Setting Up A Lan Network

[jkrzymin]

Hello, I could really use some help brainstorming for a bit of a complex set up, mainly with regards to the LAN network. We are implementing Kolibri in a large orphanage. This will be done through computers acting as servers in each home/ computer lab along with multiple tablets for each location that will act as clients. Overall, we will be using desktop computers as servers in over 20 separate rooms. What equipment will be needed to connect tablets to each of these individual computers? Can I have all the servers on one single LAN, or does each server need it’s own unique network? We already have internet access wired across many parts of our community with one large connection expanded by routers.

So far I have looked into RACHEL units as a simple and suitable option for making a quick connection our tablets could connect to, but I am guessing it would be a lot more cost-effective and give our tablets more range in each home to use computers that we already have as servers, with LAN connections instead. If you can link me to common LAN setups and the hardware that I will need, or give me some help planning out how to set up 20 separate computers to be servers, please let me know. I would like to start obtaining the hardware to implement it asap.

[jredrejo]

Hello, connecting different servers through the LAN is a very good idea (I am assuming you mean the LAN uses network cables, not wifi to connect the servers. If the servers were going to be connected using cables it’s a totally different story).
You have 2 main options:

1. All the servers have the same content, and you just want to distribute equally the number of tablets that connect to each server. Then you can have them all in the same LAN network. You just have to provide to the students the ip of the server you want them to connect. Example, room1 to http://10.0.0.3:8000 , room2 to http://10.0.0.4:8000 , etc. If one student in room2 wants to connect to room1 server it’s not a problem,
2. Every room has its server with its own content and you don’t want students from one room to connect to a different room: Then you should create a wifi hotspot in each server, and provide the wifi credentials for each room to the students you want them to use it. All the servers will have 2 network: LAN to the orphanage with ips 10.0.0.3, 10.0.0.4 , etc. and one wifi LAN for its classroom, they all in the same ip, example: http://192.168.0.1:8000

To provide more exact instructions I would need to know the OS you use in the servers.
Also, if you already have the servers, I would not spend more money buying RACHEL units. I would invest in buying good Wifi access points to ensure they are able to manage as many simultaneous connections as tablets are going to connect per room.

[shrenik]

@jkrzymin Please share the configuration of the computers.
What is the possibility of connecting each of the homes together over a LAN network? What is the distance between each of the homes in the orphanage? This will be crucial to decide what kind of cabling is feasible.

[Noela_Tenku]

Hello , this is a very interesting read. I am currently working on a project on Developing digital services for telecentres in Rural communities in Cameroon at GIZ. We want to use Kolibri as the education service on this platform. I am pleased to be here, looking forward to learning from everyone the best practices to follow.