What are Fresh-Start, Trainer, Participant, and Standalone Machines?
DaDesktop is an advanced training platform designed to provide accessible cloud machines for training courses, along with admin tools to easily manage the Desktop machines for each course.
To achieve this, DaDesktop employs several similar yet distinct Desktop machine types to support these courses.
Below are descriptions of the different machine types used.
Fresh-Start Machine
A 'Fresh-Start' is the DaDesktop machine that the Trainer uses to create and develop their course material. Once completed, the Fresh-Start machine is copied to all Participants' Desktops, ready for the course they are taking. Think of a Fresh-Start as a 'Golden Image' that can be reverted if issues arise on either the Trainer's or Participants' machines.
Trainer Machine
A 'Trainer' machine is used by the Trainer to present their course material to Participants during the course. The state of this machine will differ from the Fresh-Start, as software applications or libraries related to the course subject are typically installed, configured, and run by the Trainer(s) as part of the course.
If there is more than one Trainer leading a course, there will be multiple Trainer machines.
Participant Machine
A 'Participant' machine is used by each participant during the course to install, configure, and perform exercises under the guidance of the Trainer.
Fresh-Start, Trainer, and Participant machines are typically automatically deleted shortly after the course concludes. However, there is another type of machine available that is not tied to a course and can be retained for as long as needed, called a 'Standalone'.
Standalone Machine
A 'Standalone' machine is not necessarily used during a course. It operates independently as a separate machine that can be utilized before or after the course or even on its own without any connection to a course. This makes the Standalone particularly versatile.
Common reasons for creating Standalone desktops include:
- Preparing training course material that can be reused multiple times outside of a course or kept for future use when needed.
- Needing a flexible machine with a different Operating System (such as Linux or Windows) to test ideas in a secure environment.