Bare Metal (PC Farm)
While the majority of DaDesktop operations rely on virtual desktops, certain tasks require dedicated physical hardware. The bare metal solution ensures that each participant is assigned a dedicated physical desktop or server, all of which are centrally managed via the DaDesktop platform.
Dedicated Hardware per User
Rather than sharing virtual resources, each participant is provisioned with their own exclusive physical machine.
Remote Management of Physical Labs
Integrate existing physical classrooms with DaDesktop to oversee and control the hardware without requiring on-site presence.
Situations Requiring Bare Metal
- Applications that are incompatible with virtualization environments, such as ONAP and OpenStack.
- Specific hardware components that cannot be virtualized, including particular GPU models, Mellanox cards, and other specialized networking equipment.
- Training modules that mandate hands-on interaction with firmware or physical hardware.
- Physical laboratory configurations that necessitate remote administrative control.
Operational Mechanics
Every physical machine links to a DaDesktop node using a control cable known as ddnexus. To provision a standalone or fresh-start desktop, simply select the "Metal PC" option, which triggers the direct deployment of the desktop environment onto the physical hardware.
PC Farm Architecture
You may integrate existing office desktops to function as bare metal nodes within this architecture. In this context, each individual physical desktop is referred to as a potato. The central server responsible for managing these units is designated as a pumpkin (also known as a DaDesktop node or ddnode). The USB cable that connects each potato to the pumpkin is termed a potato stalk.
Replacement potato stalk cables can be sourced from platforms like eBay and Alibaba.
Start Your Free Trial Today
Run seamless virtual IT training with cloud-based labs, no downtime, just scalable learning that works.