[K12OSN] Minimum Server Config

[Petre Scheie]

In the past, the rule of thumb has been that an IDE drive would handle 10 clients okay, 
but start to show significant slowdown beyond that.  RAM is more important than CPU 
speed; for 10 clients, I'd get 2GB if you can manage.  RAM can be had for $100 per GB 
today, but that usually requires a modern motherboard.  Since getting sufficient memory 
should be your starting point, it may be cheaper to buy a motherboard & parts, or 
complete system, that can use the latest, least expensive RAM, than to buy an older 
machine that can only use RAM of lower density.

As for Intel vs. AMD, in this case I don't think it matters.  Multiple IDE drives, in a 
RAID 0 config, can give better performance, but with only 10 clients, it may not matter 
much.  P3 vs. P4, see above about which system will handle your RAM requirements best. 
I've got an old dual 400mhz P3 with 1GB RAM that works quite nicely, never touching swap 
so all apps are already in RAM usually, but I've only got five clients on it. 
Considering it was a free donation, it works very well for the price.

Petre

Rondall Stewart wrote:
> Check this web site out.  We use them for tight bugets and olders replacements.
> www.itxchange.com
>  
> Rondall Stewart
> Technical Team Leader
> ICC Technology Partners
> (606)886-8447
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> From: k12osn-bounces at redhat.com on behalf of Henry Hartley
> Sent: Mon 9/19/2005 3:05 PM
> To: Support list for opensource software in schools.
> Subject: [K12OSN] Minimum Server Config
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've been asked to design a small computer lab for a non-profit in St.
> Vincent.  I'd like to deliver a reasonable LTSP lab but my budget is
> currently exactly zero.  Getting donations of virtually any number of
> adequate thin client machines is not a problem.  We'll probably end up
> soliciting funds for the server and I want to recommend as low-end a
> machine as I can get away with.  I don't want to scare them away with a
> $3,000 price tag.  We can always do more if we raise more but we need to
> start very small.  I'm expecting to need to power only about 10
> workstations and I think we can live with the system being on the slow
> side, as long as it doesn't lock up for five or ten minutes at a time.
> 
> I understand that RAM is probably more important here than CPU speed.
> Is AMD going to save me anything over Intel?  Assuming I cannot afford
> SCSI drives, would it make sense to get multiple IDE drives and do RAID
> in some form or just live with standard IDE drives?  Would a fast PIII
> give me better cost/performance as compared to a P4?  I appreciate any
> and all advice you can give.  Anyone willing to spec out a machine in
> detail earns extra points.
> 
> --
> Henry
> 
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