[Server-devel] Nepal project plan and requirements updated

[Greg Smith (gregmsmi)]

Hi John, Bryan and Tony,

Thanks for the feedback! I'm batching up a reply to all in one e-mail.

On - 
JW> Yes.  We are hoping to get one including some critical new services
(activation and update) out in the next week.

Let us know when people should start testing the new XS image. 
Do you any info on planned changes or should we just read the diffs in
the GIT tree (http://dev.laptop.org/git)?

On -
JW> The network is the biggest headache right now.  Are you planning to
deploy in any schools larger than 150 students ?

Yes the Nepal deployment is > 150 (see Bryan's reply). Plan is for 2
school servers if that helps. Is there some way we can isolate the Xos
to create two smaller and presumably more stable Meshes? If we go with a
DHCP Manual MAC - IP assignment we can probably attach Xos to a given XS
at L3 via default gateway and routes but I'm not familiar with how the
Mesh builds adjacencies to segment or if it can be segmented in to two
Meshes. Any doc links appreciated.

Also, how can we get an active antenna ASAP? I think Tony requested one
but if there's somewhere I can buy with a credit card, I'm happy to do
that.

Network reliability has already been flagged as a concern by the Nepal
team. I think we should have a "safe mode" which is essentially offline
from XS but with XO mesh (or not?) and pre-loaded activities. Please
comment on any known Mesh issues or suggest a query on the bug database
if you want us to look it up.

On -
JW> Focus on one of the first two.   I'm curious what you mean by
"BitFrost", cause the BitFrost document didn't really extend past the
laptop.   The current ID scheme (described in earlier mail to Martin) IS
the BitFrost ID scheme.

My fault for not RTFM on Bitfrost. I used it imprecisely to refer to a
user identity scheme overall. I saw your very helpful note to Martin. I
leave it to him to decide if that will allow Moodle to track identity
and therefore enable groups.

On -
TP>
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/InsideSystemStorage?entry=u
nderstanding_lamp_platform_for_web
Tony you do great work! Plus your blog is a lot better written and
formatted than my Wiki posts :-)

On - 
BB> # 1 thing is backup and reliability

Thanks for the direction! My next effort will be to comment on the
reliability write up at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Nepal:Redundancy
following the heuristics defined. We also need to hear what's coming in
the next XS build and then decide if that covers backup or you need some
other solution.

On - 
BB> #2 Students need to be able to be able to "archive" their files to
the server once they run out of local space, or at least able to browse
the regular backup of their files to the server. This could conceivably
be done using Moodle.

What is the planned deployment build on the XO? I believe G1G1
production laptops crash when the HD fills up so we should watch for
that.

Aside from that, your description is different than what I expected. I
thought the XS would only backup the Xos so they could be restored when
they fail. I didn't envision the XO browsing files on the XS. Are you
sure you need that? In phase 1? I can see users posting content to
Moodle or a web site. Making an XS directory visible in the XO journal
(e.g. via NFS mount) seems hard. I don't even think there is a GUI to
browse files (aside from the journal on the XO itself. One could be
installed via Yum but that's a whole new paradigm outside Sugar.

On - 
BB>#3 Moodle
I think Martin is driving this area. Let me know how I can help. One
really useful thing would be to see an example Nepal style Moodle site
accessible via the Internet. May be a hack target but that will help you
harden it...

Nepal team - here are a few questions, suggestions and decisions needed:
1 - Need to decide ASAP if we will deploy the new XS image or the
current one.

2 - I suggest that people try upgrading their XS to the latest image and
take notes on how its done. Even if we deploy OLPC_XS_150.iso it helps
to have docs on to re-image. We want to know what Nepal or user specific
content can be preserved. We may also want to upgrade modules one at a
time. Does anyone know of docs or best practices on upgrading whole
boxes or by components for LAMP servers?

3 - Need closure on SSO. Pending Martin's comments on the applicability
of the existing paradigm, you should pick a solution. Sounds like John W
suggests no user tracking or possibly one of the work arounds. 
See item 3 at: 
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Nepal:School_Server_Specification#Other_Requir
ements 

If it's a workaround we better clarify which right away. I'm not
convinced Sulochan's client side HTML trick will really solve the
problem but maybe Martin can comment.
 
4 - Based on SSO decision you need to confirm what kind of Moodle
interface and services will be in phase 1.

5 - One question on the school network. Will all traffic pass from XO to
XS to DSL line? If the Xos can get to the DSL line directly (e.g.
wireless AP) that's a big difference. I think all traffic should go
through XS but would like comments from John and like to hear what you
plan.

Sorry for the long post, and HTHs.

For anyone else on the list, we could use more people willing to build
an XS server and test out the Nepal design. See Tony's blog for step by
step instructions and let me know if you can help. If we provide solid
support to launch this pilot, we can build trust and get lots of great
feedback from a real school... 

Have a great weekend!

Thanks,

Greg S