Sneakernets: Bringing the Mountain to You

Sameer Verma, Ph.D.ProfessorInformation Systems DepartmentSan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, CA 94132 USAhttp://verma.sfsu.edu sverma@sfsu.edu @sameerverma

SeminarDepartment of ComputingUniversity of the West Indies, Jamaica

Unless noted otherwise

Content

Store

Transport

Use

sneakernet

Walking data across buildings on a storage device from one computer to another.

High bandwidth, high latency.

The theoretical capacity of a Boeing 747 filled with Blu-Ray discs is 595,520,000 Gigabytes, resulting in a 245,829 Gbit/s flight from New York to Los Angeles. Wikipedia

~ 70%

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Internet Access

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_Penetration.png

Can information flow like water?

http://ltse.env.duke.edu/files/ltse/images/India%20Persian%20wheel%20irrigation%20Ganges%20Plain.jpg

A water battery.
Can we build information batteries?

Viva La Revolucin

Can we spark a paradigm shift by providing equitable access to information all over the world?

Somebody is finally thinking of the children!

To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. OLPC Mission Statement,It's an education project, not a laptop project. Nicholas Negroponte

in the beginning...

ooh! laptop!

(July 2007)

Give 1 Get 1 Nov 2007

Next thing I know...

De facto founder of OLPC San Francisco

http://olpcsf.org

Then I run into this guy...

Click here to learn more...

Next thing I know...

De facto founder of OLPC Jamaica!

http://olpcjamaica.org.jm

A tremendous Thank you! to the UWI community for making this happen.

http://olpcjamaica.org.jm

Providence Basic School, Kingston, Jamaica

August Town Primary School, August Town, Jamaica

OLPC

Mission

OLPC's mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education

We aim to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. To this end, we have designed hardware, content and software for collaborative, joyful, and self-empowered learning. With access to this type of tool, children are engaged in their own education, and learn, share, and create together. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

Worldwide

40+ countries, 30+ languages, 2.2+ million laptops, 350+ applications

Where no computers have gone before...

School Galadima, Abuja City, Nigeria See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Galadima

Samkha village located in the suburbs of northern ThailandSee http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Thailand/Ban_Samkha

Khairat school is India's pilot site.See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_India

Ulaanbaatar, Mongoliahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ulaanbaatar

Ethopiahttp://www.reactivated.net/weblog/archives/2008/10/olpc-ethiopia-updates/

Ghanahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/2921143251/

Cameroonhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/3110907018/in/set-72157611290673682/

Afghanistan refugee camp, Pakistan http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Pakistan/Atlas_School

Colombiahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Colombia

Peruhttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Peru

Rwandahttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Rwanda

Iraqhttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Iraq

Haitihttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/Haiti

Solomon Islandshttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Solomon_Islands

Nepalhttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Nepal

Uruguay: Every primary school child has an XO.http://olpc-ceibal.blogspot.com/

postage stamps too!

2.2 million XO laptops and counting See Google Maps

Deployments worldwide

Also see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Property:Number_of_manufactured_laptops

Learn more...

http://laptop.org

XS: OLPC School Server
The Internet in a Box

(unsung hero too!)

What does the XS look like?

Fantasy View

What does the XS look like?

Reality View

http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/

What does the XS look like?

Any x86 box with requisite memory, crunch and storage can be the XS.It could also be a ARM machine in the near future...

Ideally, we want a machine thatConsumes very little power

Has the necessary crunch

PortablePocketable, even?

Very forgiving for power brownouts, heat, dust, etc.Kinda like the XO.

Services that the XS runs

NetworkingDNS

DHCP

NAT/Masquerading

Bridging

Identity managementSeamless XO login

Single One Time Password (SOTP) on server

ActivationTheft deterrence

Services that the XS runs

CollaborationXMPP via ejabberd

StorageFiles and attachments for courses

Backup files

Other media

BackupJournal/Datastore backup

XO Software updatesPush updates including firmware and OS images

Activity serverPushing activity bundles

Networking

Provides networking infrastructure for the school.

Acts as an Internet gateway (if backhaul exists)Includes HTTP proxy (optional)

Content filter (optional)

Supports Wi-Fi:Ad-Hoc

Mesh (IEEE 802.11s draft)

Infrastructure (Access Point)

Identity management

Single One Time Passwords (SOTP) for maintenance.Remote ISP maintenance, etc.

OLPC XO Browse authenticates seamlessly with Moodle

Moodle talks to ejabberd for permissions, etc.

First XO to access Moodle This XO becomes admin.

This XO can assign other teachers, course creators, and other such roles

Collaboration

XMPP-based collaboration via ejabberd.Ejabberd is a XMPP (jabber) server written in erlang.

Uses gabble mode under telepathy in Sugar.Gabble allows for server-based collaboration

XOs switch to salut mode in case no XS is found.Salut allows for peer-to-peer collaboration

Activities such as Chat, Write, Memorize use XMPP to collaborate.

http://xmpp.org/

http://collabora.co.uk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy_software

Storage

Much of the storage lives in /library partition.Mount /library on external USB disk or other media and expand storage.

Run rest of the system off a CF or SD card (solid state)

Files can be served as links via Moodle

links via Apache (add Apache config)

Backup

Three processes:Traffic controlprovides basic "traffic control" to manage load.

Backup-complete scriptCreates links for latest snapshot.

Daily cleanupenforces a per-user "soft" quota.

Updates

Pushing updates to OS image and firmware via rsync.

Layout (Access Points)

Hardware vs Load

Benjamin Tran's Master's thesis:jmeter to load and and nmon to record the load

Hardware recommendations

Schools with less than 40 laptops:use XS-on-XO: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS-on-XO

Requires a SD card (4GB, preferably class 6)

External USB hard drive (may need own power)

USB-Ethernet for backhaul.

Fit PC and Fit PC2

Fit PC works well and is comparable to the XO-1 in performance.More configurable than the XO-1.

Replace a SSD in the FitPC to make it cooler and more power efficient.http://www.fit-pc.com/fit-pc1/

Fit PC2 has heat problems.Intel Atom runs too hotSurprise, surprise.

Maybe glue on a large heat sink?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndevil/3535934684/

Hardware recommendations

Schools with up to 100 laptops:1GHz CPU, 1GB RAM,

at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.

Something in the mini ITX form-factor works well.

Fanless units are better

Hardware recommendations

For up to 500 laptops: dual-core 2GHz CPU

2 to 4GB RAM

at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.

This type of a machine usually works in environments with good power resources.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcorncx/149706221/

Hardware recommendations

More than 500 laptopsServer-class dual CPU

4 to 16GB RAM

at least 2GB disk storage per laptop.

Data center hosting is also an option.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamisonjudd/2433102356/

School Server

Screenshots

XS Moodle Screen Shots

Main page

Front page settings

Front page roles

List of users

Roles and permissions

Presence service

Antitheft controls

Add a course

Site files

Question bank

A zip file, which includes content and structure for the entire course!

Moving courses

...deploy in Madagascar!

Create in San Francisco...

XS: Internet in a box

No Internet? No power? No problem :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XShttp://wiki.laptop.org/go/School_server

Pathagar: A Book Server

Open Publication Distribution System

Pathagar : Path + Agar : +

A Practical Hindi-English Dictionary http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/caturvedi/

Problem:
Dissemination of Media in remote places

BooksPortable Document Format (PDF)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pdf

Electronic Publication format (ePub)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html

All digital media are a collection of bits. So we can also disseminateMusic

Video

Images

Internet Access

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_Penetration.png

How do we get books to here?

OPDS:
Open Publication and Distribution System

OPDS SpecificationThe Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog is a syndication format for electronic publications based on Atom RFC4287 and HTTP RFC2616.

Catalogs enable the aggregation, distribution, discovery, and acquisition of electronic publications.

OPDS Catalogs use existing or emergent open standards and conventions, with a priority on simplicity.

http://code.google.com/p/openpub

Book Server

Book Server = OPDS Server

RepositoryAdd books, along with title, author, language, description, etc.

ServeAtom-based OPDS feed (XML)

HTTP-based web pages that allow searching, listing, download, etc.

Pathagar ()

Written in Python

Requires python-django as a framework

Creates a website for managing and accessing books

Allows you to add books + metadata on books

Catalog allows for listing

Search feature

OPDS Feed, which is Atom (XML) based.

Books are served books via HTTP to:Browsers

Get Books activity

Written by Sayamindu Dasguptahttp://sayamindu.randomink.org

Get it at http://github.com/sayamindu/pathagar

Accessing Pathagar from Sugar

Get Books Activityhttp://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4194

Browse Activityhttp://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4024

Bookserver vs Schoolserver

SchoolserverCourse-based taxonomy (School)

Courses, teachers, students, assignments, assessment

Based on Moodle

BookserverCatalog-based model (Library)

Books, catalog, searches, description.

Based on OPDS

Catalog

Add a book

OPDS feed

OPDS feed source view

Get Books Activity

Pick a repository

Searching for Gulliver

Found Gulliver

Get Book

Downloading Gulliver's Travels

Pathagar

Work in progress

Fits deployment models where a curriculum isn't a central theme

Library or media access center approach

Easy to replicate and scale/federate

Pathagar

OPDS Book Server

Get it at http://github.com/sayamindu/pathagar

Pathagar : Path + Agar : +

Some day this part will be fast and cheap

Until then, we sneakernet it!

Slides made with the free stuff

http://libreoffice.org