Windows Multipoint Server 2011 - Hardware?

[mrbios]

Can anyone recommend me some hardware for this? As I'm potentially talking 30 PCs (20 to begin with) it'll need to be 15 per host probably, expecting office+internet to be the main uses given the nature of where they're going.

 

I was thinking of the HP T200 zero clients + two high spec custom built mini-ITX boxes that would then stay semi local to the clients (They'd be sat in a big switch cabinet and connected via lan) but i'd like some recommendations from others who have successfully done something similar?

[SYNACK]

If there is any flash usage then You'd be pushing it to get 15 even with an i7, maybe 10-12 with 24-32 GB of RAM. A dual socket solution with Xeons would probably give you more room for safety but would be more expencive.

 

I'd be looking at 1 virtual or actual core per user thanks to performance smashing apps like flash. Using Ethernet based thinclients instead of USB ones would give you a little extra performance but not massive amounts. The @Axel thin client people were working on an efficient MPS client box which may be worth a look.

[mrbios]

Right plans changed to 30 stations so i think im looking to get 3 x MPS and 30 x WMS clients.

 

I've taken a look at the axel M80WMS but i'm not sure, I've also looked at the Wyse E02 and again I'm not sure....so i think ideally I'm after some user opinions. The primary use will definitely be office and internet, but as is the nature of schools i need to plan as if it's for more than just that (I need to sit down and have a chat with the people who are in these 6 classrooms to get an idea of what they're expecting exactly, both now and in the future)

 

All 30 are in one building, every network connection in this building goes back to one switch cabinet and will need new cabling + switch installed for this set-up, so what I was thinking was to sit the 3 x MPS hosts in the switch cabinet and connected to the same switch...keeping it all contained within that one area basically. All the clients will be connected back via Ethernet.

 

EDIT: oh and I'm still a bit umming and ahhing over what i should go with for host hardware, I think I want to avoid the costs of Xeons though so perhaps now that my expectations have gone to 10 per host an i7 would be fine?

 

EDIT2: Also i might want to get a UPS for the 3 hosts, just so if we get a power blip and the terminals go off they're only disconnected and not restarted. Can anyone recommend a UPS for 3 x i7 host machines?

Edited June 22, 2012 by mrbios

[SYNACK]

It all depends on how heavy the user footprint is, if you end up with 7-10 users on youtube and your perf would be owned. The hex core i7 should probably cope though, 10 users times 2GB plus a bit for the base OS ends up with around 24GB and a decent SSD over SATA3.

[twin--turbo]

Not familiar with MPS, is it true Virtual desktops or reheated terminal server?

 

Terminal server will be more efficient on the i7, VDI probably stretching it.

 

 

UPS wise, SMARTUPS 1500 (per host) with USB monitoring should give you a reasonable runtime .

 

Rob

[mrbios]

Not familiar with MPS, is it true Virtual desktops or reheated terminal server?

 

Terminal server will be more efficient on the i7, VDI probably stretching it.

 

 

UPS wise, SMARTUPS 1500 (per host) with USB monitoring should give you a reasonable runtime .

 

Rob

 

It's a bit of a reheated terminal server to be honest

 

I keep coming back round to the Wyse E02 zero clients, at the moment they're the option im going with unless someone comes in and says they're crap or recommends something better, also the price difference between quad and hexcore setups for the host is about £710 (roughly based on web pricing across 3 hosts mind you) so again I'm unsure whether it's really worth it......though either way this setup is looking to cost about £4k less than buying 30 individual PCs lol

Edited June 22, 2012 by mrbios

[SYNACK]

It's a bit of a reheated terminal server to be honest

 

I keep coming back round to the Wyse E02 zero clients, at the moment they're the option im going with unless someone comes in and says they're crap or recommends something better, also the price difference between quad and hexcore setups for the host is about £710 (roughly based on web pricing across 3 hosts mind you) so again I'm unsure whether it's really worth it......though either way this setup is looking to cost about £4k less than buying 30 individual PCs lol

 

You want more overhead space not less, the last thing you want is to have to rebuy the MBs and CPUs or a whole extra system thanks to something like flash being 'required' by one class or another. Its probably much cheaper to put in the extra overhead now rather than have the risk of needing to clean up the mess later.

Edited June 23, 2012 by SYNACK

[newpersn]

Sorry to dig this topic back up.

 

We are thinking about going down this route. We have a 30 dells GX620. Would it be possible to use them as thin clients?

[Achandler]

You can use anything as a thin client.

[newpersn]

You can use anything as a thin client.

 

Thank you. Thats all i wanted to know

[Achandler]

I should have probably added that look at some software called Thinkiosk, it has group policy extensions and replaces the explorer shell on windows. We use it to "thin client" our old machines.

[newpersn]

Will that work with multipoint?

[Achandler]

I would have thought so, as basically you make it run only one process. We use ours for logging thin clients in OUR RDS server, but it should work for anything. It just means users get no option of what to use on the thin client, only what you tell to run.

 

I forgot to add its free, although paid alternatives are available.

[SYNACK]

Will that work with multipoint?

 

As long as it does RDP, yes. Multipoint is just a fancy tweaked version of terminal server.