Re: [K12OSN] More or less servers?

[dahopkins comcast net]

I would suggest option 1.  A custom built system with dual 2.4Ghz MB with 2 Gb ports, hw raid, 6-7 18Gb U160 (15K rpm) Scsi drives, DVD-RW (for backups), 4Gb memory should be in the $2500-$3000 range.  Also, make sure the central switch has Gb links plus 100Mb to the clients (see Amer.com, thanks David Trask!).  You can then put a small 100Mb switch (not hub) in each classroom and this should work well. (I have a few classrooms with just this scenario here.)  I would not recommend letting anyone use the server as a workstation. Just way to easy for something to go wrong.  Keep the server a server.

The clients can be configured to handle the CDROM/USB Flash/Printing needs rather simply. (Caveat: Not all USB Flash are created equal as far as Mtools is concerned.  My Lexar 64Mb Jumpdrive and 32Mb Universal Smart Drive work flawlessly with Mtools. Just plug them in (after configuring .mtoolsrc) and you can plug/unplug copy to/from to your heart's content. My 64Mb VisionTek has problems. Don't know why.) Others have also reported problems with flash and plug-and-play, so YMMV.

Sincerely,
Dave Hopkins
Newark Charter School
Newark, Delaware 19713
> Hi,
> 
> We've finally been given the go ahead to "try" a K12ltsp system in a 
> local school. The administrators have been turning the project down for 
> two years now because it wasn't Microsoft based.  Now that the school is 
> in dire financial trouble and IBM is advertising linux the 
> administrators are more willing to "look ahead and be progressive". 
> 
> Don't ya love it?
> 
> Anyway, there are about 6 classrooms.  Each room will probably get *one* 
> cat5 cable installed to a central switch as a favor/donation to the 
> school.  It doesn't seem likely we can run a seperate line for every 
> computer or terminal to a central switch.
> 
> With these limitations in mind, what sort of scenario makes more sense:
> 
> a) put one (or two) fast, scsi, ram-heavy costly servers in one location 
> to handle 30+ clients?
> or
> b) put one reasonably quick, ide, ram sufficient cheap server in each 
> classroom (with a cheap switch) for 3 -5 clients?
> 
> The selling point of the one server per room scenario is that the server 
> can easily handle cdroms, usb flash drives, printers, etc.  The floppy 
> access of the clients will be sufficient most of the time but there will 
> always be somebody needing access to a cd burner or zip device.  Putting 
> a server in the classroom makes peripherals a lot simpler in a school 
> that has no computer technician available on a day-to-day basis.
> 
> Finally, if we go with muliple classroom servers, is it ok to use the 
> server as a workstation, too?  Generally the students work consists of 
> word processing and web surfing so the load isn't too great.  However, 
> it is reasonable to expect the load to increase when they figure out how 
> to use things like the gimp.
> 
> Many thanks,
> Barry Solof
> 
> 
> 
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