VMware has filed for an interesting patent that describes a way to build instant messaging functionality into servers, so system admins can ‘chat’ to them in real-time, reports The Register.

The patent, which is dubbed “System And Method for Chatting With Machines,” notes that servers usually rely on emails or SMS messages to report problems to sysadmins. It suggests that instant messaging would be far more efficient, as servers could “initiate a chat session with the user in order to send system alerts to the user and receive instant responses from the user.” Doing so would allow for group chats that include the server and multiple users, ensuring everyone who needs to know is notified of any problems immediately.

Group chat sessions with a server might sound enticing, but one has to wonder about the merits of VMWare’s application. The virtualization giant claims it does have merit, because “currently available online chat systems, such as instant messaging applications, do not support such chatting between a human being and a machine.”

But it’s debatable if the patent will actually be granted.

As one anonymous poster on The Register says, “I had my servers talking to me via AIM (the only one with a decent perl module at the time) in 2006. Arista has had that in production for 5 years or so for switches and router gear.”

“I can think of several ways this has been implemented in several different systems since the late 1970’s,” adds user named “raving angry loony.” “In one case using “cat > /dev/tty##” in an suid bash script (when such things didn’t immediately result in the dismemberment of the perpetrator). But really it seems they’re just trying to patent a fairly typical botnet “chat control” system where systems not only chat in a group account, but the group account can control the systems.”

Nevertheless, VMware obviously thinks the patent has a chance of being granted. It’s application goes into a detailed explanation of how servers can be authenticated, and talks about adding voice-call and web-conferencing plugins that could ostensibly allow humans to ‘talk’ to their servers.

The actual IM technology would be based on RabbitMQ (a product of Pivotal, who, like VMware, is a member of EMC’s happy family) and its Advanced Message Queuing Protocol.

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