is it possible?

astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
edited October 2003 in Hardware
say you have one office.

say there are two people who use that office, and each wants their own computer.

what if....

each person could use the same computer, and only need their own interfacing devices? i.e. mouse, keyboard, monitor

is this possible? the concept reminds me of the computer terminals that were really just interfaces for individual use of servers back in the olden days of corporate computing...

what do you guys think?


i'm thinking it would probably need to be dual processor (though preferably single), have plenty of usb ports, and dual vga/dvi outputs (or would a signal splitter work?)... but off the top of my head i can't think of any system that's made for the purpose i am proposing.

i remember reading that future AMD chips are supposed to support multiple OSes operating at once. at least i think so. maybe that would assist in my idea. two instances of windows, each being ported to one user or the other.

your thoughts?

Comments

  • seversphereseversphere
    edited October 2003
    don't think it's currently possible with Windows as the OS and no boards designed to have two kb/mouse. Unix type stuff is for having "terminals" off the same machine. Besides each terminal is a barebones machine in itself - you can't have just one machine with two kb/mouse/monitor.
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    true, didn't think of that... it seems like someting like this would already exist, like it should be possible for two people to simultaneously use the same computer. maybe i'm an idealist.
  • seversphereseversphere
    edited October 2003
    you could build a custom case that houses two motherboards :)

    and just tell them it's one machine.
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    wow that would be difficult (it's actually not for anyone in particular, just a thought that i had the other day)

    it would basically need a way for each of the i/o functions on the back of the mobo to be accessable

    two power supples, two of everything...

    the front drives wouldn't be heard, just plug one drive into one mobo and the other drive into the other mobo

    but the back side... sheesh talk about custom...
  • karatekidkaratekid Ogdensburg, NY
    edited October 2003
    Umm, isn't that what KVM switchs do?
    http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=143&DEPA=1
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    karatekid had this to say
    Umm, isn't that what KVM switchs do?
    http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=143&DEPA=1

    No, KVM switches allow you to use a single keyboard and mouse to control multiple computers.

    They on the other hand want to use multiple keyboards and mice to control a single computer.

    You can get PCI port things that allow you to split the machine up, but as far as I am aware, there is no easy route.

    NS
  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    you could use citrix. you'd need to two crapola computers for each of you end users, and a more powerful computer to act as a server. doesn't sound like that's the way you wanna go though.
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    As kanez said, Citrix does this, as does Windows Terminal Server, but you still need to have a full-fledged PC and not just "dumb" terminals.

    I found this PDF that gives a brief summary of the "paradigm shift" from mainframe-based computing to PCs. It's not a comprehensive history but sheds a little light on the possibility of mainframe-based computing once again.

    http://www.schlumbergersema.com/infrastructure/pdf/techBriefs/02SNS366_smrt_cds_thin_tec2.pdf
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    cool stuff

    thanks for the replies :)
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited October 2003
    is this not what intel was saying was their eventual goal? i remember reading a news article about a whole family using one pc, with one person gaming, and someone even being able to "reboot" without interrupting anyone elses activity's ... i think
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2003
    What is the EasyServer 2000/XP?

    EasyServer 2000/XP is the best choice to add more user for your PC.
    In another word, EasyServer system allow several people to share all the resource from ONE PC at the same time in Windows 2000/XP environment.
    With our EasyServer 2000/XP, each user can work simultaneously in the same or different software drivers and applications.
    Get more here.
  • karatekidkaratekid Ogdensburg, NY
    edited October 2003
    <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=143&manufactory=1450&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1&quot; target=_blank>Reverse KVM Switch</A>.

    It only works for two people though, unless there are other models that support more users.
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    nice, that's more of what i had in mind... cheap solution, too. great find :)
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    I have a feeling that would just be the same as plugging two keyboards and mice into one machine though, rather than splitting the machine....

    NS
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    yeah i was getting that feeling as well, but the concept of having a little box to control the function i originally described is exactly what i'd want.

    the easyserver app looks promising.
  • MarsupialMarsupial Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    edited October 2003
    how about using 2 keyboards and mouses... with USB you can.

    you can also put 2 video card (one AGP one PCI) and have 2 outputs.

    the problem is to make the keyboard1/mouse1/monitor1 a set and the (K/M/M)2 another one... but you're half set, no?
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited October 2003
    Intel's "Vanderpool" Technology is designed to allow multiple users to each be able to utilize a single PC at the same time.

    Users can reboot their system, install system drivers and perform all the normal services as a standard system without interfering with the experience of the others users.

    Ie, when one person reboots their PC, the other users can still utilize their version of the PC without an interruption of service.

    http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.html?i=1868&p=4
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    well right, having two sets of keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't terribly difficult to set up on a modern computer. the problem is allowing each set to <u>fully</u> use the computer independently of the other.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    I talked with CDW once when I was in IT about doing this. They had Dummy Terms which they touted as having no moving parts, nice. It was an NT type thing, but all the processing was done on the Server itself. The server was expencive but the terms were each 600 bucks or so. The price was not worth it since I was building the systems whole for similar price.
  • astroworpastroworp Northridge, CA
    edited October 2003
    i think the vanderpools may be just what i'm looking for... throw one in a silent sff box and i think i'm sold :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    That brings back some memories for me. When I started using computers in 1992, the machines we had were all dumb terminals - keyboards and monitors (no mice). All were hooked up to an AT&T "mini computer" running Unix 2.0. All I did was word processing, via command line.
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