Re: [9fans] Plan9 topology

[John Floren <slawmaster@gmail.com>]

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On 01/13/2011 11:40 AM, Duke Normandin wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Jan 2011, David Leimbach wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 10:38 AM, Duke Normandin <dukeofperl@ml1.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Just read:
>>>
>>> http://lsub.org/magic/man2html/1/0intro
>>>
>>> [quote]
>>> Plan 9 is a distributed computing environment assembled from separate
>>> machines acting as terminals, CPU servers, and file servers.[/quote]
>>>
>>> Does the above imply, that ideally Plan9 should be running on a LAN?
>>> Not so good as the OS on a stand-alone box?
>>> --
>>> Duke
>>>
>>> A lot of us with just one machine to spare tend to install the system, then
>> build and configure a CPU/Auth/FS server on one box, or even just a VMWare
>> or other virtualization instance.
>
> OK! So it _is_ possible to run a "full" Plan9 OS in one partition, on
> one machine?
>
>> With plan 9 you do not have to run your CPU, authentication and file system
>> parts of your computing system all in one place
>
> I understand. In bygone days, Unix shops ran exactly that way. A
> central file server box, with terminals 9or workstations) connected to
> it.
>
>> From there we can log into our plan 9 server using unix programs like
>> drawterm, or even 9vx, each of which are more or less ports of Plan 9 to
>> other OSes with different pros and cons.
>
> You bet!
>
>> With plan 9 you do not have to run your CPU, authentication and file
>> system parts of your computing system all in one place, and really,
>> you can just run a terminal and play around with that to get started
>> if you like.
>
> I don't have any extra boxes to play around with at the moment. So if
> I can let one partition be Plan9 - in all it's glory - so much the
> better.

If you only have one computer available and have to dual-boot, you can
actually do pretty good with a simple, standalone terminal (this is what
gets installed by default). You can then get an account at one or two of
the public Plan 9 servers and connect from your terminal.

If you have a second computer available that you can devote to Plan 9 (a
Pentium II with 128 MB of RAM will perform admirably), I recommend that
you find the instructions on the wiki for setting up a standalone CPU
server
(http://www.plan9.bell-labs.com/wiki/plan9/Configuring_a_standalone_CPU_server/index.html)
and follow them. You will end up with a Plan 9 cpu/auth/file server all
on one box, to which you can then connect from a Plan 9 terminal, 9vx on
Linux, or drawterm on Linux/OS X/Windows.

Personally, I've run at least half a dozen Plan 9 servers over the
years, always installing a full cpu/auth/file server, usually on any PC
I can scrape together out of the parts bin or the loading dock. Then I
just connect from my desktop using drawterm, or I use the Thinkpad with
Plan 9 installed as a terminal.

Good luck; Plan 9 is a very fun system.


John
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