1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
|
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>Content</title>
<base target="_self">
</head>
<body background="../../images/bg.gif" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" onLoad="window.focus();" link="#808080" vlink="#808080" alink="#808080">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#336666" width="18" valign="top">
<img border="0" src="../../images/content_lines.gif" width="16" height="25">
<img border="0" src="../../images/transdot.gif" width="2" height="1"></td>
<td bgcolor="#336666"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">6.1</b></font></td>
<td bgcolor="#336666"><img border="0" src="../../images/transdot.gif" width="10" height="1"></td>
<td bgcolor="#336666" width="100%"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">
<strong>Workstations and Servers</strong> </font></b></td>
<td width="9" bgcolor="#336666"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#669999" height="25" width="18"> </td>
<td bgcolor="#669999" height="25"><b>
<font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">6.1.1</font></b></td>
<td bgcolor="#669999"><img border="0" src="../../images/transdot.gif" width="10" height="1"></td>
<td bgcolor="#669999" height="25" width="100%"><strong>
<font size="2" color="#FFFFFF"><span style="font-family: Arial">Workstations</span></font></strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#669999" height="25" width="9"> </td>
</tr></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="95%" bordercolor="#111111">
<tr>
<td width="15"></td>
<td>
<font FACE="Arial" SIZE="2">
A workstation is a client computer that is used to run applications
and is connected to a server from which it obtains data shared with
other computers. A server is a computer that runs a network operating
system (NOS). A workstation uses special software, such as a network
shell program to perform the following tasks:
<ul>
<li>Intercepts user data and application commands</li>
<li>Decides if the command is for the local operating system or for
the NOS.</li>
<li>Directs the command to the local operating system or to the
network interface card (NIC) for processing and transmission onto
the network</li>
<li>Delivers transmissions from the network to the application
running on the workstation</li>
</ul>
<p>Some Windows operating systems may be installed on workstations and
servers. The NT/2000/XP versions of Windows software provide network
server capability. Windows 9x and ME versions only provide
workstation support.
<img border="0" src="../../images/1.gif" align="absmiddle" width="12" height="12"></p>
<p>UNIX or Linux can serve as a desktop operating system but are
usually found on high-end computers. These workstations are employed
in engineering and scientific applications, which require dedicated
high-performance computers. Some of the specific applications that are
frequently run on UNIX workstations are included in the following
list: </p>
<ul>
<li>Computer-aided design (CAD)</li>
<li>Electronic circuit design</li>
<li>Weather data analysis</li>
<li>Computer graphics animation</li>
<li>Telecommunications equipment management</li>
</ul>
<p>Most current desktop operating systems include networking
capabilities and support multi-user access. For this reason, it is
becoming more common to classify computers and operating systems based
on the types of applications the computer runs. This classification is
based on the role or function that the computer plays, such as
workstation or server. Typical desktop or low-end workstation
applications might include word processing, spreadsheets, and
financial management. On high-end workstations,
<img border="0" src="../../images/2.gif" align="absmiddle" width="12" height="12"> the applications might
include graphical design or equipment management and others as listed
above. </p>
<p>A diskless workstation is a special class of computer designed to
run on a network. As the name implies, it has no disk drives but does
have a monitor, keyboard, memory, booting instructions in ROM, and a
network interface card. The software that is used to establish a
network connection is loaded from the bootable ROM chip located on the
NIC.</p>
<p>Because a diskless workstation does not have any disk drives, it is
not possible to upload data from the workstation or download anything
to it. A diskless workstation cannot pass a virus onto the network, nor
can it be used to take data from the network by copying this
information to a disk drive. As a result, diskless workstations offer
greater security than ordinary workstations. For this reason, such
workstations are used in networks where security is paramount.</p>
<p>Laptops can also serve as workstations on a LAN and can be
connected through a docking station, external LAN adapter, or a PCMCIA
card. A docking station is an add-on device that turns a laptop into a
desktop. <img border="0" src="../../images/3.gif" align="absmiddle" width="12" height="12"></p>
<p> </p>
</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
|
