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    W. Guy Finley -- Dad, school board member, photographer, dj, virtual real estate mogul -- not necessarily in that order.

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    • Replace Existing Equipment - Thin Client

    The first option is the Net56 solution which was also quoted by GraphTech. This solution turns existing computers into “thin clients” and instead invests in four high-powered servers. The idea is that the server has the power to host the applications that are run at the desktops. This offers some advantages (from Net56’s presentation):

    1. Controls Desktop Management costs — since the desktops run off of the server little individual desktop support is needed
    2. Deploys Applications More Flexibly — applications are hosted on the server, only one install is needed as opposed to multiple installs at multiple sites.
    3. Delivers a Virtual Workplace — settings and configurations are controlled by the server.
    4. Simplifies System Management — see above.
    5. Provides Full Security — again, security is controlled at one point, desktops users are unable to download/install harmful software.
    6. Reduces System Overhead — thin clients are basic machines, we can convert old machines to thin clients and deploy new thin clients which are cheaper than thick ones.

    These are all very attractive benefits. I will now give you some of the disadvantages:

    1. Single Point of Failure — if a server goes down all attached clients go down with it and are completely useless.
    2. High Bandwidth Demand — with thin clients every keystroke, every mouse click, every task is transmitting data to the server and taking up server resources. This requires an immense bandwidth backbone as part of the solution (Net56 calls for putting 100Mb fiber at each of our sites).
    3. Concurrent Users — thin client is a very attractive solution in many enterprise (business) environments where different users are doing different tasks. In a classroom environment 30 students can be doing the same task at the same time creating heavy network and server load.
    4. Rich Content Issues — some of the most important recent developments in educational software have been in the area of multimedia and other rich content in instruction. This content requires processing power — thin client solutions share processing power and trade off that power at the desktop for the simplicity listed above. Rich content can bog down all of the users, may not work as well and in some cases may not work at all.
    5. Haven’t We Been Here Before? — that’s right, in the 70s and 80s “mainframe” computing was all the rage (”Wang” ring a bell?) and many businesses are still in the process of weaning themselves off of mainframes. Thin client has been touted as the future and a promising new technology — it’s old technology and as far as promising goes the same things were said about ATM which we looked at in network infrastructure.
    6. Limited Upgrade Path — when a system needs an upgrade you’re looking at replacing a server. Also, thin clients use an embedded operating system, if that becomes outdated your only choice is to chuck the thin client and buy a new one.
    7. Security Issues — while it is true a thin client structure strengthens security in one regard it weakens it in another, i.e. if the server is susceptible to a security vulnerability all users will experience an issue and be compromised.
    8. Licensing — even though the applications and operating system are stored on the server this does not translate into cheaper licensing because they still need to be licensed for each client.

    I’ve amassed a good amount of material on thin client, good and bad, don’t just take my word for it!

    Articles On Thin Client Solutions
    ZDNet Education Column — The truth about thin clients
    ZDNet Education Column — Why you should actually pay for thin clients
    Ferl First (UK) Case Study — Implementing thin client technology in education - a bit dated (2001) but still good overview.
    eSchool News Special Report — More bang for your technology buck — this “special report” is sponsored by a thin client hardware company (who happens to be liberally mentioned)

    Vendor Information & Case Studies
    The Net56 proposal didn’t include what thin client manufacturer they would be using, the following are some of the well known solutions in education.
    Lemon Grove, CA — Centrix Solution
    Paderborn Germany — Sun Ray Thin Client Solution
    Fremont Idaho — Ncomputing Solution

    Next Section: Reshape Existing Equipment
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