Children's Fun room with computers

[rcourtney]

I have been asked to set up a network for a fun room with computers. Internet access and bible theme video games.

We have planned a separate subgroup and using opendns family filter
mentioned in another post.

My question is managing the computers. If it was only internet, I thought
about thin diskless clients to eliminate most worries about viruses or other
issues with open computers. Anyone using virtual CD drives to manage
game access? Leaving the discs in the room can cause issues with damages
or loss.

The tiny Intel Atom boxes are cheaper, Green, and can handle the games we
have. We think we can shrink the OS down to bare minimum and go diskless
booting from a shared server.

Any suggestions?

[cw4u]

I've thought about doing the exact same thing. Just haven't had the time to investigate and plan it out.

Right now, we are using Ubuntu clients with a piece of software that locks down the KDE environment. But it still has been circumvented. So...I'm looking at doing something different. The computers we have actually have XP Home licenses so I've been considering SteadyState.

Why couldn't you install the games to the server and just have them boot off of it?

[bpalermini]

SteadyState works great and will eliminate any damage to the software in your lab. I have a bunch of computers setup using it in labs that serve high school students and it's great. I have never needed to touch the machines that use it. I so wish MS would have a version of it for Windows 7 but they don't and won't.

[rcourtney]

Unfortunately, most companies that Microsoft has obtained they kill their product.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2390706

I think it would have been a great solution but I think it would end up causing
more work in the long run. Ubuntu and the wine project might be something I am willing to experiment with.

Many games don't work in a cloud environment that we could run it off a server.
Proxmox is something else we looked at and sharing resources with office staff
during the weekday.

[hopeunited]

Hi There

Yeah you have a few options but here are some things to look at, some have been mentioned already:

Intel Atom mainboards - Excellent little things
Small ITX cases - To go with the boards
Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Xubuntu - Verify that the games will play
Windows clients configured with "Kiosk" type group policies - White paper and tools etc available from MS
Different IP subnet or VLAN for fun room - Saves interfering with main network from security and bandwidth point of view.
K9 for web content filtering
Windows Steady State - with this being made obsolete, alternatives will need to be found.

Hope that helps

Regards

[adamw]

http://jimmythegeek.livejournal.com/6260.html

this is from somebody i know that works in a library about how they deployed opac machines

[EricE]

Set up a Microsoft charity license for your church - it's free and easy - we use Software One and like them as they focus on smaller business/non-profit, but there are many resellers who can do it for you.

Then look at Microsoft Multipoint server. It's perfect for what you want. You can have one box and easily hang three or four additional keyboard/montiors/mice off it with some inexpensive USB adaptors.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/multipoint/

Watch the videos. Yes, it really is that easy and by far and away your most cost effective solution.

Also be aware that multipoint server fully integrates with Small Business Server Essentials. SBS Essentials provides active directory which makes account management and management of your computers much simpler - including your Multipoint Server virtual clients. SBS Essentials will also backup your MultiPoint server in addition to your other computers in your network (windows and Mac except for Lion). I've talked about it and other solutions in some other threads - like this one: Thin Client Setup?