GRINS can be installed on a single machine as well as split across two machines. In a two-machine setup, the playout happens from one machine and all other activities like preview and telephony happen from another machine. The user interface is present on the machine running playout. So you only need to connect a monitor/mouse/keyboard to the machine running playout. In a single-machine setup, everything takes place on a single machine. Schematics of both the setups are shown below.
So the natural question is how to choose which is a more suitable setup for you. GRINS requires to run its telephony component on Linux. This means that if you choose a single-machine setup then that machine must run on Linux. However, if your station staff is more comfortable with Windows, or if you have a high-end soundcard, which you are not sure will run correctly on Linux, then, you should choose a two-machine setup. With two machine setup the user-interface along with playout can run on a Windows machine, while the rest of the activities including telephony take place on the Linux machine. However, for two-machine setup both the machines must be connected to each other over a local area network (LAN).
For those who simply want to try out GRINS on their computers, can do a demo installation. This demo installation will allow a user to get an understanding of how GRINS works. He/She would get to try out most of the features of the system. However, one must note that for GRINS to be fully operational, multiple soundcards are required. Once a user is satisfied with the functionality of GRINS and wants to use it in a radio station, he/she must choose one among single-machine/two-machine setup.