Simon, We have done some experimenting with running AutoCAD through LTSP and rdesktop. Our network is 100 Mbit, although our servers are all connected to a Gigabit hub. The thin clients that we use are from Neoware with SiS chipsets, and these were very sluggish running AutoCAD. We also tried a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 desktop with an ATI Rage 128 (AGP), and it was still sluggish even when connected directly to the Gigabit hub (with a Gigabit network card). Our best success has been with some old 730 MHz Pentium 3 desktops using the integrated Intel 82815 video and the i810 driver. These boxes happened to have 384 MB RAM - I have not tried removing any RAM to see what affect that has, and only had a 100 Mbit connection (using PXE boot). These gave very near equal performance to running AutoCAD locally on the original 1.6 GHz box. We got equal performance out of some brand new boxes that had an old NVidia PCI card, but when we tested a Pentium II with the same card, it went back to the sluggish performance. Our Windows 2003 server (where AutoCAD resides) is a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 (same age as the desktop used above) with 640 MB RAM, and our LTSP server is a 3.2 GHz Xeon dual-CPU with 6 GB RAM. However, these specs are probably overkill for what we are doing. The Windows 2003 server is used primarily for our GIS (we haven't gotten that migrated to Linux yet), and only one person uses AutoCAD. We have 30 thin clients running off the LTSP server. rdesktop is run as a separate screen on the terminal, rather than an application on the LTSP server. The GIS software is not speedy on a local box, so performance is adequate on the Neoware thin clients. We used VMware Converter (when it was in beta) to clone our Windows 2003 server, and in preliminary tests it did give better performance than the physical box. Now that RHEL 5 with integrated Xen is out, we are wanting to test Windows XP Pro in Xen with XP Unlimited (xpunlimited.com) as an alternative to Windows 2003. One thing we have never solved is a problem with LTSP 4.2 and the Neowares using multiple screens. After a few times of switching screens, the thin client locks up with a colorful pattern on the screen. We bought an LTSP-T150 from disklessworkstations in hopes that it would be more compatible, but it has the same problem. The desktops with Intel and NVidia graphics are OK. At this point we have left all Neowares on LTSP 4.1. Has anyone else had this problem, and has anybody solved it?
Simon Schmidig wrote: > Hi, > We have an office with 7 workstations for architectes. We use : > * CAAD : Cycas: A very light program > * Render : Povray; Use a lot of RAM and CPU (1 or 2 times per > month) > * CAD : AutoCAD ; on vmware but in the future on a separate server > with rdesktop client access > * GIS : Grass, QuantumGIS and Jump : Use a lot of RAM (for ex. a > big map / A0 ~ 800 MB or more), (every day) > * LAN : GIGABIT > Is it a good idea to switch to a LTSP-server? I think the success of the > project is in the power of the server. But what is the minimum needed > for the server and the thin-clients? > > manzoni schmidig architectes urbanistes sàrl > 39 rue eugène marziano 1227 les acacias t 022 301 70 90 f 022 301 70 89 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
