[Cialug] Iowa Public Schools - Linux Terminal Server
Dan Sloan
cialug@cialug.org
Fri, 08 Apr 2005 15:13:50 -0500
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Alan,
You don't say what size school you're coming from.
In my experience, most smaller schools do not have a dedicated IT specialist
on staff. They have a teacher that has developed IT skills and is
supporting the school infrastructure in addition to their normal teaching
load. In most cases, the schools will hire an outside consultant for the
initial setup and basic admin training, then call in the consultant again
when things get out of hand. I've seen some schools establish revolving
accounts with their consultant for periodic maintenance, and others pool
their resources with adjoining school districts and hire a part time
dedicated tech. (Full time amongst the school districts) I've also seen the
supporting AEA do the hiring/qualifying of the shared tech, and the school
districts pay in for a percentage of the tech's time.
In medium size schools, (graduating class size of approx 100-150) Its not
unusual to see a dedicated tech for the school system, with a several
trained high school kids gaining valuable experience setting up web pages,
troubleshooting and setting up computer labs, and sometimes troubleshooting
staff/teacher systems as well. The medium size schools usually have a
dedicated IT budget, which normally includes some outside consulting for the
"hard stuff"
In larger schools...they typically have all the in-house tech support they
need between the dedicated IT team, and the high school kids, (some of which
are involved in Cisco, RedHat, and/or Microsoft certification programs)
About the only time they call in a consultant, is when they're doing major
changes of infrastructure.
Your initial questions:
1. What would it cost approximately, to hire a person who could setup and
administer Linux in a School District? The person would need to know how
to integrate Linux with existing Apple and Microsoft networks, and how to
build a terminal server such as the one outlined in the article.
For an outside consultant: anywhere from $90/hr to $130/hr depending on
vendor and skill set.
For a full time staff member: new tech: $24K, experienced tech: $35K and up
2. Does anyone believe it would be more cost effective to use Linux in
place of Apple or Microsoft in the K12 environment? Reasoning that the
school district probably already has a staff trained to use and administer
an existing infrastructure of previously licensed Apple or Microsoft
products. Also, would cost more to hire someone versed not only in Apple or
Microsoft, or both, but now with the addition of Linux skills.
Cost effectiveness largely depends on how you're using it. Most educational
software K-6 is for Windows or Macintosh. Word processing, spreadsheet
work, and database work can be done on any platform. Most techs well versed
in Apple are now familiar with OSX...its a hop skip and a jump away from
Linux. The fun part is tying it all together in some sort of unified
login...From my perspective, the absolute easiest way these days (read that
as needing the least amount of specialized knowledge) is probably with an
OSX server. You get the Macs on a central login, as well as providing Samba
services (and centralized login) to the Win clients. You also might look
at what your antivirus solution is costing you. Symantec's warnings
non-withstanding...there has yet to be a virus released for the current
Macintosh operating system. (and I work in an almost exclusively Windows
shop) Spyware is another fun thing that I have yet to see on a Mac. (or
Linux for that matter) You would not believe how much time I lose to
Spyware infestations. In my environment, we use Citrix and terminals to
convey a windows environment in our labs. With a useful life span of 6
years, the terminals should be a good investment. On the other hand, my
servers take a huge hit when everyone is trying to compile a program. They
scarcely notice the logins during a word processing session.
All of my questions were generated from a discussion I overhead at a school
board meeting about a current dilemma they were experiencing with IT in
their district. The main topic was developing a network administration
environment that allowed one person to remotely administer the entire
network from a central location, and of course saving money while attempting
to meet the IT needs of the students.
If you're really interested in remote administration, you might consider a
Citrix environment. It builds off of the Windows Terminal Server
environment, but with clients that will run on just about any hardware
platform. You also might take a serious look at Novell systems, they're now
Linux based, but with a clear support structure and certification program.
Not to mention their central administration tools are quite good. Zenworks
is an awesome management tool, and works well in Novell, Linux, and Windows
environments. You'll still need the Apple Remote management tools however.
-- Dan Sloan
"When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a
nail"
-- Abraham Maslow
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Alan,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>You don't say what size school you're coming from.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>In my experience, most smaller schools do not have a
dedicated IT specialist on staff. They have a teacher that has
developed IT skills and is supporting the school infrastructure in addition
to their normal teaching load. In most cases, the schools will hire an
outside consultant for the initial setup and basic admin training, then call in
the consultant again when things get out of hand. I've seen some
schools establish revolving accounts with their consultant for periodic
maintenance, and others pool their resources with adjoining school
districts and hire a part time dedicated tech. (Full time amongst the school
districts) I've also seen the supporting AEA do the hiring/qualifying of
the shared tech, and the school districts pay in for a percentage of the tech's
time. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2> In medium size schools, (graduating class size of
approx 100-150) Its not unusual to see a dedicated tech for the school
system, with a several trained high school kids gaining valuable experience
setting up web pages, troubleshooting and setting up computer labs, and
sometimes troubleshooting staff/teacher systems as well. The medium size
schools usually have a dedicated IT budget, which normally includes some outside
consulting for the "hard stuff"</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>In larger schools...they typically have all the
in-house tech support they need between the dedicated IT team, and the high
school kids, (some of which are involved in Cisco, RedHat, and/or Microsoft
certification programs) About the only time they call in a consultant, is
when they're doing major changes of infrastructure.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Your initial questions:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=621221219-08042005>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">1. What would it cost
approximately, to hire a person who could setup and administer Linux in a
<st1:place w:st="on">School District</st1:place>? The person would
need to know how to integrate Linux with existing Apple and Microsoft networks,
and how to build a terminal server such as the one outlined in the
article.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><SPAN
class=621221219-08042005>For an outside consultant: anywhere from $90/hr to
$130/hr depending on vendor and skill set.</SPAN></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><SPAN
class=621221219-08042005>For a full time staff member: new tech: $24K,
experienced tech: $35K and up</SPAN></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><SPAN
class=621221219-08042005></SPAN></o:p></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">2. Does anyone believe it
would be more cost effective to use Linux in place of Apple or Microsoft in the
K12 environment? Reasoning that the school district probably already has a
staff trained to use and administer an existing infrastructure of previously
licensed Apple or Microsoft products. Also, would cost more to hire
someone versed not only in Apple or Microsoft, or both, but now with the
addition of Linux skills. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><SPAN
class=621221219-08042005><FONT color=#0000ff>Cost effectiveness largely depends
on how you're using it. Most educational software K-6 is for Windows or
Macintosh. Word processing, spreadsheet work, and database work can be
done on any platform. Most techs well versed in Apple are now familiar
with OSX...its a hop skip and a jump away from Linux. The fun part is
tying it all together in some sort of unified login...From my perspective, the
absolute easiest way these days (read that as needing the least amount
of specialized knowledge) is probably with an OSX server. You
get the Macs on a central login, as well as providing Samba services (and
centralized login) to the Win clients. You also might look at what
your antivirus solution is costing you. Symantec's warnings
non-withstanding...there has yet to be a virus released for the current
Macintosh operating system. (and I work in an almost exclusively Windows
shop) Spyware is another fun thing that I have yet to see on a Mac. (or
Linux for that matter) You would not believe how much time I lose to
Spyware infestations. In my environment, we use Citrix and terminals to
convey a windows environment in our labs. With a useful life span of 6
years, the terminals should be a good investment. On the other hand, my
servers take a huge hit when everyone is trying to compile a program. They
scarcely notice the logins during a word processing
session.</FONT></SPAN></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">All of my questions were generated
from a discussion I overhead at a school board meeting about a current dilemma
they were experiencing with IT in their district. The main topic was
developing a network administration environment that allowed one person to
remotely administer the entire network from a central location, and of course
saving money while attempting to meet the IT needs of the
students.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><SPAN
class=621221219-08042005>If you're really interested in remote administration,
you might consider a Citrix environment. It builds off of the Windows
Terminal Server environment, but with clients that will run on just about any
hardware platform. You also might take a serious look at Novell systems,
they're now Linux based, but with a clear support structure and certification
program. Not to mention their central administration tools are quite
good. Zenworks is an awesome management tool, and works well in Novell,
Linux, and Windows environments. You'll still need the Apple Remote
management tools however.</SPAN></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV><!-- Converted from text/plain format -->
<P><FONT size=2><SPAN class=621221219-08042005>-- Dan Sloan</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins
to resemble a nail"<BR> -- Abraham Maslow</FONT> </P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
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