Advice on getting a computer lab server

[Uwe Geercken]

I have installed the server this afternoon. All I had to do was to  
change the IP settings from the ones that I used to experiment with at  
home and run a ltsp-update-image.

the server started and I booted the 15 available (Windows) clients.  
all ok. performance is very good at first glance. unfortunately I did  
not have enough time today to do more tests, so I will have to defer  
them to next week, because I had a talk with a teacher, the head of  
school and a woman from the parents representatives (don't know how  
this is called in english). so time ran away.

I already had some curious kids poking around and asking "what is  
Edubuntu", because it was visible on all the screens. Before I had a  
max of 6 Kids becuase I had six old PC's with very old screens. Now I  
can make larger groups, we have a beamer and a big whiteboard. looks  
very promissing.

Setting up printing to the network printer HP 3600 was easy and works fine.

The performance tests I will make next week in the classroom. I will  
start slow and add more applications to see how it works. I had made  
some tests with a laptop in the past. at that time I had thought I  
could get around with a 3GHz machine. but it had too little memory and  
a 100Gbit netowork card. after the third kid started, the performance  
dropped. so I stopped it.

applications we run so far as follows:
- open office
- scribus
- inkscape
- gimp
- frozen bubble
- crack attack (my favorite ;-))
- Sudoku

we will get a decent Internet connection in February, so I will spend  
some time on Firefox, ftp, security, etc with them

I also want to do some basic programming maybe on the shell, or java.  
I don't know yet and it depends on the kids of course.

my main objective though is to get them used to linux in general:  
moving around, coping, creating or deleting files and folders and  
create some documents or flyers or tables.

enough for the moment. I have uploaded the pdf dokument of the server,  
showing its componets and the build process, for anyone who is  
interested, BUT it is in german for the moment.

http://datamelt.com/java-datamelt/linux%20server%20selbstbau.pdf

so much for today. I think about setting up a web site sort of blog  
for documenting in more detail and constantly providing information on  
the status.

thanks friends and hope to get some feedback too.

rgds,

uwe






Zitat von Uwe Geercken <uwe.geercken at datamelt.com>:

> Joseph,
>
> this afternoon I will run the first tests with about 6 kids (12/13
> years old). I preconfigured the server at home and have tested some
> games also. my kids e.g. like to play frozen-bubble. they are really
> crazy about it. at the end of the last year, I made a competition with
> them and bought some (small) prices. the winner was the one who got to
> the highest level. they will also be able to play against each other
> now - that will be fun...
>
> other than that, I showed them the basic stuff like moving and copying
> files, creating directories, etc. we made some gimp sessions (to
> manipulate pictures for a calendar 2008) and we did some
> word-processing. I want to continue with them in this direction and
> end at scribus, so that we are able to create our own flyer to show
> what we are doing in the linux course.
>
> I really like to work with the kids. surprisingly I have more girls
> than boys. they are open to new things they learn things quickly and
> they do it in their free time.
>
> I will send a summary tonight hopefully, latest tomorrow. I have
> created the documentation about the server componentes and how it was
> built (18 pages), but it is in german for the moment. I need to find
> some time to re-write it in english...
>
> rgds,
>
> uwe
>
>
> Quoting Joseph Hartman <jlhartman at gmail.com>:
>
>> Hi Uwe,
>>
>> That new setup sounds great! I'm mostly just interested in your own opinions
>> of the new lab. Is it as fast as you thought it would be? Are you happy with
>> the performance? Are the kids happy with the speed and responsiveness of the
>> machines? What kind of programs are you running with them? Just general
>> answers will suffice for me right now I think. Eventually I'll really do the
>> dirty work and maybe post again on what I'm thinking about getting and for
>> how much $$$.
>>
>> Also, I wanted to thank everyone else on the list who responded to my
>> queries. I'm delighted to make contact with some other people in situations
>> similar to mine and I'm sorry I have not responded until now. Between my
>> wife's birthday and the Chargers game on Sunday my weekend was pretty
>> booked. (I hope there aren't too many Indianapolis fans on the list, you
>> guys will always have 2007). Thanks again everyone, see you at CUE or SCaLE
>> if you make it! Oh, and I've already RSVPd for the Shuttleworth talk in San
>> Francisco in March if anyone else is going. Cheers -joe
>>
>
>
>
>
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