/srv/irclogs.ubuntu.com/2008/10/14/#edubuntu.txt

LunksI'm kinda lost with Edubuntu. Is it on a server/client architecture? Which CDs do I need in order to use it?08:32
nubaeLunks: how would you like to use it, are you a school?09:43
LunksAnd also, can I use Edubuntu over wireless?14:59
sbalneavMorning all15:53
stgrabermoin sbalneav15:54
sbalneavLunks: Are you talking using an edubuntu workstation with a wireless card in it, or using wireless thin clients?15:54
sbalneavMorning stgraber15:54
sbalneavSo that patch worked for you?15:54
Lunkssbalneav: wireless thin clients15:54
LunksI'm planning on deploying Edubuntu on a computer lab on my University15:54
LunksOne of the main issues is: the new lab won't have wired ethernet, just wireless.15:55
sbalneavLunks: Well, wireless isn't a very good technology to try to deploy thin clients on.  Most wireless cards can't network boot.  Some people get around this by using a regular network card connected to a wireless bridge, but since thin clients require a fairly large amount of bandwidth, you'll really (practically) only be able to have 2 or 3 going15:58
LunksEven if I've have the server wired to the AP?15:59
LunksThis should solve the issue on bandwidth, I believe. I can't find out how, by looking at the docs, on how to accomplish this using wi-fi. =<16:00
nubaeLunks: it wont16:01
sbalneavWireless isn't like connecting to a switch.  There's no congestion mitigation like in a switch.  Wireless is like a hub: large numbers of workstations producing large amounts of data will result in a huge number of collisions.16:01
nubaeyou can run maybe 10 stations max16:01
sbalneavI'd say less than that, but yeah, either way, you're not going to get 20 or 30 workstations going wireless.16:02
nubaeyou might be able to use APs for every computer though16:02
LunksThat's not so good heh16:02
nubaepxe to wireless AP bridged to server16:02
nubaeexpensive and silly though16:02
sbalneavBut by the time you spend all the money to do that, you might as well have just pulled a cat5 line to the workstation.16:03
LunksYeah, I'd rather hang on some cables around the room16:03
LunksAny other way to use a similar approach to thin clients using Wireless?16:03
nubaeyeah :-) and gigabit isnt coming to wireless any time soon16:03
nubaewell, u could run NX or VNC16:04
LunksOne of our main goals is to use wireless to provide a similar experience, at least, to thin clients (centralized management, etc.)16:04
sbalneavInstalling a stripped down ubuntu to a livecd or usb key would probably be better.16:04
nubaeor u could use fat client16:06
nubaeif your terminals permit it16:06
nubaesomething like xubuntu maybe16:07
nubaesbalneav: can u resend the #ltsp archives... my mail server was acting up and rejecting mails... its ok now though...16:07
sbalneavok16:13
sbalneavemail again? (didn't save it :()16:13
Lunksnubae: I've got the hardware, but fat clients will be ok with wireless bandwidth?16:18
nubaesure16:19
nubaeeverything is run on the clients16:20
nubaetake a look here: http://nubae.com/ltsp-linux-terminal-server-project-netbooted-fat-client-for-ubuntu-hardy-and-intrepid16:20
LunksThanks16:24
LunksI will.16:24
nubaewhat hardware have u got Lunks?16:24
LunksBasically, I'll use this with an Edubuntu (LTSP) Server, right?16:24
Lunksnubae: ~100 PCs with Athlons, P4s16:25
LunksThey're pretty decent16:25
nubaethen definetly use fat client16:25
nubaeits a waste to use those as thin terminals16:26
nubaefat client = all the benefits of centralised user and program management, with little strain on server and bandwidth16:26
LunksOne of our goals would be to wipe the hard-drives and use them (or try to use as many as) on a RAID on our server (which I don't have the specs right now), and I can guess by the name 'fat' that it doesn't eliminate the need of a hard drive, right?16:26
LunksBut oh what the hell. :P16:26
nubaewrong... no hard drive16:27
nubaeimages are sent from the server to each client16:27
Lunksnubae: Great, I believe I'll be deploying fat clients on my free time =)16:28
LunksThank you very much, nubae16:28
LunksI notice it's your blog. ;)16:28
nubaethe hard drive is activated by default though, so u can use it for storage or whatever16:29
nubaeheh, yeah16:29
LunksI'll try to sort the wireless stuff using fat clients, then16:29
nubaewith the clients u've got should be fine.. how much ram?16:29
LunksDefinetly more than 512mb, they're running Ubuntu right now16:31
LunksI just dropped on my University16:32
LunksRight now, everyone who wants to access a computer just have to login with a: student student kinda login16:33
LunksSo it's not very centralized nor easy to manage16:33
LunksOne of the main goals of the IT guy is to deploy thin clients, even though he doesn't seem to know much about it, so the new student gets to do all the fun, probably16:34
nubaethen you are in for a surprise... LTSP is a centralisation miracle16:34
LunksThe only setback is this wireless thing which I'll have to sort out someday, somehow16:36
nubaeits no problem with fat clients16:36
LunksProbably having a small kernel booting with wpasupplicant and stuff on an USB stick or CD-ROM16:37
nubaewired is better of course16:37
nubaeright16:37
* nubae wonders if there is something like an AP with multiple ethernet slots that could bridge to server16:37
LunksJust 4, nubae16:38
LunksIt'll not handle it, unfortunately16:38
nubaeyah... hmm... u'd need 25 APs then for 100 computers16:38
nubaestarts getting expensive I guess16:39
nubaein a smaller lab u could do it16:39
Lunkshaha yeah, not really the best way16:39
LunksIt's not the best using Wi-Fi, either... I know.16:39
nubaewell only way will be booting off cd, usb, or harddrive with connection to server (the no pxe on wireless is annoying)16:40
Lunksnubae: This should be doable, just booting a small kernel first, right? I never did an network boot, so it's a good learning curve to me here, sorry if I sound stupid sometimes. ;)16:42
nubaeLunks: something like that yeah.... there might be some stuff on the net about it, and diskless-workstation.com sells a usb key that does that16:47
LunksI'll google this. Making a kernel boot with a few commands and binaries beside it maybe a great learning experience as well. :D16:53
nubaesure... do a write up somewhere16:54
LunksI will, for sure. Thanks for all the help, nubae. :)16:55
=== nubae1 is now known as Nubae

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