SimonF

I spent some time looking at Thin Client solutions for schools (as a potential supplier) a while back. I have captured some of what I found here Thin Client | 2DeCipher - Technology Made Simple The biggest "gotcha" (sorry American influence) to look out for with any server based compute model is - make sure you get the user experience right. Multimedia and device connectivity (via USB etc) are the hardest to get right and you will probably need different solutions for say "power users" versus "standard users".

Reading through, I can see some folks are well versed in virtualisation - and others are still a little new to all this. I have created a new website which newbies may find useful in explaining some key technologies - like server virtualisation. Feel free to have a browse. For some stuff on server virtualisation specifically - go here. Server Virtualisation | 2DeCipher - Technology Made Simple

Check out 2DeCipher to find a growing range of technology overviews - in English (not technobabble)

You can't get apps for dogs - but they're probably just as good for making phone calls

There are quite a few posts on this subject and it is a complex area. If you want a concise explanation of DAS/SAN/NAS in video form - I have posted "Networked Storage Made Simple" on YouTube. This explains the differences at a high level and also provides some advice on ways to approach choosing the right solution for you. Ultimately, when buying storage, you need to get it sized/ specced correctly for your particular needs which means talking to vendors. Just don't get caught up in the "bells and whistles" they offer - get the basics right first.

ESXi is Vmware? ESX is the hypervisor (the i just means it integrated) - VSphere from Vmware is all the clever stuff on top which you have to pay for.

There are videos on YouTube which explain it. Search "Server Virtualisation Made Simple" - for example

NAS starts at circa £50 in PC World - so I can see some logic in the statement NAS is cheap. You certainly dont get SANs for £50. This is missing the point - which is as you share data with more servers/ users - so the storage becomes more critical and needs to be more resilient, higher performance and probably more scalable. Whether SAN or NAS - you gets what you pay for.

I beg to differ regarding filesystem sharing on SAN and NAS. It depends on the filesystem not the storage. Windows volumes on a SAN cannot be seen by more than one server typically. However, using VMware for example - volumes have to be shared so VMs can move around.