Re: [gentoo-user] Multiseat -- LTSP?

[Helmut Jarausch <jarausch@igpm.rwth-aachen.de>]

I've been in the same situation a short time ago.
Finally I decided to buy a cheap notebook (ASUS AMD 1GHz, 8 Gb RAM)
for 265 Euro, only -- running Gentoo, of course.
I've installed a private wireless network.
So my wife can sit anywhere and she can still connect to our "family 
server" if she likes.

If I had to buy a monitor, graphics card, keyboard and a better
power supply, that would have beeen more expensive. 
Furthermore the notebook solution is more flexible.

Helmut.


On 01/30/2012 12:29:37 AM, Grant wrote:
> >> I'd like to have multiple users working from separate monitors,
> >> keyboards, and mice, but all connected to a single Gentoo 
> computer.
> >> The main purpose is to minimize sys admin duties but hardware and
> >> power requirements would also be minimized.
> >>
> >> Apparently this is called "multiseat" and native support in Xorg
> might
> >> not be ready for primetime:
> >>
> >> http://wiki.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/Multiseat
> >> http://vignatti.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/multiseat-roadmap
> >>
> >> There is a configuration tool for Xorg multiseat called MDM:
> >>
> >> http://wiki.c3sl.ufpr.br/multiseat/index.php/Mdm
> >>
> >> but from what I've read it isn't ideal.  Besides Xorg multiseat
> I've
> >> read about LTSP and a few others:
> >>
> >> http://www.ltsp.org
> >> http://www.thinstation.org
> >> http://automseat.sourceforge.net
> >> http://www.openthinclient.org
> >>
> >> There are also a lot of proprietary options.  Is LTSP the way to
> go?
> >
> > It may be, but as with all thin client models you would need a
> terminal
> > computer for each user.
> >
> > If you only have one machine and monitors, keyboards and mice for
> each user
> > then you'll need multiple video cards (and a strong power supply)
> for your
> > only PC.  In this case something like
> http://automseat.sourceforge.net may be
> > more appropriate.  However, I have not used anything like this set
> up to offer
> > an opinion on performance.
> >
> > At work we use thin clients running Debian to serve MSWindows 
> server
> desktop
> > and apps to users.  This setup uses the Citrix ica protocol, but 
> I'm
> thinking
> > that FreeNX coupled with VNC or relevant KDE or Gnome remote 
> desktop
> > implementation would probably work nicely and offer LAN and remote
> connection
> > security at the same time.
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Mick
> 
> If I throw out installing a separate OS on a separate machine for 
> each
> workstation and all of the proprietary thin-client protocols, I think
> I have 3 options:
> 
> 1. Connect monitors, USB keyboards, and USB mice directly to a server
> with multiple video cards.  I found a motherboard with 6 PCI-E slots:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128508
> 
> 6 video cards could be installed for 6 workstations if the server 
> goes
> headless, and even more if multi-headed video cards are used.  Xorg
> requires some special configuration for this but this discussion from
> 2010 sounds like it's something that is actually done:
> 
> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-836950-start-0.html
> 
> These guys got it working in 2006:
> 
> http://www.linuxgazette.net/124/smith.html
> 
> 2. Set up a separate thin client for each workstation and run LTSP on
> the server.  This seems inferior to #1 because it requires setting up
> and maintaining the LTSP server and client configuration, NFS, 
> xinetd,
> tftp, dnsmasq, and PXE-boot.  Bandwidth would also be limited 
> compared
> to #1 and hardware and power requirements would be much greater.
> 
> 3. Run a Plugable thin client for each workstation:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PXPPNA
> 
> This likely requires running "Userful Multiseat Linux" on my server
> which is only packaged up for Ubuntu.  The Plugable thin client
> connects to the server via USB 2.0 which makes me wonder if it could
> be made to work without Userful Multiseat Linux as a USB video card
> and input devices, but I imagine drivers for the video card and
> bandwidth over USB could be a problem.
> 
> I think #1 is the way to go but I'd love to hear anyone else's 
> opinion
> on that.  Has anyone here ever set up multiseat in Xorg?
> 
> - Grant
> 
> 
> 
> 



-- 
Helmut Jarausch
Lehrstuhl fuer Numerische Mathematik
RWTH - Aachen University
D 52056 Aachen, Germany