a , which is the highest priority bus. As additional components of homogeneous server package  11  are needed, for example increased need for use of application servers  25  and  26 , additional busses become powered to support such needs. Power distribution is provided through four power distribution strips  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c , and  50   d , each mounted on the inside of homogeneous server package  11 . Electrical bus  37   a  is connected to and powers distribution strip  50   a , and is of highest priority. Electrical bus  37   b  is connected to and powers distribution strip  50   b , and is of second highest priority. Electrical bus  37   c  is connected to and powers distribution strip  50   c , and is of third highest priority. Electrical bus  37   d  is connected to and powers distribution strip  50   d , and is of lowest priority. The activity of the lower priority electrical busses  37   b ,  37   c , and  37   d  is determined by the needs of the users of homogeneous server package  11 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 7  shows the electrical connection matrix and further shows the priority of electrical busses  37   a ,  37   b ,  37   c , and  37   d . The highest priority electrical bus  37   a  and power distribution strip  50   a  support console and KVM tray  21 , client server blade  22 , application server blade  24 , storage area  30 , network switch  31 , and SAN fabric switch  33 . When needs be, second highest priority electrical bus  37   b  and power distribution strip  50   b  are activated and support with power client server blade  23 , application server blades  25  and  26 , storage area  30 , network switch  32 , and SAN fabric switch  34 . When third priority electrical bus  37   c  and power distribution strip  50   c  are activated, they support client server  23 , application servers  25 ,  26 ,  27 ,  28 , and  29 , and SAN fabric switch  34 . Finally, when lowest priority electrical bus  37   d  and power distribution strip  50   d  are activated, they support and provide power to client server  22 , application servers  24 ,  27 ,  28 , and  29 , and SAN fabric switch  33 .  
         [0034]     The server consolidation technology, represented as the arrow in  FIG. 1 , provides three primary functions: server virtualization, thin client services, and an application server interface.  
         [0035]     The server consolidation technology allows each physical server to function and appear as multiple, discrete machines in individual “containers,” as can be seen if  FIG. 5 . Application server  55  represents three discrete machines providing virtual applications  54 A,  54 B, and  54 C. Each virtual application may run its own operating system, which is the same as that of the original operating system on which it runs on a real machine. These “guest operating systems” operate as if they have direct access to the original hardware architecture for which they were designed. Since the operating system of the original server or machine remains intact, the applications available to the clients through homogeneous server package  11  and the plurality of clients  13  do not require modification and will function normally. A description of overcoming the associated barriers to virtualization of machines is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,242 B1 by Devine et al.  
         [0036]     The preferred embodiment utilizes thin clients, which do not maintain any disk or memory space beyond that which is absolutely needed to start up and operate application selection interface  51 , which also retain no data or information because all applications are running the application servers  24  through  29  through the client servers  22  and  23  and the plurality of clients  13 . Client servers  22  and  23  provide a single point of administration for all clients, represented by the plurality of clients  13  in  FIG. 1 , and will allow any client to access any available application on any application server  24  through  29  regardless of from what client the user logs in, provided the user logs in with the appropriate credentials. The operating state of each application is maintained on the client servers  22  and  23  such that if a client workstation fails, the user may move to any other client workstation, identify themselves through the use of a common access card or CAC, and resume use of the application from where the user left off, with the same settings of the previous workstation down the personal settings. The CAC utilizes the same technology present in subscriber identity module (SIM) cards for global system for mobile communications (GSM) cellular phones.  
         [0037]      FIG. 5  shows the application selection interface  51  presented to each user through the plurality of clients  13  (shown in  FIG. 1 ). Ease of use is a key feature of homogeneous server package  11 .  FIG. 5  is only a representation of four application servers,  55 ,  56 ,  57 , and  58 , each hosting a plurality of applications  54 , totaling ten in number; however, other numbers of application servers and applications may be used. As each application server  55 ,  56 ,  57 , and  58  is started in its consolidated environment, it registers which applications are operational with the primary client server  53  and logs each application  54  as being “available”. The available services,  54 A through  54 J, are identified and presented to users via a java-based selector  51 , which allows easy point-and-click connections through the user&#39;s selecting the presented application and clicking on its representation  52  in the java-based selector window  51 . Likewise, when each thin client initially starts and registers with the thin client server it immediately displays the dynamically updated menu of all applications available on all servers. With a mouse click the end user selects the application to run through that thin client.  
         [0038]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  together illustrate a kiosking program flowchart which includes, in the preferred embodiment, the means by which the application selector graphical user interface is generated and kept current. Beginning in  FIG. 6A , the script  60  is started and the program first sets up the initial environment state  61 . Upon completion of that, the type of display type is next determined, whether it is a thin client or a thick client such as a machine running a Linux X11 operating system. If it is determined that a thin client is being used as in  62 , the program then determines the number of active displays  63  and whether those active displays are acting as a thin client array  64 . If it is determined that the thin clients are acting as an array  64 , then the program then determines the number of screens and the geometry of such screens  65  and sets the display to multi-panel mode and selects default  66 . If it is determined that the thin client is not acting as part of an array  64 , then the display is set to single panel mode  67 . If it was determined to be a thick client  62 , the program then sets the number of display heads and displays the locale  68 , meaning that the program detects the number and locations of users. Next, regardless of whether the display type was determined to be thick clients or thin  62  or thin clients in array  64 , regardless of the display type, all displays are initialized and the display counter n  69  is set to equal zero. The next step if for the program to determine whether or not the display counter n less than or equal to the number of displays  70 . If the display counter n is less than or equal to the number of displays, the screen is formatted and an informational banner is displayed  80 , then the display counter n is incremented by 1. The loop  70 ,  80 , and  81  may be repeated until the display counter n is greater than the number of displays. Upon determination that the display counter n is not less than or equal to the number of displays  70 , the program then initiates the window manager  82 . The program then probes the installed application database  84  for available application servers  83 . The installed application database  84  contains information regarding users and security clearances as determined by the user&#39;s CAC.  
         [0039]     Continuing on to  FIG. 6B , through the kiosking program flowchart, the program launches the application navigator graphical user interface  85 , which is displayed to the user of the client. Upon a user selecting and clicking an application, the program then correlates the application selection data to the specific address of the application and the type of application  86  by accessing the installed application database configuration  87 . The program then continues to validate that the application address is available  88  through pinging the application host internet protocol address  89 . If there is no response to the programs pinging of the application host&#39;s IP address  89 , then the program displays an error message alerting the user that the application is unavailable  90 , updates the application database  91  with the information that the selected application is no longer available and returns to launching the application navigator graphical user interface  85 . However, if a response to the pining of the application host internet protocol address is received  89 , then the program then determines what display to use  92 . The program then determines the number of displays to use  93  by initiating the launch of a display selector  94 , allowing the user to select the display environment and then setting the display environment to the user&#39;s selection  95 . The program then determines the method and protocol for the how the connections  96  are established through either direct land line, wireless, or satellite uplink connections, or any other means of connection available in the art. The program then updates the application database  97  by sending information and actually updating the installed application database  98 . Afterwards, the program determines the connection application  99 , for example whether it is Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (MSRDP) or a Linux X11 graphics interface application. If the program determines that the connection application is the MSRDP  99 , then the program launches rdesktop, an open source client for Windows NT Terminal. Or, if the program determines that the user is connecting to homogeneous server package  11  with a Linux-based system  99 , the program launches XDM  101 . Upon the user&#39;s finishing use of the application in homogeneous server package  11  or the user&#39;s manual termination of the use of the application, regardless of with which system the user logged in to the system, the program will next close the application connection  102 . The program then updates the application database  103  to reflect in the installed application database that the user is no longer using that application  104 . The program then flushes all memory buffers, terminates the script, and forces the script to restart  105 .  
         [0040]     One particularly useful deployment of the invention is for active military engagements that allow users at a remote locate to access the multiple servers from a laptop or work station via a thin client connection. The portable system can be easily deployed almost anywhere because of its light weight and portability. Even if the remote laptop or work station is lost or captured, once the link with the server is disconnected, there is nothing on the remote laptop or work station for the enemy hostile forces to access. This would allow installation of the remote laptop or work station on a military vehicle to access multiple systems and not contain any classified information on the remote laptop or work station.  
         [0041]     Although the foregoing specific details describe various preferred embodiments of this invention, persons reasonably skilled in the art will recognize that various changes may be made in the details of the method and apparatus of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Therefore, it should be understood that, unless otherwise specified, this invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described herein.