I haven't decided yet. At the moment, it will be used for storage, yes. DHCP and internet connectivity will be farmed out to separate boxes though.
On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 6:00 PM, Madzsar, Andrew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Is this server going to be used for storage also? And will it be > replacing everything else that the school has? > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Daniel Hunt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>] > Sent: Thu 3/6/2008 11:19 AM > To: [email protected]; Madzsar, Andrew > Subject: Re: running edubuntu as a virtual server > > Something funny going on with the reply-to's here I think. > > At the moment, the school I'm involved with has a 10/100 network in place > that I inherited, and I've finally convinced the powers-that-be that a new > networking arrangement needs to be found if they want to allow the > school's > networking capabilities to grow in a manageable fashion. > Unfortunately, that may well mean that I'll be drafting in a few friends > to > help with recabling the school, and running ethernet cables up and down > the > fake-ceilings. Hopefully we won't have to go that far though :) > > I'm happy in my understanding that in order to go ahead with an LTSP > network, a gigabit backbone is a requirement, not an optional extra. Or at > least, in order to have any form of acceptable performance its a > requirement! > There are currently ~50 machines on the network in the 2 computer labs in > the school, plus a few extra ones dotted around the school - totally > approx > 60-65 machines. Whatever solution I put in place has absolutely got to > scale > above 100, and possibly even up to 120-130, to allow for future growth. > > Its for these reasons that I've been looking at the _INCREDIBLY_ over > powered server. As far as scalability goes, I'm more than confident that a > machine of this spec will be able to serve the network well enough for the > next few years at the least. Virtualising for a network containing this > many > machines just doesn't feel right to me. > > About the Dell pricing - the price for the server I listed is approx > 7000e, > which, while expensive, is certainly within the realms of possibilities > when > you consider exactly what it is that will be happening to the school from > a > technological perspective. I intend to replace absolutely every machine > that > they have with thin clients (hopefully mounted on the backs of some > suitable > TFT monitors) - it will drastically reduce the running costs of the > existing > labs, completely eliminate licencing costs and allow for much cheaper > scalability options. > > Well, thats the sales pitch I'm going for with them ;) > > Daniel > > On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 4:10 PM, Madzsar, Andrew < > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > As of now we have 10/100 in place throughout the building. Ideally > this > > grant will allow us to put in a gigabit backbone, a new server, and my > boss > > wants 45 clients. > > > > > > > > If I have it my way we will buy an Xserve and a raid solution which if > > virtualized can be used by the whole school rather than just the thin > > clients. > > > > > > > > I just read your blog. There is a section on Dell's website where they > > sell servers without an operating system. I think you may have to go to > the > > small business section. Also your server specs are out of this world. > I > > mean I would love to get my hands on it, but it sounds very expensive. > How > > many clients do you want to support? Now I don't have any experience > with > > this, but I would imagine that multiple slower servers would be better > than > > one really fast one. I don't know how well it works but according to > the > > manuals you can set up multiple thin client server that synchronize > files > > and also do load balancing with the clients connecting to them. Also > this > > way you have redundancy and don't have to worry if something goes down. > > > > > > > > The two issues that I already see being a problem with my adventure are > > that there is already a dhcp server in place on a windows server for the > > whole district. I will need to figure out how to point the thin client > boot > > requests to the linux server. My 'little network' won't actually be > > separate from the network that is in place because not all of the thin > > clients will be in the same room. Also I am not sure that a > virtualized > > server (an affordable one) can handle that kind of a thin client load > > Though it looks like the server you have spec-ed out could... > > > > > > > > Let me know what you think. > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > Andrew > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > *From:* Daniel Hunt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ] > > *Sent:* Thursday, March 06, 2008 10:53 AM > > *To:* Madzsar, Andrew > > *Subject:* Re: running edubuntu as a virtual server > > > > > > > > Funnily enough, I'm intended to do a similar thing, albeit with a real > > server, not a virtual one: > > http://danielhunt.blogspot.com/2008/03/mo-money-mo-problems.html > > > > I'd be quite interested to hear how you intend to go about setting up > your > > little network :) > > > > Daniel > > > > On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 3:47 PM, Madzsar, Andrew < > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > We just received a grant which will allow us to buy around 45 thin > clients > > + a server. Has anyone ever run Edubuntu as a virtualized server? This > > school does not usually get new hardware, so if I can get a new xserve > and > > (hopefully soon) run vmware or parallels virtual server products on it > then > > we would be very happy. > > > > > > > > -Andrew > > > > > > -- > > edubuntu-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users > > > > > > > >
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