My interests is the use of the customized smoothwall in a Cybercafe in contrast to a DBRL server appliance that would be configured to boot several version of puppy linux.
Diskless Remote Boot Linux DRBL
How would an inexpensive computer in a CyberCafe's, setup to use Diskless Remote Boot Linux configured to boot Puppy versions 4.X, 3.X and 2.X, Compare with the customized smoothwall network boot that is being developed?.
This is a brief description of DBRL:
DBRL Description
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DRBL is an open source solution to managing the deployment of the GNU/Linux operating system across many clients. Imagine the time required to install GNU/Linux on 40, 30, or even 10 client machines individually! DRBL allows for the configuration all of your client computers by installing just one server machine.
Diskless Remote Boot in Linux (DRBL) provides a diskless or systemless environment for client machines. It works on Debian, Puppy Linux, Ubuntu, Mandriva, Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS and SuSE. DRBL uses distributed hardware resources and makes it possible for clients to fully access local hardware.
*(Replace the other versions of Linux with the different versions of Puppy. Developers could work on special versions of Puppy to perform maintenance of the DRBP server appliance and workstations in the Cybercafe configuration. This could be added as a boot option .)
DRBL uses PXE/etherboot, NFS, and NIS to provide services to client machines so that it is not necessary to install GNU/Linux on the client hard drives individually. Once the server is ready to be a DRBL server, the client machines can boot via PXE/etherboot (diskless). "DRBL" does NOT touch the client hard drives, therefore, other Operating Systems (i.e. M$ Windows) installed on the client machines will be unaffected. This could be useful in, for example, during a phased deployment of GNU/Linux where users still want to have the option of booting to Windows and running Office. DRBL allows great flexibility in the deployment of GNU/Linux.
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This is a Link:
http://drbl.sourceforge.net/
These are the instructions for configuring small GNU/Linux distributions. The DBRP could be setup to exclusively use the different versions of Puppy linux.
drbl-SL.sh can load some small GNU/Linux, like DamnSmall Linux (DSL), Puppylinux, INSERT Linux, PLD rescue linux, Debian Live, GeeXbox or PUD-Linux into DRBL environment.
** By doing this, the client can use that Small GNU/Linu after booting via PXE. The client still can work even if the network cable is unplugged. It's fire and forget. In this mode, all the programs are loaded into client's memory. Therefore, the memory of client should be large enough. For DSL, PuppyLinux, INSERT, the memory requirement of client is 192 MB. For PLD Rescue Linux, since it will only run in rescue mode without graphic, the memory requirement for client is 25 MB.
Syntax:
Usage: /opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh [OPTION] [SL-ISO|SL-INDEX]
OPTION:
-i, --install: Load Small Linux into DRBL environment.
-u, --uninstall: Uninstall Small Linux.
-v, --verbose: Verbose mode.
SL-ISO is one of DSL PuppyLinux INSERT PLD ISO file, used with installation.
S-L-INDEX is one of DSL PuppyLinux INSERT PLD, used with uninstallation.
Ex: To load DSL Linux, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -i dsl-3.0.1.iso'
To load PuppyLinux, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -i puppy-2.12-seamonkey.iso'
To load INSERT Linux, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -i INSERT-1.3.8_en.iso' To load PLD Rescue CD, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -i rescue.iso'
To remove DSL, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -u DSL'
To remove PuppyLinux, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -u PuppyLinux'
To remove INSERT, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -u INSERT'
To remove PLD, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -u PLD'
To remove all Small Linux, run '/opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-SL.sh -u all'
Has this been considered for use in the Cybercafe?
A comparison of the tradeoffs in the Cybercafe would be appreciated, as well as links to more information on the customized smoothwall configuration.
Was DBRL eliminated from consideration in being used in the Cybercafe?