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October 29, 2009
Lockdown software from Microsoft
Windows SteadyState (formerly Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP) is a set of software tools to help effectively manage shared computers running Windows.
What is Windows SteadyState?
Share computers, not headaches
What state is your shared computer in at the end of the day?
- Hard disk filled with downloaded files?
- Strange options configured?
- Programs installed that you don't want?
- System infected with viruses and spyware?
- Computer bogged down for unknown reasons?
A locked-down platform for stable shared computing
Not every computer user should have access to every software capability. Your system can be more stable and consistent when you limit user access to control panel functions, network resources, and other sensitive areas.
Set it and forget it
Once you have everything set up the way you want it, you can share the computer and rest easy. Any changes a user might make to the configuration or hard disk can be undone by simply restarting the machine.
Posted by Staff at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
Perspective - The fundamental flaws of thin clients
Very nice piece looking advantages and disadvantages of thin clients and the current best mode to implement them. From Brianmadden.com is Jeroen van de Kamp
by Jeroen van de Kamp
Sorry, I have to get this of my chest. As you might suspect after reading the not-so-subtle title, there is something fundamentally wrong with thin clients.
Let me be specific here: I am NOT talking about good old trusty SBC (Terminal Server/XenApp) or the hot and sexy VDI as a concept. I'm talking about the actual "desktop appliance" or "access point" or "thin client" itself.
This discussion is not new, but now that VDI has made hosted desktops an attractive option again, there's a sort of revival of thin clients in our market space.
Thin clients can be discussed from two angles:
First, there is the typical Citrix user who's been doing SBC for years already and has been pretty successful with it.
Second, there are the organizations venturing into the VDI space who are interested in the power, manageability, and cost advantages of thin clients.
From either perspective (both SBC and VDI), that the only logical choice for the thin clients is not to use typical thin client solutions, whether Linux, Windows CE or Windows XP embedded.
To understand that logic, let's look at the constants we need to deal with in the context of thin-clients:
1. Organizations are required to build a mature and fully automated management infrastructure for PCs and laptops, even when 90% of the clients are “thin.”
The majority of distributed organizations with 1000 desktops or more are often required to support conventional PCs (for rich media editing, 2D/3D design, etc...) and laptops (mobility). This is today’s reality of Enterprise IT. Deploying 100% thin clients is still not feasible in the typical heterogeneous IT environment, even if you're considering all innovations we currently see in remoting protocols from all major vendors.
The problem is that it's not economic to neglect the management aspect of the remaining 10% (or whatever) of devices that are laptops or PCs. You can't ignore patching them just because they're the minority. And manual configuration of PCs and laptops is just too costly in distributed environments, even if you perform only one change every year. So this means that unless you can go 100% thin clients (which I don't think you can), then you have to build a management system for your non-thin clients.
The good news is PC management has matured considerably over the past few years. Building an effective management solution for laptops and PCs is not rocket science anymore.
And by the way, BYOL (Bring your own laptop) doesn't this fix this problem. BYOL is a cool concept, but the majority of organizations still require full management of the desktop/laptop for practical, legal, or security reasons. In most cases BYOL is not an option.
2. When it comes to the support of innovation and new features within remoting protocols such as RDP and ICA (HDX), traditional Windows (XP+) is, by a big margin, the best platform to choose.
All the cool features, especially those which require client-side rendering, are first developed for Windows. Quite often such innovations demand the availability of CODECs, the .NET framework, WPF, the Windows USB or printer driver architecture, and more.
The fact is that Linux or Windows CE as a thin client OS seriously lacks the rich media and user experience optimization support we see being developed first for the Windows client. This is relevant because any user experience- and performance-related innovations are very important to our end users and ultimately, the acceptance of any SBC and VDI solution.
3. A thin client is not a “fire and forget” solution. Thin clients require a mature deployment and management infrastructure.
Don’t believe me? Talk to all the IT admins who've been supporting thin client for years. They'll tell you from experience that a management infrastructure is required to deploy security fixes, client/application upgrades, root certificates, firmware updates, and configuration changes. Those who don’t probably have a very static IT environment.
In comparison to conventional fat clients, the rate of changes and updates on thin clients is considerably lower. However, one single update already justifies the investment in a management infrastructure, as manual configuration of all your thin-clients is extremely expensive.
The reality of thin devices, regardless of protocol, and even hardware embedded solutions (e.g. “PC-over-IP” devices), is that you need to be able to centrally manage and update them. The minute a bug is discovered, a security fix is required or a configuration change is needed--you need a management infrastructure where you can automate such changes.
Posted by Staff at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2009
Ubuntu's new Linux tries getting cloud-friendly
With all the hubbub about Snow Leopard and Windows 7, there's another operating system out there you may not have noticed that's getting a significant update: Ubuntu Linux.
Ubuntu backer Canonical plans to release its "Karmic Koala" version on Thursday, and both the desktop and server versions of the open-source operating system take significant steps toward cloud computing. The concept of moving work away from the computer in front of you and into the network does have some merit, but cloud computing is today's fashionable buzzword, and Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth is sensitive to its overuse.
"What frustrates me is the term 'cloud' has come to mean anything with an Internet connection, including some stuff that really looks familiar like internal IT," said Shuttleworth in an interview. It's fair to say that in Ubuntu's case, though, it's not a stretch.
Built into the server version of Ubuntu 9.10 is Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, technology built atop the Eucalyptus software package. Amazon Web Services (AWS), a collection of computing infrastructure accessible over the Net on a pay-as-you-go basis, is among today's most significant cloud-computing efforts, and Eucalyptus implements many of its functions so companies can build their own "private clouds" using the same services.
And in the desktop version of Ubuntu, the cloud connection is a service called Ubuntu One, which lets Ubuntu users synchronize files stored on different machines and back them up on the central service. Storage space of 2GB is free, and 50GB costs $10 per month.
Posted by staff at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)
Trends - Thinclient market in Asia is growing
The thin client market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region totalled 419,000 units in the first half of 2009. These figures represent an increase of 15.5 per cent over the first half of the previous year, revealed research firm IDC in its latest Asia Pacific quarterly thin client tracker report.
More thin client deployments in China
ITIL v3: Making Business Services Serve the Business: Download now
IDC provides market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.
Reuben Tan, senior manager of IDC Asia Pacific's personal systems group, noted that the financial services segment marched ahead of the other verticals in terms of thin client deployments. This segment was able to capture almost half of all thin client sales in the first half, as banks in China relied heavily on both domestic and multinational thin client suppliers in the second quarter.
Driven largely by the education sector, the public sector fulfilments grew 47 per cent over the second half of last year, said Tan.
"IDC believes that spurred by continuous developments and improvements in desktop virtualisation applications, thin clients are also now able to gain a foothold in a significantly broader range of markets compared to the past, Tan continued." IT managers are increasingly starting to acknowledge that the long-term cost savings associated with a virtual desktop are maximised when the access point is converted into a thin client type device."
Centerm, HP, HCL, Start, nComputing and Greatwall were the top six vendors in APEJ in this year's first half. The award-winning line of Wyse thin clients were left behind by vendors over the second quarter of 2008. These vendors smartly leveraged the opportunities presented by nComputing's surge in the education sector in various markets.
Rest of article with rates for countries
Posted by staff at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)
Windows 7's Virtual Impact
Column by Amy Newman on ServerWatch about the impact of Windows 7 and how it could be a tipping point for virtualization wit VMware.
When an operating system rolls out, it's always interesting to watch the new options for hardware and software roll out. Windows 7 has been no exception to this in the week since its launch.
On Tuesday, VMware announced the release of Workstation 7. Among the big feature enhancements is a Windows 7 update.
Although VMware describes Workstation as a desktop virtualization product, it is not desktop virtualization, as the term is more commonly used nowadays. In client-side virtualization, to be more specific, the desktop is akin to a thin-client: All of the users apps, data and settings are stored on the server, enabling him or her to connect via any device. For that, VMware has VMware View, which includes its VDI. VMware View is aimed at the general end-user population.
Workstation on the other hand is aimed more squarely at developers and sys admins. True to its name, it runs on the desktop, but it is more like VMware Server of yesteryear, enabling the user to run Windows 7, XP and Vista from a single desktop PC or a laptop.
Posted by staff at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2009
Wyse Supports Windows 7 and RDP7 out of the gate
Wyse Technology Extends Thin Computing-centric Client Virtualization Day One support for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Sunday, October 25, 2009
SAN JOSE, Calif.- Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing and client virtualization, on Friday October 23, 2009 announced Day One support for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, the latest version of Microsoft Windows, which was made available last Friday.
Wyse thin client hardware and virtualization software now supports Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. This level of support allows users of Windows to immediately embrace Microsoft’s extended virtualization technologies from the datacenter to the desktop.
In fact, there are six compelling reasons for businesses to look to Wyse to deploy their virtual environments on Windows Server 2008 R2:
VDI. Wyse’s broad support for Microsoft’s virtualization platform makes Wyse solutions the best test bed for virtualizing Windows 7 on Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Wyse thin client hardware and virtualization software is immediately capable of integrating with Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and the new version 7 of Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Wyse thin clients provide the perfect end-point for Microsoft VDI offering and complement the Microsoft VDI Suites.
Energy and Power Efficiency. In support of Windows Server 2008 R2 improved power efficiency and management capabilities, Wyse delivers the broadest portfolio of Energy Star Windows 7 capable thin devices, including:
- R class – The most powerful and flexible thin client in the market
- V class - The most popular thin client in the industry
- X class – Best in class mobile thin device
- NEW! C class – The best performing and energy efficient thin client in the market
Enhanced User Experience. Wyse thin clients and virtual desktops will immediately deliver a superior Windows 7 end user experience in a virtual environment. Wyse clients based on Windows Embedded Standard® can now run RDP 7 client immediately, while Wyse's forthcoming award-winning TCX Suite 4 virtualization software assures that Windows 7 will perform better on existing and prior generations of the RDP client.
Streaming Capabilities. Wyse WSM already powers Zero Clients and legacy desktops to become fully fledged diskless computers running Microsoft Windows XP Pro or Vista. Now that support is extended to Windows 7 for streaming to a virtual machine, thin client or PC. In addition, Wyse WSM is now supported on Windows Server 2008 R2.
Global Reach. Soon to be validated on Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS and on Windows 7 virtualized on Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, Wyse Virtual Desktop Accelerator (VDA) software accelerates Microsoft RDP by up to 20 times on networks subject to latency and packet loss.
Mobile Computing. Wyse’s innovative PocketCloud app, which delivers complete access to a PC or virtual machine from an iPhone or iPod Touch, will immediately support desktop access for clients running Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS or Windows 7 virtualized on Hyper-V.
"Businesses around the world are preparing for Windows 7, and that includes enterprises that have deployed or are preparing to deploy virtual desktops," according to Charles King, President and Principal Analyst at Pund-IT. "Wyse Technology is taking a leadership role in assuring that the end user experience is a superior one for individuals accessing Windows 7 via a thin client or repurposed PC."
According to Manlio Vecchiet, director of Windows Server marketing at Microsoft, "Microsoft and Wyse offer enterprise customers considering VDI the software and hardware to support their needs and have been working closely together to improve the experience of VDI desktops. Microsoft is excited about the prospects of Wyse bringing the benefits of thin computing to Windows Server 2008 R2."
"The combination of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 R2, together with Hyper V and RDP7 deliver a very compelling offering for enterprises to embrace VDI," said Ricardo Antuna, Senior Vice President, Product Management, at Wyse. "Wyse’s portfolio of energy efficient devices and virtualization software provides the best solution to further reduce the cost of deploying virtual desktops with Windows 7."
About Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology is the global leader in thin computing-based virtualization software and hardware solutions. Wyse and its strategic partners, including, Citrix, CSC, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Novell, VMware and others deliver the most innovative hardware, software, and services that optimize the benefits of cloud computing, virtualization and green IT. These thin computing solutions allow consumers, SMEs and large public and private enterprises to access high definition voice, data and video content they need, with optimized security, manageability, and user experience at a much lower total cost of ownership than other traditional end user devices, including PCs. Wyse has the largest global distribution network in the thin computing market through its partners and offices worldwide. Wyse was founded in 1981, and it is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA.
For more information, visit the Wyse website at
or call 1-800-GET-WYSE
Posted by Staff at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
News from Devon with new blog and VDI Blaster
News from Devon on VDI Blaster and new blog. The VDI Blaster sells for $19.95 converts PCs (and older PCs) into secure, centrally manageable thin clients that can connect to centrally hosted desktops or applications.
Just writing to let you know that Devon IT has launched a new technical blog “Thin Tank” (http://www.devonit.com/blog) to discuss server and desktop virtualization, thin clients, virtualization software, cloud computing, blade servers, and other related topics.
We have other social media vehicles to leverage as well, such as our Thin Client TV vide feed (http://www.devonit.com/thin-client-tv).
Also, have you heard about our new software, VDI Blaster? It turns PCs into thin clients via a USB or network install. More info at www.vdiblaster.com.
Posted by Staff at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)
Metro Health And Wyse Technology Bring Reform To Healthcare IT
Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing and client virtualization, today announced another successful customer implementation. Metro Health Village, located near Grand Rapids, Michigan, is one of the most comprehensive health care providers in west Michigan.
Its staff of approximately 1,000 doctors and nurses provide care to nearly 11,000 inpatients each year, handle nearly 50,000 emergency room visits, and 320,000 visits to the outpatient centers each year. In all cases, patient records are accessed, updated and managed via thin clients from Wyse Technology.
“No one knows exactly what shape healthcare reform will take,” according to Bill Lewkowski, Executive VP and CIO at Metro Health, “but what is clear to me is that the path to healthcare IT reform is through virtualization. From Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) to physician collaboration to HIPAA compliance to IT costs, there are too many benefits to virtualization to ignore.”
Metro Health Village is a groundbreaking concept and the first of its kind in the nation. The 170-acre state-of-the-art campus is far more than home to the first suburban hospital in the region. It’s an entire community of support services, retail, restaurants, and more with the new Metro Health Hospital as its central focal point.
In 2007, Metro Health delivered on a vision of a groundbreaking concept in community and health wellness by opening Metro Health Village. The first of its kind in the nation, the 170-acre health care village is an integrated campus of retail, health care, medical fitness, medical office and general office all within a pedestrian friendly marketplace. Every aspect of Metro Health Village is designed with the community and environment in mind, and the new Metro Health Hospital is its central focal point.
When Metro Health Hospital was constructed, Lewkowski’s mandate was to ensure that patient information was immediately accessible to authorized personnel across this new campus, and even more widely through the Internet.
“Healthcare is all about information,” Lewkowski added. “That information has to move in real-time among team members coordinating care for a patient. It also has to move rapidly to the patient’s location-from surgery suites to patient rooms to the front desk to the pharmacy, faster than a patient can be wheeled from one location to another. Virtual desktops from Wyse provide us with this capability and more.”
Metro Health currently has Wyse thin clients deployed throughout Metro Health Village. Approximately 4,000 employee sessions are always running in Metro Health’s data centers. Employees-clinicians, pharmacists, receptionists-simply go up to any of the approximately 1,250 Wyse V90 Windows XP Embedded thin client workstations in the hospital, enter their login information, and immediately see the same screen they had up when they logged out of their last session. It takes fewer than 15 seconds for a doctor to access a patient’s information rather than the several minutes it would take to log in to a PC, open up the applications, and call up the data.
Wyse Device Manager is used to securely manage the thin clients deployed throughout Metro Health Village organization for asset management, configuration management, diagnostics, and firmware updates for thin clients and supported smart devices. Wyse TCX is also in place at Metro Health to assure that the end user experience with audio, video and multimedia files is as good as or better than a PC experience.
“To think of Wyse only in terms of hardware is to do them a disservice,” continued Lewkowski. “I’ve been consistently and thoroughly impressed with the virtualization software offerings from Wyse. The breadth of their offerings means they can completely replicate the PC experience, only without the baggage that comes with PCs.”
Metro Health users work with hundreds of applications, but the most critical applications include EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) and clinical systems, iSite digital radiology, and various McKesson applications that address patient management, billing, and other administrative needs.
Lewkowski has found that the total cost of ownership of this new solution is substantially lower than that of a PC-based solution due to greater ease of management. Six people maintain about 4,000 backend sessions, for a ratio of approximately one staff member per 600 sessions. When Lewkowski compares that to the staff numbers he would expect to need to maintain 4,000 PCs, he believes he would need at least one or two more full-time employees, at a fully loaded cost of $70,000 each. Plus, thin client workstations use less electricity than PCs: a savings of about $60 per year per unit, for a five-year savings of $375,000 for the hospital’s 1250 thin-client workstations.
“As Bill and his team at Metro Health have demonstrated, virtualization offers enormous benefits to the healthcare industry,” according to Maryam Alexandrian, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Channels at Wyse Technology. “Digitization and efficiency go hand in hand in the world of healthcare, and virtualized data centers and desktops are helping today’s leading healthcare organizations move away from personal computers. From the perspective of compliance, security, TCO and patient care, the benefits of virtual desktops over PCs are too great to ignore.”
For more information on Metro Health’s use of Wyse Technology, download the complete case study at: http://www.wyse.com/solutions/healthcare/
Wyse Technology and Healthcare
Wyse has been providing thin client and client virtualization solutions to the healthcare industry since 1995. With Wyse in place, IT administrators are replacing their high-cost, high-maintenance PCs with thin clients. The benefits to healthcare organizations include having a safer computing environment, lower TCO, greater energy efficiency, and less maintenance; all while helping organizations make the move to Electronic Health Records, maintaining HIPAA compliance, safeguarding sensitive patient and employee information, and supporting a mobile medical staff.
Source
Wyse Technology
Posted by Staff at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2009
PR - NoMachine NX provides SMBs a cost-efficient remote access solution to fit their tightening budgets
Rome, Italy – With SMBs taking the brunt of the economic downturn, more and more are looking for new ways to cut IT costs, enhance employee performance and improve customer satisfaction to establish steady productivity and growth over time. NoMachine NX offers a solution to meet their needs, providing a complete high-performance remote access and hosted application solution, at a price they can afford.
Rome, Italy – With SMBs taking the brunt of the economic downturn, more and more are looking for new ways to cut IT costs, enhance employee performance and improve customer satisfaction to establish steady productivity and growth over time. NoMachine NX offers a solution to meet their needs, providing a complete high-performance remote access and hosted application solution, at a price they can afford.
According to Spiceworks' annual survey of SMB tech departments, 39 percent of small and medium businesses reported budget cuts in 2009, averaging a 22 percent reduction in IT funding. Many companies are focusing on long-term IT investments that contribute directly to their bottom line, like reducing costs and boosting productivity. NX provides SMBs with a server consolidation and desktop virtualization solution to reduce their IT budgets by providing a unique and predictable all-inclusive, per-server pricing structure.
The cost-effective NX Small Business Server is designed for small to medium businesses with strict IT budgets, who require a product to provide access to small workgroups and branch departments. NoMachine's complete range of server products, tools and support options provide any environment the flexibility to grow with ease and adapt to changing business dynamics. Businesses can upgrade to NX Enterprise Server or NX Advanced Server to scale their network to match growth and support unlimited users and connections.
For example, Commerce Corporation, the leading distributor for manufacturers in the lawn and garden industry, chose NoMachine NX as a cost-effective remote access solution for their geographically dispersed sales reps. NX enabled their business expansion into a premier supplier of exclusive products and value-added services.
Commerce's application developer, Steve Romanow said, “NoMachine has been flexible enough to provide numerous implementation choices. As we expand our business, I am confident that NoMachine will continue to provide us with the most cost-effective, well managed, remote access, anywhere we need it, through their amazing NX technology."
Keeping travel and energy costs to a minimum are also essential ways to reduce spending for many SMBs. These cost-cutting initiatives become reality with NX, which allows employees to access centralized office-based applications from home or other remote locations, and at the same time enhance work force productivity. Its fast performance over any network guarantees maximized end user experience, and the NX Client can transform any device into a thin client, ready for remotely accessing hosted desktops on the office server.
According to a report from Forrester Research which surveyed businesses during Q2 of this year, SMBs are still depending on outsourcing IT solutions and consulting services to improve their bottom lines and provide specialized skills and knowledge, strategic tactics, a depth of experience and access to the most current technologies. NoMachine has a long list of worldwide trusted partners who understand the needs of SMBs in their industry and can deliver value-rich consulting services finely-tuned to these smaller niche companies.
Small local newspapers turn to Software Consulting Services (SCS), a valued NoMachine partner, to provide remote access to media and publishing applications on Linux-based servers via NX. They depend on SCS for a trusted solution, personalized training and communication, and a deeper understanding of the software they are using.
Founder and co-owner of SCS, Martha Cichelli said, “We include NX exclusively in all of our proposals for the Linux Server because we want to offer our customers the best solution possible.”
Software administrator for Sun Media, John Mosley said, “With Layout-8000 from SCS and NoMachine NX, everything is at our fingertips, no matter what our location, creating an easily manageable network. NoMachine NX's seamless training and setup makes it easy to use and make adjustments along the way as well.”
With all of these issues gaining importance and affecting where SMBs are headed for the future, the need for an affordable, yet high-performance hosted desktop and application delivery solution continues to grow. NoMachine NX meets the needs of these environments providing enterprise-class performance, features and tools along with small business-class flexibility and price.
About NoMachine
Based in Rome, Italy, NoMachine is the creator of award-winning NX software, an enterprise-class solution for secure remote access, application delivery, and hosted desktop deployment. Since 2001, NoMachine's mission has been to revolutionize the way users access their computing resources across the Internet to make seamless desktop access as easy and widespread as Web browsing. NoMachine provides a comprehensive software infrastructure stack, core development, and support services built around the self-designed and self-developed NX suite of advanced components. For more information about NoMachine NX technology, please visit http://www.nomachine.com.
About Commerce Corporation
Commerce Corporation, just like most of the independent garden centers it serves, is a family business spanning over 80 years and three generations. Commerce has grown a company with 450 team members, 125 dedicated sales consultants, 5 state-of-the-art distribution centers, a fleet of trucks, and a will to provide the best service in lawn & garden.
About Software Consulting Services, LLC
With over 30 years of experience serving the newspaper industry worldwide, SCS offers enterprise-wide and modular publishing solutions for advertising order entry and billing, edition design, ad dummying classified pagination, production workflow, digital asset management, editorial workflow and archiving. SCS is dedicated to continuous system development, innovative technology and reliable customer support. More than 300 newspapers in the United Sates and abroad use SCS every day.
Media Contact:
Katie Glossner
NoMachine Marketing and Public Relations
513-618-2652
[email protected]
Posted by Staff at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
Real Life - Facing big budget cuts, county turns to thin clients, SaaS
Milwaukee County CIO Dennis John plans to propose replacing some 4,500 desktop PCs with thin clients beginning next year. The big step is in some respects a necessity because of a possible $2 million cut in the county's IT budget.
Like many state and local governments, this Wisconsin county is seeing difficult times. Its proposed budget for 2010, starting Jan. 1, would require cutting nearly 400 jobs in IT and other areas, reducing the county's overall workforce to 5,256 people. Tensions over the budget appear to be very high; one local TV station showed a film clip of a scuffle that occurred this week during a protest of the cuts.
John said that next week he will present to a budget committee a $16 million 2010 spending proposal for his department that includes a move to thin clients and a plan to outsource mainframe work.
Previous cuts across government agencies have made it difficult to fund the replacement of old PCs. The county is supposed to be on a five-year replacement cycle, but a lack of funding has left some users with PCs that are six or seven years old, said John.
To stick to the five-year replacement schedule, the county would have to replace 900 PCs a year at a cost of $1,000 per machine. But the best the county can afford now is 150 new PCs a year. "We have been neglecting our PC replacement program dramatically," John said. Moving to thin clients would save the county more than $400,000 over the course of five years, he estimated. "It's a significant issue for us," he noted.
The county has funded replacement PCs out of its operational budget, but it's planning to finance the thin client upgrade as part of a bond issue that will see a partial rebate under the federal stimulus legislation approved by Congress earlier this year.
The county had already laid the foundation for a move to thin clients through earlier decisions to adopt server virtualization technology. And Web-based application delivery via the software-as-service model is making the move even easier. Last year, the county started using human resources applications hosted by Ceridian Corp.
While there may be little difference in some cases between the direct cost of hosted and on-premises applications, John said that SaaS becomes more economical when the costs of other services associated with on-site systems, such as storage and disaster recovery, are weighed. Johns did note that in some cases he doesn't see the benefits of SaaS. For example, he said that large cloud-based e-mail providers have yet to convince him that they can offer the county an exit strategy for abandoning its current system, he said.
Milwaukee County's plan to adopt thin clients "is probably fairly far out in front," at least among county governments, said Tom Manielli an analyst at IDC, who added that he sees a lot of positives to it. "From a maintenance perspective, you no longer have to send a tech with a cart to a desktop to do fixes." And thanks to improvements in hardware and virtualization tools, end users "probably won't notice a big difference" between thin clients and PCs, he said.
Thin client usage remains low, but Gartner Inc. forecast earlier this year that thin client terminals and diskless/repurposed PCs will represent 10% of all professional client devices by 2014. And Ray Bjorklund, a vice president at consulting firm Federal Sources Inc. in McLean, Va., said he expects the federal government to increase its adoption of thin client and cloud technologies. "It's a trend that makes pretty good economic sense and even better operational sense," he added.
While thin clients can help cut costs, John and his IT department face a particularly difficult time ahead. The budget proposal will outsource mainframe work, but the county will still host the environment. The outsourcer will be required to give hiring priority to county workers affected by the move. The budget document indicates that some 13 staffed positions may be impacted by the change and that outsourcing the tasks could save $450,000.
Posted by Staff at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
Real Life - Moving from thin clients to Windows 7 at BAA
The airline operator is using the new Microsoft operating system as a reason to move away from thin clients
BAA runs seven UK airports, including Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted, servicing 200 million passengers a year with 12,000 operational and security staff. The company is currently implementing a £6.6bn capital investment programme.
“We have a clear five-year plan, with £600m to be spent on IT systems and infrastructure, which includes Windows 7, Exchange and SharePoint rollouts being at the heart of the process of simplification,” said BAA chief information officer Philip Langsdale.
BAA is bucking the trend of firms moving to thin client systems, by moving to Windows-based PCs. “We’re taking a phased deployment approach, because we have a very large Citrix/Wyse environment,” said Langsdale.
“We’re not going to rush deployment, but over the coming months I want to be able to move over to a PC-based world, and only five per cent of our systems could run Windows 7 currently,” he said.
“We have some issues with application migration, but not particularly big ones, because the applications are virtualised already. We’ve also done lots of stress testing on Windows 7 systems it’s been a good, easy migration so far.”
Posted by Staff at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
10ZiG Unveils New Dual Monitor Utility on Thin Client
Phoenix, AZ – October 13, 2009 – 10ZiG Technology (formerly BOSaNOVA, Inc.), the emerging market leader in development of Thin Clients and Network Appliances announces today the availability of a Dual Monitor Utility on 10ZiG thin clients offering a unique, enhanced dual monitor environment.
While dual monitors offer increased efficiency, users often find they provide limited functionality. To overcome typical limitations, 10ZiG’s dual monitor utility offers a host of unique features allowing for the ability to perform tasks not available in a standard dual monitor environment.
Highlights include:
- Move windows and maximize windows across multiple displays
- Smart taskbar feature to simplify the management of multiple applications
- Easily setup preferences through the use of shortcuts
- Create display profiles for custom display configurations on desktops with multiple users
- Advanced dual display support for desktop wallpapers and screen savers
- Mirror main monitor to secondary monitor
“Due to the promise of increased productivity, the popularity of dual monitors is growing at a rapid pace. In many instances users are left with limited options and features, not allowing them to achieve the highest level of productivity obtainable,” comments Martin Pladgeman, 10ZiG Technology President. “Our new utility offers enhanced, feature-rich dual monitor capabilities allowing users to achieve the full potential of a dual display environment.”
10ZiG’s new dual monitor utility is available as an option on 10ZiG’s XPe and WES thin clients for purchase through 10ZiG’s resellers. For a no-obligation trial or for more information contact 10ZiG toll-free at (866) 865-5250, send an e-mail to [email protected], or go to www.10zig.com.
About 10ZiG Technology
10ZiG Technology (www.10zig.com), formerly BOSaNOVA, Inc., is a privately held company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is principally engaged in the design and development of thin clients, security solutions, and network appliances. The company’s solutions include a highly refined user interface, remote management software, and performance optimization. The company’s products are sold through a worldwide network of IBM and CITRIX Business Partners. Industry affiliations include membership in IBM's PartnerWorld for Developers, Citrix Global Alliance Partner Program, VMware Partner Program, Parallels Partner Program and the Microsoft Partner Program. For more information, visit www.10zig.com.
CONTACT:
Jennifer Phillips
Marketing Director
10ZiG Technology
Phone: 866-865-5250 x350
Email: [email protected]
Posted by Staff at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2009
Conversation with Gates and Ballmer That Sparked Microsoft's Cloud Strategy
Article on Information Week discussing Cloud Computing's gravitational tug on Ballmer/Gates/Microsoft and how their products are adapting. The age of the heavy laptop with Notes replicating the office is over.
Posted by Mary Hayes Weier @ 03:40:PM | Oct, 8, 2009
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Microsoft's march toward cloud computing is fascinating to watch. Next year, Microsoft will take the most successful desktop software package of all time—Office—and offer it online to businesses, somewhat similar to the Google Apps model. Microsoft's VP of Online recently shared with me some thoughts on Microsoft's strategy—and the conversation he had with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer that led to Office Web Apps 2010 and other decisions.
Microsoft seems a lot more committed to cloud computing these days, following a year or two of vague references to a "software+services" model. VP of Microsoft Online Ron Markezich, however, claims that the company has quietly been preparing for a major shift in delivery models for five years.
In May, 2004, Markezich was Microsoft's CIO, and doing very CIO-type stuff, like overseeing HR and ERP applications, and running the overall IT Infrastructure. That was, until Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer called him into a meeting. They told him there was a major new strategy in place, and his experience in operational IT was critical to make it happen. "They said that the future of the company is not selling a license, but selling our software over the Internet as a service," Markezich recalls.
Microsoft first focused on bringing Exchange online. Energizer was Microsoft's first customer before it became an official product, and customers that followed included Autodesk, Ceridian, GlaxoSmithKline, and XL Capital. In April, Microsoft made its Business Productivity Online Suite widely available for purchase, which includes Exchange, SharePoint, and instant messaging. It's available as a subscription on a dedicated server, or multi-tenant, meaning you share the main application with other companies but your data remains separate and protected. Per-seat licensing can get pretty cheap. For example, about 10% of GlaxoSmithKline's 115,000 employees are using Exchange Online Deskless Worker, for $2 a month. (And I do believe we're on the verge of a major battle for email SaaS, involving Google, Microsoft, and IBM's newly released LotusLive iNotes).
Meanwhile, the technical review for Office Web Apps 2010 became available in September, and is due out in the first half of 2010. And, after saying in January it was slowing its data center investments, Microsoft shifted gears and this summer opened two $500 million facilities, in Chicago and Dublin. Both are aimed at delivering apps online.
But, like many other software vendors and customers, Microsoft sees this as an evolutionary step comprised of alternatives, and not a complete shift away from on-premise software. "We don't want a one-slice-fits-all model," Markezich says. "What we're seeing is that very few customers with any legacy systems will move 100 percent to the cloud. There's always going to be some data on the desktop or in their data centers."
Microsoft and IBM, however, have come to realize they can't stop this train, since it's fueled by computer users' behavior. Legacy email is about replicating to a laptop, working offline, and the synchronizing with a server when back online. But more and more, thanks to things like Wi-Fi and G3 networks, people are doing much of their work while connected. In a recent interview, GlaxoSmithKline CIO Bill Louv put it this way: "The heavy laptop with the big replication engine, which Notes was really good at, has become passé."
It's clear Microsoft is betting heavily on an up-sell and cross-sell strategy. For example, Markezich notes that the online version of PowerPoint won't have all the rich features of the desktop version. Also, any desktop deal, whether it's Office running in Microsoft's data center or on individual desktops, is a foot in the door to sell SQL Server and yes, Exchange, too. You see, you can also run Office Web on your own server in a "private cloud" approach, similar to what we used to talk about 10 years ago, with what was then called network computing, or 20 years ago, then called terminal emulation. The difference is that it's a whole new world in terms of powerful wireless networks, a mature Internet, mobile computing, and much more.
But also, Microsoft will position itself as a vendor of choice to global companies. Markezich uses the example of an oil and gas company. "They have a large corporate headquarters with high connectivity and great bandwidth," which will be appropriate for some employees to use Microsoft-hosted Office Web, he says, while others, such as heavy information workers or executives, who handle a lot of sensitive information, might feel more comfortable with the desktop version. "Then they have oil rigs in the ocean and remote areas in Nigeria or Ethiopia with sporadic connectivity. The company will say, I'm not going to move my entire operation to the cloud because of sporadic access in some locations. They may choose to say that in Nigeria, I'll have a server running Office Web apps, but [in another location] I'll have corporate users on the [Microsoft] cloud because I've got great connectivity there and can save money."
This is very different from Google's socialistic approach to online apps: all customers are treated equal; no, we can't tell you exactly what server your email is hosted on, but trust us, we've lived up to our 99.9% availability guarantee so far and prices that can't be beat. We will treat you well because we're a good company. Remember, we don't do evil.
But Microsoft, in many ways, is continuing with the sort of corporate hand-holding, lets-make-a-big-deal approach it and other traditional enterprise software companies are famous for. The kind of deals that get a CIO's armpits sweating because there are so many choices, and it's getting complex, this salesperson is talking a mile a minute, there's a lot to think about, and should I buy some more servers with this package, too?
Can Microsoft's sales reps consistently walk into a CIO's office to make a deal to put together something that is truly focused on lowering costs across the board, rather than offering really cheap Office apps and email in one area, while working toward the up sell in other areas, to even things out?
Interesting times, indeed.
Posted by Staff at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2009
USB stick converts PC to thin client
Customers simply plug the Converter into a PC and boot from it. The Igel firmware is automatically installed on the hard drive and a converted PC can then be managed as a thin client.
Igel Universal Desktop Converter lets firms repurpose existing hardware
By Daniel Robinson
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IGEL TECHNOLOGY is touting a USB stick that converts a PC to a thin client.
The idea is to allow businesses to extend the life of ageing hardware by using it to access server-hosted computing sessions or virtual desktop infrastructure, rather than try to run the latest and greatest software on its aging processor.
Available immediately, the Universal Desktop Converter is simply a USB stick that carries a version of Igel's Linux-based firmware from its own thin client systems, plus one or more licences.
Customers simply plug the Converter into a PC and boot from it. The Igel firmware is automatically installed on the hard drive and a converted PC can then be managed as a thin client.
"By converting to thin client firmware, customers get a simple way to test out and enter virtual desktops and server-based computing, and it lets them sweat the assets they have today," said Igel UK general manager Simon Richards.
"The maintenance overheads of thin clients are less than a traditional PC operating system, so it enables you to get cost reductions at the desk and deliver a consolidated back-end."
The Converter can be used to upgrade any number of systems, but each must be licensed before it can be used. Licences can be applied using the Converter, or centrally using Igel's Universal Management Suite software, which automatically picks up the devices once converted.
The device is a development of an earlier PC Conversion Card that fitted inside a computer chassis, but because the Converter is software-based it can also be used to convert other thin client hardware, such as that from HP, Neoware or Dell, to Igel's firmware to create a homogenous environment.
Igel's firmware is available in three flavours. The Entry pack supports basic ICA and RDP remote desktop capability, while Standard and Advanced offer more features such as clients for VMware and Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure. Customers can unlock the functionality they need simply by upgrading their licence, Igel said.
The firmware can also be deployed using other methods, such as PXE boot or Igel's Universal Management Suite, but the key thing about the Converter is that it makes it easy for customers to test out conversions, according to Richards.
"Customers can go to our site and get a free licence to try it out. We can create a .ISO file for them to test on their own hardware, and this does not need the Management Suite to deploy. It's simple and doesn't cost anything," he said.
Pricing for the Universal Desktop Converter starts at £24.50, which is the cost of a single seat using the Entry version of Igel's firmware.
Posted by Staff at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)
Zero Client Leader Pano Logic Releases Advanced Scalability and End User Experience
Pano System Release 2.8 expands desktop management capacity and adds dual monitor support while maintaining zero processor at the client.
Menlo Park, Calif. – October 7, 2009 – Pano Logic, the leader in zero client desktop virtualization(VDI), today announced Pano System 2.8, and Pano Dual Monitor, further enhancing the end user experience, expanding scalability and simplifying IT management. Pano System 2.8 improves the efficiency and convenience of managing deployments while doubling the number of desktops that can be controlled from a single management console. An easy-to-use backup and recovery capability improves the availability of larger scale deployments. Pano Dual Monitor is a USB adaptor that allows two display devices to be attached to the Pano Device for a multi-monitor user experience. Windows and applications automatically maximize to the physical dimensions of the display without any additional software required.
Unlike thin-clients that bulk up with processors in the endpoint, and add management burden, the Pano System provides end users with a full and dynamic PC experience without compromising simplicity by adding an endpoint processor. Today’s announcement emphasizes Pano Logic’s dedication to redefining the delivery and management of end user computing with innovative technology that radically centralizes virtual desktop management.
“We started with a modest roll-out and discovered how easy it was to deploy and manage desktops. Implementation and deployment per Pano Manager takes less than an hour. Day to day management has been decreased by at least 2 hours per PC. We have also decreased our PC deployment time to 30 minutes from 4 hours which is what it would take us to deploy a regular PC with all apps installed and ready for customer use,” said Kane Edupuganti, Director IT Operations & Communications with Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers. “As more people asked to be moved onto the Pano Logic system, we expanded deployment to 500. We look forward to deploying Pano System 2.8, and expanding our end user base.”
“Pano Logic delivers one very simple solution for IT managers to realize the benefits of zero client desktop virtualization,” said John Kish, President and CEO of Pano Logic. “By eliminating the endpoint processor and moving 100% of the processing power to the server, endpoint management is eliminated. Pano System 2.8 proves that simple VDI exists without compromising either the end user experience or simplicity for the IT administrator.”
The Pano System is an all-in-one desktop virtualization solution. The system includes Pano Device, a zero client endpoint, and Pano Manager, a unified management interface. The Pano System unlike any other desktop VDI solution radically centralizes 100% computing power to the virtualized server.
There is no processor, no operating system, no memory, no drivers, no software and no moving parts in the Pano Device, resulting in absolutely zero endpoint management. The lifespan of a Pano zero client device is over 3 times that of a thin client or PC. The Pano Device retains no data and is secure against any data-loss. Each zero client Pano Device uses less than 3 watts of power, just 3 percent of what energy efficient PCs use, translating into significant energy savings. The Pano Device connects over an existing IP network to an instance of Microsoft Windows virtualized on a datacenter server.
Pano Manager is a very simple to use web-based management interface that enables administrators to manage the entire virtual desktop deployment. The Pano Manager interacts with a lightweight service (Pano Direct) residing within each desktop virtual machine that links peripherals attached to the Pano Device to the unmodified Windows drivers residing in the virtual machine. This design guarantees that all existing Windows drivers will work without modification.
Pano System 2.8, including the Pano Device and the Pano Manager, will be available now with pricing starting at $319 per desktop. Pano Dual Monitor can be ordered now for $89. For more information, contact 1-877-677-PANO or visit http://www.panologic.com
About Pano Logic
Founded in 2006, Pano Logic develops an integrated virtualization-based software and hardware solution that delivers a superior desktop computing experience. The company is privately held and backed by leading investment firms Foundation Capital and Goldman Sachs. Pano Logic is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. For more information about Pano Logic, visit http://www.panologic.com.
Posted by Staff at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
HP Answers Thin Client Questions
Follow up on bandwidth from Zdnet and HP response.
NOTE: The good folks at HP pointed out that I had used an old version of my document and some factual errors crept into my post. This is a revised version of the post with those errors removed (and quite possibly new ones inserted).
On September 16th, a member of the ZDnet audience sent me a note asking for some hard data about HP’s thin clients. I just finished a very enlightening discussion with some of HP’s best including David Bryant, Master Technologist, Desktop Solutions Organization of HP’s personal systems group (PSG);Tom Flynn, Chief Technologist, Desktop Solutions Organization for PSG; and Jimmy Johnson, Analyst Relations for HP’s PSG.
As a reminder, here are the questions the HP customer asked:
Do you happen to know what the bandwidth requirements are for the HP Thin clients? We are considering deploying them (30) at each of 5 locations and just having one central thin client server. These remote sites are joined to the main site by T1s.
If it’s like Remote Desktop at 64Kbps then we have 24 workstations
64*24 =1536.
that’s practically a T1 right there.
I heard that this will tend to spike when people do printing, I was wondering how much extra bandwidth would be consumed adding in printing.
Discussion with HP
The HP folks and I spent some time discussing the fact that a complete analysis of bandwidth requirements really isn’t possible with just the information provided in those simple questions. They did share some rules of thumb that were extrapolations from their testing. The best way, of course, would be for the customer to try a pilot test with HP’s systems and learn what their bandwidth requirements were in their own environment, using their own applications.
Here are the things that we don’t really know about the customer’s environment:
Whether printers will be attached to each Thin Client or each office will have a single shared printer.
HP’s Broad rules of thumb
With all of those unknowns on the table, the best HP’s folks could do is present broad rules of thumb that have come from running extensive tests. This data is interesting, but, of course, might not be indicative of this customer’s actual requirements.
Posted by Staff at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2009
Perspective - Larry Ellison on Cloud Computer
Ellison gets it for taking the phrase cloud computing a little too seriously. I can sympathize. Titled -- Another One of These Cloud Computing Rants and You’ve Got Yourself a Stand-Up Routine, Larry. From Digital Daily and John Paczkowski (link below)
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM PT
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The passing of a year hasn’t much changed Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison’s opinion of cloud computing. Remarking on the industry’s sudden fascination with the concept at Oracle OpenWorld last September, Ellison reduced it to a thin sheen of windshield condensation.
“The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we’ve redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do,” Ellison said. “I can’t think of anything that isn’t cloud computing with all of these announcements….These people who are writing this crap are out there. They are insane. I mean it is the stupidest. Is it ‘Oh, I am going to access data on a server on the Internet.’ That is cloud computing?…Maybe I’m an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It’s complete gibberish. It’s insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?”
In conversation with former Sun (JAVA) CEO Ed Zander at a Churchill Club event a little over a year later, Ellison expanded on those remarks, suggesting that if the cloud is anything, it’s a cloud of BS.
Cloud’s water vapor….Cloud computing is not only the future of computing, it is the present and the entire past of computing.
…Salesforce.com has been around for a decade. And so has NetSuite…and people are saying, “Well, that’s cloud computing.” Google is cloud computing. Everyone is cloud computing….Everything is in the cloud now….It’s this nonsense.
…But it’s not water vapor. All it is is a computer attached to a network. What are you talking about? I mean, what do you think Google runs on?…Water vapor? It’s databases and operating systems and memory and microprocessors and the Internet!
…And the VCs, I love the VCs. [They ask their start-ups] “Oh…is that cloud?” [And the start-ups go] “Oh! Oh! Microsoft Word! Change ‘Internet’ to ‘cloud’! Mass change. Give it back to these nitwits on Sand Hill Road.”
…What do you mean by “cloud computing”?…All the cloud is is computers on a network.
Our industry is so bizarre. They just change a term and they think they’ve invented technology….You can’t just come up with a [slogan] like “Let’s call that ‘cloud.” [But] it sure beats innovation.”
Posted by Staff at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2009
Thin client questions? HP still quiet, but Wyse replies
Good article on Daniel Kusnetzky blog on bandwidth requirements of HP or Wyse thin client. Wyse provides a nice response and numbers.
In the post HP Thin Client Questions I presented a number of questions that a potential HP Thin Client customer asked on September 15th and 16th. I forwarded the questions to HP’s analyst relations team to get the definitive answers. Since the questions were pretty basic (see below), I thought I’d get a quick answer and could help HP. Nearly two weeks later, I still don’t have a response from them.
Just for fun, I contacted Wyse and a few other suppliers of thin client and PC blade hardware to see what they would answer. Wyse responded nearly immediately, engaged in a dialog to discover what I needed and put together a response in less than six hours. Their answer was clear, concise and really useful. I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing their answer below. Thanks for your help Tarkan Maner, Tim Smith, Ricardo Recardo , Param Desai, Daniel Barreto and, of course, Jeff McNaught.
As the others respond, I’ll post their comments here on Virtually Speaking.
Potential HP Thin Client Customer’s Questions
“Do you happen to know what the bandwidth requirements are for the HP Thin clients? We are considering deploying them (30) at each of 5 locations and just having one central thin client server. These remote sites are joined to the main site by T1s.”
“If it’s like Remote Desktop at 64Kbps then we have 24 workstations 64*24 =1536. That’s practically a T1 right there.”
“I heard that this will tend to spike when people do printing, I was wondering how much extra bandwidth would be consumed adding in printing.”
Here’s how Wyse answered those questions
While we cannot comment on HP thin client performance, we can share what we see in the Wyse environments. When using a Wyse thin client in a similar situation average RDP 5.2 protocol per session bandwidth usage is around 0 - 150Kbps to 0 - 200 Kbps for basic desktop use cases (normal office worker running 2D graphics presentation apps, email, simple web browsing). The amount of bandwidth needed is very dependant on the actual changes on the user screen. When the user is reading a Word doc, there is very little data crossing the network (often 0 Kbps), versus when a complete Word screen is being painted, where it can spike to 200Kbps. Printing, depending on the complexity of the document can use over 200Kbps for short periods of time. If you can use Citrix’s ICA/HDX protocol, results can be better (lower bandwidth usage and better screen display), but you mentioned RDP, so we’ll stick with that for now.
At a high level, our customers have found two things:
RDP traffic is bursty, so when user’s screens are not updating, network bandwidth is available for those whose screens are updating. This tends to average to 100 – 200 Kbps, but can be lower in simpler text-only applications.
Multimedia, which is becoming more common, is a big swing here. RDP 5.2 does not render video well, so a 100Kbps video can use 1Mbps of network bandwidth, and still display poorly under RDP. Wyse solved this with virtualization software we call Wyse TCX. It’s been hugely successful, and is even licensed by VMware for their View client. It adds the ability to display video under RDP (and ICA) using less server CPU, less network bandwidth (typically uses only the authoring rate of the video file), and displays that video in very high quality to the user. More on this below.
The OS in the thin client plays a role in bandwidth utilization as well. The RDP client implementation on Wyse ThinOS (Wyse’s market-leading ultra-thin and ultra-green firmware) based thin clients achieves this by intelligently caching bitmaps and on-the-fly compression on the wire. Not all of the 64Kbps screen data is sent across the wire, effectively reducing bandwidth needs.
On a LAN deployment, along with bandwidth usage, two additional parameters that administrators need to be concerned about are server scalability (number of concurrent users on the server) and end user experience. As the nature of the use case gets more complex (requiring media playback, Flash content, VOIP based soft phones), basic RDP may not suffice. The bandwidth usage in such situations tends to be very high and the end user experience is compromised (choppiness, loss of audio-video sync). Wyse’s industry-leading virtualization and user experience optimization software solution, Wyse TCX Suite (built using the Collaborative Processing Architecture) intelligently balances the bandwidth usage, server scalability and end user experience angles by implementing multimedia and audio redirecting technologies thus enhancing RDP protocol for best of the breed deployments. More on this at http://www.wyse.com/products/software/tcx/index.asp
On a WAN deployment, mobility (access to applications on the road) and latency on the network also become important factors for diverse enterprise deployments. Wyse introduced a rich RDP client for the iPhone called PocketCloud which is on the app store now. Check it out at http://www.wyse.com/iphone.
If the network connection is affected by latency and packet loss, this will cause the user experience to degrade significantly. Wyse has a solution for this too, with the new Virtual Desktop Accelerator software product – it effectively improves protocol performance an average of 3-5X or more. It’s free to eval on the net at http://www.wyse.com/products/software/vda/index.asp
These Wyse products are available on Wyse thin clients and supported PCs.
Bottom line: Budget 100Kbps per user. 64kbps is light unless your application is text based, and screen paints occur infrequently, like in call center applications. If there is any multimedia, you’ll need more bandwidth than 64KBps for sure, and should budget to add the bitrate of any planned multimedia content to the overall equation, If you plan to use some 384Kbps multimedia, and 30 users, I’d suggest:
30 x 100Kbps - 3,000Kbps
+ 384Kbps
——————————
= 3,384Kbps
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact us and we’ll connect you to the right individuals in your area, who can provide additional guidance.
Snapshot analysis
An IT-based solution is far more than hardware and software. It this case, it is clear that responsiveness and offering clear information is just as important. If my experience could serve as a guide, Wyse is clearly more responsive than HP was in answering these simple questions. While it may not be true that they would be this responsive in all circumstances, their response was to the point, concise and very helpful.
Unasked for, shoot-from-the-hip advice
HP, you need to consider how to better support your customers who have technical questions about your products. The glowing marketing messages posted on your website rarely offer the detail an IT decision maker would like to have. While I know that you offer very responsive, helpful service to the largest of your customers I’ve often heard that support for smaller organizations is no where near as good.
Daniel Kusnetzky is a member of the senior management team of The 451 Group. He is responsible for research and publications on a broad array of technology topics. He examines emerging technology trends, vendor strategies, research and development issues, and end-user integration requirements. You can follow Dan on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. If you're going to be in Boston November 3 & 4, you can see him at the The 451 Group 4th Annual Client Conference
Email Dan Kusnetzky
Posted by Staff at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)