Thin client consulting and support services
thinking of deploying thin clients and centralized server computing?
A thin client is a diskless work station that boots to a centralized server. What does this mean? basically speaking, a thin client is a “dumb terminal” it doesn’t require a hard drive, cd-rom, floppy drive, operating system or expensive hardware.
From the users perspective “it is like working on a regular Windows PC” with all the desktop functions you would expect from a computer running Windows XP. Want to find out more? keep reading on the great benefits of thin client computing..
Microsoft Terminal server 2000/2003:
Windows Terminal Server (via terminal services, RDP)
Read more on Windows 2003 Server
Read more on Windows 2000 Server
Thin clients save time and money
The obvious advantages of the thin client model over traditional desktop computing clearly represents a significant opportunity to reduce the annual hard and soft costs for managing a network.
¤ Saves money on hardware – Thin clients generally cost about 75% less then a traditional PC. You save money on operating systems costs, hardware and software.
¤ Saves money on administration – Instead of having to worry about administrating separate PC’s it can now all be done centrally on the terminal server (or Citrix server). Thin clients require very little pre configuration before they can be deployed to a user in half the time it takes to deploy a regular desktop PC thus saving the administrators time to maintain and update users computers.
¤ Standardize operations and applications – Software upgrades and operations are now a much more simple process. Since all administration for software is done on the server you can now update or install an application in one place and have it available to all users instantly.
¤ No data loss from Thin clients – Since thin clients run on flash memory and all data is stored on the server. This means a centralized storage and backup system for your company data and litterally eliminating the threat of hard drive failures that are common on standard PC hardware.
Thin clients are ultra secure
Thin clients are ultra secure, they cannot be infected by viruses or trojans and cannot be hacked. All security is controlled from a centralized point at the server meaning updates, upgrades and preventative measures such as virus scanning, spam scanning and spyware scanning are all done at one place.
Where should a thin client based network be deployed?
Thin client networks should be deployed in networks or environments where software standardization is needed, users do not require graphics intensive programs to run, businesses where most or all users share or run standard applications such as microsoft word, excel, power point, accounting applications and other applications.
“If you are upgrading your desktop workstations why not think about deploying a thin client network instead?”
What about Thin client and Thick client mixed environments?
If you have a mix of computing requirements where half your engineering or design staff require powerful stand alone computers to do Autocad drawings or graphics intensive applications such as Illustrator and Photoshop. These computers can work in the same network as the Thin client computers (terminal server) and still be able to connect to the thin client server (with terminal services client) when doing regular tasks such as creating word documents.
The new generation of thin client computing
Now with the new and evolving technologies of Microsoft Windows Terminal server, access from any remote location is possible meaning you can use a thin client at a remote office/branch office and easily connect back to the main office server as if it was on the same network!
Thin Clients and thin client terminals:
Netdigix works with multiple vendors to bring you the best in thin client technology. Our thin clients are usually about 50-75% the size of a regular desktop size thus saving you valuable deskspace. Please give us a call to discuss the options available for your environment.
