<div dir="ltr">Recommend: lockable, secure case, with built-in securement loops that could attach to a bike chain or cable.<br><br>--HH.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:37 PM, John Watlington <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wad@laptop.org">wad@laptop.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>
Sameer,<br>
We currently do not recommend that an AA be used in schools.<br>
Scalability with AAs is a problem, due to problems with the mesh<br>
protocols. Hence my comment about likely needing an external<br>
USB/network interface for the upstream connection.<br>
<br>
This might make the physical security problem easier to solve,<br>
as now the server can be located anywhere in the school, and<br>
only the AP needs to be positioned for optimum wireless coverage.<br>
<br>
wad<br>
<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
On Oct 8, 2008, at 1:23 PM, Sameer Verma wrote:<br>
<br>
> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 8:42 PM, John Watlington <<a href="mailto:wad@laptop.org">wad@laptop.org</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>> Actually, Walter, we still hold hope for XOs as school servers<br>
>> for very small schools. The problem with this is insufficient<br>
>> memory and insufficient disk space. While an external disk<br>
>> may alleviate the second problem, it has poor reliability and<br>
>> is a very attractive item for theft.<br>
>><br>
>> But there is nothing stopping a regular laptop from serving<br>
>> as a school server. An external network interface may be<br>
>> needed for the upstream connection.<br>
>><br>
>> wad<br>
>><br>
><br>
> We do have a laptop (Fujitsu P2120@ approx. 900MHz Crusoe + 384 MB<br>
> RAM) that works as a school server (XS 0.4) for OLPC-SF meetings, but<br>
> it doesn't see more than 20~30 laptops via one AA, so scalability<br>
> isn't something we've tested on it. Of course, if the laptop were more<br>
> powerful and had more RAM, it should scale up.<br>
><br>
> A couple of people at OLPC-SF have suggested alternatives like the one<br>
> I mentioned for places that can afford to have a lot of bandwidth<br>
> dropped in (donated) by a provider. I just wanted to ping the list and<br>
> see if anyone else has thought along this route. If/when anything<br>
> develops on our end, I'll post it here.<br>
><br>
> cheers,<br>
> Sameer<br>
> --<br>
> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.<br>
> Associate Professor of Information Systems<br>
> San Francisco State University<br>
> San Francisco CA 94132 USA<br>
> <a href="http://verma.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://verma.sfsu.edu/</a><br>
> <a href="http://opensource.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://opensource.sfsu.edu/</a><br>
><br>
>> On Oct 7, 2008, at 11:25 PM, Walter Bender wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> Clarification: the XO is not the laptop I am proposing for the<br>
>>> server.<br>
>>> Wad can speak to this.<br>
>>><br>
>>> -walter<br>
>>><br>
>>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 11:24 PM, Walter Bender<br>
>>> <<a href="mailto:walter.bender@gmail.com">walter.bender@gmail.com</a>><br>
>>> wrote:<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> One idealet (not worthy of being called an idea): What if the<br>
>>>> server<br>
>>>> were a laptop that the teacher could take with him/her? Pros: The<br>
>>>> school need not be secure. Cons: Price, and of course, laptops<br>
>>>> can be<br>
>>>> stolen. But it does put the server in the hands of a presumably<br>
>>>> trusted individual in the community.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> -walter<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 11:20 PM, Sameer Verma <<a href="mailto:sverma@sfsu.edu">sverma@sfsu.edu</a>><br>
>>>> wrote:<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 8:00 PM, John Watlington<br>
>>>>> <<a href="mailto:wad@laptop.org">wad@laptop.org</a>> wrote:<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> You keep pushing for centrally hosted school servers.<br>
>>>>>> Are you sure you don't work for the phone company ?<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> Last time I checked, San Francisco State University wasn't in the<br>
>>>>> telco business.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>>> Again, unless you have a 100 Mbit connection from the<br>
>>>>>> school to the upstream ISP, you will need something with<br>
>>>>>> a disk and a significant amount of memory present in the<br>
>>>>>> school.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> OK.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>>> I don't disagree about the need for physical security of<br>
>>>>>> the machine, just the proposed solution.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> OK. Any other solutions? I'm all ears.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> Sameer<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>>> wad<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> On Oct 7, 2008, at 10:47 PM, Sameer Verma wrote:<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> As if discussions on this list aren't lively enough, here's<br>
>>>>>>> another<br>
>>>>>>> issue to look at.<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> While I was in Jamaica, I met with several people who work<br>
>>>>>>> with their<br>
>>>>>>> school districts, and many pointed out that if a server was<br>
>>>>>>> to stay<br>
>>>>>>> physically resident at the school, it will need a lot of<br>
>>>>>>> physical<br>
>>>>>>> security. The most common problem is theft. The other problem<br>
>>>>>>> will be<br>
>>>>>>> physical damage (just because somebody can). It is not<br>
>>>>>>> uncommon in<br>
>>>>>>> some of these<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> If the school server is hosted at an ISP upstream, we need<br>
>>>>>>> something<br>
>>>>>>> small (maybe an XO?) at the school that can VLAN or VPN over<br>
>>>>>>> to the<br>
>>>>>>> school server at the ISP/Data Center.<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> Any ideas?<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> cheers,<br>
>>>>>>> Sameer<br>
>>>>>>> --<br>
>>>>>>> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.<br>
>>>>>>> Associate Professor of Information Systems<br>
>>>>>>> San Francisco State University<br>
>>>>>>> San Francisco CA 94132 USA<br>
>>>>>>> <a href="http://verma.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://verma.sfsu.edu/</a><br>
>>>>>>> <a href="http://opensource.sfsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://opensource.sfsu.edu/</a><br>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________<br>
>>>>>>> Server-devel mailing list<br>
>>>>>>> <a href="mailto:Server-devel@lists.laptop.org">Server-devel@lists.laptop.org</a><br>
>>>>>>> <a href="http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel" target="_blank">http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel</a><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> _______________________________________________<br>
>>>>> Server-devel mailing list<br>
>>>>> <a href="mailto:Server-devel@lists.laptop.org">Server-devel@lists.laptop.org</a><br>
>>>>> <a href="http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel" target="_blank">http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel</a><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>><br>
>>>><br>
>>>><br>
>>>> --<br>
>>>> Walter Bender<br>
>>>> Sugar Labs<br>
>>>> <a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank">http://www.sugarlabs.org</a><br>
>>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> --<br>
>>> Walter Bender<br>
>>> Sugar Labs<br>
>>> <a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank">http://www.sugarlabs.org</a><br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>"Information wants to be free, and code wants to be wrong." --Steve Gibson, Security Now! #141, April 24, 2008<br>
</div>