Re: Two computers in one: two users each with their own accounts, monitor, and keyboard?
Albretch Mueller put forth on 1/12/2010 4:00 AM:
> The only extra cost here would be the special video cards for each
> seat but even they are commercial nowadays and making multi-seat work
> would be our job right?
You're still missing the overall picture here. In your living room or basement,
or in a library or lab with a 30 foot long desk, this concept may work, somewhat.
In the real world, especially in multi room environments such as offices or a
whole home installation, you end up spending more on in wall cabling, baluns,
wall plates, and other devices than if you put a complete PC in each room. If
you have to run XGA/SXGA/UGA signals over 50 feet the only effective way to do
so is with baluns. Smae goes for USB.
A cheap VGA + KVM balun kit runs about $130.50 USD:
http://www.rackmount-devices.com/019-4068.html
The cheapest USB balun I've found is $39.99 USD:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/83-11534&CAWELAID=293709399
Now to get sound to each seat, and given that your mobo's PCI slots have all
been filled with VGA cards, your only option to get sound to each seat is with a
USB sound device for $12.99 USD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829128002&cm_re=USB_sound_card-_-29-128-002-_-Product
Oops, that USB sound plug just took the only USB port at each seat, so we'll
have to get a *powered* USB hub for each seat (because the voltage drop over
distance is too great to run a hub remotely) for $7.99 USD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817801001
Don't forget, because we're having to use USB baluns we're limited to USB 1.1
speeds of 12MB/s.
Ok, so we've covered remote VGA, KB, mouse, sound, and available USB 1.1 ports
for a total of $191 USD per seat. This doesn't include a video card for each
seat in the host. Cheapest I could find on Newegg is this nVidia GeForce MX400
PCI card for $32.99 USD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139150
Our sum total is $130.50 + $39.99 + $12.99 + $7.99 + $32.99 = $224.46 USD.
This doesn't include the additional runs of in wall CAT5 to support USB (two
runs total). One run is "free" compared to a PC at every desk as that run is
required for either solution.
So, lets see what we can find for around $224.46 for a PC at every desk:
$229.99 USD - Atom CPU, Intel GMA 950 GPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB disk, GigE and
wirelees LAN, Red Flag Linux preinstalled
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220028
$299.99 USD - Celeron 420(1.6GHz) CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 7050 GPU, 3GB RAM, 320GB
disk, 16X DVD±R/RW SuperMulti Drive, 10/100 wired, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883114077
AFAIK, no company is selling wireless full KVM+USB+sound boxes, making the above
mentioned $229 Asus EEPC desktop far more price, installation, and maintenance
attractive than a multi-seat single PC with expensive cable connectivity,
maintenance, and video quality issues.
You can't beat the marketplace, ever. You can only adapt what it offers to best
meet your needs. From a total ROI standpoint, a cheap PC at every desk offers
the best ROI.
What happens when you blow up your X.org config after and upgrade? Or anything
else breaks after an upgrade? It affects all seats. With individual PCs, the
first one breaks and you are alerted, so everyone else keeps working while you
find a fix. There are hundreds more scenarios but I don't have the time. I've
wasted enough on this already.
The point being, the industry and corporate worlds have already done all of the
ROI, and concluded exactly the argument I'm making here. For each reason to do
multi-user computing on one host there are 10 reasons against it, cost and
otherwise. This is why the industry moved away from the model long ago, and
buried it. If you'd like to resurrect it in your basement that's fine, but it
will never take hold again, anywhere but in "the lab", at least in my remaining
time on earth, which I hope to be at least another 40 years. ;)
--
Stan
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