Annotation of doc/hardware/hardware.html, revision 1.4

1.1       harris41    1: <HTML>
                      2: <TITLE>LON-CAPA Hardware Compatibility</TITLE>
                      3: <H1>LON-CAPA Hardware Compatibility</H1>
                      4: <P>
                      5: Last updated: 10/23/2000
                      6: </P>
                      7: <H3>Hardware Requirements</H3>
                      8: <P>
                      9: There are 4 hardware requirements for the current LON-CAPA system.
                     10: <UL>
                     11: <LI>i586 (or greater) intel architecture computer
                     12: <LI>ethernet card
                     13: <LI>static IP connection
                     14: <LI>4 gigabytes (or greater) hard drive space
                     15: <LI>CD-ROM
                     16: <LI>64 megabytes (or greater) of RAM
                     17: <LI>all hardware (monitors, ethernet cards, CD-ROMs, motherboard) must
                     18: be compatible with RedHat Linux 6.2.  A vendor compatibility list is at
1.2       harris41   19: <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/support/hardware/intel/62/rh6.2-hcl-i.ld.html">
                     20: http://www.redhat.com/support/hardware/intel/62/rh6.2-hcl-i.ld.html</A>.
1.1       harris41   21: </UL>
                     22: </P>
                     23: <P>
                     24: </P>
                     25: <H3>Frequently Asked Questions</H3>
                     26: <P>
                     27: <OL>
                     28: <LI><B>Why can't I run the LON-CAPA system on a Sun Microsystem, 
                     29: MacOS-X, Windows-NT, or a LINUX-based system other than RedHat 6.2?</B>
                     30: <BR>The short answer is you can run LON-CAPA on most any type of 
                     31: computer, but you shouldn't.  The software system of LON-CAPA has
                     32: been designed with security and performance in mind.  Unless you are
                     33: prepared to understand the configuration details of the LON-CAPA network
                     34: layer and security issues specific to your operating system and machine
                     35: architecture, you will not be able to run LON-CAPA.  In the long-term,
                     36: alternate scenarios of running the LON-CAPA system will add significant
                     37: administrative overhead in terms of LON-CAPA software upgrades.
                     38: <LI><B>What about firewall configurations?</B>
                     39: <BR>Firewall configurations are doable, but not recommended.
                     40: This requires detailed understanding of the LON-CAPA network layer, reduces
                     41: network connectivity, and may require reconfiguration upon new software
                     42: releases
                     43: <LI><B>What about load-balancing hardware configurations?</B>
                     44: <BR>The good news is that LON-CAPA supports its own load-balancing
1.2       harris41   45: of web-delivered content.  The only relevant hardware configuration
                     46: is a static IP address and ethernet connection.  LON-CAPA takes care
                     47: of the rest.  Load-balancing should not be implemented with
                     48: other hardware/software configurations since this would alter the logic
                     49: by which LON-CAPA distributes and disseminates resources. 
1.1       harris41   50: <LI><B>What about backup tape drives and CD-ROM burners?</B>
                     51: <BR>There currently is no defined system of backing up LON-CAPA resources.
1.2       harris41   52: It is, however, both easily doable and highly recommended.  Every machine's
                     53: /home/httpd/html/res directory should be periodically saved in entirety.
                     54: Additionally, you may wish to save other machine-specific configuration
                     55: files such as /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf (for a description of these
1.3       harris41   56: files, go to <A HREF="http://install.lon-capa.org/3.1/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.html">
                     57: http://install.lon-capa.org/3.1/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.html)</A>.  As far as HOW you
1.2       harris41   58: save this, via a tape-drive or CD-ROM, that is your currently your
                     59: judgement call.  For more information on backing up Linux-based systems,
                     60: read <A HREF="http://www.medstv.unimelb.edu.au/~pierre/backup/Backup-HOWTO.html">
                     61: http://www.medstv.unimelb.edu.au/~pierre/backup/Backup-HOWTO.html</A>.
1.1       harris41   62: </OL>
                     63: </P>
1.2       harris41   64: <H3>Notes</H3>
                     65: <P>
                     66: A monitor and other peripherals are not necessary for anything but
                     67: the installation process.  Their inclusion with your computer system
                     68: is dependent on what level of convenience you think they provide.
                     69: </P>
1.1       harris41   70: </BODY>
                     71: </HTML>

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