System Administration Guide, Volume 1

Chapter 5 Managing Server and Client Support (Overview)

This chapter describes managing server and client support on a network, and it provides overview information about each system configuration (referred to as a system type) supported in the Solaris environment. This chapter also includes guidelines for selecting the appropriate system type to meet your needs.

This is a list of the overview information in this chapter.


Note -

AutoClientTM and diskless systems are not supported in the Solaris 8 release. See Solstice AdminSuite 2.3 Administration Guide for information on managing existing client systems.


What Are Servers and Clients?

Systems on the network can usually be described as one of the following:

What Does Support Mean?

Providing support for a system means providing software and services to help another system function. Support can include:

Overview of System Types

System types are basically defined by how they access the root (/) and /usr file systems, including the swap area. For example, standalone and server systems mount these file systems from a local disk, while other clients mount the file systems remotely, relying on servers to provide these services. The table below lists these and other differences for each system type.

Table 5-1 System Type Overview

System Type 

Local File Systems 

Local Swap? 

Remote File Systems 

Network Use 

Relative Performance 

Server 

root (/)

/usr

/home

/opt

/export/home

/export/root

Yes 

- none -

high 

high 

Standalone System 

root (/)

/usr

/export/home

Yes 

- none -

low 

high 

JavaStationTM

- none -

No 

/home

low 

high 

Servers

A server system has the following file systems:

Servers can also contain the following software to support other systems:

Standalone Systems

A networked standalone system can share information with other systems in the network, but it could continue to function if detached from the network.

A standalone system can function autonomously because it has its own hard disk containing the root (/), /usr, and /export/home file systems and swap space. The standalone system thus has local access to operating system software, executables, virtual memory space, and user-created files.


Note -

A standalone system requires sufficient disk space to hold the four necessary file systems.


A non-networked standalone system is a standalone system with all the characteristics listed above except it is not connected to a network.

JavaStation Client

The JavaStationTM is a client designed for zero administration. This client optimizes JavaTM; the JavaStation client takes full advantage of the network to deliver everything from Java applications and services to complete, integrated system and network management. The JavaStation has no local administration; booting, administration, and data storage are handled by servers.