Asset streaming and delivery

Abstract

Asset streaming and delivery including intercepting, at an asset streaming client, a request to exploit an asset virtualized on the asset streaming client. The asset is identified and an asset snapshot of the asset is obtained. Portions of the asset needed to exploit the asset according to the intercepted request exploit the asset are determined from an asset snapshot of the asset. The portions of the asset needed to exploit the asset according to the intercepted request are obtained and the asset is exploited according to the intercepted request using the portions of the asset.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 intercepting, at an asset streaming client, a request to exploit an asset including an operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client;   identifying the asset as the operating system using the request;   using an asset snapshot to determine at the asset streaming client a portion of the asset needed to exploit the asset according to the request;   determining if the portion of the asset resides in local storage at the asset streaming client;   if it is determined the portion of the asset resides in the local storage, retrieving the portion of the asset from the local storage;   if it is determined the portion of the asset is absent from the local storage:
 sending a request for the portion of the asset to a snapshot asset streaming system remote from the asset streaming client; 
 receiving, at the asset streaming client, the portion of the asset from the snapshot asset streaming system in response to the request for the portion of the asset; 
   exploiting the asset at the asset streaming client using the portion of the asset.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether the asset snapshot for the asset resides locally at the asset streaming client in response to identifying the asset as the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client;   if it is determined the asset snapshot for the asset fails to reside locally at the asset streaming client;   sending a request for the asset snapshot to the snapshot asset streaming system;   receiving, at the asset streaming client, the asset snapshot in response to the request for the asset snapshot.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the asset snapshot for the operating system is generated by executing the operating system on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising breaking up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising breaking up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client based on characteristics of a network through which the portion of the asset is sent from the snapshot asset streaming system to the asset streaming system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising breaking up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client based on manners in which the asset can be exploited. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating, by a hypervisor layer, a virtualized operating system layer for supporting execution of the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client between a hardware layer and an operating system image at the asset streaming client;   intercepting the request to exploit the asset at the virtualized operating system layer by the hypervisor layer.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising spoofing a system registry of at the asset streaming client to make it appear that the operating system resides in its entirety at the asset streaming client using the portion of the asset. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein exploitation of the asset includes continuing operation of the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein exploitation of the asset includes beginning operation of the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 an asset acquisition detection engine configure to:
 intercept, at an asset streaming client, a request to exploit an asset including an operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client; 
 identify the asset as the operating system using the request; 
   an asset streaming abstraction engine configured to:
 use an asset snapshot to determine at the asset streaming client a portion of the asset needed to exploit the asset according to the request; 
 determine if the portion of the asset resides in local storage at the asset streaming client; 
   an asset streaming system configured to:
 retrieve the portion of the asset from the local storage, if it is determined the portion of the asset resides in the local storage; 
 send a request for the portion of the asset to a snapshot asset streaming system remote from the asset streaming client, if it is determined the portion of the asset is absent from the local storage; 
 receive, at the asset streaming client, the portion of the asset from the snapshot asset streaming system in response to the request for the portion of the asset; 
 exploit the asset at the asset streaming client using the portion of the asset. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the asset streaming system is further configured to:
 determine whether the asset snapshot for the asset resides locally at the asset streaming client in response to identifying the asset as the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client;   send a request for the asset snapshot to the snapshot asset streaming system, if it is determined the asset snapshot for the asset fails to reside locally at the asset streaming client;   receive, at the asset streaming client, the asset snapshot in response to the request for the asset snapshot.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the asset snapshot for the operating system is generated by executing the operating system on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an asset streamification engine configured to break up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an asset streamification engine configured to break up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client based on characteristics of a network through which the portion of the asset is sent from the snapshot asset streaming system to the asset streaming system. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an asset streamification engine configued to break up the asset into a plurality of portions including the portion of the asset on a testbed machine remote from the asset streaming client based on manners in which the asset can be exploited. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a hypervisor layer configured to:
 create a virtualized operating system layer for supporting execution of the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client between a hardware layer and an operating system image at the asset streaming client; 
 intercept the request to exploit the asset at the virtualized operating system layer by the hypervisor layer. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising a hypervisor layer configured to spoof a system registry of at the asset streaming client to make it appear that the operating system resides in its entirety at the asset streaming client using the portion of the asset. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein exploitation of the asset includes continuing operation of the operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client. 
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 means for intercepting, at an asset streaming client, a request to exploit an asset including an operating system virtualized at the asset streaming client;   means for identifying the asset as the operating system using the request;   means for using an asset snapshot to determine at the asset streaming client a portion of the asset needed to exploit the asset according to the request;   means for determining if the portion of the asset resides in local storage at the asset streaming client;   if it is determined the portion of the asset resides in the local storage, means for retrieving the portion of the asset from the local storage;   if it is determined the portion of the asset is absent from the local storage:
 means for sending a request for the portion of the asset to a snapshot asset streaming system remote from the asset streaming client; 
 means for receiving, at the asset streaming client, the portion of the asset from the snapshot asset streaming system in response to the request for the portion of the asset; 
   means for exploiting the asset at the asset streaming client using the portion of the asset.