Re: Advice on mixed Linux/Windows student lab?

From: moma (moma_at_example.net)
Date: 08/24/04 

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 08:44:33 +0200

Jem Berkes wrote:
> We have a small student computer lab at the university (50 users, under 10
> people in lab at any time). We do need Windows systems for specific
> software, but since we are engineering students there are many lab users
> comfortable with UNIX (console or X). We are poor and have crappy hardware.
> There is one "very powerful" x86 machine, two medium powered machines, and
> many slow machines (Pentium 100 ish, little RAM).
>
> Years ago, we had a purely NT/2000 lab but this was a disaster (server
> security problem). Since then I installed a Linux-based firewall and NAT
> gateway, and set up our very powerful machine running Slackware and Samba
> as a NT primary domain controller (PDC). This Linux host has all the user
> accounts and home directories on it. Also provides printer access.
>
> The other Windows hosts can login using the Linux/Samba server and access
> their files in their $HOME directories. This works flawlessly except for
> some minor roaming profile problems I hope are corrected in Samba 3.x.
>
> The problem is - while this setup works, it is an inefficient use of our
> resources since our only very powerful machine is the dedicated Linux
> server. With the remaining slow machines there is no way to have usable
> Windows hosts [ NT4 sucks, tried it ]. But these slow machines are numerous
> and have network capabilities, so I would really like to use them as dumb
> terminals to full blown X (GNOME) environments on the Slackware server!
>
> So my question is, what is the best way to set up these slow machines
> (which have SVGA monitors) as fully graphical login terminals to the Linux
> Slackware server running X.org? Ideally we want no data stored on those
> dumb terminals -- I'm even hoping they can just boot off CD-ROMs. So users
> would log in and see their own GNOME desktops on the Linux server, and run
> all the applications remotely. If I can pull this off then those slow
> machines will be convenient to use, fast graphical workstations!
>
Hello Jem,

I want to add this supplementary information:

Linux for Schools (and education) project.
http://www.skolelinux.org/portal

School-Linux based on thin client terminals (LTSP).
http://www.skolelinux.org/portal/product/thinClients

// moma
    http://www.futuredesktop.org/how2burn.html#mirrors
    http://www.futuredesktop.org/migration_path.html
    http://www.futuredesktop.org/g++stl.html.html
    http://www.futuredesktop.org ; LinkH'll.

Relevant Pages