Patent ID: 7519807

Claim:
A computer implemented method for diagnosing and maintaining a remote computing device, the remote computing device coupled to a network and running under a first boot image, the method comprising: initiating, by a first computing device, a maintenance reboot process in the remote computing device, wherein the remote computing device is remote to the first computing device and wherein the first computing device selects the remote computing device from a plurality of remote computing devices and wherein the first computing device is a server, and wherein the server initiates the maintenance reboot process in the remote computing device in response to a determination that a performance criteria of the target remote computing device has fallen below a predetermined threshold; downloading a maintenance boot image to the remote computing device via the network; initiating a first reboot process of the remote computing device with the maintenance boot image; performing at least one of a diagnostic and a maintenance function by running the remote computing device under the maintenance boot image; monitoring, at the first computing device, the remote computing device for the occurrence of a predetermined event, wherein monitoring the remote computing device for the occurrence of a predetermined event is performed by a daemon; and initiating a second reboot process of the remote computing device using the first boot image upon the occurrence of the predetermined event associated with the maintenance boot image, wherein the predetermined event is a signal from the remote computing device indicating that function of an operational mode associated with the maintenance boot image has been completed.