Bare Metal (PC Farm)
While DaDesktop primarily utilizes virtual desktops, there are scenarios that require direct access to physical hardware. Bare metal provisioning ensures that each participant is assigned their own dedicated physical desktop or server, all seamlessly managed through the DaDesktop interface.
Dedicated physical hardware
Participants receive a dedicated physical machine rather than a shared virtual environment.
Remote classroom management
Integrate existing physical classrooms with DaDesktop to oversee and control the machines without needing on-site presence.
When bare metal is required
- Applications that do not support virtualization, such as ONAP and OpenStack.
- Hardware components that cannot be effectively virtualized, including specific GPUs, Mellanox cards, and specialized network equipment.
- Curricula where working directly with firmware or physical hardware is integral to the learning process.
- Physical classroom environments that require centralized remote administration.
Operational mechanism
Every physical machine links to a DaDesktop node via a control cable known as ddnexus. To initiate this setup, select the "Metal PC" option when configuring a standalone or fresh-start desktop. Once selected, the desktop environment is deployed directly onto the physical hardware.
PC Farm configuration
Existing office desktops can be integrated as bare metal nodes. In this architecture, each physical desktop is referred to as a potato. The central server managing these devices is known as a pumpkin (specifically, the DaDesktop node or ddnode). The USB cable linking each potato to the pumpkin is termed a potato stalk.
These potato stalk cables can be sourced from platforms such as eBay and Alibaba.
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