Sometime Today, vinbh@vsnl.com assembled some asciibets to say:
Hallo friends, I am a beginner of Linux.
Hello, welcome. Could you fix your line length to about 72 characters?
I am about to shift my Novell netware platform to Linux. We are having one PIII 733 64 MB Ram, 20 GB HDD server and 10 diskless nodes. Please help me to sort out the problems.
I'd suggest you get more RAM on your PIII. Since this is going to serve 10 diskless nodes, it will help. Get about 256MB.
- Can I install Linux in the server and configure the diskless
nodes under linux. Or all diskless nodes must have hard disk and I
Ok, first off, a server is a process. You want to install linux on a host, not a server. Yes, you can install linux on the PIII, and install all applications there. You'd also want to set it up as a dhcp and bootp server. On your diskless nodes, you'd either boot with a floppy, or through your network card using bootp. You should read the Diskless-HOWTO for more information on this. Linux can also act as a netware server, so you may want to look at that first. Hint: mars-nwe
- Can I run the existing clipper programs in Linux. Or what is
the alterations I have to make in Clipper programs to run under
If you can get your hands on a Clipper compiler/interpreter for linux, then yes, you can use your existing clipper programs. Any changes that you need to make will depend on whether clipper programs use any platform dependent stuff or not. I think not. What I doubt though, is whether clipper is available for linux. You'll have to pester your clipper vendor about that.
- What is the other alternative for Clipper, if I can't run
clipper programs under Linux.
Well, for one, if you want to do databases, get a real database server. Oracle is available for linux, but if you want open and free alternatives, get postgresql or mysql. Your code can be written in any language including perl, php, c, java, and anything else that has a driver for it. Most languages have the drivers.
- What is the minmum configuration required for server and
workstations (Our nodes are Pentium 100s with 16 MB RAM)
It depends on what you want to run. Typically the server host would be powerful. PIII is fine, but like I said, get more RAM. Your workstations can be anything from a 386 @33MHz with 4MB RAM and up.
- Can the X windows can be accessed through diskless nodes.
Yes. Read the diskless-Howto. And it's the X Windowing system.
- Can I share the Internet/email using a Proxy server and diskless
nodes. We are having one unlimited Satyam dailup connection, which is dailed through ordinary BSNL Line.
Yes. Configure your PIII as a gateway/proxy. Check squid.
Philip