1. XS: OLPC School Server
The Internet in a Box
(unsung hero too!)
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Information Systems Department Presentation: OLPC San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco State University http://tinyurl.com/olpcsf Unless noted otherwise
San Francisco, CA 94132 USA
2. Multiple hats...
Disclaimer: I do not work for OLPC.
I am only a volunteer!
3. OLPC San Francisco Bay Area
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea
sf
http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf m/ olpc
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in
t p: //t
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4. OLPC-SF Deployments
● A hub for exchange of ideas, plans, content, etc.
● Deployments
– Afghanistan (Carol Ruth Silver, MTSA)
– India (Humaira Mahi & Sameer Verma, SFSU)
– Jamaica (Sameer Verma & Univ. of the West Indies)
– Madagascar (June Kleider, XO-ology)
– Senegal (Drew & Lick-Wilmerding Schools)
– South Africa (EduWeavers)
– San Francisco (Starr King Elementary)
– Uganda (UC Berkeley)
5.
6. School environment
Manage content
Manage access
Manage assessment
have
to
good
8. What does the XS look like?
Reality View
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/
9. What does the XS look like?
● Any x86 box with requisite memory, crunch and storage can be the
XS.
– It could also be a ARM machine in the near future...
● Ideally, we want a machine that
– Consumes very little power
– Has the necessary crunch
– Portable
● Pocketable, even?
– Very forgiving for power brownouts, heat, dust, etc.
● Kinda like the XO.
10. Services that the XS runs
● Networking
– DNS
– DHCP
– NAT/Masquerading
– Bridging
● Identity management
– Seamless XO login
– Single One Time Password (SOTP) on server
● Activation
– Theft deterrence
11. Services that the XS runs
● Collaboration
– XMPP via ejabberd
● Storage
– Files and attachments for courses
– Backup files
– Other media
● Backup
– Journal/Datastore backup
● XO Software updates
– Push updates including firmware and OS images
● Activity server
– Pushing activity bundles
12. Networking
● Provides networking infrastructure for the school.
● Acts as an Internet gateway (if backhaul exists)
– Includes HTTP proxy (optional)
– Content filter (optional)
● Supports Wi-Fi:
– Ad-Hoc
– Mesh (IEEE 802.11s draft)
– Infrastructure (Access Point)
13. Identity management
● Single One Time Passwords (SOTP) for maintenance.
– Remote ISP maintenance, etc.
● OLPC XO Browse
– authenticates seamlessly with Moodle
– Moodle talks to ejabberd for permissions, etc.
● First XO to access Moodle
– This XO becomes admin.
– This XO can assign other teachers, course creators, and
other such roles
14. Collaboration
● XMPP-based collaboration via ejabberd.
– Ejabberd is a XMPP (jabber) server written in erlang.
● Uses gabble mode under telepathy in Sugar.
– Gabble allows for server-based collaboration
● XOs switch to salut mode in case no XS is found.
– Salut allows for peer-to-peer collaboration
● Activities such as Chat, Write, Memorize use XMPP to collaborate.
http://xmpp.org/
http://collabora.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy_software
15. Storage
● Much of the storage lives in /library partition.
– Mount /library on external USB disk or other media and
expand storage.
– Run rest of the system off a CF or SD card (solid state)
● Files can be served as
– links via Moodle
– links via Apache (add Apache config)
16. Backup
● Three processes:
– Traffic control
● provides basic "traffic control" to manage load.
– Backup-complete script
● Creates links for latest snapshot.
– Daily cleanup
● enforces a per-user "soft" quota.
17. Updates
● Pushing updates to OS image and firmware via rsync.
19. Hardware recommendations
● Schools with less than 40 laptops:
– use XS-on-XO: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS-on-XO
– Requires a SD card (4GB, preferably class 6)
– External USB hard drive (may need own power)
– USB-Ethernet for backhaul.
20. Fit PC and Fit PC2
● Fit PC works well and is comparable to the XO-1 in performance.
– More configurable than the XO-1.
– Replace a SSD in the FitPC to make it cooler and more
power efficient.
● http://www.fit-pc.com/fit-pc1/
● Fit PC2 has heat problems.
– Intel Atom runs too hot
● Surprise, surprise.
● Maybe glue on a large heat sink?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndevil/3535934684/
21. Hardware recommendations
● Schools with up to 100 laptops:
– 1GHz CPU, 1GB RAM,
– at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.
– Something in the mini ITX form-factor works well.
– Fanless units are better
22. Hardware recommendations
● For up to 500 laptops:
– dual-core 2GHz CPU
– 2 to 4GB RAM
– at least 2GB disk storage per
laptop.
– This type of a machine
usually works in
environments with good
power resources.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/
23. Hardware recommendations
● More than 500 laptops
– Server-class dual CPU
– 4 to 16GB RAM
– at least 2GB disk storage per
laptop.
– Data center hosting is also an
option.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamisonjudd/2433102356/
36. Moving courses
Create in San Francisco...
...deploy in Madagascar!
A zip file, which includes
content and structure for
the entire course!
37. XS: Internet in a box
No Internet? No power? No problem :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XS
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/School_server
38. OLPC San Francisco Bay Area
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea
sf
http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf m/ olpc
yurl . co
in
t p: //t
ht
39. Made with the free stuff
Its your intellectual property. Keep it open.
Vote with your fingers.
Use open formats!
http://www.openoffice.org/