[linux-audio-user] IUPUI Student Radio Station should be based on Linux

Hello, I'm starting a student radio station at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Indiana and I want our entire audio infrastructure to be based on Linux. I've got a rough sense of all the apps we need and what apps to setup on which computers, but I thought I'd run the blueprints by you guys to see if you could give me any feedback. Streaming/Web Server: Runs apache and icecast or the icecast mod for Apache. Automation Computer: Runs some sort of playback program, I've been keeping my eyes on LiveSupport http://www.campware.org/ to schedule and automate the station when DJs aren't present. Audio Archive: File Server for our digital library, probably all FLAC files, maybe Ogg, but I think we want FLAC in case we want to burn CDs. And this is the part that I need help on... Production Computer... so I've been tooling around with JACK and Ardour and MusE (not to be confused with MuSE) and other JACK apps and its all really cool and exciting. I never got the sound input to even really work in linux until a couple weeks ago. Yay for the 2.6.8+ kernels. So here are my thoughts on setting up a workstation, and I don't even know if this is possible, but that's why I'm mailing you guys. One department has kindly donated a brand new Dell Poweredge Dual Xeon 2.4 ghz somethin or other. The rest of our computers are from the university junkyard of midgrade PowerPC G4s and Pentium 3s. So the Poweredge is our gem computer out of all the other crappy computers. Is there any way for me to set up the speedy new poweredge as some kind of audio production renderfarm, and get the PPCs and the Pentium 3s to connect to it as production terminals? Cause, although multi-tracking on the G4s and Pentium 3s is possible, doing extensive work with FX plugins is probably out of the question. See what I'm getting at? Also, the Poweredge also has about a 500gb raid system with it, which would be nice to use for storing our audio on and maybe even using as our digital archive as well, but that might be pushing it if we are doing audio production work on it as well? I'd imagine this might be the case, but I don't see why ftping flac files on a local network would be too much of a burden on the raid drive or dual processors. Another reason why it would be nice to be able to connect to a poweredge remotely to do audio work, is that it the poweredge makes about as much noise as a 747. So... its not exactly an audio production friendly unit. So these are my thoughts. Am I crazy... or is there some magical way to make this happen? - Ben Racher bracher(a)iupui.edu