Lightweight Application Plugins for Third-Party Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing application delivery environments require large downloads of complete application packages to each user device, leading to slow availability, high bandwidth consumption, and inefficient resource usage due to the lack of application management consoles for different formats.
Innovation Solution
Implementing application plugins that are a fraction of the application size, containing metadata and instructions, which facilitate on-demand access to the actual application stored in a repository, reducing the need for full downloads and enabling virtual installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complete application packages are pushed to each user device, then application availability is ensured, but network bandwidth consumption increases and application availability time is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The application package is segmented into two parts: a lightweight application plugin (containing metadata and instructions) and the actual application. Only the plugin is downloaded to the client machine, while the full application remains stored in the application repository. This segmentation enables fast availability of the plugin while the full application is accessed on-demand from the repository.
Solution Approach 2:
The application plugin acts as an intermediary between the user and the full application. It contains metadata and instructions that enable the client machine to locate and access the actual application in the application repository without requiring the full application to be downloaded and installed locally.
2Reliability
If complete application packages are pushed to each user device, then application functionality is ensured, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The essential information needed to access the application (metadata and instructions) is extracted from the full application package and placed in the application plugin. This extracted plugin is what gets downloaded and cached on the client machine, while the bulk of the application data remains in the repository, significantly reducing network bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of copying the entire application to each user device, only a reference copy (the application plugin) is copied to the client machine. This plugin contains the necessary metadata and instructions to access the actual application from the repository, reducing duplication of large application files across multiple devices.
3Reliability
If complete application packages are stored on each device, then application accessibility is ensured, but storage resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The application is segmented into a small plugin file (stored on each device) and the full application (stored centrally in the repository). This segmentation allows the plugin to be cached on client machines for quick access, while the full application is stored only once in the repository, reducing overall storage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of copying the entire application to each user device, only a lightweight reference copy (the application plugin) is copied to each client machine. This reduces the quantity of application data stored across the system while maintaining accessibility through the plugin's instructions.
4Ease of manufacture
If application publishing portal stores complete application packages, then application delivery is simplified, but computing resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The application delivery system is segmented into three components: the application publishing portal (which manages plugins), the application repository (which stores full applications), and the client machine (which caches plugins). This segmentation allows the publishing portal to remain simple by only managing lightweight plugins, while the heavy lifting of storing and serving full applications is handled by the repository system.
Data Source
AI summary
A computerized method efficiently and instantaneously delivers an application in a third-party environment. An application plugin associated with the application is published to an application publishing portal, while the application itself is stored in an application repository. The application plugin is a fraction of a size of the application. A request is received from a client machine to download the application. In response to the request, the application plugin, instead of the application, is provided to the client machine. The application plugin, comprising metadata and instructions to locate the application on the application repository, is used to make the application available to the user without installing the application on the client machine. The disclosure enables savings on network bandwidth, memory usage, and processing when delivering the application to the client machine.