Patent ID: 8161288

Claim:
A system for managing a database and controlling access to computer profile data contained in the database, the system including: A. a group manager server that is configured to i. group a plurality of computers into a tree structure of groups and sub-groups based upon grouping criteria with each group being a node on the tree and a top node being a root; ii. receive computer profile data uploaded from said computers, either immediately upon human command or in accordance with a profile data upload schedule, the computer profile data including one or more computer configuration data, said computer profile data providing information defining the computer's state as actually operating at an instant in time at which the data is uploaded; iii. store records of the computer profile data in the database; and iv. dynamically group the computer profile data records based on computer grouping criteria that use selected computer configuration data; and B. a user access manager server that is configured to i. associate respective users with login groups maintained in memory wherein the login group identifies the group of computers to which the user has access to the computer profile data of such computers, and which further provides access to sub-groups from that group; ii. associate the respective users with user types maintained in memory, the user types corresponding to sets of system administrative features that the user can exercise across the groups associated with the respective login group through which the user logs into the system, the user types specifying what type of access the respective users have to the computer profile data by specifying system administrative features to which the associated users have access, and iii restrict, based on the login group and user type to which a given user is assigned, the access of the given user to make changes to computer profile data, and further restricts the access of the given user to the administrative features associated with the given user's user type and to the computer profile data records stored in the database for the computers that are included in the group or groups of computer profile data records that are in the user's login group and the computers in any sub-group of the user's login group, wherein, if one of the computers changes from meeting the grouping criteria of a first group to meeting the grouping criteria of a second group, the computer is automatically re-assigned to the second group and users whose login group provides access to computer profile data from computers in the second group will automatically gain access to the computer profile data of the re-assigned computer with their user rights as conferred by their respective user type, and users whose login group provides access to the computer profile data of the first group will automatically lose access to the re-assigned computer profile data of said computer, unless the second group is a subgroup of their login group.