[K12OSN] Hardware questions

[Kanwar Ranbir Sandhu]

On Thu, 2005-30-06 at 09:52 -0700, Joe Augsburger wrote:
> dual Xeon 2.4 Ghz with 533 fsb
> ultra 320 scsi (three, 36 gb Seagate drives)
> 2 gb RAM
> Intel SRCZRU Dual RAID controller
> Dual integrated Intel Pro 1000+

For 20 - 25 users, I'd make the following changes:

- Dual Xeon 2.4 GHz or Dual AMD Opteron 248 (2.2 GHz)
- 2 x 73 GB 10K RPM SCSI, RAID 1
- 2.5 to 3 GB RAM

The other items look fine.

You need speed on a Linux terminal server, so RAID 1 would be a better
choice (IMO).  Since you're losing space by moving to RAID 1, move up to
73 GB drives.  Use LVM to partition the drives, and you'll be able to
move partitions around easily, as needed.

I'm basing the RAM requirements on:

- 512 MB for the distro itself
- 50 MB for each user

2 GB will be just enough for your needs, but it's cutting it too close.
If you can, add another 512 MB at least, and 1 GB to be safe.  After
that, watch system usage and add more RAM as you need it.  The more RAM,
the better, though with a tight budget, you might have a hard time
putting in 4 GB.  If you can do 4 GB, go for it!

> Will this serve 20-25 thin clients (mostly internet, word processing,
> etc) acceptably, 

Should be screaming...really. :)  I'm confident it will work well with
the above hardware setup.

> and does anyone have experience with this type of RAID controller?
> I've read all the posts in the last two months or so and it seems that
> some difficulties exist with linux picking up some RAID controllers.

I personally like the LSI cards.

HTH,

Ranbir
-- 
Kanwar Ranbir Sandhu
Systems Aligned Inc.
www.systemsaligned.com