RE: [vox] Servers vs Workstations /VNC (was Re: Good LUG HOW-TO by Rick Moen)

["Steven Peck" <speck@blkmtn.orMAPSg>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Moen
> The point of VNC and kin, as opposed to KVMs and such, is to 
> be able to 
> not have to switch back and forth between different 
> envvironments on different switch positions, but rather be 
> able to stay in your single desktop environment of choice, 
> and be able to have _within_ it sessions that are running on 
> other machines talking to their native programming interface 
> on the machines where they're running.

I'm betting that you have a big monitor.  :)  At work, I actually do a
substanstial amount of remote management.  I view it as a problem if I
have to walk to the server room, unless I am pulling backup tapes or
such).
> 
> Dual-booting has the same problem as KVMs, only much worse:  
> You don't 
> get a chance to leverage the primate advantages of an *ix 
> environment of being able to support long-lived processes 
> (becuase of reboots) and the presence of pervasive network 
> capability (because of using only a single host).
> 
Dual booting is a serious interuption in that if you are learning, the
boot process gets in the way and as such, you tend to slowly drift into
one environment (generally Windows).

> And I've found that a lot of people never would have thought 
> of running more than one computer:  They think LANs are 
> exotic, that every additional machine means more desk space 
> taken up by an extra monitor/keyboard/mouse set, and that 
> extra computers are too expensive. And, in the MS-Windows 
> world, all of these things are right.  But I'm always at some 
> pains to tell them that _all_ of them becoome obsolete 
> assumptions when one enters the *ix world.  And that they'll 
> get a lot more mileage out of *ix after adjusting their assumptions.

As a result of being a Systems Engineer/Server Admin in the Windows
world, my personal systems upgrade path has been rather steady (PC Games
:).  As a result, I pass down systems to family members, etc but I
generally get back their old systems, so I end up with a few 486-P266's
with misc other parts.  Now, the 486's are for routers generally
(www.leaf-project.org Dachenstein version) that get distributed back out
to other family members and friends and the others will be divided
between test systems for learning (Windows/*nix) and 'production'
systems that I 'don't break because other people rely on them'.  I also
need to setup a system (thinking E-Smith) for a Conservancy that I
support so they can have a dedicated file server, Internet gateway,
central backup point.  But I need to be more familiar with it as it is a
4 hour drive for support calls.  :(

> 
> > The problem is monitors.  So, a KVM switch solves some problems and 
> > remote management of servers the other.
> 
> Indeed, except that, with VNC and similar, you also get a 
> greater continuity of computing experience.

Hrmmm.... Well, remote is remote, though I see your point in that you
are in one initial envirnment.

> (The notion of machines being neatly dedicated to being 
> "servers" is one of the other troublesome assumptions one 
> loses over time.  In my house, if it has a CPU in it, it's 
> probably a server for some things and a client for others.)
 
I prefer my data be centrally stored on systems that get backed up
periodically and NOT messed with, as a result I tend to dedicate that
system as a server.  File serving does NOT need a lot of proccessing
power on a small LAN.  When I get the DSL setup right again, I will have
a system or two on a DMZ that will also be 'servers'  Dedicated to
mail/web/database etc.

Internally, I'm looking at a system to build out the 'Linux Terminal
Server' project stuff on.  I have a hope to get that visitor's system
setup and for general stuff, it would be cool just to do it.  Time,
time, all I need is a little time........ :)

> -- 
> Cheers,                              "Azathoth need not be 
> present to win."
> Rick Moen                                       -- Charles O. 
> Baucum, Jr.


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