Job organization: server + diskless thin clients = Linux. How?

Question

linux

Good afternoon.
Given:
- server (2xE5-2670, 128GB DDR4, RAID-10 ~14.5TB) 1 pc .
- thin diskless clients Intel NUC DE3815TYKHE (4GB mmc flash memory + 4GB DDR3) 20pcs.
Now TK is running wtware. Clients are connected on RDP to the virtual terminal server on Win2012. Everything is working. Terminal server in AD.
There is a desire to transfer part of the shopping mall to free Linux (because there may be problems with licensing :):) )
What options can be considered for organizing employees' workplaces?
Needs - browser, openofis, skype/viber (chat and audio).
I would not want to install an OS on each of the shopping malls, because then it would be a hassle to support all this. Yes, and clients are not the most nimble and suitable for this - in most Linux assemblies, 5+ GB of free space is required, but there are 3.7-4GB.
If you download clients over the network (pxe), then in the direction of which distribution kit to look?
I also read about LTSP - how stable is this solution?
If you use the same wtware or thinstation as clients, then what to connect to?

Answer 1

Yes thinstation and on the same rdp climb on XRDP.

Answer 2

Because you use diskless clients like we do, and also have AD, then you need
1. https://habrahabr.ru/post/277783/ (thin \ thick diskless machines)
2. https://habrahabr.ru/post /281847/ (if you also have a third-party TFTP server)
3. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/Activ... (ActiveDirectory connection)
I really haven't tried ActiveDirectory yet, I can't get my hands on it, but in theory I know what works

Answer 3

Now TK is running wtware. Clients are connected on RDP to the virtual terminal server on Win2012. Everything is working. Terminal server in AD.
There is a desire to transfer part of the shopping mall to free Linux (because there may be problems with licensing :):) )

From 20 pieces of wtware cost 500 rubles per computer.
Are you sure that the transfer of 20 computers from an already working wtware is cheaper than 10,000 rubles for the work of an administrator. Which will still have to get acquainted with the new system.
And putting a license in a conveniently centrally managed system will definitely cost a penny for the work of an admin

Answer 4

LTSP - download Edubuntu, it is half configured there, set up xfreerdp session and everything is cool.

Answer 5

why do you offer XRDP instead of LTSP? how is he better?

Answer 6

Thinstation 5 - almost the same as wtware
http://nixts.org/doku.php?id=downloads

Answer 7

Apnu topic.
I had zero pcoip test clients. Great cars! But due to the cost of the protocol, we will refuse them. I'm interested in the capabilities of other thin clients in the software part. The hardware is assumed to be modern with hardware decoding of video codecs and capable of independently dragging win10 and large monitors (for example, pentium, core i3 with integrated graphics, 8GB RAM, SSD, HDMI, DP, WIFI, LAN1000). Today it is really possible to purchase such minipk for 15-20 tr. on good hardware, to have productive hardware, hardware decoding, wireless access, support for large monitors. For this money, customers often come with windows pro pre-installed, which also gives a spoonful of honey. Why not use it all out of the box? This choice was made for a reason. I started testing with DELL WYSE 3040 clients for 4 tr., which pull normally only 1 fullhd, then there is HP T430 for 8-10 tr, which do it 2 fullhd or 1 4K, as a result, they were taken for 12 tr. minipk with iron indicated above as an example. For modern productive clients, it makes no sense to take hardware worse, first of all, the processor is important, the second video card, the third RAM size, and SSD for the local OS. And for 20 tr. you can take for example on modern AMD 300u processors - they can live on their own and there are no problems with equipment, video, webcams, sound, etc. Set up one win image and copy it by machine. To cling to the server is only for specific software or where serious resources are needed. In essence, all these solutions with downloading linux which must have a browser and that, and this - it's all about the same. The asking price is comparable. Considering the current availability of ready-made thin clients from HP and DELL, you don’t have to worry about all this at all. But there is but. I would like thin clients that are as close as possible to the experience of working for a real workstation. Especially after zero clients. And so that even 4K works, and the picture is clear - pixel by pixel and the video is poorly played. There has been no talk about 3D for a long time, all this works fine on any popular rdp, pcoip, ica protocol. Virtual machines with video graphics are also no longer a problem. Network delays, mouse orientation, of course, virtual machines will not make a replacement for iron gaming machines, as they are trying to do, for example, with nvidia shield and remote access to games. But closing the need for work tasks is quite realistic. as close as possible to the experience of working for a real workstation. Especially after zero clients. And so that even 4K works, and the picture is clear - pixel by pixel and the video is poorly played. There has been no talk about 3D for a long time, all this works fine on any popular rdp, pcoip, ica protocol. Virtual machines with video graphics are also no longer a problem. Network delays, mouse orientation, of course, virtual machines will not make a replacement for iron gaming machines, as they try to do, for example, with nvidia shield and remote access to games. But closing the need for work tasks is quite realistic. as close as possible to the experience of working for a real workstation. Especially after zero clients. And so that even 4K works, and the picture is clear - pixel by pixel and the video is poorly played. There has been no talk about 3D for a long time, all this works fine on any popular rdp, pcoip, ica protocol. Virtual machines with video graphics are also no longer a problem. Network delays, mouse orientation, of course, virtual machines will not make a replacement for iron gaming machines, as they try to do, for example, with nvidia shield and remote access to games. But closing the need for work tasks is quite realistic. all this works fine on any popular rdp, pcoip, ica protocol. Virtual machines with video graphics are also no longer a problem. Network delays, mouse orientation, of course, virtual machines will not make a replacement for iron gaming machines, as they try to do, for example, with nvidia shield and remote access to games. But closing the need for work tasks is quite realistic. all this works fine on any popular rdp, pcoip, ica protocol. Virtual machines with video graphics are also no longer a problem. Network delays, mouse orientation, of course, virtual machines will not make a replacement for iron gaming machines, as they are trying to do, for example, with nvidia shield and remote access to games. But closing the need for work tasks is quite realistic.
After preliminary testing of DELL, HP, Windows mini PC clients, I can say that linux-based solutions performed the best. To be honest, I’m a little surprised here and don’t understand why mstsc.exe works worse than clients on linux on the same hardware (here specifically core i3-5005u 8GB RAM. SSD, windows works smartly out of the box). Worst of all in the client on Windows is that by default the clarity of the picture and the sticky mouse on the remote machine suffer. Most likely the reason is the h264 codec, which should be turned off by default. Surprisingly, all the built-in protocols in the vmware horizon view showed themselves even worse. In my opinion, RDP works certainly no worse than proprietary protocols, and often better. The PCoIP protocol only helps by the fact that it sees electronic keys on a remote machine (rdp stopped supporting them from some time) and sometimes works better when connected with a bad communication channel (less often, connection breaks occur). I noticed that pcoip additionally focuses the clarity of the area around the mouse. pcoip and blast seem to even include sending udp codecs if something similar to a video starts on a remote client and are able to dynamically change the frequency of sent frames. Well, okay, the choice of protocol is secondary. First of all, you need an operating system where to plant it. And the first thing I want to figure out is what to use for thin clients for the best user performance - windows (assumed without additional license payments) or linux? If everything is clear to clients and programs on windows, that on a link of course of questions it is a lot of. I tested wtware, I liked the performance, the Russian language. I didn’t like that periodically bugs are treated here a little more often than others, there is no certainty that it will work everywhere, there are not enough local applications. The latter can be well solved with LTSP and for example LinuxMint. But the other end of the stick is self-configuring RDP, throwing devices, settings, settings, settings, working with the terminal. Booting OSes over the network / PXE, I think that this is already the de facto norm and rightly so. But the other end of the stick is self-configuring RDP, throwing devices, settings, settings, settings, working with the terminal. Booting OSes over the network / PXE, I think that this is already the de facto norm and rightly so. But the other end of the stick is self-configuring RDP, throwing devices, settings, settings, settings, working with the terminal. Booting OSes over the network / PXE, I think that this is already the de facto norm and rightly so.
For the most part, the above is not a question, but my experience. But without it, I won't be able to ask you the right question. What do you think is correct, reasonable, rational to use as an operating system for thin clients for users of productive workstations?