System and method for streaming virtual machines from a server to a host

Abstract

Techniques for configuring a commodity server to host virtual hard disks are disclosed herein. In an exemplary embodiment, a virtual hard disk file can be split into a plurality of differencing VHD files and one or more of the files can be downloaded to a virtualization host as it runs off the VHD files stored on the server. After the one or more VHD files are downloaded, the virtualization host can be configured to use the local copy instead of the copy on the commodity server. In addition to the foregoing, other techniques are described in the claims, the detailed description, and the figures.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to virtual machines, especially streaming virtual machines from a server to a host. Background technique [0002] Virtual machine platforms allow the simultaneous execution of multiple guest operating systems on a physical machine by running each operating system within its own virtual machine. One exemplary service that can be provided in a virtual machine is a virtual desktop session. A virtual desktop session is essentially a personal computer environment running inside a virtual machine that sends its user interface to a remote computer. To virtualize a desktop, the operating system and all of the user's programs and data are encapsulated in a virtual hard disk file (VHD), which is then executed by a virtual processor in the virtual machine and accessed by a remote client device. This architecture is similar to a remote desktop environment, but instead of having multiple users connected to the operating system simult...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, SAN targets are expensive, and it would be beneficial if commodity servers (with low-cost centralized storage) could be used to centrally deploy virtual hard disk files

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