Re: Servers as appliances

[Rob Bellville <rob@acol.com>]

At 07:19 5/22/99 -0700, you wrote:

>My goal is to have a server setup that can be used like an appliance.  The
>box is popped into the school, and is all set up and ready to go.  No need
>for the teachers in a school to start mucking around with setting up
>shares for the administration software, library software, home
>directories, etc.  Not to mention security auditing, status monitoring,
>data backups and all that other important but oh-so-boring stuff.

Ideally on a CD-ROM with a boot disk and LOTS of documentation (in HTML, of
course) that the installing person can print out off the CD-ROM.


>
>Is this feasible?  Is it possible to come up with a single server setup
>(or even a limited number of configurations, like elementary/secondary)
>that could satisfy the needs of the teachers in all schools? 

I think that there are some basic core needs that nearly all schools have.
Offering a flexible install configuration (via Web-based forms) would allow
a school to set up only what they need. A simple "re-installer" for adding
additional components later would also be needed.


>My current setup consists of the following shares, which I currently
>provide through netatalk and samba, but which could also be provided to
>Linux workstations through nfs or coda:
>
>Home Directory
>  User's personal home directory.
>
>Applications
>  Word Processor, spreadsheet, educational games, etc.
>
>Library
>  Library database software.
>
>Administration
>  School Admin software.  Accessible only to schooladmins group.
>
>CDROMS
>  this share is where staff can copy the contents of a cdrom, and new
>  shares are automatically generated for the contents of the cdrom so that
>  it can be mapped to a drive or mounted on the desktop, depending on your
>  desktop OS of choice in the school.
>
>LocalGroups
>  This share contains a folder for each group created by the school staff
>  through k12admin.  The folder is accessible only to members of the group
>  and contains a public read/write folder, a class folder where teachers
>  can read/write, student are read-only, and a drop box where students can
>  submit assignments.  Groups can be classes, extracurricular groups, etc.
>
>HTML
>  A link to the root web server directory.  Accessible only to members of
>  the webadmins group.
>
>DefaultHome
>  Files in this share are used as skeleton files for creation of new home
>  directories.
>
>Rebuild
>  Stores images of windows and mac workstations for rebuilding.

There are probably a few more that we could think of too.

I thinks its important to remember that the majority of the clients
accessing this server will be Win/Mac machines. It would be nice to have
the ability to pop in a boot floppy disk into a client and be able to test
drive Linux as a client. This might help to show that Linux need not be
something to be afraid of.

I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination but I would be
willing to help with testing and documentation. I think the documentation
is EXTREMELY important in a project like this since we would be dealing
mainly with novice Linux users. A two-fold approach to documentation should
be considered: 1) Quick setup with basic info for non-tech types who need
to get the thing up and running and 2) More in depth info for those who
want to tinker. Make it easy for both types of people to use and you
increase the usefulness of the product.



Rob Bellville 
Millbury Public Schools
Millbury, MA 
Linux in Schools: http://www.linuxjournal.com/previous/2955.html

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 Rob Bellville                              PO Box 515
 rob@acol.com                       Millbury, MA 01527
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