Ask HN: Computer Lab in Developing Nation

4 points by bhollan 3 years ago | 5 comments

I've been asked to help with the construction and opening of a computer lab in Belize. The plan is to have it used by the remedial school that will host it[1], but also available for use by the public. The target audience/content is more literacy-oriented than tech-oriented (think GED, not SWE).

I'm sure this is not the first one of these in existence, so I'd love to hear any tips/tricks or recommendations/precautions (both for the "developing nation" side and general "public computer lab" side). My personal background is more EE/SWE than IT.

[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/740055676147398/

zachlatta 3 years ago |

I work at Hack Club (https://hackclub.com), a nonprofit that supports teenagers in finding and pursuing their love of computers through free programs.

First, this is amazing! Thank you for helping make this happen.

There are a number of Hack Clubs that run out of computer labs like these. My #1 recommendation would be to have a concrete plan in place to ensure high quality, reliable internet access, and the ability for students to access the space recreationally.

Many of the Hack Clubs we have in underresourced areas that run out of labs like this don't have access (or lost access) to the internet, and for many of them we will reimburse the cost of a 4G phone hotspot. But it is not a very good solution

The other challenge a lot of our teenagers run into is the schools only allowing them to use the computer lab during class hours. I think it is very important that students are able to come to the lab outside of normal class hours to experiment, play games, etc - as it's difficult to find a love for computers if you don't spend a lot of time around them.

bhollan 3 years ago | |

Bandwidth is a real concern, yes. Also, the intent is both for the school and open to the public.

But it's really not to build web dev skills, but literally to learn to read and write.

hello_computer 3 years ago |

If you can get by with Linux/OpenBSD/FreeBSD, PXE boot is the way to go; with a read-only network share for applications, and a read-write one for user files. Greatly reduces TCO--only one HD, only one machine to maintain, and any virus intrusions on clients can be cleared with a reboot.

bhollan 3 years ago | |

End user operations will be 100% Windows based and I won't be involved in the operation long term. Also, whoever is, probably won't know Linux at all, let alone at a sys admin level.

But I like the idea of having one machine to maintain. What's the best mechanic for that on Windows?

hello_computer 3 years ago | | |

Windows can also do PXE boot. It's just a little rougher around the edges in that application than most of the unixes are.

I think the Windows approach here would be to have one beefy server, and a bunch of thin-clients that connect to the server using RDP. For security & ease-of-maintenance, you would probably want those thin-clients connecting to individual Windows VMs hosted on the server, rather than accounts on the server itself. Of course, streaming games & video over RDP is going to suck.