Multiseat configuration

Multiseat setups are a return to this multiuser paradigm but based around a PC which supports a number of zero-clients usually consisting of a terminal per user (screen, keyboard, mouse).

In some situations a multiseat setup is more cost-effective because it is not necessary to buy separate motherboards, microprocessors, RAM, hard disks and other components for each user.

With the advent of Internet Protocol based networking, it became possible for multiple users to log into a host using telnet or – for a graphic environment – an X Window System "server".

[1] This was done using a patch in the display server to execute several instances of X at the same time such that each one captures specific mouse and keyboard events and the graphical content.

In 2001, Thinsoft BeTwin offered a multiseat solution for Windows, utilizing multiple graphics cards and peripherals attached to a single host PC.

[3] Earlier they worked on a kernel-based approach to a multi-station platform computer, but abandoned the idea due to a problem with multiple video card support.

Other solutions appeared in 2003, such Svetoslav Slavtchev, Aivils Stoss and James Simmons worked, with the evdev and Faketty[4][5] approach modifying the Linux kernel and letting more than one user independently use the same machine.

In 2005, the C3SL team (Center for Scientific Computing and Free Software),[8] from the Federal University of Parana in Brazil, created a solution based on nested display servers, such as Xnest and Xephyr.

In 2007, NComputing entered the market with a Windows-based multiseat product, the X-series[12] or Xtenda system, which uses a PCI add-in card to connect terminal units containing video, keyboard, mouse, and audio jacks, allowing 3 to 6 additional user seats to be added to a PC.

[14] In 2010, Microsoft began offering Windows MultiPoint Server, allowing one machine to host multiple users utilizing separate graphics cards and peripherals.

In February, 2009, The Brazil Ministry of Education committed to deploy 350,000 Linux-based multiseat computing stations in more than 45,000 rural and urban schools across the country.

Since 2008, electrical and computer engineering students from Michigan State University have installed multiterminal systems with internet access in three schools in Mto wa Mbu, Tanzania.

The research will eventually be used to present to government officials of third world countries in effort to showcase the positive impact of having cost-effective computing systems in schools.