(Warning: This one is for the techies)
So I mentioned before that I purchased a bunch of eeePCs to test out in the health clinics and to use in the management agencies as asyncronous web servers and health information management devices.
I suppose to some extent that in retrospect these clinics will have wanted Windows on these laptops so I’ll eventually have to port all of the software to windows, but for now my systems are running on Ubuntu. It’s just easier that way.
Installing Ubuntu was remarkably easy. There’s instructions online here, as well as lots of hints and fixes. This is sort of my simplified version for the particular eeePCs I was working with.
Ingredients:
1 latest distribution of Ubuntu (currently 8.10)
1 external usb cd or dvd-rom drive (e.g. the LG-GSA-E50L 8x USB DVD-RW)
1 eeePC (i.e. the eeePC 1000HA, 10in, 160GB, 1GB RAM, 6-cell Battery)
1 wired Internet connection (and presumably an ethernet cable)
Note: In theory you can also install from a USB Stick
Instructions:
1. When turning on the eeePC, press f2
2. Verify that a) wifi is turned on (this is for later) and b) the usb device is listed first in the boot order
3. If the dvd device is not connected, with cd burned with the latest copy of ubuntu on it inside already, do that now, and then continue booting
4. Install and continue, following normal instructions
5. After install completes, update all packages via a wired Internet connection
6. From fixes page, you will note that wireless does not yet work. You’ll want to follow the instructions there, but do not do the modprobe ath5k. However, you do need to install the backport modules:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-intrepid-generic
Wireless should work after this. I used Ubuntu Ibex 8.10
I neglected to put in all my arguments for netbooks vs the mac minis we used in the Ghana consultation network, vs locally purchased desktops, vs actual servers. Basically it boils down to the fact that the netbooks have built in batteries, so we don’t have to purchase UPSes to use as backup power for then the power goes out. And we don’t have to track down a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse every time we want to do something, which was frankly a pain, when we were working with the minis in Ghana, and couldn’t access them via the network. Laptops are designed to be disconnected from power on a regular basis, and have built in peripherals. Convenient. And actually cheaper than the minis, if a little underpowered, comparatively.
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the argument in your last paragraph isn’t a good general one. we actually talked about using old laptops for those exact reasons (cost, built in battery, peripherals). the actual problem with using laptops as servers is that the battery only lasts a few hours (shorter than many power outages), at which point the laptop shuts down. that’s great and very UPS-like except that there are basically no laptops that can be conveniently BIOS-configured to reboot when power is restored (unlike desktops – that’s the way the respective motherboard chipsets are designed). this means somebody has to go and turn the system back on when power comes back. given that ghana was dealing with day-long outages every other day, that’s not really a viable option for an unattended server. the power outage situation is presumably more tolerable in mbarara.
The power situation is actually pretty different – in the offices, there are generator backups all day (indeed, they are often running on generator for weeks at a time) and the power outages are on the order of minutes, not hours or days. I don’t expect the laptops to ever be in a situation in which they are ever powered off completely. However, if they are, they are pretty much sitting where someone can easily power them on again, rather than in an isolated server room – which was the case with the mac minis in Ghana. It’s a completely different deployment situation. However – I don’t necessarily think that the laptops are a good long term solution – they are just a convenient, low cost package for researchers to consider packing in their repertoire in the short run while testing out software? In the long run I imagine they might be less robust, a little slow and a little hard to get fixed once the researcher leaves, unless the projection is just to get the netbooks replaced once a year? (admittedly with the drop in the value of the british pound, you can get a netbook in LHR for pretty darn cheap…)