[nonhuman]

Are there thin clients that can be used with an OS X Server network?

[Rickster]

Last I heard, a "thin client" was a computer that didn't need its own hard drive and its own installation of an OS. If that's what you're referring to, the answer is...

Any Mac released since August 1998. (That is, any iMac, any iBook, Blue G3 Power Macs and newer, "Lombard" Bronze Keyboard PowerBooks and newer.) Install and see the documentation for NetBoot on your Mac OS X server -- it lets you run multiple OS 9 clients off a single hard drive image.

You can't NetBoot an OS X client right now, but they say Jaguar Server will bring that.

[sderaj]

Steve Jobs demo'd back at MacWorld SF in 1999 the original version of Mac OS X Server 1.0, and fifty driveless iMac's streaming a movie over ethernet from one main blue and white server. There was no lag in video. Pretty imprivious for the time, but even for today.

[speirsfr]

I tend a school lab of NetBooting iMacs. For an OS9 solution it has worked very, very well for the school. We have iMacs from Rev. D through to the last model Indigo slot-loaders.

It suffers from the usual issues that thin-client systems have, primarily the single-point-of-failure problem (since the school only has one server).

Once Jaguar ships, we'll be converting the lab to OS X. We'll probably not be using netboot then, rather using standalone OS X installs with automounted home directories and applications folders (assuming Apple fixes the automounter in Jaguar).

[krove]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Originally posted by speirsfr:
<strong>I tend a school lab of NetBooting iMacs. For an OS9 solution it has worked very, very well for the school. We have iMacs from Rev. D through to the last model Indigo slot-loaders.

It suffers from the usual issues that thin-client systems have, primarily the single-point-of-failure problem (since the school only has one server).

Once Jaguar ships, we'll be converting the lab to OS X. We'll probably not be using netboot then, rather using standalone OS X installs with automounted home directories and applications folders (assuming Apple fixes the automounter in Jaguar).</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Hmmm... that sig sure is interesting. <img border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" title="" src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" />