Thin clients

[mrbios]

Long story short, we tried using two Multi point servers in one classroom which was previously really badly treated, we didn't want to give them proper PCs because they get damaged so much up there but end of the day, they're a pain in the rearend because the multipoint stuff just isn't good enough, very problematic, and we don't have enough control.

 

So what i might do instead is use the two boxes we have multipoint server on (nice high spec machines) and put terminal services on them instead, and just replace the multipoint clients with thin clients.

 

These PCs are only used for office, internet, and the odd other program which isn't too intensive. What thin clients would you lot recommend? I need to try and do this as cheap as possible ideally.

 

Or what aleternatives could i think about too?

 

EDIT:

Additionally, could someone educate me a bit here: What is the benefit of a higher specced terminal? As far as i've ever experienced with terminal servers they've been nothing but an RDP session, what benefit does better hardware on the terminal give for something like that!? I can't understand why some thin clients cost nearly £400 you see.

 

EDIT2: @Axel maybe you could help me out here because i quite like the look of your M80 thin clients (your website really needs some modernising by the way!) any edugeek users opinions on the Axel thin clients?

Edited June 11, 2013 by mrbios

[nicklec]

We've got a bunch of M80 thin clients, we use them with 3 RDS servers and they seem to perform fine; we mostly get complaints about the RDS experience in general but that is mostly RDS fault not the thin client! There is a pretty functional 'daemon' to keep configs up to date on each boot (but as their website it isnt pretty) too.

[mrbios]

In my research for this I've come across this blog: If you spend more than $15 on a thin client device then you are a fool! - Brian Madden - BrianMadden.com

 

Is this generally still the case? Should we be looking at the cheapest possible ebay 2nd hand solution instead? I guess all we want to do is have them RDP back to a terminal server like I've used previously. Anythings got to be better than this WMS we're using currently.

[cpjitservices]

In some offices, we use LTSP with Hard Disk-less PC's.

Linux Terminal Server Project - Welcome to LTSP.org

 

LTSP server is an IBM x3650.

[plexer]

For light use such as you've described I'm really surprised you've had soo much problem with your multipoint setup.

 

We run 8 in a classroom giving 32 seats and have a few issues with them but also have other deployed with zero clients that just need a reboot every now and then

 

Ben

[mrbios]

For light use such as you've described I'm really surprised you've had soo much problem with your multipoint setup.

 

We run 8 in a classroom giving 32 seats and have a few issues with them but also have other deployed with zero clients that just need a reboot every now and then

 

Ben

 

I'm using Wyse E02 clients and the network driver, they're probably lovely when everything is connected locally but i've had nothing but headaches with the way that the network part of it works, if one drops off I'm screwed for getting that one back on until everybody is off the server.

 

Essentially though, we tried to cheat and get the cheapest possible solution we could (and i must admit, we wanted to try out WMS) we've learnt our lesson here though and realise we should have gone with thin clients in the first place. The room only has 15 seats, so it's not a big job, it's just becoming very annoying when they come to us saying "x amounts of PCs aren't working" every other day because one or two have dropped off, needing me to restart the server to get them back.

 

At least with windows RDS the worst i found was setting up the server to restart nightly stopped any and all problems. I've had a terminal server running for the best part of 2 years now without ever having to touch it, only 30 terminals spread out around the school on low use mind but still...

[plexer]

Interesting my large classroom is multi head graphics and direct connected usb hubs, for the ones running clients remotely I use the T200 and they are pretty good although now EOL from HP unfortunately.

 

Ben

[plexer]

You can connect thin clients via RDP to a WMS host as well and Axel do an M85 specifically for that purpose.

 

Ben

[CyberNerd]

We've just bought in another 130 thin client terminals.

They are Intel D2500HN ( £43) and 2GB RAM (£13)

We are using old cases so the whole unit is £56 + a monitor,KB,Mouse!

 

We PXE boot them to run Chrome/Citrix/RDP/VNC/

 

The advantage of using faster machines with plenty of RAM ( 2GB is a lot for a TC) is that we can run Chrome from memory - its FAST.

[Axel]

Long story short, we tried using two Multi point servers in one classroom which was previously really badly treated, we didn't want to give them proper PCs because they get damaged so much up there but end of the day, they're a pain in the rearend because the multipoint stuff just isn't good enough, very problematic, and we don't have enough control.

 

So what i might do instead is use the two boxes we have multipoint server on (nice high spec machines) and put terminal services on them instead, and just replace the multipoint clients with thin clients.

 

These PCs are only used for office, internet, and the odd other program which isn't too intensive. What thin clients would you lot recommend? I need to try and do this as cheap as possible ideally.

 

Or what aleternatives could i think about too?

 

EDIT:

Additionally, could someone educate me a bit here: What is the benefit of a higher specced terminal? As far as i've ever experienced with terminal servers they've been nothing but an RDP session, what benefit does better hardware on the terminal give for something like that!? I can't understand why some thin clients cost nearly £400 you see.

 

EDIT2: @Axel maybe you could help me out here because i quite like the look of your M80 thin clients (your website really needs some modernising by the way!) any edugeek users opinions on the Axel thin clients?

 

Mr Mrbios - send me your details and I can send you an ex-demo M80 - for keeps - no strings - gratis - it will happily connect to your WMS, or anything up to W2012 - it should "sell" itself..... [email protected]

 

Edugeeker's comments here... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html

 

This very week we are involved in a 160 thin client school install up near Halifax - I can arrange an email conversation/introduction/reference if you're interested - the same school already has many M80s so they also have experience of living with terminals (not just installing them !)

 

--is our website really that bad ?--

Edited June 11, 2013 by Axel

[SpuffMonkey]

We used to use Axel boxes and I was very pleased with the product and company - a lot easier to use (and quicker) than the HP clients we also had..

[mrbios]

Mr Mrbios - send me your details and I can send you an ex-demo M80 - for keeps - no strings - gratis - it will happily connect to your WMS, or anything up to W2012 - it should "sell" itself..... [email protected]

 

Edugeeker's comments here... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html

 

This very week we are involved in a 160 thin client school install up near Halifax - I can arrange an email conversation/introduction/reference if you're interested - the same school already has many M80s so they also have experience of living with terminals (not just installing them !)

 

--is our website really that bad ?--

 

Thank you @Axel I've sent you an email

 

Chances are if we like these this year and they do what we want, we may well get another 30+ or so next year, perfect for hisory/RS/maths rooms where all they want is internet and office. Previously (and in a few cases currently) we'd used some old HP T5520 terminals which took a good 2 minutes to get to the logon screen, looked like they came off the arc and were an awkward shape that didn't really seem to "fit" anywhere if you know what i mean...kids loved to pull things off them to because of that latter reason. Quite looking forward to trying these Axel ones out

 

EDIT: oh and yea the website does look a bit dated functionality though is fine and that's what counts!

Edited June 11, 2013 by mrbios

[sted]

Mr Mrbios - send me your details and I can send you an ex-demo M80 - for keeps - no strings - gratis - it will happily connect to your WMS, or anything up to W2012 - it should "sell" itself..... [email protected]

 

Edugeeker's comments here... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html

 

This very week we are involved in a 160 thin client school install up near Halifax - I can arrange an email conversation/introduction/reference if you're interested - the same school already has many M80s so they also have experience of living with terminals (not just installing them !)

 

--is our website really that bad ?--

 

dont suppose you have another ex demo ive got a school looking at using raspberry pi's as thin clients and i just dont think they are up to the job unless the 512mb version is an improvement

[plexer]

You can get a trial of an Axel client anyway if you just need one to prove a point very good they are too.

 

Ben

[Axel]

We used to use Axel boxes and I was very pleased with the product and company - a lot easier to use (and quicker) than the HP clients we also had..

 

"used to" - what happened ! although a few years old, with a free f/w flash they will be bought bang up to date for W2012, (NLA), VDI, RemoteApp etc etc....

[SpuffMonkey]

"used to" - what happened ! although a few years old, with a free f/w flash they will be bought bang up to date for W2012, (NLA), VDI, RemoteApp etc etc....

 

We got "academied" and our whole system was chucked out and replaced - just about the time I went into hospital, never to return...