School server: Difference between revisions

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(Removed strongly opinionated statements arguing against a school server)
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When we deploy one laptop per child, we must also deploy the infrastructure necessary to make
When we deploy one laptop per child, we must also provide the infrastructure necessary to make
these laptops useful.
these laptops useful. These laptops were never meant to be complete self-sufficient, instead
they require periodic connectivity to centralized services and shared resources.


A central component of this infrastructure are services supplied by a local school server.
:Not true. That is the job of the national ministry of education.
These are persistent services required by OLPC laptops which, while conceivably implementable in a

fully distributed manner, are more economically provided by a centralized local resource.
The central component of this infrastructure is a school server.

:Not true. The central component is educational content. The second most important infrastructure component is teacher training. The 3rd most important is technical support and repair services. Servers are never needed. They may be desired by some people, but they are not an essential component. Any OLPC laptop can serve up its content, either activity bundles or e-books. Add a thumb drive or USB CD reader to any laptop and you have a server.


The functions provided by this server are open to debate, but at a minimum it provides internet communication and storage resources to the school's wireless mesh.
The functions provided by this server are open to debate, but at a minimum it provides internet communication and storage resources to the school's wireless mesh.
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*[[XS_Server_Services|Server Services]] described the services supported by the School Server
*[[XS_Server_Services|Server Services]] described the services supported by the School Server
*[[XS_Server_Discussion|Server Discussion]] describes services and enhancements possibly supported by the School Server
*[[XS_Server_Discussion|Server Discussion]] describes services and enhancements possibly supported by the School Server



[[Category:Hardware ideas]]
[[Category:Hardware ideas]]

Revision as of 19:36, 1 February 2007

When we deploy one laptop per child, we must also provide the infrastructure necessary to make these laptops useful. These laptops were never meant to be complete self-sufficient, instead they require periodic connectivity to centralized services and shared resources.

A central component of this infrastructure are services supplied by a local school server. These are persistent services required by OLPC laptops which, while conceivably implementable in a fully distributed manner, are more economically provided by a centralized local resource.

The functions provided by this server are open to debate, but at a minimum it provides internet communication and storage resources to the school's wireless mesh.

A single school server is designed to support between thirty and sixty students. An open area of discussion is how several of these are combined to support larger schools.

Currently, the School server is described by these documents: