[K12OSN] Christmas Upgrade

Terrell Prude' Jr. microman at cmosnetworks.com
Mon Dec 13 21:17:13 UTC 2010


I kinda doubt it's the server, but that 100Mbit network you mentioned 
does raise a flag.  Does that also include the connection to your server?

About 6 years ago, I had a dual-Athlon MP, 1.4GHz box with 3.5GB DRAM 
serving 24 clients daily, with simultaneous OpenOffice.org and Firefox 
sessions open (school computer lab), and that server had no problems 
with it.  Response (for that era) was snappy, and the K12LTSP server was 
not overloaded.  The difference was that I had a Gig-E connection to the 
server.

Never, ever say no to a more powerful box!  I envy you.  :-)  If that 
server has built-in Gig-E, which I suspect it does, then make sure you 
have a Gig-E port on whatever switch you're connecting it to.  This is, 
as Joe Biden would say, a big...umm...deal.  :-D  Seriously, though, 
this is.  The clients can be 100Mbit, no problem, but the server should 
hook up to Gig.

I'm assuming that the CPU's are also more powerful than your current 
server.  Is this is 64-bit server, perchance?  If so, then you can run 
64-bit K12LTSP 5EL on it, but there are a few things to be aware of, 
especially with regard to Firefox and plugins.  Let us know, and again, 
congrats!
 
--TP

j.w. thomas wrote:
> I've been running a K12LTSP 5EL for a couple of years, and have just 
> been donated a newer server.  It has something like 6G of ram compared 
> to 2G on its replacement, and a massive SATA drive vs a tiny IDE.
>
> The clients will remain unchanged - 10 year-old Gateways with 256M 
> RAM.  We have six of these.
>
> A parent at our school donated the server.  He was inspired to do this 
> because late last year the students had prepared some ooimpress 
> presentations, and had ten of them running on the six terminals (four 
> of them were minimized).  It was dismal.
>
> I don't think that a new server was the solution, but he could not be 
> dissuaded.  My guess is that running OOo on the clients would be a 
> better approach to solving the bottleneck.
>
> The network is 100Mbit, via an unmanaged switch.
>
> I plan to bring the new server online over the Christmas break.  Is it 
> possible to set this up for running an app locally with EL5?  I am 
> terrified of upgrading to something newer, especially in light of the 
> age of the thin clients.
>
> What should I do with the old server?
>
> Advice solicited and appreciated.
>




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