I have a number of workstations that have the keyboard, video, and mouse
(possibly usb) located some distance from the cpu. I have a failover
configuration which will select from a bank of cpu's for a specific session,
kind of a dhcp for hardware. The operating system is located on a nas,
loading the selected cpu on startup. Every cpu is different, id numbers, mac
addresses, etc. Each user has a different set of applications to use.
Regardless of which cpu is selected the nas will supply the same user image.
A Terminal server will supply the user with a unique interface, but always
from the same shared cpu. I get the mobility for the user, but I also get
the danger of a complete stoppage of work for all if cpu goes down. Load
balancing may supply relief from this issue, but at what cost?
Using a user per cpu arrangement (what a lot of us would call a client) may
possible work if XP can handle the differences between cpu's and each user.
Since this would require the changes to occur during loading from the nas, I
wonder if there is a way facilitate these differences. Also required would
be the ability of the startup procedure to load the necessary software and
pointers for each user.
Could I have each cpu preloaded with Xp and bring in only the unique user
data on startup?
I find this arrangement very attractive.
Any other solution I missed that I should consider?
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