environment contained as an image in the image database 180 on one or more computer systems 160 170 storing a target operating environment as an image allows for easy and efficient installation of the target operating environment on the computer systems 160 170 additionally storing a target operating environment as an image allows for the storage of multiple target operation environments in the image database 180 the application server 110 automates the installation process thus eliminating manual installation of target operation environments by the lab administrator a method for automating the installation process is described in applicants 39 pending u s patent application entitled u201c a method and system for restoring an operating environment on a computer system u201d incorporated herein by reference thus the same target operating environments and computer systems can be reused for different configurations the application server 110 also provides for rapid configuration and recast of clusters of computer systems referring now to fig2 a flow diagram of a process performed by a lab reservation system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown as depicted in fig2 the process begins with the receipt of a request from a user at step 210 the system then checks for a machine that is ready to service the request at step 215 if a.