[K12OSN] Re: Networking a new school for K12LTSP?

[Les Mikesell]

Joseph Bishay wrote:
> 
> I think I perhaps mis-represented my point of view.  I am not fixed at
> all on the idea of a single server.  It was, I thought, an easier
> system to maintain.  I might have mentioned before that I am a
> biologist by training -- I've been thrown due to circumstance into
> this role, and while I do love it, I know my limitations.

In case the other responses didn't completely spell this out, the 
advantages of a separate home/authentication server are that the 
software for those operations does not change frequently so if you build 
this box to be rock solid (RAID, dual power supplies, etc.) the others 
become more or less disposable since they don't take much individual 
setup and users can log into any of them.  The desktop software does 
improve enough to make it worth installing new versions every year but 
you can use much cheaper systems and keep a spare for testing or 
swapping in as a replacement if something breaks.


> The reality is that this school will not be completed for at least
> another 2 years.  From what I understand, whether I have 1
> mega-server, or 5 small servers, the wiring will be the same.  Thus
> once the school is built and we start looking into the actual wiring
> and hardware, for all we know the technology may have advanced so much
> that a single mega-server may be much more feasible and
> cost-effective.  Who knows?
> 
> Joseph
> 
> P.S. Am I correct that the wiring would be the same whether 1 server or 
> many? :)

With many systems you have the option of placing the servers in/near the 
classroom with a 2nd NIC driving local switches.  If you don't have a 
gig backbone you'd be forced to that topology but you still have a 
choice to do it that way if you want.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com