Zero client

raind33r

raind33r

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Zero client / Ultra thin client
So who has real world experience?
There's obviously a lot of sales talk on the web.
Also the usual pro's vs cons etc.


I'd like to know from someone that's actually implemented such a solution. Positives and negatives.

Failing that, some company success stories.
 
I've deployed a couple of zero clients that access a Windows Multipoint server for a client.

Once I got the config sorted it worked like a dream, haven't touched the config since I installed it more than a year and a half ago and the client can just add more zero clients as they desire without any config needed on the zero clients themselves.
 
I looked at the Fujitsu offering - they seem to be one of the top offerings out there
They support the major hypervisor guys too, e.g. MS HyperV, VMware and Citrix
 
It's a client that's interested.
Wanting to cut down on costs and security risks associated with fully fledged pc's.
 
We deployed about 200 terminals at my Call Centre, we ran HP.
Worked like an absolute dream, best thing since sliced bread.
We disabled all USB Ports plus removed all games.
The best for me was the hot seating, an agent could sit any where in the building and start working.
Only downside was the admin and senior managers, we had a few problems with Internet and Mail, speed issues.
 
Im looking to deploy a option like this as well, for about 40-60 users. What kind of server hardware are we looking at?
 
grim said:
I've deployed a couple of zero clients that access a Windows Multipoint server for a client.

Once I got the config sorted it worked like a dream, haven't touched the config since I installed it more than a year and a half ago and the client can just add more zero clients as they desire without any config needed on the zero clients themselves.
Click to expand...

Which make / model clients did you go with? Multipoint has a limitation of 20 users per server or thereabouts afaik, is this correct?
 
MDKza said:
Im looking to deploy a option like this as well, for about 40-60 users. What kind of server hardware are we looking at?
Click to expand...

I'm no expert in this technology but I would suggest that you would approach it in a similar way to sizing a standard desktop server/ deployment. Spec your VM's to accomodate the applications they need to run and then spec your servers to allow for those requirements pluc the underlying OS/hypervisor.

You can then adjust your server spec to account for growth, redundancy/High Availability/load balancing etc as per your needs.

Memory overprovisioning is a feature of many of these systems so you can allocate more RAM to your vm's than is actually on the server and they use available server RAM on a kind of contended basis.

Another arrangement you should probably consider is optimising your underlying servers for performance and using an iSCSI or fiber channel storage layer for virtual machines.

I'm talking in terms of VM based technologies above but I would take a similar approach deploying a Windows RDS/Terminal server farm.
 
Its actually for a supplier in SA, we just run 1 system, Fincon I'm not sure if you know about it. It isn't very resource demanding. All it does it keep records of stock, quotations, sales orders etc.
 
MDKza said:
Its actually for a supplier in SA, we just run 1 system, Fincon I'm not sure if you know about it. It isn't very resource demanding. All it does it keep records of stock, quotations, sales orders etc.
Click to expand...

We use fincon on a much smaller scale, running on a terminal server. You wouldn't require a big server if that is all they would be running. Thumb suck : entry level xeon, 16GB ram.
 
Park@82 said:
Which make / model clients did you go with? Multipoint has a limitation of 20 users per server or thereabouts afaik, is this correct?
Click to expand...

Yes Multipoint is limited to 20 clients, I used Multipoint as it was setup for classroom training and the desktop sharing and locking feature is really cool for training.

We used Hp t410 smart zero clients as we couldn't find the t200 zero clients at the time.

They connect via regular RDP over the network to the server which is a regular desktop with a core i5 proc and 16GB ram.
 
ant_man said:
We deployed about 200 terminals at my Call Centre, we ran HP.
Worked like an absolute dream, best thing since sliced bread.
We disabled all USB Ports plus removed all games.
The best for me was the hot seating, an agent could sit any where in the building and start working.
Only downside was the admin and senior managers, we had a few problems with Internet and Mail, speed issues.
Click to expand...

Are they connecting to a TS server or VDI?
 
grim said:
Yes Multipoint is limited to 20 clients, I used Multipoint as it was setup for classroom training and the desktop sharing and locking feature is really cool for training.

We used Hp t410 smart zero clients as we couldn't find the t200 zero clients at the time.

They connect via regular RDP over the network to the server which is a regular desktop with a core i5 proc and 16GB ram.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, those HPs must be very expensive? We brought in one very very cheap ARM based thin client from china, pity the software is not up to scratch, it has a RDP client but it wont save the server IP, you have to manually enter with every boot...
 
Last edited:
Park@82 said:
Thanks for the info, those HPs must be very expensive? We brought in one very very cheap ARM based thin client from china, pity the software is not up to scratch, it has a RDP client but it wont save the server IP, you have to manually enter with every boot...
Click to expand...

Dunno about pricing for the clients, the client sourced them himself.

I setup the HP management server that hands out the configuration to the devices on boot via PXE
 
grim said:
Dunno about pricing for the clients, the client sourced them himself.

I setup the HP management server that hands out the configuration to the devices on boot via PXE
Click to expand...

Interesting, I didn't know that ARM based thin clients could be PXE capable.

How do they run performance wise, video content viewable via RDP?
 
Park@82 said:
Interesting, I didn't know that ARM based thin clients could be PXE capable.

How do they run performance wise, video content viewable via RDP?
Click to expand...

Haven't watched any videos on them personally but I know they do record some training sessions with Camtasia and it works fine.

You might want to look at RemoteFX if you want to stream video content via RDP
 
This is a no-hijack area!
Just kidding, the more info the better.
It's good to know what is out there, what works, pitfalls etc.

It might be cheaper buying a China special, but then you might have other issues as mentioned - the IP's that don't stick! That could be big headache.

What do those HP's T410's go for?
 
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