setting up a computer lab

[Michael]

I have a private school customer who plans to open up a new school and wants
to include a computer lab for the students. He wants 10 students to be able
to use the lab at one time. Can I save him some money by purchasing only two
or three new computers but enough keyboards, mice and monitors for 10 people
and connecting them all via KDVM switches? Or will XP not multitask in the
sense of being a multiuser OS? The kids are young, pre-school to third
grade, so the apps in use will be mostly games (arcade, educational, etc.).
This is like the old dumb terminal setup I suppose. It makes a lot of sense,
both for $$ savings and for having less sheet metal cluttering up the space.

Is there another, better way to do this?

The other problem they have is scratched, broken or lost cd's for games and
other apps. We've tried a cd emulator but have limited success. I wish cd
drives still used caddies to protect the disks.

 

[GwD]

A KVM switch only selects one monitor and keyboard at a time. So if you only
have 2 or 3 computers then only 2 or 3 students would be able to use the
computers at one time.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Check with Dell for academic sales, they can help you with
all issues from planning, layout and setup. They have
refurbished computers, you don't need 3.06 GHz P4s for grade
school kids. www.dell.com



| A KVM switch only selects one monitor and keyboard at a
time. So if you only
| have 2 or 3 computers then only 2 or 3 students would be
able to use the
| computers at one time.
|
|
|
| | > I have a private school customer who plans to open up a
new school and
| wants
| > to include a computer lab for the students. He wants 10
students to be
| able
| > to use the lab at one time. Can I save him some money by
purchasing only
| two
| > or three new computers but enough keyboards, mice and
monitors for 10
| people
| > and connecting them all via KDVM switches? Or will XP
not multitask in the
| > sense of being a multiuser OS? The kids are young,
pre-school to third
| > grade, so the apps in use will be mostly games (arcade,
educational,
| etc.).
| > This is like the old dumb terminal setup I suppose. It
makes a lot of
| sense,
| > both for $$ savings and for having less sheet metal
cluttering up the
| space.
| >
| > Is there another, better way to do this?
| >
| > The other problem they have is scratched, broken or lost
cd's for games
| and
| > other apps. We've tried a cd emulator but have limited
success. I wish cd
| > drives still used caddies to protect the disks.
| >
| >
| > ---
| > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
| > Checked by AVG anti-virus system
(http://www.grisoft.com).
| > Version: 6.0.706 / Virus Database: 462 - Release Date:
6/14/2004
| >
| >
|
|

 

[Gerry Voras]

You may want to look into the concept of terminal computing. In Windows, it
is often cheaper to just get the licenses and hardware you need. But if
you're really cheap you can often build a full computer lab with 1 decent
server and a bunch of crappy 486 terminals for a few hundred bucks., Try
looking at http://www.k12ltsp.org/

 

[William Kendrick]

I have a private school customer who plans to open up a new school and wants
to include a computer lab for the students. He wants 10 students to be able
to use the lab at one time. Can I save him some money by purchasing only two
or three new computers but enough keyboards, mice and monitors for 10 people
and connecting them all via KDVM switches?

You may want to consider setting up a Linux Terminal Server Project server
and some thin clients.

http://k12ltsp.org/contents.html

Good luck!

-bill!
(e-mail address removed) C is like an industrial strength
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/ nail gun; if wielded improperly,
New Breed Software it can cause untold carnage.