Deploying LinuxEvolutionary, Not Revolutionary
LinuxFest Northwest Bellingham, WAApril 26th, 2003
Eric HarrisonSupervisor of Network Services
Multnomah Education Service District
1996: In The Beginning....
● There was a lone penguin
● Riverdale School District played around with Samba file services
Legend
Proprietary Server:
Open Source Server:
1997: K12Linux Project
● Riverdale School District volunteers its facilities to host the Portland Linux User's Group's install clinics– In turn, Riverdale gets
a room full of experts once a month
– K12Linux project is formed
1998: Testing The Waters
● Proxy Servers placed in several of the large schools to conserve bandwidth
● FTP server added
Early 1999: The Ball Starts Rolling
● New services added: Web and LDAP
● The first conversions occur...
Early 1999: The Ball Starts Rolling
● New services added: Web and LDAP
● The first conversions occur...– DNS server: Linux
was quick to fix the BIND bug
Early 1999: The Ball Starts Rolling
● New services added: Web and LDAP
● The first conversions occur...– DNS server: Linux
was quick to fix the BIND bug
– Proxies centralized
Early 1999: The Ball Starts Rolling
● New services added: Web and LDAP
● The first conversions occur...– DNS server: Linux
was quick to fix the BIND bug
– Proxies centralized– Centennial Mail Server
Bind BugOpen Source vs Proprietary Software
● MESD used HP-UX DNS servers, running Bind 4● The big Bind bug hit and HP dragged its feet
putting out a patch● We got tired of waiting, knew that there was an
exploit in the wild● The Linux version of Bind had been patched
immediately● Tested Linux and found it to be much faster
Centralized Proxies
● Having proxies in each school ended up being more trouble than it was worth
● Pulled proxies out of the schools and centralized them
● Used Layer-4 switch to make the proxying transparent, load-balanced, fail-over protected
● Huge success
Centennial Mail Server
● District's sysadmin fed up with their proprietary mail server– Sent out an email saying that the district would be
without email until further notice– Pulled the plug
● MESD was evaluating replacing its mail server, asked Centennial if they wanted to be guinea pigs.
● Had them up and running in a couple of hours● Been running fine ever since
Late 1999: Road to Domination
● MESD LAN taken by storm:– File/Print– Email– DHCP
2000: First Tries at the Desktop
● Riverdale School District deploys a Linux Terminal Server (LTSP)
● Redundant DNS and mail relay servers added
● More Linux servers in the schools
2001: The Filter Disaster
● Dismal, painful, expensive disaster with proprietary web filter
● Linux saves the day!● More redundancy
2002: Terminal Services Takes Off
● LTSP labs spring up all over the place– Budget crunches, old
hardware– MS Audits help
● More file/web/email servers in the schools
Overall Goals and Objectives
● Reduce Costs● Increase Reliability● Decrease management headaches● Encourage learning!!!!● Fame, glory, tons of cash, stock options, adequate
budgets, and all the other benefits of working in Education (yeah, right!)
What Has Worked
● Patience!– We've been working non-stop for the last seven years
to get were we are. Schools move very, very slowly
● Transparent implementations– Start by putting Linux were it 1) solves a problem and
2) doesn't require additional work from anyone else
● Keep on asking how much things cost!– And say “Wow! That's expensive! What does it offer
that my free solution does not?”
Bumps in the Road
● Anything that requires special configuration of workstations will fail.
● Lack of technical talent, at all levels.● Path of least resistance.● General unwillingness to learn.● Legacy proprietary systems are tough to dispose
of.● Differences in ideology.
General Approach to Technology
● Modular designs: let others pick and choose what they want to use
● Platform agnostic, avoid the PC/Mac wars● Standard protocols, interoperability is mandatory● Distributed management● Always have an exit plan, technology changes
quickly
Projects
● Linux in Schools Project:
– http://k12linux.org● K12LTSP, the K12 Linux Terminal Server Project:
– http://k12ltsp.org● SquidGuard web filter:
– http://squidguard.mesd.k12.or.us● K12 Open Source discussion board:
– http://www.k12os.org