Think Client, Server, internet café help

[jwtt1983]

Think Client, Server, internet café Setup

The plan is simple: To set up a computer school/internet cafe with 20 computer.

This is what I intend to do:

Beginner Computer Classes: will start with window XP operating system running Microsoft offices applications including: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Publisher, internet explorer (office 2007 or 2010)

Intermediate Computer Classes: will run on Window 7 operating system again doing Microsoft courses at intermediate level : Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Publisher, internet explorer ( office 2013)

Advanced Computer Courses: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Publisher, Outlook, internet explorer ( Office 2016)

My Server hardware, assuming I need a server:

1. Dell Precision T7400 with twin Xeon X5450 (8 cores total) + 64gb DDR2 ram + 480GB SSD + 2* 2tb sata hdd+ nvidia Quadro k5000

2. HP Z600 with twin hex core i.e. ( 12 cores + 24 threads) + 48gb ddr3 ram + 256gb ssd + 2tb hdd + nvidia Quadro k5000

Computer/clients Hardware:

3. Dell WYSE Z90d7 thin Clients with AMD dual core (G-T56N)+ 16gb flash and 4gb ddr3 ram – window embedded standard 7

4. Asus EeeBox EB1007 with Intel Atom Dual core (D410) + 4GB RAM + 250GB sata HDD – currently on window 7

5. Dell optiplex SFF 760 & 760 ( 4gb ram + 250gb hdd) - on window 7

6. HP compaq 6305 sff ( 4gb ram + 250 gb hdd) – currently on window 7

My original thought was to use either item 1 or 2 for server and then use 3, 4, 5 or 6 as clients. Particularly 3 or 4 would be perfect since they are only rated at less than 60 watt and 40 watts respectively.

Constraints

Computer School will only have 20 students at a time using MS word, excel .. and etc
Internet café will only have 20 users at a time using applications like students would
No student or café user can make changes to computer settings
Students can save their work on host server that’s if I will need a server
Café user can save work but it should be automatically deleted when session times out
Café user will be allocated time upon payment.. say 30 minutes, 1 hour and etc

My Question:

Is this technically possible? If Yes, how?
A Detail solution would be helpful since I will be the one doing this even though I am not an IT expert but am good with computer
Can I have a NAS connected to server?
When suggesting solution, please consider licences as I’m aware this is where most of the money will be spent and I intend to do it legitimately
I need detail help from someone who know his/her stuff

 

[studmoose]

I have an XP machine, and I think I can only use Office 2000. It's also capped at MSIE 8.x, which is deprecated as websites are slowly dropping support for it, including most Wiki sites. Be forewarned, almost all of those in your class will attempt to hack into your system... just because. You might be best getting a midrange server and run an VM solution on it. This way, if one of them humps up a session, you just need to close and restart it to bring it back to the imaged build. You could also get thin clients, but make sure the end-user has no ability to update the system. Whatever solution you decide, use a VM setup to recover the workstation, and then reboot the machines at given time intervals or when the people logoff.

If students want to save work, they can update a common site defined user directory, that they cannot change and you only allow them to save specific file types in it, such as TXT, DOCX, PPT, etc. If they want to save anything special, or keep a copy, they need to plug in a jump drive and manually copy files there, since a reboot of the workstation would loose all their work and reset the system to the imaged build you create.

 

[USAFRet]

Thin clients won't be any cheaper than individual small desktops, because you'd need a really beefy ($$$) server to run them.

Sure you can have a NAS attached to the server. More accurately, to the central router. This can be the target save location for all the individual desktops. Each system has its own dedicated drive space and folder tree.

 

[jwtt1983]

I have an XP machine, and I think I can only use Office 2000. It's also capped at MSIE 8.x, which is deprecated as websites are slowly dropping support for it, including most Wiki sites. Be forewarned, almost all of those in your class will attempt to hack into your system... just because. You might be best getting a midrange server and run an VM solution on it. This way, if one of them humps up a session, you just need to close and restart it to bring it back to the imaged build. You could also get thin clients, but make sure the end-user has no ability to update the system. Whatever solution you decide, use a VM setup to recover the workstation, and then reboot the machines at given time intervals or when the people logoff.

If students want to save work, they can update a common site defined user directory, that they cannot change and you only allow them to save specific file types in it, such as TXT, DOCX, PPT, etc. If they want to save anything special, or keep a copy, they need to plug in a jump drive and manually copy files there, since a reboot of the workstation would loose all their work and reset the system to the imaged build you create.

Thin clients won't be any cheaper than individual small desktops, because you'd need a really beefy ($$$) server to run them.

Sure you can have a NAS attached to the server. More accurately, to the central router. This can be the target save location for all the individual desktops. Each system has its own dedicated drive space and folder tree.

Forgive me if am sounding stupid here, but am trying to do something beyond my knowledge.
Thanks for your response. What i actually need is detail on setup. Will i be using RDP from server? or hypervisor or what? What i was thinking was create 3 virtual machines on server: First Virtual machine could have window XP OS deployed on and office 2007 or 2010 - this will run beginner courses, Second VD could have Window 7 Virtual -- this will run intermediate courses and ms 2013 and Third VD would have window 10 OS with ms 2016 to run advanced courses.

Can i possibly connect 20 clients to one VD? it feels like i'm missing one piece of the puzzle.

 

[USAFRet]

Personally, I would have:

- Individual desktops. Regular standalone PC's. Don't need a lot of horsepower. Possibly your #5 & 6 above or similar.
- A server for maintenance use. To include holding images of each setup, to reimage the PC's when needed. Nightly, if desired. This is also the domain controller and authentication device.
- NAS box, to hold all the student data.
- Router and switches to connect it all together

 

[jwtt1983]

Personally, I would have:

- Individual desktops. Regular standalone PC's. Don't need a lot of horsepower. Possibly your #5 & 6 above or similar.
- A server for maintenance use. To include holding images of each setup, to reimage the PC's when needed. Nightly, if desired. This is also the domain controller and authentication device.
- NAS box, to hold all the student data.
- Router and switches to connect it all together

Thanks for the info. It seems that will most like do the trick. i will be looking into that once i speak to ms authorised resellers regarding licencing.