[ubuntu-uk] OT: Need some Routers

[Rob Beard]

On 30/06/10 14:12, Cornelius Mostert wrote:
> Hi
> I need to setup a network (wire and WiFi) in a school but they have £0
> budget and was wondering if any of you have not used routers/switches (I
> was thinking of old ISP supplied ones, those you do not know what to do
> with once you switch to a new ISP, but other will also be very welcome)
> and other hardware that you might wana get rid of.
> They currently have only 20 mini books (net books) and a few old PCs,
> the server is old and dieing so it would almost be a complete redo.
>
> If it helps they are very open to freeware  and therefore Linux.
> While on the subject is there any software you would recommend, I know
> about ubuntu/debian education and the normal user apps like open office,
> but as there is almost NO it infrastructure, so any other software will
> be nice.
> Any one knows Moodle??
>

Being a school I'd suggest looking at Karoshi for the server side, it's 
aimed at schools and includes things like Samba, Cups, Moodle etc.  I 
gather it has an easy to use interface too.

It's free, and I believe based on Mandriva/PCLinuxOS (okay I know it's 
not Ubuntu but it might be worth looking at).

http://karoshi.linuxgfx.co.uk/

I'd also suggest they maybe look at LTSP.  I believe Karoshi has LTSP 
built in, otherwise maybe Edubuntu with LTSP or Ubuntu with LTSP would 
also be a good option, at least for the desktop PCs they may have.  I've 
installed something along these lines in a local community centre, it 
has a reasonable spec machine running as a server (although I gather any 
sort of reasonable dual core desktop with 2GB or more memory, maybe even 
less would do the job).

You might also want to have a look at the Schoolforge web site 
(http://www.schoolforge.net/) which have a mailing list.  There are 
others on the list who work at schools who maybe able to offer advice on 
software etc.

As far as hardware goes, you could try your local Freecycle list.  Start 
by going to http://www.freecycle.org/ and entering your location, 
chances are there is a list that covers your area and at least on my 
local Freecycle list hardware comes up for grabs occasionally, you may 
even be able to get routers and such.

If you still don't have any luck, maybe you could look at contacting the 
local computer suppliers in your area, and maybe network cabling 
specialists who maybe able to offer some hardware.  I'd say really if 
you can it would be good to do things properly from the start rather 
than trying to bodge something together.

Anyway, good luck, where are you based by the way?  Maybe there might be 
some folk near you who might be able to help out installing it or 
offering kit.

If you need any more advice on LTSP, give me a shout, I'm not an expert 
on it by any means but I've been using it for a few years now and I've 
found it to work well.

Rob