[cobalt-users] Provisioning Cobalt Qube

[Andrew Reid <andrew.reid@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I've been asked to evaluate the Qube 3 for work, and one of the things
that look weird to me is the fact that Cobalt claim the Qube is able to
"serve up to 150 user accounts".

I've got to look at it from an education perspective, that is, for use
in the education sector (primary and high schools).

In a primary school, I doubt that 150 supporting more than 150 users is
going to come into the equation. Most primary schools seem to just have
class folders that have to support one or two computer rooms.

However, at a high school, it's most likely that each student is given
their own account. Generally speaking, one box should quite happily run
along with a few thousand accounts on it.

Obviously, you'd not expect supreme performance if all those users are
logged on simultaneously, but schools are unlikely to have a 1:1 ratio
of computers to students.

What I'm trying to find out is how many users a Qube can realistically
handle. 150 seems particularly stupid if we're talking about "user
accounts" as opposed to concurrent connections.

The Qube's aren't cheap -- AUD$4100 for the Professional Edition is a
lot of money for something that only supports 150 users. I know that
you're not just paying for hardware, but you can get a rather mammoth
generic box for AUD$4100.

If people are able to give a brief description of how they're using
Qube's in high-load/high-demand situations, preferably with details of
how many users per box.

Thanks for your help,

   - andrew

-- 
Andrew J. Reid                    "Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem
andrew.reid@xxxxxxx               mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane
+61 401 946 813                   mittam"