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March 09, 2010
Dell Releases New Zero Client
Dell announces FX100 which is $500 zero client.The Pano Logic zero client is compared to but one difference seems to be availability. We can purchase a starter kit from Pano, but on the Dell site all we can do is read interesting whitepapers. Where are they?
Dell is latest to unveil 'zero client' hardware for VDI
Its FX100 now supports PC-over-IP streaming
By Eric Lai, Computerworld
March 02, 2010 06:41 PM ET
Jumping on the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) bandwagon, Dell Inc. today announced its first "zero client" device aimed at large enterprises.
The FX100 is an existing device that, through a firmware upgrade, now supports the new VMware View 4.0 app and its PC-over-IP streaming technology.
Created by Teradici Corp., PC-over-IP technology purportedly offers better multimedia support and faster responsiveness than other virtualization and streaming codecs, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
Though not the first vendor to unveil a zero client, Dell should make a big splash with this jump into a pool crowded with smaller companies and start-ups.
Zero clients are the evolutionary successor to thin clients, with even fewer chips inside.
The FX100, for instance, has no CPU and no hard disk drive, and only enough memory "to boot the device," said Robert Ayala, the solution marketing manager for Dell's commercial client group. That enables zero clients to draw less power and be more secure and less prone to hardware failure than thin clients or traditional "fat client" desktop PCs converted over to VDI use.
Ayala said the FX100 is just as stripped down as competing hardware from start-up Pano Logic Inc., which claimed last week to be the only true zero-client vendor.
Other vendors touting zero-client hardware include Wyse Technology Inc. and ClearCube Technology Inc.
Despite the FX100's minimalist specs, pricing starts at $500 per device.
"The reality is that with almost every vendor, you're going to pay the same upfront" as you would for a regular desktop PC, Ayala said. "The benefits are in lower [total cost of ownership] down the road."
Is it VDI's time?
The FX100 was previously paired only with a Dell Precision rack workstation in a PC-blade application-streaming architecture that is generally considered an evolutionary step between plain remote access, a la Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix XenApp (formerly Presentation Server, and MetaFrame before that), and new-fangled VDI rollouts.
While VDI still has the server-only limitations of Terminal Services (for example, there's no access when the Internet connection is down), it offers a more personalized, flexible interface to end users.
That's key to getting buy-in from mainstream information workers who have generally rebelled when presented with tools that they perceive as crippled, second-class substitutes for fully enabled laptops or desktop PCs.
Some supporters think that 2010 will be the year VDI goes mainstream, while others are skeptical.
Reference:
Pano VDS Starter Kit
Includes:
- Five black Pano devices
- Pano Manager License
- Five Pano Desktop Service Seat Licenses
- One Pano Remote
- One Pano Dual Monitor USB adapter
- One Media Kit
- One year of maintenance, support and software updates.
This product is only available to ship in the US and Canada. For International orders, please go to
http://www.panologic.com/international_buy to be referred to a channel partner in your area.
Restriction: only one starter kit allowed per customer
Price: $1,899.00
Posted by Staff at March 9, 2010 02:02 PM