andy hudson wrote:
Hi Mark, at present we don't have any hardware but my advise to date
has been for the classroom servers -
Athlon 64X2 4400 2.3Ghz 2GB RAM 80Gb HDD
Are you going with any particular brand or building your own?
I have no idea of appropriate spec, others can comment. I'd personally
get pretty much everything running on lesser spec "spares" first, but
then I personally have a little more flexibility when it comes to budgeting!
I was then hoping to use recycled Celeron 1.7Ghz 256/20gb as clients
(as I can source these for £30 each)
I aim to purchase these at the end of this week to set up the pilot
classroom, any other alternative suggestions would be welcomed!
Again I can't really comment on specs, I hope someone who's done this
will chip in. That said, I assume the LTSP website has some info?
(Sorry, too later to go checking right now, I should have left work by now!)
Unless you *need* to get all the hardware in one go, I'd get a handful
working first. Less likelihood of having lots of machines you can't use
(I don't think that will be a problem) and a lot more space to work.
There's a tendency in my experience to waste a lot of time on the
trivial bits that you can streamline once you've got one or two right.
But without knowing your source for the desktops it may be that they're
a "now or never" deal.
As you have suggested this project as a topic for a PLUG meeting maybe
we could host one at the school so that members could get a clearer
idea of what we are trying to do. I could do some prep on machines as
suggested by members and then repay some of the generosity with tea,
coffee and doughnuts! I don't mind the idea of 'too many cooks' as at
present I don't even feel that I can make beans on toast when it comes
to the complexities of Linux!!
I'm happy with all of that, but I'd like first to expand on what I meant
about "too many cooks".
What will probably happen is that for each problem, three or four people
will try to fix it (and one or more of them will usually succeed), but
anyone watching hoping to learn something - particularly about a subject
very new to them - may well leave thinking it's all far more complicated
than it is. This can have a very negative effect, and is just as true
with Windows as with Linux, and just as true in other subjects. Having
half a dozen maths teachers all trying to help kids learn maths, each
using their own different methods for the same tasks, would be a good
example of what I'm describing.
There are several objectives here as I see it. One is to get you a
working system up and running. Another is to assist "buy-in", and
(related) provide some system knowledge. It's the effect that of lots of
people "working it out as they go along" can have on the latter that I
am wary of.
I'm saying this having absolutely no knowledge of the levels of skill of
the various volunteers; maybe they're quite capable of plugging it all
in, having it all work "instantly", then providing some basic user
training into the bargain!
You know the people involved at your end, and if given the above you're
still happy that we see what happens on site then I'm certainly up for
the challenge.
--
Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555
Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
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