Virtual desktop in a computer network

Abstract

A network of servers coupled to the Internet provides a virtual desktop in a virtual computing environment. A user is able to access the virtual desktop from a variety of systems through various communications links. A site server initially receives a URL access from the user at a local system. After a successful login, a personal web page of the user is retrieved from a file server and returned to the local system. Through the personal web page, the user is able to send commands that are received and processed by one or more backend servers. The web page represents the virtual desktop of the user and includes links for applications available to the user, files and folders accessible by the user, and other personal information of the user. The network provides facilities to manipulate and manage files, and facilities to access and process data from web sites on the Internet.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A computer implemented method for providing a virtual desktop at a user's computing device selected from among a plurality of possible user's computing device, the method comprising: 
 receiving a URL from the selected computing device at a site server;    in response to the received URL, retrieving a personal web page from a file server, wherein the personal web page represents the virtual desktop, and wherein the virtual desktop includes links for applications and files accessible from the selected computing device;    returning the personal web page to the selected computing device;    receiving commands from the selected computing device via the personal web page at the site server; and    processing the commands at the site server.