diskless workstation

computer, networking A personal computer or workstation

which has neither a hard disk nor floppy disk drive and

which performs all file access via a local area network

connection to a file server. The lowest level bootstrap

code is stored in non-volatile storage. This uses a simple

protocol such as BOOTP to request and download more

sophisticated boot code and eventually, the operatingsystem.

The archtypal product was the 3Station developed by Bob

Metcalfe at 3Com. Another example was the Sun 3/50.

Diskless workstations are ideal when many users are running

the same application. They are small, quiet, more reliable

than products with disks, and help prevent both the theft of

data and the introduction of viruses since the software and

data available on them is controlled by the network

administrator or system administrator. They do however rely

on a server which becomes a disadvantage if it is heavily

loaded or down.

See also breath-of-life packet.

(1995-03-28)