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My days stuck in the trenches weren't that long ago. I
remember the fierce battles... wave after wave of
enemies; they were unrelenting. Indeed, I bear more
than a few battle scars, tributes to my IT support
days. Those of you who have done IT support in the
past know what I am talking about and those of you
doing it today have my sympathy. Perhaps I'm
exaggerating a little. In fact, most users weren't
that bad, but they could be quite demanding, not
realizing that several other users or projects have
more pressing needs.
My grandfather used to say, "In my day we didn't
have school buses. You kids have it easy today. I used
to walk 10 miles to school each way, even during a
snowstorm. Today at the first hint of snow you have a
snow day off." I would reply, "Yeah, Grandpa," in a
patronizing tone. "You sure had it tough." I knew once
I started to say "In my day..." to anyone, it would be
a sign that I am getting old.
Well, I haven't said it yet, but I see that day
coming. I think one of the first things that will
force the words "in my day" from my mouth is if thin
client computing or "network computers" start to
replace desktop PCs en masse. Surely, I will tell
future IT support staff, "In my day, we had to carry a
Philips-head screwdriver in one hand and a box of
Band-Aids in the other due to all the cuts and scrapes
received from troubleshooting the sharp metal PC
cases."
With thin client or network computing, you don't
need a computer on each desktop -- everything is
centralized on a server in the back room. This means
no more crawling under people's desks to fix a
computer, no more cuts from metal cases, no more irate
users demanding you look at their PC right away, no
more wasted time walking to each cubicle to
troubleshoot and then getting stopped five times on
your way back to the IT/MIS room by staff asking for a
computer upgrade. Indeed, I can hear the cries of
weary IT staff looking for help alleviating these
everyday occurrences.
PCs are not going to give up their domination of
the desktop so easily. PCs give their users more
computing power and more control over applications and
data, and can be upgraded to keep up with leading-edge
hardware and software. But PCs have disadvantages as
well. They are costly, difficult to manage, provide
little security, and grow obsolete quickly.
Fat Vs. Thin
On the other hand, thin client devices do not include
hard drives and other components found in PCs. The
complete or "fat" applications remain on the
enterprise's server, while just a small amount of "thin"
code runs on the user's desktop system to provide
access to the server. The purpose of the thin client
desktop device is to display the applications and data
and to provide input/output capabilities -- nothing
more. With the applications and most functions
residing on the server, thin clients promise better
manageability, security, ease of software upgrades,
and a host of other IT concerns. Access to typical PC
applications running on Windows and other operating
systems are available. Thin clients increase IT
personnel productivity, resulting in a corresponding
lower TCO for the enterprise.
The most experienced IT people reading this column
will undoubtedly think to themselves, "Yeah, yeah.
Thin client computing is nothing new. It's not for us."
That's what I used to think too. I certainly wouldn't
want to lose the power and flexibility that I get with
my own personal desktop PC. Users certainly have a
love/hate thing going on with their PCs. They love to
customize their PC's wallpapers, screensavers, sound
schemes, and other various customizations. They hate
it when their PC crashes and they hate to call IT
support, but most users would not want to give up
their PC for a thin client computer for fear of losing
that power and flexibility.
Many thin client computer solutions do not have a
CD-ROM to play music, hard disk to store MP3s, or a
floppy drive, but more importantly, the user loses the
ability to shut off or reboot his PC when an
application hangs. Users like the ability to simply
hit the off button or reset switch to try and resolve
their PC's current woes. Training users to use the
three-fingered salute (Ctrl-Alt-Del) or shutting down
gracefully is a topic for another column. In any
event, with thin client computing, the server resides
in a secure location, usually the IT computer room.
Thus, users lose the ability to shut down to resolve
any computer problems. Users also lose the ability to
install a CD burner, DVD drive, or other peripherals
which upper management may not want anyway.
I've recently tested or used several thin client
computing products. In fact, I tested the Sun Ray from
Sun Microsystems. This product is unique in that it
supports VoIP to each of the thin client terminals.
The Sun Ray is a perfect solution for the next-gen
call center looking to multimedia-enable their agents.
It also features something called "hot-desking," which
allows someone to unplug their smart card to logoff,
move to another Sun Ray terminal, and then continue
where they left off -- with all their applications
right where they left them. This product has too many
features and benefits to list here, but it is reviewed
in this issue, so check it out.
A very well known thin client computing product
comes from Citrix. Used in conjunction with Microsoft
Terminal Server, this product allows a centralized
Windows NT/2000 Server to run the actual applications
with the screen output, keystrokes, and mouse
movements transmitted across an IP network to a "thin
client software app" -- utilizing one of the several
Citrix ICA software clients available for Macs,
Windows, OS/2, UNIX, and others. We actually use it in
our office for telecommuting and remote access
purposes and it works quite well.
Another leading thin client product comes from
Wyse. One of their thin-client products is called the
Wyse Winterm 3630LE ultra-thin integrated "all-in-one
device" appliance, a Windows-based terminal built
inside a 15-inch digital flat panel multimedia
display. The Winterm 3630LE's ultra-slim design
occupies 75 percent less counter space than
conventional personal computers with a CRT monitor.
Also, the Winterm 3630LE can be removed from the
countertop completely by mounting it on the wall if
desired.
The Wyse Winterm 3630LE comes equipped with the
Windows CE operating system, Internet Explorer 4.0,
and a GX1 300 Mhz processor from National
Semiconductor. The thin appliance features 10/100
BaseT Fast Ethernet, two USB ports, multiple terminal
emulations, and integrated multimedia stereo speakers.
The Winterm 3630LE is used with popular thin client
solutions such as Windows 2000 Server and Advanced
Server, Windows NT 4.0, Terminal Server Edition,
Citrix MetaFrame, and Citrix NFuse.
Electrical Savings
According to Wyse, a Wyse Winterm terminal integrated
into a 14-inch color CRT uses 70 Watts per hour. A
comparable PC and monitor uses 250 Watts per hour --
350 percent more. In other words, this same PC uses
one kilowatt hour of electricity every 4 hours, versus
every 14 hours for the Wyse unit.
These electrical savings are not exclusive to Wyse's
thin client product. With thin clients, you get rid of
power hungry hard disks, power supplies, CD-ROM
drives, memory, and processors from the desktop. The
only electricity used by thin clients is for
displaying the monitor signal. In a thin client
environment, the processor(s), hard disk(s), memory,
and other components are all located on a single
server, using a single or dual power supply, usually
connected to a single UPS. This centralized usage of
computer resources saves a tremendous amount of
electricity versus the traditional distributed PC
environment.
"Clearing The Cubicle"
ClearCube Technology has taken a unique approach to
thin client computing. Just as in my prior examples,
the desktop (screen, keystrokes, mouse movements) is
piped in from a closet or IT office, but the
difference is that each desktop has its own dedicated
machine, including individual hard disks, processor,
and other PC hardware. The ClearCube C3 architecture
squeezes in eight Intel-based PCs into a single 19"
rack, which can be easily stacked to allow hundreds of
PCs in a single closet. The user only has a small
black box placed on their desktop to terminate the
keyboard, monitor, and mouse signals from the C3
server. How do the video, keyboard, and mouse signals
get from the back room C3 server? The signals are
transmitted over your existing CAT 5 network wiring to
a "black box" called C/Port sitting on the desk. No
more big, clunky desktop PC taking up valuable real
estate in your cubicle, just a keyboard, monitor,
mouse, and the small C/Port device, hence the
corporate name "ClearCube," as in "clearing the
cubicle."
ClearCube has over 30 patents on their technology
that transmits the analog and digital signals as far
as 600 feet. Interestingly enough, the C/Ports have
USB ports for adding peripheral devices and they've
even extended the typical USB distance limitation from
6 feet to over 200 meters! In addition, the ClearCube
C3 architecture supports "blocking" certain USB
devices, such as mass-storage devices (USB Zip disk,
USB hard disk, etc.) to prevent users from stealing or
copying confidential data. I should also mention that
audio applications (RealAudio, MP3 files, etc.) also
work over the CAT 5 wiring.
TCO
Many studies on the Total Cost of Ownership have been
completed to allow companies to address and balance
all the costs associated with the implementation,
running, support, and replacement of traditional
PC-based computing resources. For example, Gartner
Group claims that the TCO of an individual PC is
estimated to range from $7,000 to $10,000 a year,
fully loaded. In a LAN environment, the cost is even
more because of additional network management,
service, and support costs.
Gartner Group provides a basic TCO model that
includes four elements that contribute to the total
ownership costs of computers over their useful
lifetime to an organization:
- Capital and non-human resource costs (parts,
electricity, software fees, etc.).
- Technical support costs, covering all the
event-driven labor costs of the machines (design,
installation, help desk, maintenance, repair, and
upward migration).
- Administration costs, which refer to the
management of the acquisition and services, as
well as the ongoing administration of the network,
servers, and desktop machines.
- The costs of user operations, by which Gartner
means all of the time that users devote to
learning about, maintaining, installing software,
and troubleshooting their systems.
Calculating Total Cost of Ownership isn't quite a
science yet, but there are tools on the market to get
a rough estimate of calculating cost savings of going "thin"
versus staying "fat." IT personnel reading this column
should do some research and see if thin clients are a
fit for their organization. Wyse offers a 30-day trial
of their product. I'm sure others do as well.
Conclusion
Will thin client computing ever take off? Well, it has
made some inroads, especially in particular market
niches such as government and education. Most
corporations' IT departments still have a "wait and
see" approach to this fairly new technology. Going
from the traditional PC to thin clients is also a
mindset change that IT personnel have to go through.
IT personnel are just used to buying a new PC when a
user complains that their PC is too slow. Power users,
such as graphics designers, CAD designers, executives,
and others will still require traditional desktop PCs.
But in my opinion, I do see call centers moving away
from traditional green screen data entry terminals,
and even moving away from PCs, in favor of thin client
terminals.
Large organizations have started to realize the
foolishness of replacing desktop PCs every 5 years or
so. The time spent by IT personnel replacing each PC
is enormous, not to mention the cost of purchasing the
hardware. Simply throw faster hardware and more memory
into the thin client server, and all the thin client
terminals are instantly upgraded! Also, point of sale,
kiosks, manufacturing, reservations, hospitality,
education, and health care have started to embrace the
replacement of personal computers with thin client
terminals.
Too often typical CTOs, CIOs, or other IT personnel
are thinking near-term, and not the long-term
financial impact when choosing between buying PCs or a
thin client solution. After all, IT guys are computer
experts, not accountants! But as an IT person myself,
we need to stop getting excited over a Pentium III 1
Ghz desktop PC for only $999 and think long-term
financial benefits. PCs are not one-time costs -- they
have an upfront cost, maintenance costs, and
depreciation costs amortized across the lifetime of
the PC, sort of like when buying a car. Consider thin
client computing solutions as an alternative. Too bad
I won't be taking my own advice -- I've got my eye on
a Dodge Viper that has a huge upfront cost and high
maintenance costs, and I don't want to think about the
depreciation once I drive it off the lot! But hey,
just like my speedy Pentium III 1 Ghz PC with 256 Megs
of RAM sitting on my desktop, I like lots of power on
my desktop and in my car!
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