[K12OSN] Responses to the central office

[Carl Keil]

>
>
>> Hey all,
>> 
>> My department and the school are now on board with doing thin clients,
>> but now our purchase has to be approved by the Telecomm department at
>> the central office. When I called to talk to the director of
>> networking, he said we could do whatever we wanted, as long as we
>> didn't connect to the district network. Obviously, that makes the
>> whole enterprise much less attractive.
>> 
>> Below is a copy of an email I sent him outlining what I think are his
>> concerns with the plan. If people who don't mind being quoted (and
>> preferably have titles that central office folks would be impressed
>> by) wouldn't mind taking a look and responding, I'd really appreciate
>> it. If he responds with other issues, I'll let you know.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Todd
>
>I would just add that with the default K12 install (with 2 nics) the
>"red" nic (the one connected to the rest of the school net) is really
>just like any other computer on the system.  ie the DHCP, the SAMBA, etc
>are all done via the 2nd nic and therefore are kept inside the private
>network.  
>
>I think on of the big scares for tech admin and the K12LTSP setup is
>really that now the have students sitting at computers that THEY have
>not locked down.  So you need to show them that there is no IM software,
>no way to get to those porn sites, no games, what ever it is that your
>school does to lock down the student experience.
>
>In one of the schools I had set up an LTSP server, I had a small lab
>with 10 terminals.  The Tech Dept (1 guy -- yes small school) was happy
>to let me do it, but he had to know that the same "rules" would apply to
>kids in my lab that applied to all the other labs.  This went so far as
>I had to lock down the kids wallpaper/icon/windowing themes.  Sad, but
>the case.
>
I have a thought that might be new to this discussion or it might be a 
clarification/amplification in some ways of this last response.

I've been thinking that a lot of the capacity questions that get asked 
on this list amount to people asking:  "how many people can use a single 
computer at the same time?"  Surprisingly the answer seems to be 
somewhere between 30-200 depending on setup/configuration/use.  It's 
kindof mindblowing and some people might never accept it as true.

You could, honestly, tell the telecom folks that you're installing a 
single computer for the lab to share.  They will still have all the 
headaches of the multiple *users* that will be using the computer, but 
there is only one OS/Hard Drive (or Array), config, IP, etc. that needs 
to be managed.  One place where viruses could infect, one set of logs, 
etc.  All the users will fall under existing rules, and this single 
computer can too.  All the "workstations" don't have a hard drive, 
external IP, etc.  The thing isn't a router, because the terminals 
aren't computers.  They're "dumb".  They don't store a state of any 
kind.  It's one computer with a classroom of users.  You're just using 
IP/Ethernet technology on the second NIC to attach the 
monitors/keyboards/mice.  You wouldn't be lying and it might be a way to 
think about it that makes the tech guys more comfortable and 
understanding of what's going on. 

Is this too cute and semantic of an argument?  This is exactly how I 
think of K12LTSP.  It's the whole reason I'm installing thin clients 
throughout my home, so I only have to spend my valuable time 
maintaining/watching/upgrading one "computer" to serve all the 
people/rooms of my house. 

I hope that helps.

ck