Internet cafe setup

T

tco21

Cynical Grinch
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Hi

I'm busy designing the layout for somebody who wants to setup an internet cafe.

I have the layout of the shop here:

http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9826&cat=2

* You'll see the 2 pink cirlces on the left are point-of-sale tills for the shop, and the 2 on the right are admin pc's.

* The big red dot is the mainframe

* The cyan dot is the printer/copy/fax machine

* The green dots represent the computers which people can use for internet access.

--------

The few points I want to bring up:

- All the orange cabling will link up to a 24port hub/switch which will link up to a router connected to the mainframe.

- The POS computer on the bottom will link to the top one via a 2port switch or something of the sort, and that will link up to the 24 port hub.

- The same goes for the admin pc's as per the picture.

- All the computers will connect to the printer via the LAN.

- All of the computers connected to the mainframe (incl. the admin and POS pc's will only be monitors and the peripherals required to browse) and only the mainframe will be running an OS to which they will connect.

- The POS pc's will have timing software to record client usage.

- The dimensions of the shop are 8m*22m
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My questions:

- Is this sort of setup even possible?

- What type of specs would the mainframe need?

- Is Microsoft recommended for the mainframe (bearing in mind if it runs Linux, most customers won't be familiar with it)?

- Can the monitors and keyboards/mice all connect over such a distance via USB or a similar method?

- Will a 4MBps line be sufficient?

-------

Danke Sherman :D
 
Are you saying each PC will just be a terminal and will use a central server as the CPU running the OS?
 
That won't work you'll need some type of terminal client device to do this. I have used clients called officestations before but you should be able to find something better.
 
A "mainframe" will cost millions and doesn't even perform the function you're interested in.

What you're suggesting is a terminal server type scenario with dumb terminals I assume?
 
Sackboy said:
Are you saying each PC will just be a terminal and will use a central server as the CPU running the OS?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I was aiming to do. I imagine the CPU would need to be about a quad core to run them all; but all they will be doing is running a web browser and perhaps some document applications, so they won't be too resource intensive.

Amida said:
That won't work you'll need some type of terminal client device to do this. I have used clients called officestations before but you should be able to find something better.
Click to expand...

Yeah - but at the moment my biggest uncertainty is the ability of connecting the terminal hardware to the mainframe/ officestation. Is it possible with USB?
 
JUGGY said:
A "mainframe" will cost millions and doesn't even perform the function you're interested in.

What you're suggesting is a terminal server type scenario with dumb terminals I assume?
Click to expand...

Yep. Sorry I wasn't actually referring to a 'mainframe' per se, was just using that as a name for the computer that will be hosting all the terminals.
 
tco21 said:
Yes, that's what I was aiming to do. I imagine the CPU would need to be about a quad core to run them all; but all they will be doing is running a web browser and perhaps some document applications, so they won't be too resource intensive.



Yeah - but at the moment my biggest uncertainty is the ability of connecting the terminal hardware to the mainframe/ officestation. Is it possible with USB?
Click to expand...

Probably not possible with USB, you would have to use a LAN. For terminals check Wyse and HP - Wyse are better, HP are cheaper.....

Don't worry too much about the processor - I have clients with 80+ users on a dual quad and the processor runs about 15%. How many PCs are you going to run??
 
16 customer computers and 4 shop computers so processing power won't be a problem if you say yours is running 80+.

Will have a look at HP and Wyse now for their terminals. Feel free to post a link. Thanks.

P.S How would you connect a monitor and peripherals via a lan cable?
 
Remember, if someone wants to download a file, it will download to the terminal server and not the terminal, so it will be a inconvenience to get the file onto a flash drive or write it one cd if need be...

Why not just get cheap pcs and then you don't even need the terminal server...
 
True, but then you still don't have the option for the guys to write it to cd if they don't have a flash drive... Or maybe have like some 128mb flash drive up for sale if they need one.

Edit: Another thing to keep in mind... Flash drives are our number one source for viruses...
 
Good point. Will put that information through also.

A quick question though... will the terminals catch the virus if a flash has one, or will the server pc catch it?

---

Another question regarding the system:

Will I be able to put in two fingerprint devices up front with the POS computers? (Assuming they are USB devices). Stupid question I know, but then again I've never worked with fingerprint recognition.
 
I would stay away from those clients - why run an XPe thin client in your environment; they have benefits, but will cost the same as a PC.... Rather look at the ThinOS wyse clients, they cheaper as there is no MS license ;)
The virus should not infect the client, but it may infect the server, depending on what you run.

Have you considered run XenDesktop/VDI? There is a free solution for under 10 users, and works by provisioning a full desktop to the thin client. USB etc should then work. The benefit of this is that if a machine fails, simply reboot it and you have a fresh install. Very easy to manage....

As far as writing CDs, just sell cheap USB sticks as mentioned. Less moving parts = less breakage = lower TCO. Also nobody will steal a thin client :)
 
Last edited:
I had HP T5500 ThinClients that got infected with viruses and it is a biatch to remove it. They where running XPe...
 
Dam. I never even considered the licenses for each of those. That's going to cost quite a bit. Not too worried about the server being infected... that will just have to be really up-to-date.

Since he'll have 16 users, I'll have to get two of them. The information about the XenDesktop/VDI is either pretty vague or I'm just tired. How will 8 computers connect to one of these? Also, I can't find the local pricing for one it.

Starting to wonder whether it wouldn't be better to just get 16 low-end pc's.

Another question; would it be possible to buy 16 thin clients and THEN load windows onto them. Since they connect to the server, shouldn't the server be the only one requiring the license?

P.S Thanks for the assistance. Would have been at square one if not for your guys help.
 
The thinclients with XPe are more expensive cause it includes the license.

Another thing to keep in mind, if you are going to use Windows Server on a machine and use terminal server, don't you need cal licenses as well? I'm not sure, as I used volume licensing at my previous company.
 
Eish. Headache. lol. Luckily the guy I work with was at the microsoft partnership meeting the other day so he'll be able to confirm all the license requirements.

I'm starting to wonder whether or not to push for Ubuntu or the likes; though I don't think the guy will be too happy with the idea.
 
Let me confuse you even more ;)

There's three approaches here: PCs, Thin Clients (TC) > Server, TC > Desktop.

PC's require: 1 x OS License (XP, Vista) + Software, 1 x MS SBS CAL (if you use SBS). The software (XP etc.) is installed on the PCs hardware.

Using ThinClients there are two approaches: Connect to a Server or connect to a Desktop.

Connecting TC to a Server requires: 1 x TC (the license is included in the price, Linux versions are cheaper), 1 x TSCAL, 1 x MS SBS CAL. Software license per user. The application software is all installed on the Server, users RDP/ICA into the server and get a desktop with the applications.

Connecting TC to a Desktop requires: 1 x TC, 1 x SBS CAL, 1 x XP (OS) CAL, Software per user. Using this method, the users entire desktop runs on a Server (1 desktop/user; multiple desktops/server), the TC connects to this desktop.

Now if you work out the costs for the above, the TC is around 40% cheaper to purchase. The real benefits are realised when it comes to maintenace. Every time the users machine boots, it gets a brand new, fresh OS. If the TC should break, simply swap it with another and boot; no downtime, no installation. Lastly the TC will last for around 8-10 years. It has no moving parts (fans, HDD etc) to wear down and break; and nobody will steal it cause it is worthless to them.... You will also never have to upgrade the TC as all the software runs and is processed on the server.

I would urge you to consider the TC as an option, even though it sounds complicated, it really is not - but it does offer tremendous benefits.....
 
I once was asked to help in a Tux lab with their system, and I got totally lost. I could understand that they were thin clients and booting off the network, but I had no idea how to administer or manage anything.

I also don't know if there are cafe products for Linux.

A 4mb line may work, but you should probably get 2, as it's easy for one user to start chewing up bandwidth. A Skype call, a few downloads, uploading photos to Facebook....
 
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