Bare Metal (PC Farm)
While the majority of DaDesktop operations rely on virtual desktops, specific tasks demand the reliability of actual hardware. Through the bare metal feature, every participant is assigned a dedicated physical desktop or server, all of which are orchestrated seamlessly through the DaDesktop platform.
Dedicated hardware per individual
Rather than sharing a virtual environment, each participant is allocated their own exclusive physical machine.
Remote administration of physical spaces
Link an existing classroom to DaDesktop to oversee and manage its hardware components without requiring on-site presence.
Scenarios requiring bare metal
- Applications that cannot function in a virtualized environment, such as ONAP and OpenStack.
- Specific hardware components that resist virtualization, including certain GPUs, Mellanox cards, and other network devices.
- Training modules where interacting with firmware or physical hardware is a core part of the curriculum.
- Physical classroom configurations that require centralized, remote management.
Operational mechanics
Every physical machine interfaces with a DaDesktop node using a control cable known as ddnexus. To initiate a standalone or fresh-start desktop session, select the "Metal PC" option, which directs the deployment directly to the physical hardware.
PC Farm architecture
Existing office desktops can be integrated to act as bare metal nodes. In this architecture, each physical desktop is referred to as a potato. The server responsible for managing these nodes is known as a pumpkin (the DaDesktop node, or ddnode). The USB cable linking each potato to the pumpkin is termed a potato stalk.
Potato stalk cables can be sourced from retailers such as eBay and Alibaba.
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