[THIN] Re: Recommendations for Thin client devices
- From: Michael Pardee <pardeemp.list@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:46:46 -0400
We have 4500 thin clients and I struggle with staying with them as we
continue to grow (we use CE based clients, almost entirely due to cost) or
return to fat clients. For me the keys are performance and management.
With the Xpe thin clients I believe we still have to deal with patching and
viruses. If nothing else I would expect they can help spread a worm.
With CE we haven't had the same concerns. We have old NCDs, and a bunch of
Neowares. We are about to evaluate the Wyse as well. But there is
something compelling about a fat client managed by SMS and locked down by
GPO that is appealing to me. We have much more control over PCs that we did
7 years ago.
Although, I could just feel this way because we got burned badly by the new
DST rules and the NCD thin clients. They are so old that there were no
patches for them so we had to trick their time zone information to make the
time and their Outlook calendars look correct. This Sunday we'll have to
move them back to the correct time zones since 4/1 is the date of the
original DST change. With PCs we could have figured something out. With
the WinCE based NCDs we have to either get 1700 of them out of here or plan
on changing their time zone information 4 times a year.
When it comes to the thin clients the best management tool will win with us
since every vendor has a model that will perform acceptably. NCD had a
decent solution in their time but they're gone. Neoware has a fair solution
but it has not scaled well for us. They have a new version that is
promising the world but we'll see in a couple of weeks when we have it.
They are very late with the delivery. Maybe the Wyse tool will blow the
others away and make the decision easy.
> From: Daniel Sidler <daniel.sidler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:19:33 +0200
> To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Conversation: [THIN] Re: Recommendations for Thin client devices
> Subject: [THIN] Re: Recommendations for Thin client devices
>
> Roger,
>
> I think you are making a valid point here, and I would back it although from a
> slightly different angle. In my experience, I can handle XP on the client
> fairly easy by using the tools MS is giving me. Software updates, patches,
> group policies, it's all here and basically free to use. Let's consider IE a
> part of the OS, so it's covered as well.
>
> Problems start when people actually browse the internet. Then they need Java
> and Flash, and want to save their bookmarks somewhere. Next thing they
> download a PDF and need Adobe Reader. Then they want to print that PDF and
> need a printer mapping. Oh wait, now they want to save that PDF to their home
> drive. Across the WAN link. And before I know it I'm in the middle of fat
> client land all over again. This is why IE is not supported on our clients.
> Which btw are XP boxes, and running just fine ...
>
> Regards,
> Dan
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Riggins
>> Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 4:37 PM
>> To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [THIN] Re: Recommendations for Thin client devices
>>
>> On the flip side, I prefer to have all IE traffic in a Citrix session.
>> It doesn't consume extra bandwidth outside of their session.
>> And... It allows me to use S10s. IMO, your web filter and
>> av/spware apps should handle most of the risk.
>>
>> Remember what you're trying to accomplish by going to thin
>> clients. If decentralized browsing, OS and application
>> updates, higher cost per device and management utilities are
>> at the top of your list... then go XPe. But...don't you
>> already have all that with your PC? ;)
>>
>> I realize my situation doesn't apply to everyone else's, but
>> everyone should still think about why you are going to thin
>> clients in the first place when deciding which ones to get.
>>
>>
>>
>> Roger Riggins
>> Network Administrator
>> Lutheran Services in Iowa
>> w: 319.859.3543
>> c: 319.290.5687
>> http://www.lsiowa.org
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Durf
>> Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 8:25 AM
>> To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [THIN] Re: Recommendations for Thin client devices
>>
>> The benefit to a native browser mainly depends on how
>> locked-down and high-maintenance you want your environment to
>> be. With the write filter enabled on XPe thin clients, you
>> can feel a bit better about giving your users the ability to
>> browse a bit more freely.
>>
>> If you maintain a locked-down Desktop / Published Apps
>> environment, then you have to be prepared to either assume
>> more risk (as one spyware infection can take out a whole
>> server) or spend a lot more time adding approved sites to
>> whatever your control mechanism is (GPO or the like) when
>> users complain that a site doesn't work.
>>
>> -- Durf
>>
>> On 3/29/07, Matt Kosht <matt.kosht@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> What's the advantage of using XPe vs. CE or Linux? It
>> seems like the
>>> clients have to have so much more resources (and are priced
>>> accordingly)?
>>>
>>> What is the benefit of having a native web browser on the
>> thin client?
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>>
>> --
>> --------------
>> Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a minute.
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