[K12OSN] Performance Issue
Petre Scheie
petre at maltzen.net
Fri Mar 24 15:08:05 UTC 2006
Clustering and app servers are different things. An app server just means you dedicate
a server to providing one application. Since X Windows allows programs to run on one
machine and display on another, this is quite easy to do (hey, maybe someone could build
a system where all the apps run on one server and the clients could even get their
operating system from that server! What?...Oh, never mind. ;-)) Clustering means have
a bunch of machines act as a single system. It's good for redundancy and problems that
lend themselves to parallel processing, but I think their use in LTSP settings has had
mixed results at best.
Setting up an app server is pretty simple:
-Install the same version of k12ltsp on the app server as you have on your terminal
server, to keep things simple.
-Create the same user IDs on the app server as exist on the terminal server.
-NFS export the /home directory from the terminal server.
-Mount that /home directory under /home on the app server.
-Generate SSH keys for all users using the ssh-keygen program, and copy the id_rsa.pub
file into the authorized_keys file in each users ~/.ssh/ directory.
-Setup an icon that calls the app on the app server thusly: ssh appserver ooffice
-Push this icon to all users.
Gavin Spurgeon wrote a simple how-to on app servers a while back. There's a link to it
on the front page of the K12LTSP wiki. HTH
Petre
Liam Marshall wrote:
> If I was to get permission to spend money for a clustering option, which
> apps from my original post would you suggest to run on an appserver?
>
>
>
> More importantly, how do I set up an appserver? Pointing me to a how to
> would be great.
>
>
>
> __________________________________________
>
> I am Homer of Borg. You will be assimilated.
>
> Resistance is fut......Hmmmm....DONUTS!
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* k12osn-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:k12osn-bounces at redhat.com] *On
> Behalf Of *Liam Marshall
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:32 PM
> *To:* k12osn at redhat.com
> *Subject:* [K12OSN] Performance Issue
>
>
>
> I administer a network at a K-12 school in Winnipeg Manitoba. I also
> teach grades 9-12 computer classes, while other teachers use the lab for
> their classes.
>
>
>
> I am currently running K12LTSP (ver 4.4.1 I believe) on a dual xeon 3.06
> MHz computer with 4-80 Gb SATA drives configured on a megaraid-4
> controller raid 1+0. 2 nics, and 1 is even a gigabyte nic, but all the
> switches involved in my network are 10/100, so it is not being utilized
>
>
>
> All applications are run from this one server, except I have a stand
> alone box that does nothing except host our school’s mail. Currently
> connecting 35 thin clients which run a variety of applications the most
> important of which are StarOffice 7 applications, Firefox for
> surfing/research/ etc, and NetBeans 3.6 IDE for java programming, and
> KTOUCH. Elementary classes use such things as TuxPaint, TuxType.
>
>
>
> When I teach, I frequently run into situations where the kids are
> doing/accessing the same thing at virtually the same time. For example,
> they might all try to start StarOffice Text at more or less the same
> time. Regardless of the app, near simultaneous execution of the program
> bogs down network. Once in, most apps perform well enough, some notable
> ones do not, like NetBeans. (it is fine with 5-10 but a pig when 20 use
> it at the same time.) And at the end of any class, when 30 ish users
> all try to log out, the log out process itself is quite slow.
>
>
>
> I am looking for ways to increase speed/traffic throughput. This is
> what I plan to do. Please tell me if I am on the right track.
>
>
>
> Run DSL modem into a 8 port 10/100/1000 switch.
>
> Plug a Linksys router into switch to grab the outside IP. Plug the
> slower 10/100 nic from the server into the Linksys router (internet is
> limited anyway, so a gigabyte connection would be wasted, right)
>
> Run the gigabyte nic from the server into the gigabyte switch.
>
> Upgrade my lab switches to 10/100 ‘s but with Gigabyte backbones, which
> I will use to connect them to the Gigabyte switch
>
> Any expansion in the school will use switches with gigabyte backbones to
> connect to the main, all gigabyte switch
>
>
>
> I planned to do this because from my reading of this list, and others, I
> had gathered/assumed that this would have a significant positive impact
> on speed/throughput. But today I talked to someone who told me that
> this won’t help all that much because my biggest problem/bottleneck is
> not the lack of a Gigabyte backbone, but is the hard drive
> accessbottleneck on the server
>
>
>
> The solution I was planning above is far less expensive than say adding
> a few more servers to do clustering. I have the ok for the Gigabyte
> solution, but doubt I would get the funds for the clustering option, or
> have the space currently, to host the extra boxes. (space is that
> tight!) Will my plan help at all? Or am I wasting time/money.
>
>
>
> Please advice. Advice/opinions are welcome
>
> __________________________________________
>
> I am Homer of Borg. You will be assimilated.
>
> Resistance is fut......Hmmmm....DONUTS!
>
>
>
>
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