Making Internet Cafe

[Carlo]

Hi Guys me and my dad are making an internet cafe in australia.

These are my Ideas

1.Get a Hub with 16 Swithces
2.Build 16 Computers
3.Get 1.5mbit Internet Connection
4.Connect a ADSL Modem to one computer
5.Hook them all up into a workgroup in the network
6.Make all the workgroup share the internet connection off that one computer

I want to know is this simple and a good setup i dont want to do anything else thats complicated this just fine

i want to know everbody thoughts

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

You want switches, not hubs. I really could have alot of fun with hubs due to the lack of security as well due to their nature in design, as well as they are generally more expensive, rare and lower speed.

You also want quite a bit faster connection, look into load balancing dual wan routers.

 

[C.Ingram]

I belive you mean a 16 port hub.

Your cheapest (and safest) solution would be to purchase dumb terminals. Something like these: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/solutions/en/thinpc

Now, you don't need specific thin clients, but you do want to spend as little as possible on the machines. They need to be minimal. Then, grab a monster Linux workstation to act as a netboot server. The thin clients boot over the network using information on the workstation, then connect back to it using XDMCP. All the software runs on the workstation and the clients function as networked displays.

This means you:
- Have quick, tight control over every terminal
- Can update one machine instead of 16
- Spend $0 on hardware
- Save $100s per workstation on hardware for resources you wouldn't use anyway

If you also use the boot/terminal server as a router/NAT with QoS, you have a set up that is easy as cake to control, and about as cheap as you can get it.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Yeah dumb terminals are a good idea.

Your going to have a major spyware issue with "smart" PC's, because face it your going to have dumb@sses in your cafe.

Dumb terminals are just a normal PC without a harddrive with a boot rom right?

 

[C.Ingram]

Yeah dumb terminals are a good idea.

Your going to have a major spyware issue with "smart" PC's, because face it your going to have dumb@sses in your cafe.

My thoughts exactly.

Dumb terminals are just a normal PC without a harddrive with a boot rom right?

Pretty much, yes. Sometimes they do boot from hard drives, CDs, or flash media, but it is typically over the network. They key descriptors of a dumb terminal is the point that it exists only to allow you to remotely operate another machine.