Bare Metal (PC Farm)
While the majority of DaDesktop environments operate on virtual desktops, specific tasks demand access to actual physical hardware. The bare metal solution allows each participant to utilize a dedicated physical desktop or server, all seamlessly administered through the DaDesktop platform.
Exclusive Physical Hardware
Rather than relying on virtual environments, each participant is assigned their own dedicated physical machine.
Remote Physical Classroom Management
Integrate an existing classroom with DaDesktop to oversee the hardware remotely, eliminating the need for on-site presence.
Scenarios Requiring Bare Metal
- Applications that cannot function in a virtualized environment, such as ONAP and OpenStack.
- Components unsuitable for virtualization, including specific GPUs, Mellanox cards, and other network equipment.
- Instructional modules where firmware or tangible hardware is integral to the curriculum.
- On-premise classroom configurations that require centralized remote administration.
Operational Overview
Every physical device is linked to a DaDesktop node via a control cable known as ddnexus. To provision a standalone or fresh-start desktop, simply choose the "Metal PC" option. The desktop instance is then instantiated directly on the physical hardware.
PC Farm Architecture
Existing office workstations can be integrated to function as bare metal nodes. Within this architecture, each physical desktop is referred to as a potato. The central server responsible for managing these nodes is called a pumpkin (also known as the DaDesktop node or ddnode). The USB cable used to connect each potato to the pumpkin is termed a potato stalk.
These potato stalk cables can be sourced from eBay or Alibaba.
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