Technology seems to go in cycles. First there were the centralized mainframes, the large ‘big iron’ servers with users connected via dumb terminals. Then, as hardware got cheaper, the local workstation became the computing center, and the central server became little more than centralized file storage and mail administrator. But with the recent developments with terminal services, the increasing number of remote users, the tide seems to be turning to more centralized computing again.
There are a number of advantages to centralized computing - sometimes referred to as ‘thin client’ technology. The administration becomes easier. When installing or updating a new application, you only have to do it in one location. Everyone is working on the same suite of programs, and the same version. The cost of the user workstations is low, and are often more reliable since the primary point of failure - the hard drive - is no longer needed.
But there are also disadvantages with the centralized model. It provides a single point of failure - if the server goes down, all users can no longer work. In addition, it is tough to scale. With all the processing handled centrally, you have to match the processing power to the number of users. And the server you buy for your current 25 users will have significant performance problems when you grow to 50, or 100. And upgrading or replacing the server can be very expensive.
But now there is a third option - so-called ’smart clients’ - that combine the advantages of both models.
Vital Networks is very excited to work with Ardence, a recently acquired division of Citrix. With Ardence streaming server technology the user workstation still handles all the processing, making the system very scalable - up to 200 simultaneous users for a single midrange server. But the local hard disk is eliminated, so the workstation is much more reliable. The other benefit is that workstations boot from a common image, the ‘virtual disk’ on the server. This makes administration a snap - when you need to deploy a new update or application you just update the central virtual disk, and reboot all the workstations, and they are all updated simulataneously. No laborious rollout. Similarly, if a single workstation experiences problems, rebooting returns it to the fresh known working image. But since the workstations are running the regular operating system and applications, once on they can continue to function even if the streaming server goes offline.
This Smart Client technology is ideally suited to environments where large numbers of users have common requirements in terms of applications, but is flexible enough to work with almost any business.
Please contact us for more information on Smart Client technology andd how it can help improve your productivity and lower your costs.
