Patent ID: 8527615

Claim:
In a network including a client system and a plurality of servers hosting application programs and a host server, a method for executing an application program comprising: executing, by the host server, a neighborhood application to collect application-related information from the plurality of servers hosting application programs concerning the hosted application programs; retrieving a page template from a database; determining, based, at least in part, on the collected application-related information, for each hosted application program whether that hosted application program is available to a client node of the client system; creating, at the host server responsive to the determination and the retrieved page template, a page describing hosted application programs available to the client node of the client system, the created page comprising a graphical user interface with icons representing the available application programs, the graphical user interface further comprising icons representing active sessions and disconnected sessions; transmitting the created page to the client system for display; receiving, from the client system, a request to execute one of the available hosted application programs; choosing, from the plurality of servers hosting application programs, a server hosting the requested application program; establishing a connection between the client system and the chosen server executing the requested application using a presentation services protocol, wherein the presentation services protocol establishes a virtual channel to transmit information to the client system; executing the requested application program at the chosen server; and providing output from the executing application program directly to the client system.