Patent ID: 8332479

Claim:
An application server system, comprising: one or more client computers; a centralized main server and database configured to store software components and any data created and used by applications, coordinate the one or more client computers, and provide operating system-like services to the one or more client computers including allocation of disk space in the centralized main server and database to the applications; and wherein the one or more client computers are controlled by the centralized main server and database, each client computer of the one or more client computers configured to execute multiple virtual client environments, each virtual client environment of the multiple virtual client environments comprising: one or more application objects, each application object of the one or more application objects associated with an application being executed in the virtual client environment and operable to store any data created and used by the associated application on the centralized main server and database; a dispatcher configured to register the virtual client environment with the centralized main server and database prior to any application task being dispatched for execution in the virtual client environment and provide subsequent communications between the virtual client environment and the centralized main server and database; and a lightweight server operable to: communicate, only through the dispatcher, any data created and used by the application objects between the centralized main server and database and the application objects; instantiate the application objects in the virtual client environment in response to receiving configuration information from the centralized main server and database; receive operating information from the application objects relating to the operation of the associated applications and communicate, only through the dispatcher, the received information to the centralized main server and database; and control the associated applications based on at least one of: (i) the configuration information received from the centralized main server and database through the dispatcher and (ii) further instructions received from the centralized main server and database through the dispatcher after instantiation of one of the application objects.