Looking into Virtual Desktops for small amount of PCs - £4-5k ? Possible

[creese]

If they saw no change I dont think i could understand virtualisation to 8x 50-80year olds! lol

I'm a few weeks from my 55th... try me..

[Axel]

We are about to introduce a specific Ethernet based dedicated Multipoint terminal, developed in conjunction with Microsoft France. (Axel is a French company).

This device is based on the M80 hardware, but is optimised for a single session, supports all the specific Multipoint teacher monitoring/remote control/shadowing functions (Do USB WMS connections support these - I understand some do and
some don't...?).

It also has much improved graphics performance. (For those that are interested we have implemented the Microsoft NScodec {google it!} , and an "off screen video buffer", so video is buffered frame by frame before being displayed. Currently we
update the screen as soon as we receive new data, which is fast, but not particularly easy on the eyes !. The new buffer makes a massive difference, in that there is a nice smooth transition from frame to frame

The video enhancements are available as (free) f/w upgrades to existing M80 terminals - though is still beta - so not on our website yet. Email me if you would like a copy of the new f/w to trial

Matthew@axel.com

... as Multipoint server is heavily based on W2008r2 I am not sure the user limit above is applicable for ethernet/RDP connections...?

[burgemaster]

I'm a few weeks from my 55th... try me..

Sorry, didnt mean to offend. But these gentlemen are mainly from the Church and I don't think they would be able to comprehend it.

[creese]

Sorry, didnt mean to offend. But these gentlemen are mainly from the Church and I don't think they would be able to comprehend it.

Not offended at all.

[plexer]

Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 - Common Questions and Answers Part 2 (from TechEd) - Windows MultiPoint Server Team Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

20 stations is the limit.

I would be very interested in pricing for these units can you PM me inidicative pricing please?

Ben

[burgemaster]

Gone for:
Dual Quad Core dell server with 32gig ram - £2600
8 x Axel Zero clients @157 - £1256
8 x 22" LG LCD Monitors @ 69.99 - £559.91
8 x TS cal @ £12 - £96
Total: £4511.91

It will currently run these 8 machines with Terminal Services, but next year posibly expand to 60 machines with an upgrade to 64gig RAM.
All depending on how it goes....

Wish me luck.

[gshaw]

To me the numbers don't stack up for 8 machines... even at £400 per desktop you'd still be coming in less. Granted if you get 60 machines out of it the numbers become a lot nicer.

If you did go up to 60 would you put a second server in? That's a lot of eggs (users) in one basket (server) if something goes wobbly...

[jamesfed]

Uve got to remember there is a lot of value added in VDI/Thin Clients as well - think of the power savings of a thin client compared to a fat client (65-90W vs 6-12W).
Then the wonderful world of ture central management - no chance for a PC to 'go off on its own'.
Lets remember these systems scale very nicely as well so even if you do make a small loss at just 8 clients you can expand in the future.

Are you anywhere near Abingdon (Oxfordshire) as we will be doing a demo to any intrested schools in June.

[gshaw]

If that's the Kaviza demo have replied in your other thread

Interesting point of note on power saving; I remember a presentation about server virtualisation stating that if you actually calculate the cost of the power it would take 10yrs+ to get back what you pay out on the system initially... of course it's good to be going green but sometimes the monetary savings aren't as quick to pay back as you'd hope on their own.

The thin client \ VDI method definitely has benefits but on the other hand you do lose certain features as well and the way our budgets work I still need to see savings on the initial purchase cost as well as longer-term. Hence Kaviza being of interest as you only pay for the server not silly money going on storage systems

The other reason I'm interested in your Kaviza day is to see what the optimum number of machines you can fit onto each server i.e. do you just take say 2GB \ 1 core per VM and multiply up or is it more \ less efficient than that...