User's Guide

2.2 Peer Assignment
ClearCube Technology, Inc. 13
clients, hosts, and users. Connection brokers dynamically issue peer assignments based on
device- and user-based settings within the connection broker. Sentral enables administrators
to update device firmware, configure devices, manage chassis, mange device power states,
generate reports, perform event logging, and much more.
 Unmanaged Environment—Unmanaged environments require connections based on
static, pre-established peers or, for installations of ten seats or less, discovering peer
devices using Service Location Protocol (SLP). In an unmanaged environment, you can
set peer assignments using:
 Static assignments—In a static assignment, a zero client always connects to the same
peer, or host card, using a static IP address or a reserved DHCP address.
 Service Location Protocol (SLP)—SLP is a discovery protocol that enables computers to
find services. ClearCube devices can use SLP to dynamically discover other zero clients and
host cards without information about their location on a network. SLP can be useful in
scenarios where users do not need to connect to the same blade (such as in call centers). SLP
discovery returns a maximum of 10 devices, which could be an issue in a large deployment
(though this could be useful in a small deployment). SLP discovery requires routers to
forward multicast traffic between subnets, and this is not permitted in many environments.
2.2 Peer Assignment
PCoIP sessions require peers at each end of the connection: a zero client at one end and a host
card at the other. The following sections describe ways that peers are assigned to each other.
2.2.1 Static Assignment (Direct Connection)
In a direct connection, a zero client and a host (that is, a blade containing a host card) are
connected by a direct cable link. You might use a direct connection if you want to set up a simple
deployment quickly, or in scenarios where it is important to keep PCoIP data and regular network
data separate. Remember that in a direct connection:
 Administrators cannot access a device’s Web interface directly or remotely. This prevents
administrators from performing remote configuration or other administrative or maintenance
tasks. In this scenario, administrators can only access a zero client’s On-Screen Display
(OSD), which provides a reduced set of administrative and diagnostic features.
See Appendix D: “Zero Client and Host Card Web Interfaces” on page 118 for a reference to
information about Web interface items.