Any IT administrator can tell you how desktop PC support drains their time and energy at the office. Problems range from failing hard disk drives, CPU coolers, software drivers and power supply units (especially after a power cut). Dusty environments do not help either. In some cases it is more worthwhile to replace an ageing desktop than buying compatible hardware parts. The costs of parts coupled with administration costs further erodes IT budgets whilst, for the organisation, this results in productivity loss. There is also the threat of security breaches and virus attacks.
Thin client computing does away with much of these problems as the bulk of the processing power, if not all, is moved to the server side.
Should an organisation decide to invest in thin clients, there is an extensive choice available. The most common type of thin client is a low-spec computer which provides a graphical user interface to the end-user only.
Most thin clients do not have cooling fans and consume low power. A mouse, keyboard, network connection, a monitor and in some cases USB devices may be connected to the thin client. A new trend is the Zero client which no longer runs an operating system but instead uses a kernel to initialise a network connection. Such devices can consume a mere five per cent power of what is consumed by an energy star compliant desktop PC. Ever since improving energy efficiency, minimising environmental impact and addressing global warming have become hot issues, such devices are increasing in popularity.
The notion of thin client computing has been around since the 1980s, way back when the term used was the ‘mainframe’. Users interfaced to the server using ‘dumb terminals’ with little processing power and character based interfaces. In the 1990s, there was another push for thin client computing with the advent of web applications since the notion of thin client was not only limited to the hardware but also to the application logic. Terminals were then smarter with more processing power, graphics and platform independent.
This slightly offloaded the computing power required on servers yet the pain of managing several desktops was starting to be felt. The 1990s saw a rise in popularity of USB flash drives, broadband internet and peer-to-peer websites which unfortunately resulted in several security breaches and loss of productivity in organisations. IT administrators were facing challenges to strike a balance between manageability, security and minimising running costs. Desktop virtualisation was the solution.
One variant of desktop virtualisation, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), can be regarded as a more advanced form of hardware virtualisation. The user interacts with the host computer over a network connection (such as a LAN, wireless LAN, 3G or even the internet) using a thin client or a mobile device. Additionally, the host computer in this scenario becomes a server computer capable of hosting multiple virtual machines at the same time for multiple users.
Organisations are increasingly adopting virtualisation and server consolidation in the data centre. Evolving client architectures are taking advantage of the network convergence efforts to provide business continuity, availability and quality of service. VDI created well-managed virtual clients, with applications and client operating environments hosted on servers and storage in the data centre.
A typical VDI implementation for 30 users would require a server with a 6 core CPU, 60GB of RAM and 1.5 TB of storage ideally hosted on a SAN. For IT administrators, this means a more centralised, efficient client environment, easier to maintain and quickly scalable. Users can now access their desktop from any location, without being tied to a single client device. This flexibility brought about a change in mentality of work for employees. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon has exploded with the advent of smartphones and tablets.
Increasingly users are also asking for mobility and information access to company resources outside of the office buildings. Workers also want to carry a part of their lives to work and take their work back home. What does this mean for the business? Cost savings are brought about when subsidising the cost of purchasing personal devices rather than purchasing new equipment for each employee. It also translates to increase productivity as the user would already be comfortable using the device.
The desktop PC model is now outdated, unsecure, harmful towards the environment, hard to manage and expensive. Thin client computing technology reduces complexity associated with management and availability of information anytime and anywhere. IT administrators have a central point of management for user desktops, better control of resources and lower risk of security breaches. Businesses save money from their electricity bills, maximise use of their IT resources, benefit from competitive advantage through increased uptime and information availability while simultaneously adopting environmental friendly initiatives.
www.6pmplc.com
Mr Baldacchino is a technical consultant at 6pm, an international IT solutions company based in Naxxar.