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Re: [school-discuss] Major Linux school deployments - Open Admin User Management



Hi Benoit,

I was wondering what kind of system you use for managing users in this.

I've now added Google Apps management ( as well as remote server
account creation) into Open Admin for Schools, but was wondering how
you have done it.

Thanks,

Les Richardson
Open Admin for Schools
SK, Canada



2009/10/23 Benoit St-André <ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> To continue on the large scale deployment bit:
>
> First, let me present myself, I am Benoit St-André, Educational Services
> Director at Revolution Linux.
>
> We have deployed large scale LTSP Thin Clients in various school districts
> in Quebec, and various all Open Source Linux infrastructure in different
> school boards and districts across Canada and the US.
>
> Our largest install is Laval School Board that runs around 4000 Thin
> Clients off a cluster of servers (around 40) from a central datacenter
> using LTSP-Cluster technology (open source project available here:
> https://launchpad.net/ltsp-cluster).
>
> This is all centrally managed and deployed, so that you just plug in a
> thin client in any school and it gets configured automatically. It also
> uses all latest LTSP standard technology, such as localapps , that enable
> using 3D applications and such to cut drastically bandwith usage, and
> increase performance.
>
> Even though they have a broadband network, the servers could be located in
> schools as they are centrally managed and automatically provisionned too.
>
> Hope that helps.
> ---
> Benoit St-André
> Educational Services Director
> Benoit.St-Andre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://revolutionlinux.com
> 1-800-996-8955 , ext 1112
>
> On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:09:48 -0400, "Stewart Ives" <ivessm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>> Dean,
>>
>> Very Very impressive.
>>
>> Are you keeping an eye on the newer Intel motherboards with the
> integrated
>> Atom processor.  I've seen these mounted in fan-less cases that hang on
> the
>> back of the flat screen keeping the desktop totally uncluttered.
>>
>> Good luck.
>>
>> stew
>>
>> ---------- Original Message -----------
>> From: Dean Montgomery <dmonty@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: schoolforge-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Sent: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:42:09 -0700 (PDT)
>> Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Major Linux school deployments
>>
>>> ----- "David M. Bucknell" <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> > This sounds fantastic.  Looking for client hardware.  Want to do
>>> > something similar, but am finding it hard to find decent thin client
>>> > hardware.  Too slow or limited.  Would love to hear how wrong I am.
>>>
>>> Our diskless clients are ~$200 each - price goes up and down with
>>> the economy.
>>>
>>> * MOBO: MCP6P M2+
>>> * RAM: 1G
>>> * CPU: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor LE-1250
>>> * Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 GPU
>>> * http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/content.php?S_ID=370
>>>
>>> ===
>>> About 3-4 years ago we were re-cycling used computers as hybrid
>>> diskless-ltsp clients.  But we wanted to give end-users a better
>>> experience.  We now run pure diskless clients which gives us: * good
>>> 3d accelerated graphics support. * good sound/video
>>> create/listen/edit support. * good usb device support (thumb-drives,
>>> ipods, cameras, external dvd-drives, etc) * less bandwidth needed
>>> for diskless - compared to ltsp.
>>>
>>> ==============
>>> Below is a comparison list that we put together a while back...
>>>
>>> === Implementing Linux in your School(s) ===
>>>
>>> There are 3 options:
>>> 1.LTSP – Linux Terminal Server Project.
>>> 2.Diskless.  (with ability to run software on server)
>>> 3.Fat Client.
>>>
>>> #1 LTSP Pros:
>>> -Easy to install and configure software.
>>> -Been around a long time.
>>> -Lots of related software and support.
>>> -Supports very slow hardware with very little RAM.
>>> -Supports 30-50 workstations per server.
>>> -Installing software is easy - appears on all workstations.
>>> #1 LTSP Cons:
>>> -Can bog down the server.
>>> -Sound and 3d acceleration do not work well.
>>> -USB/Firewire/CDROM/Floppy etc can be tricky.
>>> -Everything runs on the server so it can get bogged down with too
>>> much activity. -Screen flickers when scrolling or heavy graphical
> games.
>>> -Re-using old hardware means old hardware maintenance.
>>> -Does not yet work well with wireless networks.
>>>
>>> #2 Diskless Pros:
>>> -USB/Firewire/CDROM/Floopy are nicely integrated in the desktop
>>> environment.
>>> -Server does not get bogged down.  Users are not affected by a
>>> single user's cpu intensive programs. -3d acceleration and sound
>>> work great as long as the cipset is supported by linux. -Hardware is
>>> faster/cheaper in 2007 (not forced to use slow hardware with 32MB
>>> ram). -Supports over 100 workstations per server. -Uses less network
>>> bandwidth.
>>> #2 Diskless Cons:
>>> -Requires faster hardware and more ram on the client.  800Mhz CPU,
>>> 500MB RAM min. -Relatively new for schools so there is not as much
>>> out-of-the-box support for diskless.  The technitian has to do more -
>>> configuration. -Does not yet work well with wireless networks.
>>>
>>> #3 Fat Client Pros:
>>> -Relatively easy to create an initial image and ghost.
>>> -USB/CDROM/etc hardware are nicely integrated into the desktop
>>> environment.
>>> -Low network bandwidth.
>>> -Wireless network works well.
>>> -3d acceleration and sound work well.
>>> #3 Fat Client Cons:
>>> -Updating software requires updating all hard drives (not
>>> centralized). -Changes and tweaks require addressing each workstation.
>>> --
>>> Dean Montgomery
>>> Network Support Tech./Programmer
>>> dmonty@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> School District #73
>> ------- End of Original Message -------
>
> --
> Benoit St-André
> ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>