The present invention discloses a
system and a method for integrated on-demand delivery of
operating system and applications, where
operating system images are separate and distinct from application images. Integration of
operating system streaming and application streaming services makes streaming delivery possible to a wide range of
client devices, including those without any local
disk space such as thin-clients and diskless workstations. In addition, by integrating the
centralized management of operating
system delivery and application delivery, the present invention provides a complete solution to
server-centric application management, thereby further reducing the
total cost of ownership of network-based computing approach. Implementing the operating
management functions at the
client machine level of specificity and application
management functions at the user level of specificity combined with providing separate and distinct operating
system images and application images provides an inherently canonical architecture that allows proper scaling and affords appropriate
security management functions. The result is a complete, scalable, robust, and reliable
server-centric application and operating system
management system with a lower
total cost of ownership than existing products.