Patent ID: 7529820

Claim:
A method to complete tasks over a network, comprising: receiving, by a server computer, a request to perform a task for a plurality of computers over a network, wherein the task comprises installing a software application or updating a software application; performing said task using a multicast message communicated from said server computer over said network, wherein the performance of said task is triggered by an event occurring on said server computer or said network; updating a task status table by said server, wherein said task status table indicates whether said task has been completed for each of said plurality of computers; receiving, by said server computer, a request to complete said task from a first computer; prioritizing requests to complete said task, if more than one request is received by said server computer from each of a plurality of computers, the requests being prioritized based upon the last completion time of a prior request; determining whether said task was completed for said first computer using said task status table; performing said task using a unicast message communicated from said server computer over said network to said first computer in accordance with said determination and said prioritization; and updating said task status table indicating whether said task has been completed for said first computer.