version 1.1, 2002/03/15 16:09:12
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version 1.2, 2002/04/17 00:06:32
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Line 41 LON-CAPA is a GPL-based project which or
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Line 41 LON-CAPA is a GPL-based project which or
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significant sense still is, located at Michigan State University. |
significant sense still is, located at Michigan State University. |
The installation, software versioning, and specification is |
The installation, software versioning, and specification is |
currently maintained by the freeware community which includes |
currently maintained by the freeware community which includes |
the document author and more importantly you! |
the author of this document and more importantly you! |
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Your interest, questions and suggestions are enthusiastically |
Your interest, questions and suggestions are enthusiastically |
invited for the specific development of the GPL code. |
invited for the specific development of the GPL code. |
Line 50 We do our best to help get you started w
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Line 50 We do our best to help get you started w
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system. Please e-mail harris41@msu.edu or helen@lon-capa.org |
system. Please e-mail harris41@msu.edu or helen@lon-capa.org |
for help with software installation. |
for help with software installation. |
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System Requirements |
Hardware Recommendation |
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It should be an intermediate-to-high-level |
For full-time, classroom usage, an adequate LON-CAPA server |
performance workstation computer. A ballpark suggestion |
should be/have: |
is that it is PentiumII or greater, has 20 gigabytes of |
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harddisk space, 256M RAM, and 400MHz CPU processing speed... |
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Dr. Kortemeyer at Michigan State University can give a more |
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thorough response if needed (he has experience with setting |
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up high-performance web server clusters). |
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A specifically high-level suggestion is a multi CPU machine |
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(with a CPU speed of 1 gigahertz), a gigabyte of memory and |
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at least 40 to 80 gigabytes of hard disk space. |
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You can use a lesser machine for toying around with LON-CAPA (It will |
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install an run for a single user on most anymachine) but if you wish |
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to support students and you wish to support deadline crunches my |
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suggestion is to go with the above. |
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LON-CAPA will work on any Intel-based RedHat compatible |
* a multiprocessor machine, |
hardware. And, unlike other software systems, it works |
* a CPU speed of 1 gigahertz, |
comparatively well on dusty old crippled machines without |
* a gigabyte of memory, |
much RAM or processing. I am just projecting the characteristics |
* and at least 40 to 80 gigabytes of hard disk space. |
that make LON-CAPA nice to use without any unreasonable slowness, |
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and in terms of hard disk space, how to make it at least 5 years |
A lesser machine can be used for toying around with LON-CAPA |
down the road, if not more. |
(LON-CAPA will run for a single user on most any machine). |
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LON-CAPA servers experience significant peaks of activity |
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before a homework submission deadline. To support these critical |
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peaks of activity, it is strongly advised that LON-CAPA machines |
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fit the above recommendation. |
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If thousands of students start accessing the box as a web server... |
If thousands of students start accessing the box as a web server... |
well you may want to consider more options (LON-CAPA supports |
well you may want to consider more options. The design of the LON-CAPA |
load-balancing on multiple computers for instance). We like |
system is to naturally and transparently load-balance on multiple |
to think of high web server usage as "a good problem" though.. :) |
computer clusters. So, a simple solution for running an entire |
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college campus is to just have an adequate plurality of LON-CAPA |
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servers rather than a single, particularly monstrous server. |
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We like to think of high web server usage as "a good problem" though.. :) |
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More Information on Hardware and System Administration |
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I find that LON-CAPA works nicely (for development purposes) |
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on a Pentium II, 20 gigabytes of hard-disk space, 256M RAM, |
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and 400MHz. The consensus is though, that this may only |
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be adequate for a class of a dozen students. |
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If you are making a serious investment, we suggest you |
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join our mailing list by visiting |
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http://mail.lon-capa.org/mailman/listinfo/lon-capa-users. |
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By posting to this mailing list, you can learn about what |
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solutions have worked for others. |
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LON-CAPA works on any Intel-based RedHat-compatible |
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hardware. Unlike other software systems, it works |
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comparatively well on dusty old crippled machines without |
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much RAM or processing. |
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We support Linux OS. LON-CAPA has been shown to work on Debian, |
We support Linux OS. LON-CAPA has been shown to work on Debian, |
Mandrake, and RedHat. Instructions are based on RedHat-centric |
Mandrake, and RedHat. Instructions are based on RedHat-centric |
installs. Given the current level of new LON-CAPA feature requests |
installs. Given the current level of new LON-CAPA feature requests |
and frequency of new software versions, we suggest that you stick |
and frequency of new software versions, we suggest that you stick |
with RedHat to reduce high frequency system administration overhead. |
with RedHat to reduce high-frequency system administration overhead. |
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Strategy |
Strategy |
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