Andy-
I'm sure I won't be the only one to respond saying that you are
overestimating the hardware demands for your purposes. My comments
follow your text...
> From: "Andy Berry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 12:52:09 -0700
>
> I currently have two different computers, both M$ boxes
<snip>
> Cost is no issue, as the ltsp server would be little or no added expense
> than the file server, and I have clients available, so I would be spending
> no more money, with the exception of the $75 or so it would take to get
> bootable network cards to be able to go diskless right away.
>
> I have Linux experience, so I am not worried about getting in a jam, and I
> will not try to switchover all at once, but get my server and one client
> going before totally changing over.
>
> I came up with a list of the following questions:
>
> 1) Is the basic premise even feasible??
Quite. I know at least one person on this list who has wired his home
and installed flat-panel touch screens in the walls and is running the
whole thing with LTSP. I don't have the link handy, though.
> 2) How sensitive is diskless to different client configurations?? I have
> two Pentium (P5-100/64M RAM) boxes that would be my first clients. If I was
> to upgrade one to "current standards" (PIII/256M), would I have problems?
> Do I have to keep video modes identical, or can they be different? Anything
> besides video that might be crucial?
LTSP supports a completely heterogeneous environment. You can have
different settings for each client machine all in one file. As for the
client hardware requirements, your Pentium machines with 64MB sound like
ideal thin clients! Seriously, do not waste any money upgrading them.
The only reason you might consider an upgrade is if you want to run
applications locally on the thin clients, but it sounds like you want to
run them on the server so that central access to data is transparent.
> 3) What is a good configuration in today's world?? I know this is a FAQ,
> but nothing really addresses "here and now". Assuming 3-5 clients and 3-4
> users as the ultimate goal, would the server be OK with a PIV and 1GB or
> better RAM, and fast SCSI disks? Down the road, I expect my clients to
> slowly migrate up to the lowest of the currently available parts. Looking
> around, I could build a PIII-700/256MB client for ~$300+ monitor. Overkill?
> Should I just seek out the cheapest used P5 in my area?
A PIV w/ 1GB and SCSI could power 20-40 thin clients. I'd say that
PIII-700 with 256MB is looking like a good server for you... Maybe up
the RAM to 384 or 512 just in case, though. It all really depends what
kind of software you're going to be running. If you're planning on
using KDE/Gnome, StarOffice, and Mozilla, then allocate a large amount
of RAM for each session (~128MB) on the server. If you use a
light-weight window manager instead and if you aren't using memory hogs
for applications, then you can get away with less. Then be sure to
account for the base RAM that the server will want to use.
Again, the clients only need to run X-Windows (~16MB RAM) so don't think
that they have to be speedy. LTSP's real strength is in running
everything on the server so you can concentrate on paring down your
clients. Many people on this list find joy in achieving the fanless
client (no moving parts!).
> 4) Am I missing something obvious???
LTSP takes the concept of thin client computing to the extreme. It
takes a little while for all the implications to settle in... :-)
Jason
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