Axel

Its not exactly what you requested - but you may find this video we put on Youtube interesting: It shows a thin client connecting to "Citrix" via PNAgent, the same setup is used from the terminal to connect to a published application (XenApp) or virtual machine (XenDesktop)... YouTube - Axel Technical Support : Zero thin client for Citrix Webinterface / PNAgent

Can you not just install the Viewer client onto your existing XP PC's and point it at the Viewer broker... All the above are assuming you don't/can't use the existing operating system on your PCs... How do you currently connect to your virtual Win7 machines....?

Out of interest, why do you want to connect the thin cients to a PC, and then to the server. Why not just connect the thin clients direct to the server...?

Hi Chris, Good to talk to you earlier - you now know where/how to get in touch ! I have Skype set up on a terminal, let me know if/when you want to chat ! [email protected] 0845 225 2822

Ben - Don't bother - USB definitely won't work - there is no channel within RDP/ICA to pass the IWB commands back through, the terminal will "see" the IWB locally, but there is no provision within RDP to "join" the IWB back to the server. Using serial port re-direction "should" work for the older serial Promethian IWB, as the drivers in this case are installed on the server, and the terminal just "joins" the IWB to the server/driver. We did some testing with a London school and couldn't get it to work. The IWB manufacturer had no interest in helping. In any event there is probably an arguement to give the teacher a PC, they are inevitably more flexible.. (CDroms, cameras, IWB, flatbead scanner etc)

Promethean, when I last spoke to them had a "PC only" atitude to support for their IWB product, they had no interest in offering support for thin clients... Touch screens are supported by Axel, as are printers, smart cards, mass storage and various specific products we have been asked to support over the years, for example Aladin security Etokens, and certain digitial dictation h/w etc. It is not so much a matter a what product any given thin client supports, more a question of what classes of products the server environment supports....

. ...the aim of Zero Clients is to keep the client as thin as possible - so pushing as much work as possible back onto the server. Using the centralised server browser has many benefits (only one AV/content filter to manage, one browser keep updated, less hardware in client etc). So to answer your question, this is not something we expect to offer in the near future.

If you can get 'em at that price you should snap them up, even with education discount that is an amazing price...!!!

I fully agree - and it remains to be seen how cost effective RemoteFX is, I understand you need W7 clientside to run it (?) - so that pretty much eliminates ALL existing TC out there regardless of what they are based on. ...and Windows 7 is not an ideal thin client operating system for thin clients, or put another, the difference between a Win7 PC and Win7 TC is so little (in cost and hardware) - most people will be better off sticking with PCs, and the flexibility they offer, for applications that need that much power on the client. Anyone got any pricing for Win7 thin clients...?

There are some interesting RemoteFX hardware based solutions coming down the line, for example ThinLinX: Welcome These "should" hit the price mark that "generic" Windows 7 based thin clients can't currently. By incorporating RemoteFX in hardware on a Linux based solution, they provide (in theory at least) a very fast RemoteFX rendering engine on a low cost/low power linux plaform....

James Are you happy to collect from (near) Guildford - if so it's yours.... Matthew

Free server to good home. Was thin client testbed, now surplus. Dual Xenon 3.2 Ghz, 4Gb RAM, 2x36Gb hd - no CD/DVD/floppy Currently boots W2003, but will be supplied with no O/S Must be collected, from near Guildford/Surrey - unable to post or even package up for courier collection as too big/heavy/fragile...

The "web" is full of anouncements of new thin client technologies promising to deliver higher performance. All these new and not so new technologies move the video "rendering" either towards the server or towards the client. Its interesting that new technologies diverge on this single key point ! There is also the consideration that faster rendering requires more resources, this can be in the shape of custom hardware (Asics), generic hardware (extra graphics controllers), or hardware vitualised in software (beefier servers). There is also the consideration of bandwidth. Some of the new technologies, for example RemoteFX are specifically not proposed for WAN delpoyment. Below is a link to a video showing what you can expect with a simple RDP connection between a low cost thin client and W2008r2 server. There is no doubt various newer technologies can provide faster graphics, but when the big picture is considered (cost, complexity, upgradeabilty, supportability, futureproofing etc) - "simple" RDP has an important role to offer ! YouTube - mm1.mpg

Hi Paul The key performance enhancement in HDX is a specific data-compression between the server and client (not the usual compression, this compression is different based on jpeg). The other key performance factor is MMX (multi-media extensions) - where 16 bit operations are quadrupled up and processed in parallel in the (64 bit) MMX part of the processor. Axel support the above in our latest firmware There are other aspects of HDX which are not so relevant to thin clients that we don't support PCoIP is an interesting product, not sure how much is it being used (comments anyone ?). It began life as a hardware product (both server and client ends), and VMware commissioned the owners (Terradici) to write a software version. So what was being done in bespoke hardware is now being done in software, using the server's hardware. Terradici are now marketing hardware to put back in the server to off-load this load, so I assume the load is not insignificant... It would be interesting to hear if anyone is using PCoIP and what issues they have had in scaling and bandwidth. I get the impression it is talked about lots and used little... Microsoft will soon release their RemoteFX, which Citrix have confirmed they too will support - combined these two companies will be a pretty formidable force. Looking at your timescale you should possibly include this on your shortlist. Apologies for hijacking the OP - In my defence I am answering a specific question raised above....

If you need to borrow any thin client hardware please PM us... We're always happy to loan h/w to schools No paperwork etc is required for us to ship you an evaluation terminal to test in your own environment... The M80 supports VMware Viewer, Citrix XenDesktop and the more common RDP(RDS) / ICA(XenApp) [email protected]

Did you find a solution to this ? - I appreciate Wyse and Axel are very different in internal architecture, but the Citrix side should be similar - I just posted a video showing how this is setup - maybe you can glean something from this to sort out your problem.... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/70691-new-pnagent-upgrade-axel-terninals.html#post630645

For those happy Citrix users we are just about to release new/improved support for Citrix's Webconnect PNAgent. The f/w is currently in Beta but is available for anyone who wishes to have a play. You don't even need a Citrix server - Citrix have a demo server on-line you can connect to, to sign up see: http://tc.citrixcloud.net/Citrix/Scheduler/Signup.aspx To see how to set up the terminal and the Citrix demo itself see: YouTube - Axel Technical Support : Zero thin client for Citrix Webinterface / PNAgent The "seamless' applications at the end are pretty cool ! As usual if anyone wishes to borrow terminal hardware to test this technology in your own environment please drop me a line.... [email protected]

You can do that - most people probably do... Or if the Client supports it you can use RemoteApp... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/65083-remoteapp-thin-clients.html ...or when your Axel terminal arrives on Monday you can use a free utility from our website call AxMenu - where you essentially "publish" selected applications on a per user or per group basis. The users can access these applications only and have no access to a desktop or any other part of the server...

Tony, Did Xavier Miguel make contact, assuming he did, and you want to "butter him up" ask him about his son, who he's very proud of, as he plays for one of the top London teams... (The one that is mostly foreigners and not Chelsea!) Matthew

It's an interesting question - what do HP themselves say on the matter. There is a difference between being W2008 (r2) ready, and supporting all the new features. For example W2008 has a 32 bit colour cursor, W2003 had 8 bit cursor, so a pure RDP5 client would have a black blob instead of a cursor - (as clients written back then would only support an 8 bit cursor and would give unpredictable results when sent the 32 bit cursor) Microsoft also beefed up encryption for W2008, resulting in clients to also be upgraded in the same way or they wouldn't connect at all. Incorporating these (and no doubt others functions) would make the client "W2008 ready" and allow to connect as an RDP5 client to a W2008 server - but that is a far cry from supporting all the additional benefit of W2008...(Microphone support, RemoteApp, RemoteFX etc etc)

Hi Nicklec, As no one else has offered any feedback, I will. I don't want to comment on competing products, but I can raise the "normal" points where our products offer a tangible benefit over Linux/Windows based terminals They all stem from not having to host an operating system - so the M80 uses a lot less hardware to do the same job... Using less hardware equates lower power consumption (5w max), higher reliability (5 yr warranty) and normally higher performance (boot time 5 seconds) In terms of cost we believe a thin client should cost comfortably less than a PC, and the M80 should cost less than any comparable TC (due again to using less hardware), and the fact that Axel manufacture ourselves in our own factory (in Europe - not China!). There are comments from users below, they are a friendly lot - feel free to ping a PM to any of them for independent comments: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/45960-tidy-thin-client-installation.html But the real test is to try one yourself - I can guarranty you will have it configured and signed on to your server within 30 seconds of powering on - far less time than a Linux/Windows terminal would take to boot, let alone configure... [email protected]

Hi Alexpilot, Thanks for responding, we would propose the M80, doing a bit of googling it looks like it costs around £50 less than the product you mention - should also be faster and easier to setup, draws less power and is covered by 5 yr warranty... ...and if you have any difficulties in setting up we (the manufacturer) will offer direct support Here is what other Edugeeker's think of it.. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html We can ship you a trial device - the only obligation being you are happy to send it back if you don't want to keep it.. All we need to ship the trial is an email confirming address. (no credit card details etc)

Hi Eze, There have been a few references to Axel above, if you would like a terminal to trial alongside your current devices please feel free to contact our US Office (FLA). Axel: Find a Distributor in America You will be the judge as to if it is better or not - but I can guaranty it will be very different to any other TC you may have tried !!!

...are you committed to Wyse terminals....? Could you consider an alternative if given sufficient reason...!

Hi Jayemm, As Edugeek forum sponsor we have supplied to dozens of Edugeek users - rather than repeat the key reasons why our products have proved popular amongst schools I would rather draw your attention to a couple of existing posts. We'd be delighted to loan you a demo unit - no obligation or paperwork needed, just drop me an email http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/45960-tidy-thin-client-installation.html If you have access to Youtube you will find a short video showing the setup and booting of an Axel terminal. this is very different from any Windows or Linux based terminal ! There is also a video showing RemoteApp, if you are into the more advanced W2008 functions. (Do a search on "Axel Technical Support" in youtube). [email protected]