[X2go-dev] Larger-scale X2GO installations - experience?

[Paul van der Vlis]

sm8ps-x2go1 at yahoo.com schreef:
> Dear all,
> 
> I have been looking for a suitable set-up for our high school (Swiss Gymnasium, grades 10 through 13, 400 students, 60 teachers) that would allow our students to use their own netbook/laptop in class as well as at home. Conditions are:
> 1. no technical support for users' computers (therefore no installing  individual applications, no passing out images etc.)
> 2. must work on computers in any state, even with broken OS, browser whatever (so must allow terminal server solution as fall-back)
> 3. plattform independent (win/mac/linux and independent of individual computer models)
> 4. must work over WLAN
> 5. should be available on- as well as off-site
> 
> A couple of years ago I started looking more closely into LTSP and I have set up a test lab that works just fine. Though, the local nature of that makes it less suitable to our needs. Clearly, I have studied NX and now I have followed the development of X2GO more or less closely. I feel that X2GO is the perfect candidate and I want to set up a larger-scale test network. Before doing so, however, I would like to hear other people's experience with such set-ups.
> 
> I have compiled a preliminary list of questions (s.b.). If you have any experience with larger scale X2GO set-ups, I would really appreciate your input and I think others might be interested as well. Thanks a lot for sharing your expertise! If you would like to communicate in German or French, I can cope with both.

I have only experience with small scale setups. I will answer only some
questions.

> Cheers!
> St. Müller, Switzerland
> 
> QUESTIONS (yes/no, experience?)
> 1) Local OS:
> a) Copy/Paste from/to local OS

Works fine.

> b) Accessing local file systems
> c) Support of local USB devices
> d) Sound
> e) Printing on local printer
> f) Printing on local network printer / on remote network printer
> 2) Set-Up, Administration:
> a) number of server / user (50, 100, 150
> concurrent sessions)
> b) Load Balancing, Cluster
> c) Manageability of several parallel servers in administration
> d) Band with
> 
> e)  Multimedia (Flash)

Little flash animations are no problem, but bigger flash like films are
too slow. Flash can make a user-session very slow, when people call me
about a slow desktop I ask them to close all browser windows. In most
cases it was flash and the problem is gone then.

> f) Compatibility with Terminal Server
> (LTSP) on same server or is X2GO usable also as directly as terminal server?

I expect you can use LTSP and X2go on the same server, but X2go is
really different. X2go is usuable directly without LTSP.

X2go works trough SSH and don't uses a display manager (e.g. GDM).

I will advise you to install and try it. You can make a one-node
installation in about 10 minutes:
http://www.x2go.org/fileadmin/doc/installation_x2go_debian_en.html
A one-node installation is not what you want, but you will learn a lot
about how X2go works and it's very easy to install.

You could use a live-CD to test it, e.g.:
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/i386/iso-cd/debian-live-504-i386-gnome-desktop.iso

> g) Mounting homes from data server
> h) Compatibility with administration servers (LDAP, ADS etc.)
> i) Acess protection, security

With regards,
Paul van der Vlis.




-- 
http://www.vandervlis.nl/