I was sitting in on a presentation of a thin client solution to a SYSPRO Prospect of ours the other day where Matt my IT manager and system architect gave a number of very compelling reasons why this could be a good solution for an organisation looking to update their entire fleet of desktop workstations.
Thin clients, which have actually been around since the 80’s, are devices that function as an access device on a network. These solid-state devices connect over a network to your Windows server where all of the processing takes place. Thin clients have no hard drive, no DVD or Expansion slots. They cannot run applications or store data on their own and keystrokes, mouse events and screen images are all that is sent between the client and server. The application runs on and data is stored on the servers that the Thin Clients are attached to. They could also be used to run Cloud based solutions.
With no hard drive, fan or other moving parts, thin clients have a much longer lifespan, 2 to 3 times, than standard computers and use significantly less power 65W (for the latest HP t5740e) vs 400W for a desk top PC. Lower maintenance costs are another benefit as software application updates, virus scanning and patches will be executed on the server. Deployment costs are also reduced as thin clients can be remotely configured and do not need to be set up individually. And being stateless if something does go wrong with the software on the Thin Client you simply turn it off then back on and everything is reset.
The increased security, reliability and ease of management contribute to a lower total cost of ownership for your client computing devices. With a longer useful lifespan, thin clients contribute to cost savings. According to a study by Gartner (TCO Comparison of PCs with Server-Based Computing, June 2006) thin client TCO annual savings have been measured as high as:
• 79% less downtime cost per user
• 16% capital cost savings
• 34% less in maintenance
• 19% less to operate
• 48% overall lower total cost
Worth thinking about?
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19:19:58
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