A microprocessor file server

Many microprocessor teaching and development laboratories make use of a multiuser computer system for program development, and the object code is down-line loaded into the microprocessor for testing. The program development cycle of edit-compile-load can be fairly lengthy on a heavily loaded central system and it would be more desirable to use a commercially available operating system running on the microprocessor to perform program development. The operating systems will require a disc, and it may be undesirable or just too expensive to add a disc system to each microprocessor, or it may be that the central multiuser system provides other services such as printer spooling, electronic mailing and file back-up. The paper discusses an alternative method to using discs on every microprocessor, whereby the multiuser system acts as a file server to the microprocessors, thus requiring no extra cost to enhance the microprocessors to run a local operating system