Thin Client Advice

[Geoff]

@ ric - whats the advantage of proper terminals other than the £11.50 cal ?
ITX are still cheaper, are easy to fix and have more 'potential' for semi-thin clients etc

I'd like to know where you can get an ITX system for less that £130.

[CyberNerd]

http://www.icp-epia.co.uk/index.php?...d&productId=94
£65 for board + case (expensive bit) + RAM

[Geoff]

A board isn't a system!

[Ric_]

@CyberNerd: I think you have missed the point here... the 'proper' thin client terminals have been designed as just that. They only include that hardware and software that is necessary for them to function as thin clients. As a result, you have a device that contains no moving parts and an OS that is optimized for the thin client software (be it RDP, ICA, X, VNC or whatever).

As a bonus and to help with mass deployment, HP chuck in a 'free' Altiris Deployment Solution license for each terminal. This makes it laughably easy to set up a client - I'd estimate 10mins including removing it from the ridiculous amounts of packaging!

If you feel that the 'on-board' Linux OS is not flexible enough, you could roll your own or PXE boot them (like the Cutter Project do).

The power consumption of the t5125 is 20.2W when 'on' and 2.1W when 'off'.

You will be hard pushed to build a mini-ITX machine for £130 and on top of the build costs you will need to factor in your labour (building the Linux image and deploying).

As for licensing, you will need the following licenses no matter what:
* Windows Server CAL
* Terminal Services CAL
* Exchange CAL (if applicable)
* Citrix license (if applicable)
* Office license (if applicable)

[CyberNerd]

No, we build them - takes about 10-15 minutes each depending upon enthusiasm. we also get the kids to build them in class - this takes much longer !. Not for everybody I know, but they are also easy to repair and are likely to be here long after a dedicated diskless is out of warranty.

[CyberNerd]

@ric - fair enough. probably we'll stick to the ITX cause were far enough down that path.

[mark.hopgood]

Advert removed - Ric_