Differences between revisions 1 and 9 (spanning 8 versions)
Revision 1 as of 2008-02-02 00:24:33
Size: 3240
Editor: HolgerLevsen
Comment: copied from http://wiki.skolelinux.no/DebianEdu/Documentation/Etch/Requirements
Revision 9 as of 2009-05-30 17:58:16
Size: 3596
Editor: HolgerLevsen
Comment: remove FIXMEs as the Lenny version should be developed now
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<<TableOfContents(2)>>
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There are different ways of set up a Skolelinux solution. It can be installed on just one standalone PC or a regional wide solution at many schools operated centrally. This variety of configurations makes a huge difference on how things are set up regarding network components, servers and client machines.  There are different ways of set up a Skolelinux solution. It can be installed on just one standalone PC or a regional wide solution at many schools operated centrally. This variety of configurations makes a huge difference on how things are set up regarding network components, servers and client machines.
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 * a router/gateway (IP 10.0.2.1) providing access to the internet (when using the default network architecture)
 * the computers running Debian Edu / Skolelinux must have either i386, amd64 or powerpc processors. 
== Hardware requirements ==
 * the computers running Debian Edu / Skolelinux must have either i386, amd64 or powerpc processors.
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 * for the main server (10.0.2.2): this is the one single computer in the network which get's the {{{tjener}}}-profile installed
 * workstation(s) and/or thin client (LTSP) server(s)
 * thin clients clients
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  * eth0 connected to the main network (10.0.2.0/23)    * eth0 connected to the main network (10.0.2.0/23)
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FIXME: add links to explainations of main-server and thinclient-server == Hardware known to work ==
A list of tested hardware is provided from http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Hardware/ . This list is not nearly complete :)
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A list of tested hardware is provided from
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Hardware/ .
= Requirements for a network setup =
 * a router/gateway (IP 10.0.2.1) providing access to the internet (when using the default network architecture)
 * for the main server (10.0.2.2): this is the one single computer in the network which get's the {{{tjener}}}-profile installed
 * workstation(s) and/or thin client (LTSP) server(s)
 * thin clients clients
== Internet router ==
A router/gateway, connected to the internet on the external interface and running on the IP address 10.0.2.1 on the internal interface, is needed to connect to the internet.
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== Network requirements == The router should not run a DHCP server, it can run a DNS server, though this is not needed and will not be used. (If the router runs a DHCP server you must disable the DHCP server on the main server and you will loose some features and certain documented procedures will work differently. So better disable the DHCP server on the router.)
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=== Internet-Router === If you are looking for a i386 based solution (so that you can reuse an old PC), we recommend [[http://www.ipcop.org|IPCop]] or [[http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw|floppyfw]].
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A router/gateway, connected to the internet on the external interface and running on the IP address 10.0.2.1 on the internal interface. The router must not run a DHCP server, it can run a DNS server, though this is not needed and will not be used. If you need something for an embedded router or accesspoint we recommend using [[http://openwrt.org|OpenWRT]], though of course you can also use the original firmware. Using the original firmware is easier, using OpenWRT gives you more choices and control. Check the OpenWRT webpages for a list of [[http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware|supported hardware]].
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If you are looking for a i386 based solution, we recommend [http://www.ipcop.org IPCop] or [http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw floppyfw].
If you need something for an embedded router we recommend [http://openwrt.org OpenWRT], check here for [http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware supported hardware].
If you are into BSD unix, [http://www.pfsense.org/ pfsense] and [http://m0n0.ch/wall/ m0n0wall] are good choices. Though since they are BSD based, we think they are better suited for more experienced administrators.
It is possible to use a different network setup, this is the [[http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ChangeIpSubnet|documented procedure]] to do this. If you are not forced to do this by an existing network infrastructure, we recommend against doing so and recommend you stay with the default [[DebianEdu/Documentation/Etch/Architecture|network architecture]].
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It's possible to use a different network setup, this is the [http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ChangeIpSubnet documented procedure] to do this. If you are not forced to do this by an existing network infrastructure, we recommend against doing so and recommend you stay with the default [:DebianEdu/Documentation/Etch/Architecture:network architecture]. CategoryPermalink

Requirements

There are different ways of set up a Skolelinux solution. It can be installed on just one standalone PC or a regional wide solution at many schools operated centrally. This variety of configurations makes a huge difference on how things are set up regarding network components, servers and client machines.

Hardware requirements

  • the computers running Debian Edu / Skolelinux must have either i386, amd64 or powerpc processors.
    • On powerpc, the installation media will only boot on machines of the newworld sub-architecture, which are the systems from apple with a translucent case
  • thin client (LTSP) servers need two network cards when using the default network architecture:
    • eth0 connected to the main network (10.0.2.0/23)
    • eth1 (192.168.0.0/24) serving the thin-clients
  • disk space requirements depend on profiles used, but any disk from 8 GiB will be sufficient. As usual, the bigger the better.
  • for the thin clients 32 MB RAM and 133 MHz is recommended as minimum. Swap is required
  • for workstations or standalone PCs 450 MHz, 256 MiB RAM and 8 GiB disc space are recommended minimum requirements
  • for diskless workstations (also known as stateless workstations, lowfat clients or half-thick clients) 256 MB RAM and 800 MHz or more is recommended minimum requirements. Swapping over the network is automatically enabled, the swap size is 32mb, if you need more you can tune this by editing /etc/ltsp/nbdswapd.conf on tjener to set the SIZE variable.
  • for Laptops 256 MB RAM and 450 MHz are minimum requirements

Hardware known to work

A list of tested hardware is provided from http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Hardware/ . This list is not nearly complete :)

Requirements for a network setup

  • a router/gateway (IP 10.0.2.1) providing access to the internet (when using the default network architecture)
  • for the main server (10.0.2.2): this is the one single computer in the network which get's the tjener-profile installed

  • workstation(s) and/or thin client (LTSP) server(s)
  • thin clients clients

Internet router

A router/gateway, connected to the internet on the external interface and running on the IP address 10.0.2.1 on the internal interface, is needed to connect to the internet.

The router should not run a DHCP server, it can run a DNS server, though this is not needed and will not be used. (If the router runs a DHCP server you must disable the DHCP server on the main server and you will loose some features and certain documented procedures will work differently. So better disable the DHCP server on the router.)

If you are looking for a i386 based solution (so that you can reuse an old PC), we recommend IPCop or floppyfw.

If you need something for an embedded router or accesspoint we recommend using OpenWRT, though of course you can also use the original firmware. Using the original firmware is easier, using OpenWRT gives you more choices and control. Check the OpenWRT webpages for a list of supported hardware.

It is possible to use a different network setup, this is the documented procedure to do this. If you are not forced to do this by an existing network infrastructure, we recommend against doing so and recommend you stay with the default network architecture.

CategoryPermalink