Syncing 3 Servers with 15 Thin Clients each

Gavin McCullagh gmccullagh at gmail.com
Sun May 13 16:09:30 BST 2007


Hi,

On Sun, 13 May 2007, Dax Solomon Umaming wrote:

> I have 3 servers each with 15 Thin Clients plugged in. How do I sync all 3 
> servers? That way, any user can log in to any of the 45 clients with their 
> files and desktop. My current setup has limited them to only 1 server-15 
> clients. Is there anyway we can sync them so their profile roams on all 3 
> servers/45 clients?

For centralised authentication, you have a few options:

 - NIS
 - LDAP 
 - regular sync of passwd/shadow/group files

in all cases you have to pick a central master server to store the master
copy.  You also need to consider issues like "which server can you run
users-admin on" and "if a user tries to change their password, will it
always work?"  The existing edubuntu infrastructure presumes all accounts
are local.  

For storage, the guys have already suggested NFS sharing and unison
syncing.  Unless the servers are very remote from each other (eg different
campuses linked by a VPN), you probably want NFS.  Syncing files can lead
to lots of hidden issues.  It does have its advantages in some instances
(such as remote campuses) though.  Depending on the speed and cpacity of
the disks, you may want/need to spread your data over the servers.

If you need more detailed info on one solution or another, feel free to
ask.

Gavin




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