Thin Clients how to, aka the $100 per client student computer lab

Thin Clients How To Created and displayed with open source software + Linux Presented by Brian Jamison Thin clients – How To Content licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

Brian Jamison -->
Co-Founder of OpenSourcery
President of POSSE
Portland Open Source Software Entrepreneurs
Using open source software to solve business needs since 1995
clients: Sony, Nissan, Energizer, Disney...
Personally using Linux “on the desktop” since 2001

About OpenSourcery
Founded 2004
PSU, Reed, CCC
Services:
Plan
Install
Configure
Maintain

Overview
What is thin?
Why thin?
Savings
Case study
Common pitfalls
Questions

What is thin?
Uses a single server for all heavy lifting
Clients boot, run applications, store data on server, not themselves

Why thin?
Savings at every stage
Peace of mind
Ease of maintenance

Hardware savings, client
Thin client: $106
17” flat screen LCD: $171
Keyboard, mouse: $20
Total: $297

Hardware savings, server
Server requires:
RAM: 512mb + 50mb per client
CPU: 100mhz/32 bit or 75mhz/64 bit
Bandwidth: gigabit NIC
Server for 60 client setup:
2 AMD 64bit dual core Opterons
4gb RAM, 160gb HD, Gigabit ethernet
Total: $1741
cut that approximately in half for 30 clients

Licensing costs $0
Server operating system: $0
Client operating system: $0
Applications: $0
Educational programs, Office suite, Google Earth, Firefox, Video/audio editing, plus 20,000 others.
Updates cost $0

Installation savings
Server setup and configuration, about a day
Per client, about 15 minutes

Hardware maintenance savings
No moving parts on clients – no hard drives, no fans.
Avoid service calls – simply replace unit with an inexpensive spare!

OS maintenance savings
Client and server highly resistant to virii, spyware/malware
Nothing gained hacking client
Server extremely difficult to hack
Can be made to automatically start ”clean” on each login
Updates delivered via the Internet for $0

Energy savings
Each thin client draws 20 watts

Other advantages
Centralized storage, backups
USB keys for each student for individual storage
allows theming, customization, history to stay with the student

Case study
Charter high school with 160+ students
Edubuntu
Software requirements
Office, Web, Google Earth
Video/sound editing
Fractions/algebra apps
Terminal Server for Cognitive Tutor on w2k3 box

Planning
Get a specific list of necessary software from admins and instructors
this avoids apps sneaking in after planning – consider math tutoring software, video editing, multilingual support...

Content Filtering
User login defines content filtering
all access or none
this can be made quite complex if desired

Configuration
LTSP on server
Thin clients PXE boot stock Edubuntu Feisty over the network
Bootsplash needed configuration to make LCD work during bootup
Password protected bios
On logout we auto wipe the home directory to avoid offensive leave-behinds
(students use USB keys for storing their own work)

More Configuration
Lockdown of browser, office suite, desktop, etc
Trac to store documentation

Students cannot
Install new programs
Gain administrator access
Get to the Internet unless approved by Instructor

Windows Terminal Server
Must deploy due to decision to use a proprietary windows-based tutoring program
Ironically this was the way students were able to hack out to the Internet, install proggies, etc.

The Tale of the Office Suite
OpenOffice billed as Microsoft Office replacement
Writer/Word: lacking collab, macro compatibility
Calc/Excel: lacks macro compatibility
Base/Access: not ready yet
Powerpoint: lacks read-write compatibility
Not for macro wizards
Not for extreme spreadsheet programmers
Not 100% perfect reading/writing MS formats
An excellent fit for students.

Students Experience
It just worked.

Common Pitfall #1
Asking a bunch of Windows folks to deploy mission-critical Linux server or services

Common Pitfall #2
Deploying open source applications before they are fully baked
Hoary Hedgehog
Jahshaka

Common Pitfall #3
Asking black-box gear to play nicely with open source
Windows Terminal Server + Tutoring App = Pain

Common Pitfall #5
Failing to demand as much from proprietary software as open source
”What happens if...”

Common Pitfall #6
The Accidental Tech supporting Linux
”How do I turn it off?”
”The video card is broken”

Common Pitfall #7
printers, Printers, PRINTERS
#1 issue (in our experience) with desktops

Summary
It just works.

Thank you
Try a thin client at our booth!
Brian Jamison
[email_address]
(503) 544-3558

Thin Clients how to, aka the $100 per client student computer lab

by BrianJamison on Feb 21, 2008

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Thin Clients how to, aka the $100 per client student computer lab — Presentation Transcript