Redistribution of operating environments for the redeployment of grid clients

A method for deploying a network booted operating system on each of a plurality of networked clients, comprising:

• at a first predetermined time, receiving in a DHCP server from a sending client a client MAC address, a current client IP address, and a hostname;
• determining whether a boot image is available for deployment to the sending client;
• after determining that a boot image is not available for the sending client, generating a boot image for the sending client;
• updating a server DHCP configuration file with the MAC address, the hostname, and the boot image;
• updating a server client database with the IP address, the hostname, and an updated client status;
• restarting DHCP service to the sending client using the updated configuration and database information;
• directing that the client cache its current state including active applications and user data for restoration at the conclusion of grid deployment;
• transmitting the thin-client image and a grid application from the DHCP server to the sending client;
• directing that the sending client re-boot as a grid processing node with the thin-client image received from the DHCP server;
• removing the sending client entry from the DHCP server configuration file;
• launching in the sending client the grid application received from the DHCP server to the sending client;
• at a second, later predetermined time, removing the sending client from the grid;
• updating the client database with a newly updated client status;
• initiating a re-boot of the sending client;
• determining whether a boot image is available in the DHCP server to the sending client;
• after determining that a boot image is no longer available to the sending client, proceeding to attempt to boot the sending client from a next device in a boot order;
• and
• after the sending client is booted, restoring the sending client to a state in which a user left the system using previously cached state information.

A computer program product of a computer readable storage medium usable with a programmable computer, the computer program product having computer-readable code embodied therein for temporarily transforming a client-server network into a grid network, the computer-readable code comprising instructions for:

• allowing each of a plurality of client devices to operate under a local operating system in a client-server mode;
• at a first predetermined time, configuring a server, with which the client devices are coupled through a network, to operate under a thin-client operating system, whereby the server becomes a master node on the network;
• for each client device:
• determining whether a boot image is available for deployment to the client device;
• after determining that a boot image is not available for the client device, generating a boot image for the client device;
• directing that the client device initiate a network boot in a thin-client mode, whereby the client device becomes a processing node for the server;
• transmitting a thin-client image and a grid application to the processing node, whereupon the client device boots the thin-client image;
• and
• launching the grid application on the processing node, whereby the processing operates in a grid mode with substantially all resources of the server and memory of the processing node being available for use by the grid application;
• and
• at a second, later predetermined time, directing that each processing node re-boot into its respective local operating system.

A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system, wherein the code, in combination with the computing system, is capable of performing the following:

• allowing each of a plurality of client devices to operate under a local operating system in a client-server mode;
• at a first predetermined time, configuring a server, with which the client devices are coupled through a network, to operate under a thin-client operating system, whereby the server becomes a master node on the network;
• for each client device:
• determining whether a boot image is available for deployment to the client device;
• after determining that a boot image is not available for the client device, generating a boot image for the client device;
• directing that the client device initiate a network boot in a thin-client mode, whereby the client device becomes a processing node for the server;
• transmitting a thin-client image and a grid application to the processing node, whereupon the client device boots the thin-client image;
• launching the grid application on the processing node, whereby the processing operates in a grid mode with substantially all resources of the server and memory of the processing node being available for use by the grid application;
• and
• at a second, later predetermined time, directing that each processing node re-boot into its respective local operating system.