[THIN] Re: Article: IBM Offers New Take on Thin-Client Computing
- From: "Pardee, Michael P." <MPardee@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:32:36 -0400
Wow, we have close to 200 of them and have been pretty happy with them.
Early on we have an issue with the redundant management module but that
has since been addressed.
________________________________
From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Joe Shonk
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 3:43 PM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: Article: IBM Offers New Take on Thin-Client
Computing
Now if only IBM made fricken blades that fricken work maybe they'd have
something.
Joe
________________________________
From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jim Kenzig http://kenzig.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:39 AM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Thinnews
Subject: [THIN] Article: IBM Offers New Take on Thin-Client Computing
IBM Offers New Take on Thin-Client Computing
http://www.esj.com/news/print.aspx?editorialsId=1538
IBM's new virtual desktop solution emphasizes a centralized, host-based
infrastructure and a lightweight, terminal-esque desktop-and
virtualization, too
by Stephen Swoyer
10/25/2005
With its twin emphases on a centralized, host-based infrastructure and
lightweight desktop processing hardware, IBM Corp.'s new PC blade
infrastructure smacks of technology initiatives past. But there's a very
new wrinkle in IBM's vision that could make it a compelling technology
solution: virtualization. Call it the mainframe-ization of the desktop.
A decade ago, a band of technology CEOs-including Oracle Corp.'s Larry
Ellison, Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Scott McNealy, and former IBM Corp.
chief Louis V. Gerstner-celebrated the emergence of a new host-based
client computing model. Proponents of these new "network computers"
tallied up their advantages over bloated, standalone PCs and confidently
predicted the inevitable, if not rapid, demise of the Wintel duopoly's
bread-and-butter platform.
Wintel is still going strong, of course, and desktop PCs are more
bloated than ever. In spite of the hype, however, network computing does
offer compelling advantages, particularly for task-based or knowledge
workers who don't need multi-gigahertz PC behemoths on their desktops.
As a result, network (or thin client, as it's now called) computing
remains a viable model-albeit one that's more the provenance of terminal
purveyors like Wyse Technology than database and enterprise applications
specialists such as Oracle.
But IBM's new Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure isn't just an
updated or renamed thin-client computing solution. For starters, Big
Blue is getting a technology assist from x86 virtualization specialist
VMWare and thin-client computing stalwart Citrix Inc. IBM's plans calls
for a healthy dose of its xSeries and BladeCenter Intel-based servers,
VMWare's ESX Server technology, and Citrix' Presentation Server
client-access technology.
In this respect, the Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure is quite
different from the thin-client solutions of yesterday-or today, for that
matter. Instead of requiring the use of a single multi-user operating
system-i.e., Windows or Linux-with all of its attendant disadvantages
(e.g., comparatively poor linear scalability in large SMP
configurations, limited performance and efficiency, and complex
administration), IBM's solution taps a virtual operating system host
(VMWare's ESX Server) that can support dozens of discrete Windows or
Linux operating system instances.
While no one would argue that VMWare's flavor of virtualization is as
robust as z/VM, few would deny that it's probably just the ticket for
supporting typical task-based or knowledge workers. More to the point,
because ESX Server lets organizations effectively micromanage their
server capacity (exploiting as much as 80 percent of an xSeries server
or BladeCenter system's CPU compute resources) they can support more
Windows or Linux users on a single piece of hardware than they could
using a multi-user approach.
The Mainframe-ization of the Desktop?
The parallels to mainframe capacity management and mainframe client
(i.e., terminal) access are striking. After all, zSeries operators can
maximize mainframe capacity by micro-partitioning operating system
images and workloads across tens, hundreds, or even thousands of logical
partitions (LPAR). They can easily deploy new images or workloads when
the need arises (and if there's capacity to spare), or re-deploy
existing workloads if there isn't. And while IBM's Virtualized Hosted
Client Infrastructure isn't quite that scalable, it will enable a
previously undreamt-of degree of "desktop" capacity utilization. Best of
all, the desktop hardware complement to this back-end processing
horsepower amounts to little more than a high-resolution display
terminal.
For these reasons, IBM says its new Virtualized Hosted Client
Infrastructure has all of the advantages of the thin-client or
network-computing models with few, if any, of the disadvantages. Big
Blue's virtual Windows or Linux operating system instances should be
easier to manage, secure, and back up. Cycle for cycle, they should also
be more efficient than competitive PC blade offerings from ClearCube (PC
Blade) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (Consolidated Client Infrastructure).
They support most typical end user amenities-printing, audio, and USB
connectivity-and can also support multiple monitors.
The question, of course, is whether IBM's virtual thin client will
suffer the same fate-niche-dom-as that of its network computing
forebears. "On paper, the relative values of network-enabled "thin
client" desktop solutions make perfect sense. Such solutions provide all
the applications and power needed for typical knowledge workers but
significantly ease and improve IT performance and security by
centralizing systems management," notes Charles King, a principal with
technology consultancy Pund-IT Research. "But while this concept offers
provable merits, the vast majority of businesses have chosen to stick
with the same old 'employee in every cubicle and a PC on every desktop'
approach."
Nevertheless, King suggests, there are a number of reasons why things
might be different this time around. "[A] confluence of factors could be
pressing the market toward a fundamental change. First and most
importantly, with most companies taking an increasingly pragmatic
approach to their IT investments, the cost-effectiveness of hosted
desktop environments is likely to garner more favorable attention than
in the past," he writes, noting that companies are supporting increasing
numbers of remote workers, too.
IBM's virtual desktop offering could be an ideal solution for them. "At
the same time, increasing access to Internet-based high-performance
network solutions makes it much easier for remote workers to stay
connected to their employers," King concludes. "In other words, the IT
infrastructure required to support blade-based desktop solutions is more
readily and easily available than it has ever been."
You can contact Stephen Swoyer about IBM Offers New Take on Thin-Client
Computing at swoyerse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:swoyerse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=IBM%20Offers%20New%20T
ake%20on%20Thin-Client%20Computing>
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