Thin Clients With Edubuntu

When we received our first server, we planned on creating an ltsp server with Ubuntu, and have 4-5 thin clients. We followed instructions that were on the internet, but we could not get it working on the first try. The second server came, and we had a chance to split up and see if we could get something to work. I did some more research and found Edubuntu came built-in with ltsp–all I had to do was install it and it would already be set up as a server. I set it up using these instructions. As soon as it finished installing, I decided to see if it worked without doing anything else. Using a network switch, I connected a computer without a hard drive but built-in network booting support, and my new server. I turned on the new thin client, and…it worked perfectly. I moved all the computers Mr.Birchall gave us to the other side of the lab, Rudder North. I was able to set up four thin clients and they are all on the switch, but not the internet, and they are all working perfectly it seems. My goal for tomorrow is to test to see if there are any problems, and then work on setting up users and all the packages we need. When looking at desktop Ubuntu flavors, I had dismissed Edubuntu because it was Ubuntu, just with childlike icons. However, I was impressed by its ease of use in setting up an ltsp server and thin clients, and the icons aren’t that bad. So I will also work on the icons, and see if I can get the more generic Ubuntu feel.     

Imation Pivot Flash Drive

Mr. Birchall came in yesterday and handed us a 1GB Imation Pivot flash drive to test. I liked the outside of the flash drive because the USB portion folds into the flash drive, and it has a nice rubber and texture feel. I also happen to have a Lexar Lightning which is a very shiny piece of metal, and I prefer using a flash drive like this one. It has the standard light telling you data is being written, and also a write protection switch. The switch is very small and somewhat more difficult to reach, making it harder to accidentally set it off. However, the greatest feature is the built-in 256 bit protection. It is very easy to set up, and fairly easy to use. It uses hidden wrapper files to encrypt and hide your data. Therefore, even if you just delete the application, the files would still be there (you would need to format to get rid of everything). In addition, if you delete an encrypted file, you have to tell the program to also reclaim the space that was used for the wrapper. Which leads in to its versatility; unlike the old Kingston DataTraveler Elite we have been using, you do not have to set up a dedicated partition. You use just much as you need. In addition, it is faster to access than the Kingston, where the logon and logout could take a while. The flash drive is dependable, the outside is durable and I tested the integrity by unsafely removing it, even while it was writing files, many times. Windows Vista recognizes that it was unsafely removed after I reinsert the drive, however, it finds no errors. One thing that the Kingston has on the Imation is speed, as published below using SiSoft Sandra XI. However, transferring Word documents is instantaneous in both, and large music files that are 30MB doesn’t take that much longer with the Imation. You may notice an increase when transferring a 900MB file, but a student would not really need to do that often, and even so, it will take a while with both drives. One other IT issue, using non-admin with the Kingston, is not present with the Imation. I like the Imation Pivot, even more than the Kingston, and can highly recommend this flash drive. Go to the jump for benchmarks and screenshots with explanations.