[K12OSN] *sigh* FC2 issues

[Huck]

for about $500 bucks I built out my 'pilot lab' server...
it was a KT4V motherboard with an AMD 2000+ CPU and 1.5 gigs of RAM..
a 40 gig ide HD...and an intel 10/100 pro nic for eth0...
It handled 20 stations FINE with absolutely no problems(after I 
configured the printer properly =),
and that was with Gnome...(mind you I had to remove access to many of 
the bandwidth intensive programs)
but for Web research and Word Processing...it hummed along quite nicely!

then I got $3500 to build out my "Student Server" and bought dual xeon 3 
ghz...4 gig of ram   4-36gig scsi hd's and an intel raid controller
...I don't regret spending that much...but if I didn't have it I would 
merely have built out 2 of the $500 boxes and put them in the ltsp labs...

Also...I likely would have asked individuals if they would sponsor 1 
piece of hardware...a CPU here...a stick of RAM there...a case over there...
maybe a Hard Drive or two...and all of a sudden you have a nice nifty 
server! =)

--Huck

Andrew wrote:

> David, the servers you just described equal my foreseeable budget til 
> retirement. My IT people spend money like water on questionable 
> commercial contracts (in my view) but the kind of "what the hell spend 
> a few grand" attitude sure doesn't apply to me.
> David Trask wrote:
>
>> "Support list for opensource software in schools." 
>> <k12osn at redhat.com> on
>> Saturday, August 21, 2004 at 5:54 PM +0000 wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> Has anyone tried skolelinux 1.0? I am dling now.  It looks lighter 
>>> than k12ltsp, which could be useful. The idea of a light core with 
>>> add-on modules appeals to me. Any look at freeduc for this sort of 
>>> thing? I am not suggesting any is better, but that there are a few 
>>> ways to look at an educational thin client/linux  environment.
>>> Re the hardware issues..... I had failing hardware on my initial 
>>> install of fc1, on my upgrade to fc2 on my personal box, an nforce2. 
>>> Non-k12ltsp fedora provided me with these issues...and my by now 
>>> boring disl.ike of fedora.
>>>   
>>
>>
>> First of all, I'm not an advocate of buying pre-built servers.  That 
>> being
>> said...I did buy my current K12LTSP servers from Daktech....because I 
>> had
>> the money and I didn't want to frig with it....I had enough on my 
>> plate. BUT...what I'm noticing is this.  My servers are very much 
>> brand name
>> whiteboxes.....all Intel guts...Seagate or IBM SCSI
>> HD's....Xeon's....etc....etc.  Dual processors....built in sound (not 
>> that
>> sound matters on a server)...built in video....one with built-in dual 
>> gig
>> nics...and one with one 10/100 and one gig nic built-in....so I had an
>> Intel gig nic added as well.  I can say that I have had absolutely NO
>> hardware related problems with FC1 or FC2.  I've been running both on
>> various servers... most are similar to what I've described above and
>> ....no issues at all.  I'm wondering (and please don't kill me for
>> this)....if some folks are dealing with off-brand hardware or too much
>> hardware (aka better video cards than necessary in a server....etc.  
>> That
>> are causing these issues.  I'm not saying that these issues should be
>> overlooked in development or anything like that, but in order to 
>> stabilize
>> your own environment for the time being....
>>
>> A week ago I was in Exeter, NH USA helping the tech folks for SAU 16
>> schools build their new K12LTSP and Samba/LDAP servers along with 
>> several
>> E-Smith/SME servers.  They bought and built some really nice servers
>> (SuperMicro I believe)....but they bought the pieces and assembled the
>> servers.  I did notice that the guts were brand name in nature....Intel
>> stuff and so forth....I loaded K12LTSP 4.1 based on FC2 with no 
>> issues at
>> all.  Steve Kossakoski (on this list) can provide more detail as he 
>> is the
>> Assistant Superintendent in charge of technology for that district and a
>> big linux advocate.  The servers were very impressive and very 
>> inexpensive
>> considering what they got.  Speed wise....WOW!  Very slick! 
>> Lastly....would it be possible to package a version of K12LTSP 4.1 based
>> on the Linus kernel as opposed to the Redhat influenced kernel?  Then we
>> could do some head to head testing...OR if someone could post a thorough
>> HOW-TO on the wiki or something as to how to acquire and compile and 
>> thus
>> use the Linus kernel on our K12LTSP 4.1 systems (make very thorough as
>> many of us have never compiled a kernel...myself included and have no 
>> idea
>> where to start....don't assume we know ANYTHING)  ;-)  That's my $.02
>>
>> PS.  School starts in a little over a week....that's when my new FC2 
>> based
>> Samba-LDAP server and K12LTSP 4.1 server will begin to get a real
>> workout....I'll keep ya'll posted...wish me luck!  (picture David with
>> fingers crossed and furiously knocking on wood)  ;-)
>>
>> David N. Trask
>> Technology Teacher/Coordinator
>> Vassalboro Community School
>> dtrask at vcs.u52.k12.me.us
>> (207)923-3100
>>
>>
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>>  
>>
>
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