March 12, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Lower energy bills, longer lifecycle boost thin client's green appeal
Shifting from PCs to thin clients can save a company upwards of 25 percent in power savings, according to a newly released report from Forrester. The potential energy savings is driving IT execs to reconsider moving from trading in users' thick clients for thin ones.
The lower power bills can be attributed to the fact that thin clients "consume anywhere from 6 to 50 watts — far less than the 150 to 350 watts used by typical PCs," according to Forrester report, titled "Green Benefits Put Thin-Client Computing Back On The Desktop Hardware Agenda." Less energy consumption, of course, also means fewer carbon emissions, which is becoming a greater selling point for eco-conscious companies.
Forrester points to a second green advantage that thin clients hold over PCs: a longer lifecycle. "Unlike PCs and laptops, which commonly have a three- to four-year replacement cycle, thin clients last an average of seven years. They slow down technology’s inevitable slide into obsolescence because they have fewer points of failure and rarely need upgrades."
Green (and cost-saving) advantages aside, thin clients can demonstrably reduce IT help-desk visits to users' cubicles for PC maintenance, as well as time spent on patches. That's because the heavy lifting is taking place on central servers to which all the clients are connected. (In the case of NComputing's thin-client offering, that central server may actually be a desktop PC.)
Add to the appeal of thin clients the security benefits: If a thief somehow makes off with a user's thin client, said baddie won't have access to sensitive information, as data is stored remotely. (You can read more about my take on the benefits of thin clients right here.)
Thin clients aren't without their shortcomings, the report notes. For starters, they're well-suited for running more complex applications, nor for mobile workers. Thus, they're better suited for "call center, finance, and human resource employees than, say, on-the-go members of the sales team or software developers who rely on software compilers and need to multitask, the report says.
Moreover, companies contemplating a move to thin clients may find resistance from users, the Forrester report notes: "Users accustomed to working in an unmanaged PC environment where desktops are configured to personal preferences often see thin-client deployment as a loss of personal control."
Forrester's report "Green Benefits Put Thin-Client Computing Back On The Desktop Hardware Agenda" is available here for $279.
My question for my readers: What's your take on thin clients? Do you use them at your organization -- or have you considered and rejected them?
Posted by Ted Samson on March 12, 2008 12:57 PM
February 14, 2008 | Comments: (0)
NComputing puts excess PC power to good use
NComputing CEO Steve Dukker doesn't just subscribe to the belief that the average PC packs more processing power than the average end-user needs; he's built his company's product line of virtual PCs around it.
"I'm not saying that the PC is dead, [but] there's a very large portion of the market that has no need for basically 80 to 90 percent of the power that's delivered in today's desktop," he says.
An evolution of the thin client model (which I deem a viable green alternative to desktops), NComputing's technology enables as many as 30 users to simultaneously run virtualized Windows or Linux desktop sessions from a single standard PC. This approach can save an organization the expense of equipping end-users with average-priced $500 machines -- each of which consumes an average of 280 watts of energy. Rather, shops running NComputing's devices pay as little as $70 per seat, and each one draws as little as one watt of power, according to the company. For companies struggling to keep their energy bills and carbon emissions down, every watt is precious.
I should note that an organization isn't tied to using a PC as a host. Like other thin clients, NComputing's devices work with servers. But the notion of running a couple dozen desktop sessions from a spare desktop is, as they say in Boston, wicked cool -- and a particularly excellent model of sustainability. Moreover, even the higher-end NComputing devices run on just around five watts of power each, which is downright green, too.
Here's how it works: NComputing virtualization software is loaded onto a standard Windows or Linux PC or server, which acts as the shared host machine. Each user's monitor, keyboard, and mouse plug in to a small NComputing access device, which connects to the host using NComputing's home-grown User eXtension Protocol (UXP).
According to NComputing, users working on the terminals can seamlessly and simultaneously share nearly all applications residing on the host machine, including Web browsers, IM programs, office apps, and basic multimedia applications, such as streaming video and Flash. (High-end 3-D games and 3-D design apps are out.) For network applications, UXP features 128-bit encryption to ensure strong security
The access devices come in two flavors. On the lower end is the X300, which connects directly to the host computer via a standard Cat 6 cable that can be up to 10 meters (33 feet) long. One X300 kit enables an admin to add three users to an existing PC; with two kits, up to seven users can share a PC, with six users connected through the kits and one working directly on the host.
NComputing's higher-end alternative is the L-Series. The L-Series access terminals connect to the host PC via Ethernet, which means there's no 10-meter cable constraints. These machines can support more simultaneous users than the X-Series; a PC running a desktop OS (for example, Windows XP) can support up to 10 users. Server operating systems (such as Windows 2003 Server or Linux) can support up to 30 simultaneous users, according to NComputing.
L-Series features include a couple of choices. The highest-end offering here is the L230, which includes 24-bit graphic support, a mic port, and USB memory-device support.
One the software side, NComputing has developed its own virtually platform-agnostic terminal services software, which divides the computer's resources into independent sessions that give each user their own full PC experience. However, the solution is compatible with rival offerings such as Windows Terminal Services, VMware, or Citrix.
Additionally, the company provides NControl and NShield for managing the overall system. NControl allows IT admins to remotely monitor users from a single station; admins also can take control of users' computing environments, be it for remote support or security purposes. One master host PC can be configured specifically for managing as many as 128 simultaneous sessions.
NShield enables recovery of a previously stored backup of a host machine's hard disk via a manual or automatic reboot.
Thus far, NComputing has made inroads in education, SMB, and manufacturing markets, both in the United States and abroad. The company claims to have deployed more than 500,000 seats in more than 80 countries over the past 18 months. At a World Trade Organization conference, for example, the company was able to set up 500 workstations running on 200 PCs, an approach that cut electrical use by 95 percent and acquisition costs by 80 percent.
California-based Valley Yellow Pages, meanwhile, set up its 500 account executives, spread out around 45 offices, with NComputing terminals. The implementation required just one host PC per office.
The benefits here for cash-strapped education or SMB markets in particular are evident. Time will tell, of course, whether more large companies will be game to trade in some or all of their high-end PCs for thin clients, whether from NComputing, Wyse, or any other vendor. The outlook is good, though: IDC predicts 20 percent year-over-year growth in thin client adoption.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 14, 2008 03:00 AM
January 15, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Linux a greener alternative to a forced Vista move?
If you read my blog yesterday, you noticed my entry about Microsoft's move to retire XP and effectively force Windows shops into a wasteful migration to Vista.
I spelled out a couple of scenarios:
1. Stick with XP and hope you can gather the licenses you need to run your business as it grows, all the while waiting for a better version of Windows to emerge down the road.
2. Cave in and adopt Vista, either taking a headache-inducing piecemeal approach or an all-out expensive (and again, wasteful) mass migration.
Lo, there's another alternative, one that has been pointed out by a some respondents to my previous post: Move to Linux.
For example, this comes from Gostak:
"I am suggesting VMware on Linux with your current crop of XP licenses. Mission-critical stuff that must run on XP is available, meanwhile you can be working on migrating everything to a native Linux environment that will not toss you on your keister in a few years. Further, the one big thing coming down the pike, 64-bit computing, is fully supported with Linux, so you don't have to worry about being able to fully utilize the next generation."
It's an excellent point. Companies concerned both with sustainability and Microsoft's current ploy may indeed find Linux an appealing alternative. Some IT leaders out there have already observed that, among other things, Linux seems to have a "green" advantage over Windows in terms of energy efficiency.
While we're at it, how about adding thin clients to the list of alternatives to moving to Vista-desktop world?
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Keep the ideas coming.
Related links:
InfoWorld's Save Windows XP campaign
Retiring XP means wasteful upgrades to Vista-capable PCs
Thinking green? Think thin
Linux, Windows duke it out over energy efficiency
Ted Samson is a senior analyst at InfoWorld and author of the Sustainable IT blog. Subscribe to his free weekly Green Tech newsletter.
Posted by Ted Samson on January 15, 2008 12:23 PM
May 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Less power hungry than their PC peers, thin clients are garnering greater attention for their green advantages
Verizon CIO John Hinshaw confirmed a juicy green nugget of data in a recent interview: He said the wireless giant has reduced energy consumption by 30% since replacing PCs with Sun Ray thin clients in the company's call centers.
That will translate to a savings of $1 million per year for Verizon, once the company rolls out thin clients (or some "desktop-less" variants) in its remaining data centers.
"Power consumption is more of a hot topic in the U.S. than it has ever been," says Klaus Besier, president and CEO of thin-client vendor Neoware. "What we see with many more customers today is when they look at thin clients, they're taking more into account power consumption and [related] savings."
With their relatively lower energy requirements compared to PCs -- not to mention other eco-advantages like longer lifespan and smaller form factor with fewer parts -- thin clients are worthy of some serious consideration from companies.
Or perhaps I should say "reconsideration." Thin clients, after all, certainly aren't new, and advantages such as easier administration (fewer admin visits to users' desks) and improved security (data's stored remotely) are pretty well recognized. But thin clients continue to mature, as do the essential technologies that make them all the more viable. That includes virtualization (as InfoWorld Chief Technologist Tom Yager has noted), Wi-Fi, embedded OSes, and software as a service.
Thin, trim, and healthy
Combine all those technologies with the very real concerns over power shortages, high energy bills, and global climate change, and it's no surprise that IDC foresees steady 20%-plus year-over-year growth in the thin-client space, with shipments expected to reach 7.3 million in 2011.
"We're expecting positive growth for thin clients based on all the factors you've laid out [i.e. advances of virtualization and 10G, and growing concern about power consumption], as well as ongoing concerns about security and PC management costs," says Bob O'Donnell, program vice president for clients and displays at IDC.
Neoware asserts that companies can save as much as 90% on desktop-computing energy costs by swapping out PCs for thin clients -- depending on what models of hardware you're extracting or implementing, of course. But as an example, a desktop PC consumes as much as 280 watts of power in the amount of time that the high-end Neoware e140 burns up 48. So a company with 1,000 desktops would be spending about $62,000 yearly on power (based on the national KWH rate of $0.0849.), compared to around $10,500 for the clients, according to NeoWare. Savings: Around 50 grand a year per one thousand systems.
For the visually-oriented, here's a chart provided by thin-client vendor Wyse, comparing energy consumption of some of its thin-clients to various PC configurations:
Of course, when you install thin clients, you need servers in the server room to act as their brains. But those power savings are still significant, as noted in a recent report titled "Environmental comparison of PC and thin client equipment" by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. "Consumption is at least twice as low, sometimes three or four times lower than the consumption of corresponding PC systems. This applies even with the proportionate offsetting of the energy required by the server and the cooling power required for this," the report says.
Lower energy consumption is one of the clear eco- and monetary benefits. Another green-oriented cost advantage: the life-expectancy of a thin client, compared to a PC. "Thin clients don't need to be upgraded frequently. With thin clients, an OS release does not cause an upgrade to the client, only to the server -- resulting in far less e-waste, since the client can continue to be used longer," says Subodh Bapat, vice president and distinguished engineer for Sun's System Level Energy Strategy, which offers a range of Sun Ray thin clients. "Upgrade cycles of eight to 10 years are common in the thin-client world, as opposed to three to fours years for PCs, with corresponding benefits to the environment in terms of less e-waste."
Speaking of e-waste, Neoware's Besier adds that "Without moving parts, such as a fan or disk drive ... thin clients help companies meet their sustainability targets by eliminating much of the overhead associated with computing."
According to the Fraunhofer study, thin clients also hold a form-factor advntage over PCs, making them less expensive to ship: "They are only 35-40% of the weight of a PC and only take up 19-30% of the volume."
Not just about the green
Green issues aren't the only drivers for thin-client adoption. Jeff McNaught, chief marketing office at Wyse, opines that the new and improved Terminal Services features forthcoming in Windows Server 2008 (i.e. the platform formerly known as Longorn) will be a boon a Windows shops running thin clients.
In a simiar vein, Travid Brown, product manager for thin client solutions at HP, credits Windows XP Embedded for more acceptance of thin clients. "Microsoft has come a long way in developing XP Embedded It's the same binary as XP Pro ... and the thin-client experience now looks very much like the desktop experience. It's a lot better than it was a couple of years ago."
Another boon for thin clients: the shift toward 64-bit computing, by companies like Microsoft and Citrix, will spur adoption by sweetening the TCO pot. "Instead 125 users, you can have 250, 300 users on that server, just by changing the software. That has changed the cost equation," says McNaught
Moreover, McNaught says that company's in 2006 had been waiting to gauge VMware's success on the desktop virtualization front, given it success in the realm of server consolidation, and the results look promising. "You take the existing PC, suck all the data off a hard drive and onto the back-end, pop that PC off the desktop, drop a thin client, and the user continues working."
(Test Center Analyst Randall C. Kennedy was fairly impressed by the beta version of VMware Workstation 6.0 -- especially compared to the competition.)
There's also the advancements thin clients have undergone since the late 1990s when they were overhyped, notes Wyse's McNaught. "In those days, thin clients didn't do multimedia. Screen-draw capability was good, but not amazing," he says. "Companies like Wyse have been working on technology that will dramatically improve the user experience with multimedia, with voice over IP, with USB peripherals. Users can work in a multiscreen environment."
But green fever and technological evolution alone won't necessarily reduce some company's resistance to thin clients. Thin client vendors acknowledge that there wares won't dethrone the PC anytime soon.
For one thing, the machines are well-suited for plenty of basic applications, such as call centers or other roles where users are continually using the same few apps (e.g. productivity and e-mail). But high-end apps are better left on the desktop. "You would not have a CAD/CAM application running through a thin client," says Besier. "It doesn't even make sense to try to solve that problem. The market is not large enough."
Another reason thin clients haven't seem greater adoption, many vendors say, is that companies are set in their ways insofar as purchasing that which is familiar -- in this case, PCs, despite the fact that most desktops generally run at around 3% utilization. "Today's barriers are more of a cultural nature rather than a technical nature," says Sun's Bapat.
But Bapat predicts that "with the lower energy use, lower administration costs, better security, and less frequent capital expenditure outlays for upgrades, we will see more and more organizations making the move to thin-client computing."
Posted by Ted Samson on May 24, 2007 03:00 AM
