Re: [school-discuss] From the News- PC Card Converts Old Desktop Computer into Thin Client

[Dean Montgomery <dmonty@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I second the thought: "what Daimler Chrysler bought"???

If a computer's onboard nic is lacking a pxeboot then you can just buy a PCI nic with pxeboot functionality for about $5-10.   I'm not sure what $99 is giving them?

Unless the $99-per-machine times 30 client machines = 1 fancy nfs/pxe/tftp/dhcp server.

----- "Peter Scheie" <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I'm curious as to what Daimler Chrysler bought, since Dell PCs have
> had PXE boot 
> built into the BIOS for years, which is all they need to be thin
> clients.  I've 
> done several LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) installations for
> schools & 
> businesses using a "bigger" (and usually new although it doesn't have
> to be) 
> computer for the server and castoff old PC's as the clients.  There
> isn't 
> anything that needs to be added to PCs to make them thin clients.
> 
> LTSP drives the cost of computing down so low that schools can afford
> to have a 
> computer lab in every classroom.  Whether or not kids need much
> computer time in 
> need in school is another matter, but if nothing else it makes it
> easier for the 
> teachers because they don't have to try to share the computer lab with
> other 
> classes because they have all that they need right in the classroom.
> 
> Peter
> 
> Bill Ries-Knight wrote:
> > Thin-client vendor Igel is offering a $99 PC card that converts old
> desktop
> > PCs into (Linux) thin clients. It's a technology that Daimler
> Chrysler
> > recently decided to use to extend the life of its aging fleet of
> Dell
> > desktop PCs. Igel rival Wyse says the recession and other factors
> such as
> > virtualization, cloud computing and green IT have recently spurred
> more
> > rapid adoption of thin-client technology.As IT organizations look to
> extend
> > the lifetimes of their current fleets of PCs, some may soon be
> considering a
> > new optionâconverting the actual desktop computer into a Linux thin
> client.
> > 
> > Thatâs what Daimler Chrysler, the former owner of troubled U.S.
> automaker
> > Chrysler Holdings, was looking to do when it recently converted
> 1,000 of
> > its Dell <http://www.channelinsider.com/#> PCs into Linux thin
> clients using
> > a PC card available from Igel Technology, a longtime thin-client
> vendor
> > based in Germany.
> > ....
> > 
> > read the whole story here...  It is now fully mainstream and
> reported as
> > used for education as well.
> > 
> > http://bit.ly/qY7wsR

-- 
Dean Montgomery
Network Support Tech./Programmer
http://dmonty.blogs.sd73.bc.ca/
dmonty@xxxxxxxxxx
School District #73