Bare Metal (PC Farm)
While the majority of DaDesktop operations rely on virtual desktops, certain tasks demand the performance and capabilities of physical hardware. With the bare metal solution, each participant is allocated a dedicated physical desktop or server, which is fully managed through the DaDesktop platform.
Exclusive Physical Allocation
Rather than sharing virtual resources, each participant receives a dedicated physical machine for their specific needs.
Remote Classroom Management
Integrate existing physical classrooms with DaDesktop to oversee and control the hardware without the need for on-site presence.
Scenarios Requiring Bare Metal
- Applications that are incompatible with virtualized environments, such as ONAP and OpenStack.
- Specific hardware components that cannot be virtualized, including particular GPUs, Mellanox cards, and other specialized network equipment.
- Training modules where firmware updates or direct interaction with physical hardware is a core component of the curriculum.
- Physical classroom infrastructure that requires centralized, remote administration.
Operational Mechanics
Every physical machine interfaces with a DaDesktop node via a control cable known as ddnexus. To initialize a standalone or fresh-start desktop, simply select the "Metal PC" option during setup. This action directs the deployment of the desktop environment directly to the physical hardware.
PC Farm Architecture
Existing office desktops can be integrated into the network to function as bare metal nodes. In this setup, each individual physical desktop is referred to as a potato. The central server responsible for managing these nodes is identified as a pumpkin (also known as a DaDesktop node or ddnode). The USB cable that links each potato to the pumpkin is termed a potato stalk.
Replacement potato stalk cables can be sourced from retailers such as eBay and Alibaba.
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