1 LTSP DNS Round Robin Clusters: Green Technology Access Enablers for Telecommunication Services in Marginalised Communities Ingrid Siebörger 1 , Alfredo Terzoli 1 and Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams 2 Computer Science Department 1 and Centre for Educational Technology 2 Rhodes University 1 , Grahamstown, South Africa University of Cape Town 2 , Cape Town, South Africa Tel: 0466038291 Fax: 0466361915 email: {i.sieborger, a.terzoli}@ru.ac.za, cheryl.hodgkinson-williams@uct.ac.za Abstract—Rural development is seen as a priority in South Africa; information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development. Information Communi- cation Technologies (ICTs) are seen as important tools in rural development, assisting in enabling change through economic development. In rural areas where ICT infrastructure is being expanded and deployed there is a need to provide appropriate technologies that support sustainability and meet the needs of the local community. In this paper we argue that the use of Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) cluster servers are appropriate technologies for use in computer laboratory environments for relatively inexpensive access to technologies by schools and local communities in rural areas. Typically LTSP clusters are deployed when there is a need to support 100s or 1000s of computers, however, we argue that by reusing recycled (older) desktop or server computers as cluster servers could lower the entry level costs of LTSP computing while maximising the use of available resources. The paper details the configuration of a Domain Name System (DNS) round robin cluster solution together with initial testing and results. It is suggested that LTSP cluster solutions, and the DNS round robin implementation, show promise for use in providing access technologies to rural communities and schools. 1 Index Terms—ICT4D, cluster computing, DNS round robin, LTSP, ICTs in education I. I NTRODUCTION Rural development is seen as a priority in South Africa; information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development. Information Communi- cation Technologies (ICTs) are seen as important tools in rural development, assisting in enabling change through economic development [1]. Policy makers in South Africa are concerned with bridging the digital divide [2] that exists between urban (high socio-economic areas) and rural (low socio-economic areas) regions of the country [3]. Organiza- tions such as the CSIR [3] and other academic institutions, such as the universities in South Africa (Rhodes University, University of Fort Hare [1], [4], University of the Western Cape [5], to name a few) have been investigating sustainable methods of bridging the digital divide between rural and urban communities of South Africa. 1 This work was undertaken in the Distributed Multimedia CoE at Rhodes University, with financial support from Telkom SA, Comverse, Stortech, Tellabs, Easttel, Bright Ideas 39 and THRIP. However, many development projects, using ICTs, in the developing world mimick projects in the developed world. Researchers have found that this approach to development is not necessarily appropriate in the contexts of developing nations and argue that development projects need to thor- oughly investigate their contexts in order to make decisions about appropriate technologies [6]. It can be argued that the investigation and use of appropriate technologies that are grounded in the local context and support the needs of the local communities is key to the success of ICT-based developmental projects in developing nations [6]. In the context of rural South Africa, specifically the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), communities are faced with socio-economic challenges associated with poverty and poor infrastructural development. In South Africa the penetration of telecommunications infrastructure is low, with an esti- mated 5% fixed-line teledensity in some rural regions of South Africa [7]. In addition, these regions tend to suffer from a limited road network, limited access to government services, inadequate education and health care facilities, a lack of connections to the national electricity grid, and poor or vandalized telecommunication (land-line telephones) infrastructure in some areas [6], [8]. In the Dwesa region, where the SLL is located, local schools act as technology access centres for the community members. Not only are the community members and schools not able to afford computer and telecommunication facilities, but the region also suffers from inadequate and erratic grid electricity supply. They experience extreme humidity all year long and extreme heat in summer. In order to make the facilities economically sustainable and easier to maintain for the limited staff and students providing support for the dispersed facilities, we employed thin client computer labs. Specifically, we use Edubuntu Linux [9] which incorporates the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) [10]. Thin client computer facilities offer a number of advantages, such as a longer service life, reduced power consumption (depending on the hardware chosen), easier configuration management, improved security, reduced space requirements and are less susceptible to theft (as thin clients are useless without the server), to name a few [11]. Unfortunately, there are also drawbacks to thin client computing. The most notable are