Since 1993 Largo had been running OpenLinux Server and UnixWare on Intel-based servers. But Richards says it was clear by 2000 that Santa Cruz Operation, which owned the products at the time, wasn't doing well, and that Linux was the future OS of choice on the Intel platform.
Richards first introduced Linux into Largo's IT infrastructure in 2000. He chose Red Hat Linux 6.2 for its bundled Web servers and Netscape browser. Within a few months, Red Hat introduced the KDE interface with the 2.4 kernel of Linux in version 7.1. With that, the City of Largo was ready to test Linux as a server for thin clients.
The city let 20 people test Red Hat's thin-client Linux for about four months in early 2001. Richards says he selected a variety of users from a cross section of departments who understood that beta tests result in crashes and lockups. From the tests, the IT department learned how KDE worked and discovered which features needed to be disabled because they beat up the network--games and some screen savers among them. In mid-2001 Richards turned Linux 7.1 loose on the city.
Several months later, when Red Hat 7.2 was released, the city upgraded its server. It added the second Compaq server in late 2001. Today city users are split between the two machines, with each machine supporting about 110 concurrent users. In the event that either server goes down, the other server can handle all 220 users. In fact, Richards says, either server could support up to 300 concurrent users.
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