[K12OSN] Get rid of my PCs

["Terrell Prudé, Jr."]

Just disconnect the hard disks in those Pentium 233's.  That'll save 
plenty of energy.  Remember that the Pentium-233 uses only about 11 to 
15 watts, and that's with it going full-tilt.  In thin-client mode, it's 
doing virtually nothing, so heat dissipation might be 5 watts.  Your 
video board won't suck up much power, either.

Also, consider going with LCD monitors, if you haven't already.  CRTs 
are definitely heat generators by comparison, no matter what kind of 
thin client you hook them up to.  LCDs also use considerably less current.

Your kids are probably generating much more heat themselves than those 
computers are; save for CRT monitors, older computers just don't need 
that much juice.  The room warmth might well be a function of room 
ventilation.  The above steps will cut down on your electricity usage, 
though.

--TP

Eric Brown wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I am no Linux expert by far, but I am an open source zealot.  Whatever Mac
>apps they want to run, you can probably find an open source equivalent out
>there some where.
>
>I started my own K12LTSP lab this year due to the crappy old computers they
>gave me to teach web design (Pentium 233, 64 MB RAM, Win 95).  I purchased
>my own server, and made the network cables myself (I do that for a summer
>job).
>
>My problem is, when I get 22 of these old machines going with 20+ kids in
>the room, it gets HOT.  What's more, we are maxing out our electrical
>service in our building.
>
>My question for the list is: are there any opinions out there for Thin
>Clients?  Personally, I like the Sun Ray 170
>(http://www.sun.com/sunray/sunray170/index.xml).  I was told Sun may be
>having a twofer sale in March.  I've been told Sun Server software for these
>thin clients can run off of Fedora Core 3 (I'm still working on that one).
>
>Opinions?
>
>Thanks, 
>Eric
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: k12osn-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:k12osn-bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf
>Of Todd O'Bryan
>Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 6:01 PM
>To: k12osn at redhat.com
>Subject: [K12OSN] Get rid of my PCs
>
>My first year teaching, I had to use a K12LTSP lab because I had very 
>old machines. The next year, the school bought me new machines. The 
>principal was afraid of buying thin clients because they weren't on the 
>approved list and no one would fix them.
>
>Well, we just got a new head of IT, and he's started to pilot Linux 
>projects and is especially interested in thin clients.
>
>He just emailed me something that I don't know the answer to, so I'm 
>asking...
>
>Can you run Mac apps on a thin client? They know they can run Windows 
>and Linux, but don't know about Macs, and I must admit that I don't 
>know either.
>
>Thanks,
>Todd O'Bryan
>
>P.S. Cross your fingers. I'm going to try to convince them to let me 
>buy a server and thin clients as a pilot project and then give these 
>virus-laden, permissions-confusing, time-sucking XP Pro machines to 
>unsuspecting teachers who are still running Windows 95. :-)
>
>_____________________________________
>