From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1RrvFH-0000n8-VL for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:42:24 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 170D8E09DA; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:42:10 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-ee0-f53.google.com (mail-ee0-f53.google.com [74.125.83.53]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 50589E09B3 for ; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:41:10 +0000 (UTC) Received: by eeke51 with SMTP id e51so1683195eek.40 for ; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:41:09 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=8LnaPXQ4eSnpvwflZjXGFjCDFsPmtOpkHjdnKhBbjOo=; b=kVOQxOpzt336ypRnABvYKcPCmQGHBW+ViXGoA8U+EtSzFZrxsFbC9qK4SBJ9TzF5bR WjVoCTVEcXszO0TXTlNgxEWDjLkFmS6m+72ClXLpw9rgGKYCSk9ODuXgTpD3Q2Gs73mF DUbXFBvP+Z0rQCxdz0wtxcqRcK6+gO8h19xuk= Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.14.32.84 with SMTP id n60mr1949207eea.88.1327945269333; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:41:09 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.213.29.10 with HTTP; Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:41:09 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <201201301035.42046.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> References: <201201291202.41092.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> <201201301035.42046.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:41:09 -0800 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Multiseat -- LTSP? From: Grant To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Archives-Salt: 3573cf98-2237-43eb-8a4e-d5b0824b25f7 X-Archives-Hash: 74e4178420dcdecf6b487d93f43bfd32 [snip] >> 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. =A0I found a motherboard with 6 PCI-E slots: >> >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=3DN82E16813128508 >> >> 6 video cards could be installed for 6 workstations if the server goes >> headless, and even more if multi-headed video cards are used. =A0Xorg >> 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. =A0This seems inferior to #1 because it requires setting up >> and maintaining the LTSP server and client configuration, NFS, xinetd, >> tftp, dnsmasq, and PXE-boot. =A0Bandwidth 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. =A0The 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. =A0Has anyone here ever set up multiseat in Xorg? > > Can you rely on Xorg devs to ensure that they are not going to break your > multiseat system in the future? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know why there would be (much) more likelihood of regression with Xorg multiseat than with anything else, including LTSP and all of its dependencies. In the context of both hardware and software, I think there are much fewer points of potential failure with multiseat than with an LTSP thin-client arrangement. > Are you sure that you will come across bandwidth issues if you follow opt= ion > #2? =A0On a gigabit network at work we're running thousands of thin clien= ts > distributed across hundreds of VM servers, and there is no noticeable lat= ency > (unless a particular VM MSWindows server plays up). I'm sure I wouldn't. I only mentioned the increased bandwidth of multiseat vs. thin-clients as a technicality. > I understand that managing multiple boxen is always a greater burden, but > something like GNAP may lighten the work needed? > > =A0http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/embedded/gnap-userguide.xml That looks cool, but from my perspective it's another layer to learn, install, configure, and manage. chef and puppet take a different approach to lessening the burden of administrating multiple systems, but in the end neither approach comes anywhere near the hardware and software simplicity (and corresponding ease of setup and maintenance) of multiseat. - Grant