Thin Client for Dummies...

[pablo472]

Hi All,
I'm currently in the process of considering putting Thin Clients in to medium usage clusters.
More than likely going to go for MS Terminal Server with a mixture of Linux and XP iGel Clients.

Having come from a Secondary School were I helped to manage a large (800 Client) RM network and a basic Vanilla admin network, setting up a thin Vanilla network is a big step for me but I think definitely the way to go.
Moving in to a "school" within a Uni were nothing is managed (all individually ghosted) - I'm up against issues where the main IT Department won't let my "school" add a DC or operate on a sub-domain.
I can add a member server, but a DC is a big no-no due to "security issues"

I believe by adding a TS as a member this will then authenticate to the (separate) LDAP? But failing that It looks like I may have to authenticate the users to the LDAP using PGina?
I would appreciate any pointers in the right direction along with indications of where I can get white papers/how to's to help me along.

TIA,
Paul

[linescanner]

By adding a member server, I take it they will let you join it to their domain ?

[kesomir]

If you join the terminal server as a member, it will authenticate ts users against the domain controller - however if you don't have control over group policy, then you may run into snags if, for example, users are denied terminal services access from AD.

Setting up terminal services itself is fairly simple - just add the server role to the box and reboot. Next hiccup is allowing users to connect to terminal services, which I do from the DC.

As long as main IT sets everything up in AD for your terminal server then it should all go fairly smoothly.

I run 33 debian HP thin clients off of a server 2003 x64 box and have no real problems with them + they're all managed via tftp and altiris from the terminal server.

Good luck, it's a good learning experience. Sounds like all you need to do is liase with the main IT dept.

[pablo472]

@ Linescanner,
Yes they'll allow themselves to add a server to the domain, but as a member only and not a DC.
As you can imagine this is causing me a few headaches...

@Kesomir
Thanks for your reply.
I have a meeting with the Main IT Dept next Tuesday.
It's very political here and they don't like flesh blood with new ideas.

[kesomir]

Promote the plus points:

Lower TCO (smaller energy req, easier maintenance, higher reliability, 10 yr lifespan of clients)

Shared processing power (upgrade server and everyone benefits)

Just remember that you they aren't for everything: can't really use them for multimedia tasks and you may as well turn off sound as it's terrible - latency causes sound to reach you seconds after video if at all.

Shame, since the linux implimentation is much better in that regard, feels much more like a full box with LTSP.

Normal application use including flash is fine (full lab of flash games does slow things down a little ) Open Office, educational apps all good.

My server has 2 quad core xeons and 8GB of ram - don't scrimp on the ram.

Links:

Windows 2003 Terminal Services (Part 1)

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services

EDIT: forgot to mention if it's a new deployment, you might consider server 2008. It has a few improvements to ts such as application deployment as opposed to desktop deployment - just the application window is transferred to the thin client.

However atm for that I believe you need a windows based client - at least until the open source guys reverse engineer the new bits. Worth keeping in mind if you have linux clients.

[Ric_]

There's some good info at A guide to thin client computing - EduGeek.net Wiki and Presentation materials from EduGeek North 2006 conference (maybe I am biased?) but if you're new to TC it's good to know the basics.