FOSSIL includes two Web interface based components known as Central Linux Image maNagement in Cloud (CLINIC) and Virtual Disk Image Server (VDIS). CLINIC is the cloud based application for managing Virtual Disk Image Server (VDIS). VDIS holds Linux operating system virtual disk images shared among networked PCs known as client PCs.

Client PCs do not need to pre-install any OS. They can be very bare and disk-less thin PCs. They boot via network to connect to the sharable virtual disk image on VDIS and stream the Linux OS to themselves. Client PCs thus start up a full functional Linux OS to serve as Linux desktop systems or HPC computing nodes. As a network boot menu is provided, client PCs can stream different Linux distribution on demand respective to virtual disk images. Adding more client PCs to an existing Linux computing environment is simply a step of plugging it to the network and enable network boot feature. Unlike virtualization solution, in FOSSIL environment client PCs use their native hardware to run streamed Linux OS instead of needing any virtual machine runtime. Thus, the performance is much higher.

Linux operating system deployment for client PCs is simply to store the virtual disk image to the VDIS and add setting in CLIＮIC. The software installation and system administration tasks on a Linux system is just needed to be done on the virtual disk image. Thus, it largely reduces costs on management, administration and time while using Linux computing platform

FOSSIL will be released soon!