[OLPC India] How to? School server implementation

[Andreas.Trawoeger at wgkk.at]

Hi Sulochan!

"sulochan acharya" <sulochan at gmail.com> schrieb am 01/18/2008 10:06:57 AM:

> I have some general questions regarding school server 
> implementation. I was hoping someone with development experience or 
> someone with pilot experience might have some knowledge on this 
> matter. I am working to implement the OLPC pilot program in Nepal, 
> and would really appreciate some feedback on these questions 

I haven't actually started to install a school server yet (I'm lacking the 
needed active antennas too). But I'm watching it's devolopment closely and 
can tell what I'm currently doing at our Austrian Test School.

> 1. What is the best way to publish/collaborate/save etc  with school
> server? Meaning what is the best way for kids to save, retrieve, 
> and share files  through  a school server? I know moodle is an 
> option , but is there anything  else?  Has  anyone tried  a 
> different way to do so? something like web folders maybe ? 

The easiest thing is to have a standard access point with WEP encryption 
enabled that is hooked to the Internet (I will switch to WPA encryption 
once it's supported by Sugar). I'm currently using two Linksys WRT54GL 
with 5db high gain antennas to provide wifi to a 5 floor building and it 
works pretty well.

By using a standard access point you will lose some advanced features 
(like Internet access trough the mesh), but for the start it's the easiest 
thing to do and you still can use the XO ad-hoc network for activity 
sharing between XOs.

The XO is very capable of sharing data on its own and you don't really 
need a school server to do that. Main reason for the school server are 
data backup and the possibility too offload data (otherwise the internal 
flash of the XO will be filled up soon).

Another way to do activity sharing is to set up your own Jabber Server (
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Run_your_own_jabber_server) which will be one of 
the next things I want to look into.

Or you can just use any kind of collaboration software that is web based.

> 2. Is the active antenna  the same as any wireless router working as
> an access point? I should be able to use the same networking 
> features if i use a wireless router right?

The active antenna is basically an usb wifi stick that uses the same 
Marvell chip as the XO. They are currently quite difficult to get, because 
up to my knowledge active antenna mass production hasn't started yet.

> 3. What is the range of the antenna by itself? (discarding the fact 
> that the XO's can relay) 

Wifi range always involves a lot of vodoo. If you have bad luck you are 
lucky to get 10m of coverage through a 70cm thick wall if you are really 
lucky you can get up to a kilometer (as already mentioned).

Friend of mine have a wifi usb stick on top of the mast of there sailing 
boat (connected through an usb extension cable) and they usally have a 
connectivity range of a couple of hundret meters.


cu andreas