[NTLUG:Discuss] thin clients, are they practical and satisfactory?

[Rob Apodaca]

On Tue, 2004-09-14 at 07:31, Will Senn wrote:
> All,
> 
> Have any of y'all implemented a thin client setup that you are happy 
> with?
Yes. I implemented LTSP at my work about 3-4 years ago. There are
currently about 30 workstations (almost 50 at one time) and 1 server.
Applications are email, web, word proc, spreadsheet, telnet.

>  I have been tinkering, without committing to the project of 
> setting up a server and client, but I haven't really gotten serious 
> because I am doubtful of the outcome.  If you wanna opine, here are some 
> questions to consider:
> 
> What do you think is a reasonable thin client machine?
A minimum thin client would be a 486 w/16 mb ram.
A P4 would be a waste.
Anything in between would be reasonable.

> 
> What do you think is a reasonable server setup?
My opinion is that you can never have too much ram in your LTSP server.
Ram is what thin clients will use most of, especially if running apps on
the server. Processor speed doesn't seem to be all that
important...anything above a PIII would work fine. For reliabilty, scsi
raid is a good way to go. Also, multiple nics and subnetting might be a
good idea depending on how good or bad your network is. My experience is
the better your network, the better your thin client experience will be.

> 
> What about just setting up linux server and using xdm/kdm/gdm to manage 
> user sessions from a workstation that will run apps on the server?
This can be done easily. Of course you still need a local instance of a
linux kernel anx X installed.

> 
> Is that fundamentally the same (just a beefier thin client), or is it 
> radically different, or is it somewhere in between?
> 
> Just trying to get my mind (and my available hardware) wrapped around 
> the idea of thin client technologies as they relate to linux, after 
> reading Marcel Gagne's business linux migration book.
> 

With LTSP, you can have a mixture of thin clients. If you have something
low end, run everything on the server. If you have something more
powerful, you can unload the server and run some local apps. You can
configure each client indivdually. Also, if your client has a hd, format
it with a boot partition and a swap partition. Use the HD to boot and
swap locally instead of over nfs - cuts down on network traffic.

LTSP provides alot of flexibility. I even managed to get some very old
HP-Entria X workstations (Back in the day, HP sold a thin client
solution...now they won't admit it though) to work with my Linux server.
By using older hardware, we don't mind just chucking them in the trash
when the burn out. It has been very easy and cheap getting older
PC's...most people and companies will just give them away after they've
upgraded. Of course, you can buy more reliable thin clients too.

I'd recommend getting a spare box, loading ltsp, and then booting a thin
client. See how it works for you. I've been very happy with my
installation. I spend less than 30 minutes per week dealing with users
or issues on LTSP workstations. The rest of my time is spent on MS
issues. If only there was a viable CAD solution for linux...

Cheers,
-Rob