On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 07:52:58AM -0600, Richard Nelson wrote: > Greetings, > > On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 7:21 PM, Rob Owens <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'd like to hear how folks on this list are using net images of Debian > > Live. > > > > I use Debian Live to netboot a few hundred Linux _thick_ clients. The > users get a full desktop session. I have been using this model for > almost 5 years. > > > I'm a longtime user of LTSP, which boots thin clients over the network > > which then run applications remotely on the LTSP server. This is great > > for low power clients, but for newer clients I'd like to move some of > > that processing power off of the central server and onto the client. > > > > I was once a user of LTSP for a few hundred clients, but there were > some limitations that were found to be clumsy to work around. I found > that shipping out a full Debian desktop to each client was the easiest > way to go. > What specific problems did you have? I know that flash video seems to be one of the weak points of LTSP. Flash is a CPU hog, and having every user run it on the same server isn't so great. These days a lot of people are starting to run Firefox as a local app to combat that problem.
> > The options I've come up with so far are LTSP "fat client mode" (still > > researching this one), DRBL (Diskless Remote Boot in Linux), and Debian > > Live net images. > > > > I use stock netboot with plainfs so the image can be chrooted to and > tuned in for quick fixes for the fleet. I would never go back to LTSP > if my clients had sufficient processing and ram. > Thanks, I didn't even know that was an option. Do you know what the difference is between "plain" and "ext2" or "ext3" for the --chroot-filesystem? > > Does anyone out there use persistence with a net image? How about NFS > > mounting /home? I'll be using LDAP for authentication. Any tips for > > adding LDAP users to local groups (audio, plugdev, etc)? > > What was done at the site is netboot right to the live user desktop > and any user can use the station and save work to jump drive or > external media, but no printing or home directories (and you could > also exclude internet access) until user is authenticated and we map > in a cups server and mount the users home folder to a folder on their > desktop. This model ensures that when we do a support call that every > user has the identical setup and no overhead of trying to kiosk or > policy down the operations. > > As for back end authentication and storage you can use what you want, > the site is a mixed environment with Windows clients also so we just > use Samba+Cups for back end authentication, storage and printer > access. > > All I can say is Debian Live has been a work horse at many locations for me. Out of curiosity, what sort of environment are you using this in? School, recreation center, etc? > > > > I'd appreciate any advice, anecdotes, warnings, etc. > > Proper planing with sufficient testing never hurts. > I guess it's time for me to start tinkering. Thanks for the info. Anybody else on this list have stories to share? -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
