[Nottingham] VNC box in place of port replicator

[Duncan]

On 20/02/14 09:18, Jason Irwin wrote:
> On 14/02/14 11:21, notlug wrote:
>> I'm in the market for a laptop[1],
>
> If you like the System76 units, consider
> http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/ or any other Clevo

Thanks for that, I'll take a look.

> box-shifter. What you will miss out on is the updated firmware and
> testing, although you do gain a proper warranty by buying in the EU. In
> the forums there are plenty of people asking about using GNU/Linux and I
> seriously considered one of these for quite a time (what put be me off
> in the end were various reports on build quality - some of those e.g.
> keyboard have now been addressed).

That seems to be one of the problem with laptops.  Even reputable blands
go though phases of terrible design / battery life / build quality
and that isn't what they advertise.

I'm not wedded to the System76 boxen but I like the Galgo's because they
can be given a worthwhile spec (fair CPU, 16GB of RAM, mSATA+SDD ) while
having a good screen (fullHD IPS).  Most of the bland offerings seem to
have n-2 of the above (good memory with crap CPU and HDD
or good CPU + memory but poor graphics and terrible screen resolution) etc.

>
>> I was thinking, given the £100 a port replicator can cost,
>> can I instead by a diddy little raspberry Pi-like box
>> with networking, display and a few usb ports and
>> set it up as a VNC client for all of the boxes
>> (laptop, desktop, local server etc) I have
> I've always found VNC to be slow. https://www.nomachine.com/ provide an
> alternative, although I've not looked at it in a long time and don't
> know if a Pi has the legs for it.

I've administered nomachines NX and my users tell me it is good as
an X client from Windows machines but if everything on the network
that matters smells like unix then NX is unnecessary.

>
>> Also, doing graphics over the network, I'm keen to make
>> the networking gigabit.
> If we're just talking remote desktop usage (not streaming HD vids or
> something) then 100mbps should be fine. I use RDP on a 2mbps connection
> back to Glasgow and don't notice any real issues.

I'll be upgrading my switch to a gigabit anyway just to make
backups less painful but if you think 100mb is sufficient for remote
desktop then great, it opens up the field of small boxen.

>
>> Raspberry Pi's, beagleboards etc
>> all come with 10/100 network sockets.  Does anyone know
>> of an equivalent that has at least 1 gigabit port,
>> fullHD display output and a few usb ports ?
>
> This has two gigabit ports:
> http://utilite-computer.com/web/utilite-pr-140713
> There's this too, but seem to be WiFi only (does n though)
> http://gooseberry.atspace.co.uk/
> The Cotton Candy is another WiFi unit
> http://store.cstick.com/cotton-candy.html

Thanks I'll take a look.

> Intel has a thing too.
> Problem is, once you start going for gigabit etc the price goes up. You
> could always get an HP MicroServer with £100 cashback - they do gigabit.
> http://www.serversplus.com/hp_proliant_microserver
> Heck, tempted to buy myself a second one now....
>

Yeah I've got one of those already. I replaced the HP bios on Monday
and am now running an SSD at full speed in the CD-ROM slot + 4 HDD.
The box is networked but on the other side of the room.
My "VNC" goal is to two fold really:
First: Create a _quiet_ single point of access (keyboard, monitor, etc)
for the HP box, my jet-engine desktop, the new laptop
and any other machines I care to add.  If it works well I can put
the larger boxes anywhere in the house where I cannot hear them
and the laptop won't have to take up valuable desk space.

Second: Stick two fingers up to displaylink for not producing
linux friendly drivers by using comparable cost hardware +
open source software to provide all of the necessary features.


Have fun,
Duncan