Windows Multipoint using USB zero clients vs USB over Ethernet zero clients

[mattcrum]

Hello! I am happy to have found this forum! I am wondering if anyone has compared the performance and functionality of Windows Multipoint 2011 using USB-based zero clients like the Plugable DC-125 or the HP t150 vs a USB-over-Ethernet solution such at the HP t100.

 

I wonder if it's possible for USBoE to push data faster than USB. I have a lab setup using the USB setup with the Plugable DC-125s. I ask this because I am looking to build a WMS setup that can play video for ten users at one time. I realize a thin client and RemoteFX would probably be ideal, but that's not really an option right now.

 

If anyone has insight that may be helpful, I'd really appreciate that being shared.

 

Thanks!

[glennda]

I was testing a couple of the USB T200 Zero clients and have to say I was impressed. Flash/Video was a struggle as the video stream is sent via USBOE.

 

I think the @Axel Zero client is supposed to support video better then the HP clients.

[mattcrum]

I was testing a couple of the USB T200 Zero clients and have to say I was impressed. Flash/Video was a struggle as the video stream is sent via USBOE.

 

I have a lab full of ten of these guys (the t200s from HP). I have used them with USB only and I am waiting on power supplies to power them so I can use USBoE. I'm not really that familiar with USBoE, but from what you're saying it seems as if it's always slower than USB? I must read up more on this technology and how it works. I'm guessing it cannot surpass the maximum USB 2.0 speeds? Is it like the converters you can purchase for USB -> Ethernet?

 

This is helpful.

[SYNACK]

Direct connect is fasest followed by network, followed by the usb varients (usb and usboe)

 

The USB stuff is all limited by the bandwidth and latency of the USB hubs. I don't think you can use RemoteFX through MPS at least I have not managed it with our hardware. We have 4 and 6 station direct connect setups as well as one over USB via a wyse zeroclient. The USB one is a bit choppy with video but the DC ones and remote/network sessions are fine. USB is just a bit junk, if USB3 zeroclients show up they should be better but I have not seen any.

[mattcrum]

Thanks for the followup. I have not used Wyse, but are pretty janky with USBoE when using video... I've had much better luck with USB (not over ethernet) with similar equipment and I'm guessing the t200 will perform much better once I connect via USB.

 

What is your 6 station direct connect setup look like if you don't mind me asking.

[plexer]

Hello! I am happy to have found this forum! I am wondering if anyone has compared the performance and functionality of Windows Multipoint 2011 using USB-based zero clients like the Plugable DC-125 or the HP t150 vs a USB-over-Ethernet solution such at the HP t100.

 

Hi,

 

I assume you mean the HP T200 as that is the ethernet connectable usb zero client.

 

I do like the versatility that the T200's give me in deciding how I connect them up to my wms host.

 

I run 9 I think it is T200's in the library and another set of 8 in our student support centre, since upgrading to the latest driver I've had no issues and they work well.

 

If trying to connect larger numbers of them to single wms hosts you need to look at RDP thin clients like the axel m80 but cost is also a factor.

 

I also run 8 station direct graphics connected setups.

 

Ben

[mattcrum]

Yes. Sorry for the confusion. Cost is a factor for sure. Is it difficult to configure and set up a server with multiple video cards? I'd love to see any documentation on it or posts on how folks set their machines up.

 

I'm looking at using these with a lot of multimedia and direct connections seem to be the way to go. I do want to avoid thin clients for multiple reasons, cost being the main.

[SYNACK]

Ours is just a full tower antec 300 case with an i7, 16GB of RAM, a latest gen intel SSD and a few silent GPUs, the only fans are low speed/noise case and PSU cooling making it really quiet. Its under a large six sided table with a stack of 23" widescreens, eash with its own USB hub attached to the back holding the cheap MS KB/Mouse and a usb soundcard connected to the moniters speakers.

[SYNACK]

Just to let you know after some more usage it turns out that the higher the res of the moniters the lower the speed of the unit for multimedia, on full HD moniters youtube plays alright at standard size but stutters and blocks out at full screen. WMV content is much better but smaller resolutions are probably going to help with speed. Its because it uses local RDP sessions over 10mbit loopback adapters for each station and runs out of CPU (appears to throttle usage) and possibly loopback bandwidth for some applications.

 

It still works well in our deployment but it still has its issues even with directly connected moniters, the situation may be better with RemoteFX capible GPUs but they are way out of our price range given the NZ price penalty of 800% or so for such things.

[mattcrum]

Just to let you know after some more usage it turns out that the higher the res of the moniters the lower the speed of the unit for multimedia, on full HD moniters youtube plays alright at standard size but stutters and blocks out at full screen. WMV content is much better but smaller resolutions are probably going to help with speed. Its because it uses local RDP sessions over 10mbit loopback adapters for each station and runs out of CPU (appears to throttle usage) and possibly loopback bandwidth for some applications.

 

It still works well in our deployment but it still has its issues even with directly connected moniters, the situation may be better with RemoteFX capible GPUs but they are way out of our price range given the NZ price penalty of 800% or so for such things.

 

Thanks for the update. For this particular deployment we decided on using the t150s and are still testing the t200s. The t150s seemed to do the job well enough, especially for the price.

[calvin11]

I was testing a couple of the USB T200 Zero clients and have to say I was impressed. Flash/Video was a struggle as the video stream is sent via USBOE.

 

I think the @Axel Zero client is supposed to support video better then the HP clients.

 

 

I am testing the T200 on Multipoint server 2011. I got the device to be noticed by WMS11 manager, but it didn't show anything on the monitor (no display, even though the power is lit). When I switched to USB, it's even worse, WMS11 manager didn't list the device on network station.

What is the problem in this case? What should I do to fix it?

Thank you!

[glennda]

I am testing the T200 on Multipoint server 2011. I got the device to be noticed by WMS11 manager, but it didn't show anything on the monitor (no display, even though the power is lit). When I switched to USB, it's even worse, WMS11 manager didn't list the device on network station.

What is the problem in this case? What should I do to fix it?

Thank you!

 

Have you installed all the HP drivers for the devices?

[Axel]

If you want to evaluate an Axel terminal (no drivers required - which I guess is the problem here), please contact JB at our Florida office

 

[email protected]

 

This is how the install should go: Axel Zero Client on Windows Multipoint Server - YouTube

[plexer]

I am testing the T200 on Multipoint server 2011. I got the device to be noticed by WMS11 manager, but it didn't show anything on the monitor (no display, even though the power is lit). When I switched to USB, it's even worse, WMS11 manager didn't list the device on network station.

What is the problem in this case? What should I do to fix it?

Thank you!

 

What drivers have you installed for the T200 and do you still have other drivers for the T150 installed as well?

 

Ben

[mattcrum]

I am testing the T200 on Multipoint server 2011. I got the device to be noticed by WMS11 manager, but it didn't show anything on the monitor (no display, even though the power is lit). When I switched to USB, it's even worse, WMS11 manager didn't list the device on network station.

What is the problem in this case? What should I do to fix it?

Thank you!

 

Yes- Check the drivers. It should automatically detect the computers using USB without any explicit assigning (which you have to do via USBoE). If you were using previous models of thin clients from HP, particularly the t100 or t150, that can cause a conflict I believe.

 

If you are using USBoE, make sure you assign the stations via the network tab... (Im not sure of the exact name of the tab... I've put away WMS for now in the lab... it should be something like that though)

 

I had some issues with certain VGA cables as well. The cables weren't bad but were just not working with the t200. They worked with other devices though. Once I switched the cables it was gold.

 

Good luck!

Edited June 1, 2012 by mattcrum