k12ltsp linux terminal server project for k-12 schools brought to you by: eric harrison, multnomah...

K12LTSPLinux Terminal Server Project for K-12 schools

Brought to you by:

Eric Harrison, Multnomah Education Service Districteharrison@mesd.k12.or.us

Paul Nelson, Riverdale School Districtpnelson@riverdale.k12.or.us

Special Thanks to:

Linux Terminal Server ProjectRed HatXimianIntel Sun MicrosystemsPortland Linux/Unix Group

What is K12LTSP?

Integration of the Red Hat 7.1, Linux Terminal Server Project, and Ximian GNOME.

The concept is to build a "terminal server appliance", a Linux distribution that was trivial to install and configure which would support booting low-maintaince, low-cost diskless terminals.

Goals and Objectives

Mitigate management headaches. It is a full time job maintaining a school computer lab

Improve reliability. Teachers will not incorporate technology into their curriculum unless it is dependable.

Lower costs. It is quite often cost- prohibitive to put new computers into schools.

Strengths

Centralized management, reliable, inexpensive

Fast! Terminals run at the speed of the server

Inherent remote administration capabilities

True color, no 8 bit color palate limitations

Relatively secure

Possible to run legacy apps

Runs almost all Linux applications

Weaknesses

Floppy, sound, and CD support are not perfected

Legacy app support can be expensive and/or resource intensive

Currently does not support hardware accelerated 3D graphics

Peripheral support is tricky at best

Managing mixed clients can be a pain

Future Enhancements

Eliminate/mitigate current weaknesses

Perfect floppy, sound, and CD support

Implement web-based and/or LDAP administration

Integrate v2.4.x kernel hot-pluggable device support

Improve support for non-standard configurations

Integrate into the core Red Hat distribution?

XFree 4.x support for terminals

K12LTSP boot process

PXE, download syslinux.pxe image

Client downloads kernel using TFTP

Client obtains configuration information via DHCP

Client NFS mounts the server's filesystem

Client generates configuration files on the fly

Client starts X, sends XDMCP query

User logs into server

Network Architecture

Default configuration expects two NICs, the terminals are isolated on their own private network

Private network for the terminals makes it very easy to deploy, the servers can all be identical

SSH & DHCP permitted by default, all other outside connections are firewalled off by default

All applications run on the server, but can be configured to run on the terminals

Conclusions

Initial pilot projects have been very successful, all goals have been met and user feedback has been positive

Logs indicate strong interest with not only K12 schools, but universities, corporations, and third-world countries as well