fafster Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Has anyone done this, or is thinking about doing this? The vast majority of work done by the kids is word processing etc. and some Flash applications. In an effort to keep costs down (both hardware and electricity) I'm considering the viability of the Atom platform. The dual-core 330 seems like it would be able to cope pretty well....
CyberNerd Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 We have 80+ Atom N270 motherboards running as thinclients. We tested them running XP and ubuntu and had no problems with either. We decided upon atom boards because they offer increased flexibility over dedicated thin clients. 1
BatchFile Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Yup, planning to use a load (25 or so) of these Arianet Low Power Intel Atom Mini PC System - Aria PC in the library and maths rooms - for internet and office they should be fine. 1
3s-gtech Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Currently looking at this for one of our main suites - trying to get as much power as possible on tap for the platform though! I'm looking at Asus Eeebox B204 and Acer Aspire Revo models, but want to wait for the dual core B208 - comes with dedicated graphics so hopefully should have enough power for our needs.
fafster Posted May 12, 2009 Author Posted May 12, 2009 Yup, planning to use a load (25 or so) of these Arianet Low Power Intel Atom Mini PC System - Aria PC in the library and maths rooms - for internet and office they should be fine. Check out similar systems on Novatech and CCL. They come in slightly smaller cases so look a bit nicer. At the moment I'm putting together some systems for the technology department, too. They do work with some pretty large documents, so I'm not too sure about giving them Atom systems.
cookie_monster Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 I've noticed Stone computers offering something similar, Atom 270, 1G RAM and 160Gb HD. This is the same spec as my NC10 which is running Windows 7 and Office 2003/OO3 very well so i've been thinking about them. The units mount on the back of a 17" monitor and look very tidy, all for around £329 I think.
BatchFile Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) At the moment I'm putting together some systems for the technology department, too. They do work with some pretty large documents, so I'm not too sure about giving them Atom systems. I've just bought a netbook with the same internals so the staff can evaluate it and tell me what they think in a variety of scenarios - let them tell me if they think they're suitable for their subject or not - very positive so far Edited May 12, 2009 by BatchFile
PeterW Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Check out similar systems on Novatech and CCL. They come in slightly smaller cases so look a bit nicer. We will be pubishing our Atom 230 & 330 based machines as well soon. If anybody needs pricing please feel free to PM me.
Butuz Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 I'd be interested to know how many watts thes use in use. Curently thin clients use 6 watts, RM Ecoquiet use 35 watts, normal PC uses 80+ watts. The main reasons for going thin client here have been1 1) initial cost price 2) electricity savings 3) ease of managment 4) much longer lifecycle I am guessing really the Atom only satisfies #1 above - does it satisfy #2 as well?? Butuz
PeterW Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Our single core 230 system uses about 38W under load and 8W when idle. (Not including monitor)
CyberNerd Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 I'd be interested to know how many watts thes use in use. Curently thin clients use 6 watts, RM Ecoquiet use 35 watts, normal PC uses 80+ watts. The main reasons for going thin client here have been1 1) initial cost price 2) electricity savings 3) ease of managment 4) much longer lifecycle I am guessing really the Atom only satisfies #1 above - does it satisfy #2 as well?? Butuz Also consider that atom thin clients can be diskless, ours PXE boot and are managed from a single server. Diskless thinclients makes management easier, increases lifecycle and electricity savings. Only when you add a disk and install XP does the power (load) requirements increase, reliability decrease. 1
CyberNerd Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 btw. these are the boards we use: dabs.com - Intel S775 Intel 945GC/GMA950 MATX A L 10 Pack Bulk (BLKD945GCLF)
cookie_monster Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 @ CyberNerd, what diskless clients do you use and what sortware does the client download from the PXE server to run?
Butuz Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Also consider that atom thin clients can be diskless, ours PXE boot and are managed from a single server. Diskless thinclients makes management easier, increases lifecycle and electricity savings. Only when you add a disk and install XP does the power (load) requirements increase, reliability decrease. I'd be really interested in how you do that and what software you use! Cheers Butuz
CyberNerd Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 @ CyberNerd, what diskless clients do you use and what sortware does the client download from the PXE server to run? mobos in the link above. Software is Thinstation with the Citrix ica client (also rdp). Our Thinstation is slightly modified version to include a couple of extra drivers. Everything downloads from a tftp server (ubuntu). DHCP is done from a windows 2000 server. All the config file reside on the tftp server.
Andrew_C Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 I'm thinking about it too. I'm toying with the idea of having a large 12V power supply built that would be optimised for multiple outputs and would be sited in an adjoining room to keep the noise and heat out (saving even more A/C costs). Still in the "Hmmm, this is an interesting idea" phase.
matt40k Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Still think true thin client is the best energy saving way. A good thin client will be POE, then if you get those lovely 1u APC UPS you can have a battery backup ICT Room, yet to work out how you would deal will the monitor. At the mom you would need Windows Server Enterprise so you could connect to there session and save everything (or rather the teacher )
AWicher Posted February 11, 2010 Posted February 11, 2010 Sorry to bring a dead thread back to life. As i assume most schools are, we have departments spending up like mad. We are thinking of buying 30+ eeepc for our main ICT room, but with only a few days to think about it with only one test unit was just after some input from other schools who may have had atom based computers. info on if indeed it works and what limitations you have found.
fiendishlyclever Posted February 11, 2010 Posted February 11, 2010 Something like this might be good if you have plenty of screens already. Do schools who have equipment this pocketable secure them down in any way? These are so much easier to remove than a full sized machine.
enjay Posted February 12, 2010 Posted February 12, 2010 My concern with Atoms is that, while they're suitable now (as the OP says, it is just basic word processing generally), how will they fare with these simple tasks in 4 years time, when word processing will be via Office 2014 or whatever? Looking at the total lifespan of a PC, I can't help but think that Atoms would need replacing more often, so might not represent as big a saving as it first appears. Ideal for thin client environments, but then so are the 6-year-old desktops (they just don't look as shiny). VERY happy to be proven wrong on this!
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