Hi, first of all I'd like to let you readers know that my knowledge in computers only goes as far as turning them on and playing games or browsing and e-mails. I'm not that well versed in the technicalities of computer science but I'm willing to learn.
The idea of using Linux has got me interested in applications such as client-server/terminal server tasks, and for CCTV Video Management Software linked of to a SAN network.
So I was then wondering if it were possible to hook up PC terminals that ran Windows OS to and pull resources from a Linux based client server.
Are terminal server setups restricted to launching clients on a Windows to Windows and Linux to Linux basis? Or could you have some sort hybrid?
Now with CCTV applications there are a number of windows based VMS and I was hoping to link them to some sort of SAN. Any suggestions on Linux VMS and Linux based SANS?
As far as the terminal question goes you can SSH into any box you've set up an SSH service on, it's an industry standard so no need to worry about cross-compatibility. VM: any linux distro will run both run fine in a VM, and act as a host no problem. What's more important is the stability of the distro of choice (and user friendliness/documentation since you're new) So to start off you could try out Fedora, Mint or openSuse in a VM and test if one of them tickles your pickle. If not, there's a hundred alternatives. Just make sure the VM host has iommu, vd-x &or vt-d enabled in the BIOS, especially if you need the VM to run in graphics mode. Soeone else might have a comments about SANs and CCTV. Edit: wait, VM as in CCTV video manager?
VM for virtual machines and VMS for video management software. The kind that manages streams from multiple cctv cameras and handles recording and video walls etc...
So if I'm understanding correctly, if I were to decide on a Linux Terminal Server I am limited to launching Linux based virtual machines and not microsoft, yes? The same is true for a microsoft based server?
Like @Adobe_Flash_Player said, LXC is a container, where you can run mutiple linux distros on the same kernel, in parallell kinda, without the overhead of running a full virtual environment. Then there's KVM and XEN, KVM being imo easier to setup. Both are type 1 hypervisors and there's GUI tools like virt-manager (similar to virtualbox) that can manage all of the above. That's a typical approach to run VM's on workstations. If you want to run a server that hosts multiple environments that are accessible through the network take a look at Proxmox, it's preconfigured so you don't have to do everything manually. There's also Fedora (/ RHEL) Atomic, but i'm not sure if it's intended for VM's or if it's limited to containerization, gotta play around with it myself. As for the VMS I know there's Zoneminder, it should be available in most distros' default repos.
Sorry for the late reply. Been working on exploring what was discussed here. I still have a ways to go when it comes to the terms.
Looking back it seems I actually asked two different questions on this thread. Although they can be vaguely related, I have to give my apologies.
With regards to virtualization, the XEN vs KVM recommendation basically answered my question with regards to running windows virtual machines using a Linux based hypervisor with XEN (I think) currently having more compatibility with windows due to it being out in the market longer.
As far as SAN and CCTVS go, I found out that it is a 3 part system. Apart from the recording device (in whatever form) having to support ISCSI network protocols, you need a server to act as an ISCSI Initiator and point it to the SAN to accept the ISCSI connection.
Modern windows systems have the ISCSI service built in and an installation process for older versions. Now I'm wondering if Linux offers a version of this as well.
I'm not sure about FreeBSD but FreeNAS has ISCSI capabilities. I have not checked Zoneminder yet as i'm working on a stand alone DVR with ISCSI protocols to get familiar with the setup before moving to PC based solutions, but it might be in the technical specifications. Based on these it comes down to finding a solid linux distro that can act as the server and ISCSI initiator.
To tie both the topic of virtualization and CCTV/SAN, I guess we could run a virtualization of windows for the ISCSI initiator service if that was the preferred os environment.
Hope this clarifies things for people trying to set up their CCTVs to record to a SAN for theoretically unlimited expandable recording space.