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I was telling the boss about how old kit could recycled using a thin client and he said if I can get the job done for £7K, I can go ahead.
Thin clients to do what exactly ? I would say you could kit out an internet lab (for example) based on Linux using this technology (single meaty server, other 'thin clients' using X over the network).
It all depends on what you want to run on the other machines. If you additional PCs have to be doing Windows apps - then I don't see how Linux/open source could help ....
I would say go for a pilot internet lab. The documents you need to consult are : - Thin Client Howto - XDM and X Terminal Howto - Networking Howto ? from the LDP (http://www.linuxdoc.org/)
For this sort of project, it may be worth adopting a network where you lab is on a subnet (ie separated from the main network) with your server having 2 network connections, one to the subnet and one to the main network.
This means that all thin-client network traffic is isolated from your main network.
In future, you could perhaps look into providing Star Office type things too, using the same setup.
Just my opinions. Disclaimer - I know the theory but have not done it in practise.
Thanks, Kevin. -- `paul