mark.hopgood Posted July 11, 2007 Posted July 11, 2007 I've noticed that RM are publicising the benefits of thin client technology, so I thought you might be interested in the following info and 'white paper' link on the use of thin clients in schools. Using Plasmanetix and Hopnetix as the ultimate thin client. Hopnetix has the following advantages over using traditional thin clients: 1. there is no local operating system (OS) to install - less cost at purchase 2. there is no local OS to maintain or update - less cost at run time 3. the image is managed by a central server - no update time 4. there is no need for hard disk or flash memory - lower cost at purchase and greater mean time before failure (MTBF) Hopnetix offers the greenest and ultimate thin client. Traditional thin clients require additional components. click here for a study into thin client use in schools http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&rid=13802 The hardware for a hopnetix thin client costs from £170. Hopnetix can be used as a thin client for the following remote technologies: a. Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) b. Windows Terminal Services (e.g. RM Client Connect) c. Citrix Metaframe (ICA client) d. Sun Secure Global Desktop e. VNC Hopnetix can be booted in one of three ways: a. over the network (PXE) b. using a boot CD c. using a USB boot key mark dot hopgood at plasmanet-uk.com
Butuz Posted July 11, 2007 Posted July 11, 2007 What is the benefit of this compared to say a bog standard £140 HP Thin Client which has its own Linux OS on board, and also has no moving parts, and comes with a 3 or 5 year warranty? Andrew
Geoff Posted July 11, 2007 Posted July 11, 2007 Indeed, I was just thinking that. I'm paying ~£130 for HP t5135 Thin clients. Fair enough, it doesn't have a CD drive and it can't talk to Sun/VNC terminal servers. But for me at least, that's not an issue.
SpuffMonkey Posted July 11, 2007 Posted July 11, 2007 Indeed, I was just thinking that. I'm paying ~£130 for HP t5135 Thin clients. Fair enough, it doesn't have a CD drive and it can't talk to Sun/VNC terminal servers. But for me at least, that's not an issue. Think we've got your point now Geoff!
mark.hopgood Posted July 11, 2007 Author Posted July 11, 2007 Thanks for the response, I see the differences as You are not tied to any specific hardware maufacturer, or model, so Hopnetix runs on any PC motherboard that will PXE boot. This includes any Dell machine, HP, Compaq etc. You can also re-use older hardware into service as a thin client. Previous thin clients use flash memory to store their Linux OS. With Hopnetix there is less disposal at the end of the unit's life cycle. It also means less resources are used in manufacture. Flash memory has a limited lifetime too. If the OS in a traditional thin client this needs updating or patching then you have to service the machine. Hopnetix performas a live update on boot. The procedure to customise the clients in the first place according to hp extends to 12 pages. http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00485307/c00485307.pdf With Hopnetix a single image on the boot server is needed, subsequent additional clients use this configuration automatically, so if you need to have your thin clients boot to the login screen of a windows terminal service, you do this once at the server. here's a link on what HP does with its computer recycling http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-10877_11-88409.html (pictures of the recycling plant at HP) The aim with Hopnetix is to get the components down to a bare minimum, while this may seem extreme, there is no lesser number of components to get a PC up and runnning. This means the least power consumption and the least components and of course less setup, especially if you have a large estate. The hardware I was referring to was a 800MHz 256MB RAM machine (£170), compared to a 400MHz 128MB RAM t5135 ($199 US) That's all the info i have at the moment, regards mark
mark.hopgood Posted July 11, 2007 Author Posted July 11, 2007 another idea which would save the number of servers you would need. The Hopnetix system can take advantage of higher powered processors to allow the running of multimedia content web browsing with all the processing done at the local machine. This means that you can allow 'thin clients' to browse the web without fear of them accessing sites with flash animations. There would be no overhead on the server if the local browser is used. Also Hopnetix includes a full office suite locally so it is possible to run open office applications without impacting the server because local processing power is used.
Ric_ Posted July 11, 2007 Posted July 11, 2007 @mark.hopgood: You can do all that with any thin client device... they all allow you to PXE boot and most have some internal storage for a local web browser or whatever you need. So really all the arguments for YOUR product are blown out of the water. Do NOT big up your product again unless you want to cough up for some advertising like our other sponsors. You will be banned! This thread is now locked
Recommended Posts