A Quick Guide to Thin Client Computing - as promised!

[Ric_]

As promised, I have written the above mentioned guide

 

I have labelled it v1 because I know how demanding you guys are

 

Suggestions on additions to the FAQ or if any clarification is required, please comment below.

a_quick_guide_to_thin_client_computing__v1.pdf

[CyberNerd]

Excellent.

 

you could maybe reference some of Bectas research on thin clients:

http://foi.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?cfid=662527&cftoken=63d05f972705-4B7DF789-C05D-EAE1-98481165EA7BBC6B&resID=15960

 

what about adding to wiki so we can add things if necessary?

thin_client.pdf

[Ric_]

Something else that I have been thinking about, is maybe offering people the chance to come to my workplace for an afternoon to view my setup.

 

I tend not to advertise my location but I can say that it is near Blackpool in Lancashire (up North)

 

I could give a quick demo of how to set up a basic server (like I did at the 2006 North Conference) and I could also demonstrate Citrix and the way to annoy your bursars by locating 13 servers off their office

[webman]

and the way to annoy your bursars by locating 13 servers off their office

 

Now you've piqued my interest! 8)

[ChrisH]

and the way to annoy your bursars by locating 13 servers off their office

 

Now you've piqued my interest! 8)

 

I have seen said scenario and I am suprised his budget doesnt dissapear every year......

[Kyle]

I was in Blackpool last week ................. :-(

[webman]

I'll be in Blackpool on 18th this month - do you work Sundays? 8)

 

Oh, and there's a typo in the last sentence of paragraph 2 on page 2. "You can even adde Citrix..."

[Ric_]

Do people willingly come to Blackpool (aka Povpool)?

 

@all: I was thinking that an opportunity might be one afternoon over Easter break... there seems to be a lot of interest in this at the moment. I will also see about doing another presentation at a conference-type event.

[Kyle]

I was near Gyn Square for the day. I wish i had known as it was weekday and iwould of gladly got away from the family for an afternoon.

 

Ric..what a bout a Video cast? :-)

[Ric_]

@Kyle: Just 5 mins down the road from where I am currently

 

The thing with a video cast is that you would miss the Thinstation side of things and you wouldn't be able to experience the volume of the server room

 

I will see about creating a couple of videos - maybe this weekend - of the demonstation I did for the conference... I want to have a play with the screen recording functions in VMWare anyway. I'll also steal a video camera off someone and then you can see the server room

 

The Easter idea might have been a good idea for a mini meetup for people to chat and share ideas.

[Kyle]

@Kyle: Just 5 mins down the road from where I am currently

 

Bugger ..........the newish school that backs on to Warbeck Hill?

I want to have a play with the screen recording functions in VMWare anyway. I'll also steal a video camera off someone and then you can see the server room

 

That would be really handy.

[Ric_]

@Kyle: I don't work there but I am living near there for the time being. You may want to have a chat to me about some of your questions... I will drop you a PM with my number.

[Kyle]

Ta

[meastaugh1]

Can the thin client devices be configured to only load mstsc by default? If I wanted to connect to terminal services, can a Linux device be used (such as the HP one mentioned), or would I require a device with CE or XPe? Thanks

[Ric_]

Linux devices generally use an app called 'rdesktop' with a GUI of some design. I'd steer clear of the WinCE and XPe devices because they cost too much IMHO and are more difficult to configure.

[meastaugh1]

Great, thanks.

[Lee_K_81]

Thanks Ric_ you've been a big help!

[wesleyw]

Have you suffered from problems with wireless through thin Client? One supplier I know asked whether or not I was using 2200GB Intel because they had a problem with stopping logins on a fat network until the first 8 had finished? This might mean that it would also affect thin clients?

 

 

Wes

[Geoff]

IIRC Ric is using wireless.

[Ric_]

@wesleyw: I use that chipset and suggest that said supplier is talking out of somewhere other than their mouth.

 

Think about it logically... the amount of bandwidth required for a fat login is quite high since it pulls a desktop, start menu, some registry settings and more. With the thin client set up, you get a few screen refreshes. This is clearly less bandwidth hungry.

[wesleyw]

Cool thats all I needed to know. After what you've said I think I'll go with the other choice of Thin Client installer i.e. Precedence I won't mention the name of the company that said that about the chipset.

 

Answers on a postcard to...

 

Wes

[djm968]

The biggest problem with this Windows solution is the lack of load balancing. The only way to spread users across servers would be to use a crude 'round-robin-DNS' system of load balancing.

 

Sorry to p&*s on your fire but this is not completely true.

 

You can load balance Windows Terminal servers using a NLB cluster and load balance port 3389.

 

It may not be "true" load balancing eg. processor load etc. but it is load balancing nevertheless

 

How to Configure Windows Network Load Balancing for pure Terminal Server environments

[meastaugh1]

Does anyone have experience with HP ThinConnect? Any advice? Which OS is best for most (if not all) types of USB memory sticks to work? Thanks

[openhgs]

In the Client-side section, you state "Not all the benefits of thin client computing will be gained from using old hardware". I think that this needs clarification, ie what benefits are you missing out on and under what circumstances. For example, in a LTSP setup, using something like a PIII 533 MHz, 256Mb PC as a thin client, the only benefit that you are missing out on is aesthetics.

 

OT If you want a system for a small number of users, this is intersting Six headed, six user system

[elsiegee40]

Have printed it off for a good read. ta!