I would appreciate a recommendation for new LTSP client hardware. I am only interested in low-power systems with no moving parts (i.e., noiseless). Further requirements are gigabit networking, integrated Intel or AMD/ATI graphics, and Linux/Alsa compatible sound.
My X-terminal experience is 100Mbit networking is more than adequate for 2D desktops, but the reason for the gigabit requirement is (a) gigabit networking is becoming standard now and cost essentially the same as 100Mbit (at least for normal desktop machines), and (b) remote 3D applications consume a lot of bandwidth. So as 3D desktops become more and more prevalent in the Linux world I don't want to be left behind because I settled for 100Mbit networking for my new LTSP client hardware when I didn't have to. The reason I am specifying integrated graphics is I want to avoid power/heat problems you might get with some high-end video cards, and my 3D needs are modest (3D desktop effects, tuxracer, foobillard, etc.) and I don't run high-end games. The reason I am specifying Intel or AMD/ATI is Intel is already X.org friendly and AMD/ATI has just become so. Both SiS and Nvidia do not open up their specs to X.org so I am not interested in spending money on systems that use those company's video chipsets. I have had good experiences in the past with Intel integrated video and tuxracer and foobillard. AMD/ATI have just released the 2D specs for their latest video chipsets and promised 3D specs shortly. Thus, I am willing to bet there will be an excellent 3D open-source AMD/ATI driver in the future, and for now if I go with integrated AMD/ATI rather than integrated Intel, I will rely on the proprietary driver supplied by AMD/ATI. Here is where I have looked so far for LTSP client hardware that is low-power with gigabit networking and integrated Intel of AMD/ATI graphics: * Hewlett Packard thin clients, especially the HP Compaq t5725 Thin Client described at http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12584_na/12584_na.HTML. I became aware of those via Dave Richards' blog at http://davelargo.blogspot.com/. He is the Largo City guy who got them using Linux and thin clients many years ago. They have recently gone to 3D X-terminals with full sound (which is what I want). The integrated graphics of the 5725 are SiS (ugh). Largo got around that 5725 limitation by purchasing a PCI expansion slot and filling it with an (unspecified) AMD/ATI video card, but that adds a lot to the purchase price, power consumption, and heat (which may shorten the life of the thin client). It's strange that HP have gone out of their way to combine an AMD cpu with SiS integrated graphics. Perhaps the 5725 is really based on an old hardware design and new thin clients are available from other sources that take advantage of the natural combination (since ATI is part of AMD) of AMD cpu and ATI integrated graphics. Largo wanted gigabit (probably for the same reasons I mentioned above) but settled for 100Mbit with the 5725. So that and the expensive addition of a PCI expansion slot + AMD/ATI card was two compromises they had to make with the 5725. In Largo's defense, hardware features and availability rapidly change. They accepted delivery of their ~600 (!) 5725's almost exactly 3 months ago and presumably made the purchase decision a number of months before that. I am hoping I won't have to make such compromises now. * http://www.disklessworkstations.com. All offerings seem to be 100Mbit and VIA integrated graphics. Is it possible that VIA is rebadged Intel or AMD/ATI? * I have glanced at http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/Clients. There seem to be a huge number of different possibilities, but its hard to determine the subset that (a) are low power/no moving parts/noiseless, (b) use gigabit networking, and (c) have 3D-capable integrated Intel or AMD/ATI graphics. So your help would be appreciated recommending LTSP client hardware that satisfies all those constraints. Alan __________________________ Alan W. Irwin Astronomical research affiliation with Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria (astrowww.phys.uvic.ca). Programming affiliations with the FreeEOS equation-of-state implementation for stellar interiors (freeeos.sf.net); PLplot scientific plotting software package (plplot.org); the libLASi project (unifont.org/lasi); the Loads of Linux Links project (loll.sf.net); and the Linux Brochure Project (lbproject.sf.net). __________________________ Linux-powered Science __________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _____________________________________________________________________ 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
