refer Lyttelton West School where I believe such a system is rolled out already.
It was prepared by Chris Bayley, formerly of this manor (and mailing list) but now cruising about in France. I am on a BoT at another school, I started at April this year so missed the whole school upgrade at the beginning of the year, or I would have pushed for the same. The points are obvious to us, but not so obvious to the uneducated (I mean uneducated about alternatives). The need to know: 1. that the MS licensing for schools does NOT give them unlimited access to software. eg my school (ie where I am on the BoT) was told that the Ministry/MS deal would allow upgrades to XP but not installations on new computers. When the school bought new computers with no OS on (thinking they xould install XP as part of the Ministry deal) the had problems. 2. we all know that the XP licenses will require an upgrade to hardware before its useful life is over. I don't think its true to say Boards are just willing to spend holus bolus. But they do have an obligation to provide for all aspects of education etc, including computers, and if they have the money they will spend it. further comments below. On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 11:02:50 +1200 (NZST) Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > In the past, there have been many discussions about how we can promote > linux. This sort of got no where. An unfortunate situation. Let us have > something a bit more concrete. > > I propose that we offer to do a rollout of a LTSP based network at a > local school. > > Yes, some have said, "but school boards want to feel good by spending > lots of money". (apologies, cannot find the quote) > My view is that this may be true. > Schools, with strong rich boards and PTAs will probably hold to this. > However, I suggest that poorer schools don't hold this view. > Poorer schools have fewer options to be choosy. > > > ================================================= > Ok, > so what is required? > > 30 computers to be used as terminals. > > fixes/installations on those terminals. > ideally you want 30 identical computers to minimise maintenance and troubleshooting problems IIRC Chris sourced 20 odd computers for Lytt West from an auction house - ex lease boxes and monitors, about $230 each. > creation of a server. > you do need something pretty grunty for 30 terminals. > on going sysadmin work. > > training of one staff member as a sysadmin. This will be as much, or as > little as the person can cope with. Ranging from > a)knowledge on restarting printer queues, adding/removing users to > the everything. > > Finding a school that is willing to be involved. I can think of two > schools immediately that would be candidates. Please let us not discuss on > this list which schools - but I am sure you can all think of a school or > two. > > Network cables, ethernet cards and switches, networks, power cables etc > > Money - or a business that will sponsor, or both. > > In my view, there should be no monetary cost to the school. They just have > to provide a room that can have the terminals installed, and a staff > member to work as a sysadmin. > > Donations from clug members. > Money and time. I think there is probably more to it in terms of money than you think. for 30 terminals you are probably looking at a $12-15000 investment. Based on: 30 terminals @ $200 = $6,000 server - dual or quad amd 64 or xeon, possibly 2-4G RAM, raid scsi disks, GB ethernet to switch probably looking a few thousand bucks here plus infrastructure, cabling, 100/1000 switch (1000 connection to server, 100 to terminals) Not trying to pee on your barbeque at all, but a 30 terminal ltsp lab cannot be done on a shoestring, particularly if you are trying to impress people with its speed and reliability. We should perhaps: 1. take a look at lyttelton west and see if its worth showing off, and look at their budget too. 2. try a smaller lab, say 10 clients > > > > Derek. > > -- > Derek Smithies Ph.D. This PC runs pine on linux for email > IndraNet Technologies Ltd. If you find a virus apparently from > me, it has > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] forged the e-mail headers on someone > else's machine > ph +64 3 365 6485 Please do not notify me when > (apparently) receiving a > Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/ windows virus from me...... > -- Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
