Patent ID: 7085805

Claim:
A grouped server system, comprising: an interconnect; a plurality of servers, each of said servers having a device manager and at least one device driver managed by said device manager; a plurality of device services for implementing device drivers located on said servers, said device services capable of being coupled to one of said plurality of severs via the device manager; a plurality of desktop units coupled to said servers via the interconnect, each desktop unit being coupled to one of said plurality of severs via the device manager; a plurality of peripheral devices located on said desktop units; wherein each of the device managers can maintain a first database comprising device data and a second database comprising scoping rules for at least one of said peripheral devices from at least one of said device services; wherein each of said device managers can search for a match between said first database and said second database; wherein if no match is found between its own first and second database data, each of said device managers operating in a group, can forward a request to other device managers within said grouped server system, thereby brokering control of said peripheral devices; wherein said at least one device driver managed by a first device manager, remotely controls at least one of said peripheral devices managed by a second device manager located within said grouped server system; and wherein in the event a first server failure is detected, the desktop unit coupled to a first device manager on said failed server will establish a connection with a second device manager on a second server within the grouped server system.