Re: [gentoo-user] Multiseat -- LTSP?

[Mick]

On Sunday 29 Jan 2012 23:29:37 Grant wrote:
> >> I'd like to have multiple users working from separate monitors,
> >> keyboards, and mice, but all connected to a single Gentoo computer.
> >> The main purpose is to minimize sys admin duties but hardware and
> >> power requirements would also be minimized.
> >>
> >> Apparently this is called "multiseat" and native support in Xorg might
> >> not be ready for primetime:
> >>
> >> http://wiki.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/Multiseat
> >> http://vignatti.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/multiseat-roadmap
> >>
> >> There is a configuration tool for Xorg multiseat called MDM:
> >>
> >> http://wiki.c3sl.ufpr.br/multiseat/index.php/Mdm
> >>
> >> but from what I've read it isn't ideal.  Besides Xorg multiseat I've
> >> read about LTSP and a few others:
> >>
> >> http://www.ltsp.org
> >> http://www.thinstation.org
> >> http://automseat.sourceforge.net
> >> http://www.openthinclient.org
> >>
> >> There are also a lot of proprietary options.  Is LTSP the way to go?
> >
> > It may be, but as with all thin client models you would need a terminal
> > computer for each user.
> >
> > If you only have one machine and monitors, keyboards and mice for each
> > user then you'll need multiple video cards (and a strong power supply)
> > for your only PC.  In this case something like
> > http://automseat.sourceforge.net may be more appropriate.  However, I
> > have not used anything like this set up to offer an opinion on
> > performance.
> >
> > At work we use thin clients running Debian to serve MSWindows server
> > desktop and apps to users.  This setup uses the Citrix ica protocol, but
> > I'm thinking that FreeNX coupled with VNC or relevant KDE or Gnome
> > remote desktop implementation would probably work nicely and offer LAN
> > and remote connection security at the same time.
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Mick
>
> If I throw out installing a separate OS on a separate machine for each
> workstation and all of the proprietary thin-client protocols, I think
> I have 3 options:
>
> 1. Connect monitors, USB keyboards, and USB mice directly to a server
> with multiple video cards.  I found a motherboard with 6 PCI-E slots:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128508
>
> 6 video cards could be installed for 6 workstations if the server goes
> headless, and even more if multi-headed video cards are used.  Xorg
> requires some special configuration for this but this discussion from
> 2010 sounds like it's something that is actually done:
>
> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-836950-start-0.html
>
> These guys got it working in 2006:
>
> http://www.linuxgazette.net/124/smith.html
>
> 2. Set up a separate thin client for each workstation and run LTSP on
> the server.  This seems inferior to #1 because it requires setting up
> and maintaining the LTSP server and client configuration, NFS, xinetd,
> tftp, dnsmasq, and PXE-boot.  Bandwidth would also be limited compared
> to #1 and hardware and power requirements would be much greater.
>
> 3. Run a Plugable thin client for each workstation:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PXPPNA
>
> This likely requires running "Userful Multiseat Linux" on my server
> which is only packaged up for Ubuntu.  The Plugable thin client
> connects to the server via USB 2.0 which makes me wonder if it could
> be made to work without Userful Multiseat Linux as a USB video card
> and input devices, but I imagine drivers for the video card and
> bandwidth over USB could be a problem.
>
> I think #1 is the way to go but I'd love to hear anyone else's opinion
> on that.  Has anyone here ever set up multiseat in Xorg?

Can you rely on Xorg devs to ensure that they are not going to break your 
multiseat system in the future?

Are you sure that you will come across bandwidth issues if you follow option 
#2?  On a gigabit network at work we're running thousands of thin clients 
distributed across hundreds of VM servers, and there is no noticeable latency 
(unless a particular VM MSWindows server plays up).

I understand that managing multiple boxen is always a greater burden, but 
something like GNAP may lighten the work needed?

  http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/embedded/gnap-userguide.xml

Unfortunately I do not have experience of all the above setups to advice.
-- 
Regards,
Mick