Skolelinux ASP
We are currently setting up a Skolelinux (NoMachine) server
at our office which is going to be serving users connecting
over the Internet through FreeNX.
The main reason for doing this is to make Skolelinux easily
available over the Internet for demonstration purposes.
We will put out a link on www.skolelinux.no for simple
download and demo configuration of the FreeNX client software
for Windows. We need to do a bit more testing before the
service is announced and marketed, but it looks good.
I am also starting to think about this setup for production.
The idea is to offer access to a production environment for
a fixed price per month per user. We would need to find a
way to identify which school a user belongs to on logon to
be able to handle authorisation, access control etc.
I am sure there are a few more things we would need to think
about (and maybe even change) to be able to offer this service
as a complete production environment for several schools, and
I will appreciate any help I can get.
There are some obvious selling points in this way of offering
Skolelinux. Examples:
- no need to discuss Linux vs Windows - clients can run
whatever they want as long as they are able to install FreeNX
- we can handle all operation, backup etc from our office
- Skolelinux will be just a service, not an operating system
- no worries about upgrade scripts, Debian/Ubuntu debate etc,
there is just one server farm and we do everything here
- no up-front investment, just a subscription fee
- extremely scalable
- your own desktop available wherever you have Internet access
(but we will have to worry about security, maybe introduce RSA
SecurID Authentication or something)
- ...
What do you think?
Halvor
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