Thin Clients ???

[gibbo_ap]

i have posted a few threads about thin clients recently i just have a few more questions.

 

google earth - will it run well?

audio - can you output/record audio?

usb - can you have other usb input devices - scanner, dataloggers etc

youtube - video on thin clients; is it worth it?

 

i am just trying to work out where i can put some at the moment

 

from what i know people are not using them as teacher stations, is this just down to refresh rates for video? or something else?

[Ric_]

1. It runs

2. Yes

3. Yes... it depends upon the device and the OS on the client device (scanners work really well under Citrix from XP clients!)

4. Works fine... HD iPlayer is pushing it a little though!

[gibbo_ap]

what departments would you say are a no no?

 

im guessing ICT

[gibbo_ap]

1. It runs

2. Yes

3. Yes... it depends upon the device and the OS on the client device (scanners work really well under Citrix from XP clients!)

4. Works fine... HD iPlayer is pushing it a little though!

 

when you say it runs, does that mean ish but not worth it. or yep fine, or yep fine....for kids but i couldnt cope?

[Soulfish]

Anyone know how well Audacity runs on a thin client?

[gibbo_ap]

Anyone know how well Audacity runs on a thin client?

 

anyone?

 

i wouldnt mind knowing too

[Ric_]

when you say it runs, does that mean ish but not worth it. or yep fine, or yep fine....for kids but i couldnt cope?

 

What I mean is that you can bring places up but I wouldn't expect to be doing nice smooth flights around the world and the flight sim is prob a no go too

 

Personally, I would say that Google Maps is a better option to use... you lose the 3D, whichy, flying stuff but it does everything else and you can create maps to share on your VLE, etc.

 

anyone?

 

i wouldnt mind knowing too

 

AFAIK it runs OK although this isn't from personal experience... just from reports from our sixth form users.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Ric_

[DavidAngwin]

i have posted a few threads about thin clients recently i just have a few more questions.

 

google earth - will it run well?

audio - can you output/record audio?

usb - can you have other usb input devices - scanner, dataloggers etc

youtube - video on thin clients; is it worth it?

 

i am just trying to work out where i can put some at the moment

 

from what i know people are not using them as teacher stations, is this just down to refresh rates for video? or something else?

 

The answer to this depends on a) the technology at the back end and b) whose thin clients and related software you use.

 

The back-end options are: 'classic thin client/server-based computing (SBC)' with MS Terminal Server or Citrix XenApp; Virtual desktops with Citrox XenDesktop, VMware View and others (VDI); and streaming to zero clients with Wyse WSM or Citrix Provisioning Server (Streamed).

 

Google Earth - the problem is the fast moving graphics. For SBC and VDI, the remote display protocol that connects the client to the server (Citrix ICA/HDX, Microsoft RDP, Sun ALP, and more recently VMware PCoIP) has to be able to handle this. RDP and ALP don't do a good job of this today (but watch for RDP 7 in the future), a well configured ICA/HDX setup with lots of bandwidth will give OK performance. PCoIP with VMware View will run this fine.

The most cost-effective route however is 'Streamed'. This runs Google Earth on the client itself , so there is no remote display protocol involved. Performance on a suitable client will be as good or better than a PC.

 

Audio - For SBC and VDI there are products (such as our Wyse TCX Rich Sound) that enhance the capabilities of the standard protocols to do this. 'Streamed' runs the app locally and uses the local audio hardware so works just like a PC

 

USB - most protocols will have basic USB connectivity for memory sticks. If you want more sophisticated support, including real-time devices like webcams, again this can be achieved with products that enhance the basic protocol (in our case Wyse TCX USB Virtualizer does this in VDI environments). With 'Streamed', devices work like they do on a PC.

 

YouTube - With SBC and VDI support for Flash video is now available. Citrix have this available in their HDX; for RDP Wyse have it in our TCX suite. Again 'Streamed' runs the player locally so the issue goes away.

 

So for teacher stations, it is now practical to use thin or zero clients, but the decisions you take on the back-end and which vendor solutions will dictate the functionality you get.

 

Hope this helps,

David

Edited December 17, 2009 by DavidAngwin

[cookie_monster]

i have posted a few threads about thin clients recently i just have a few more questions.

 

google earth - will it run well?

audio - can you output/record audio?

usb - can you have other usb input devices - scanner, dataloggers etc

youtube - video on thin clients; is it worth it?

 

i am just trying to work out where i can put some at the moment

 

from what i know people are not using them as teacher stations, is this just down to refresh rates for video? or something else?

 

 

 

I think most of your questions are answered above, I'll just say that we use standard PC's as the teacher PC's. The reasons are:

 

1. We know that scanners, DVD's, Whiteboards will work without issue.

2. The teacher PC has a projector so DVD's can be played through that, Youtube works but we ban most other video as it's not necessary (in our opinion) for individual students, this means less backend power is required.

 

We might trial thin clients for teacher PC's later but it's easier for now just to use standard PC's for this.