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We started answering questions and found that we only had room this month to answer three. We will be bringing you more in upcoming issues.
As always, feel free to send us your own questions. Not only will we answer each one individually, if we get enough of a similar question we will put them into upcoming articles. Send questions to:
1) I am interested in setting up a thin client environment. Can you point me in the direction of some good information on how to go about setting up and configuring a thin client environment?
Because of the nature of Thin Clients, getting started is extremely easy. Most users will be transitioning from PCs, and what we normally suggest is to make the changeover a gradual one.
The Thin Clients and the Microsoft Terminal Server (such as Windows 2000 Server) can be run on the same network as all of your other PCs without any danger of interference. This makes it possible to configure the Windows Server and then simply plug in a Thin Client anywhere on the network and see how your applications look. Make sure the server can get to any needed I/O or databases. Once you are satisfied that one Thin Client is working correctly, you are done - just start plugging in more. Because configuration is on the server, there is no more setup required.
We went into more detail in a previous article:
2) What is a Thick Client?
The displays that ACP customers are used to dealing with are dedicated Thin Client devices. These units have only the minimum amount of resources required to support the user display. As such, they are known as "thin" clients.
The same client application that connects to the server and displays the user application can be run on a full PC. When this is the case, the client is sometimes called a thick client because it has many more resources than are needed to run as a Thin Client.
Thick Clients have a disadvantage when used where a Thin Client is really needed - they still require the support of the full PC to run the Thin Client application.
3) With all the various thin client devices out there, which administration tools can really handle it? Wyse has "Rapport", other vendors have their own product. What experiences have you had with them and will they truly help with devices from multiple vendors?
This is really an interesting question for us to answer, because we don't know of any management software that handles multiple vendor Thin Clients other than our own product, ThinManager. But we wanted to answer this one publicly because we are very proud of the work we have done to support multiple hardware suppliers.
The leading supplier of commercial Thin Client products is Wyse, with something around 40% of the market. They have an excellent management tool, called Rapport, but it is designed to support their own clients, whether sold by Wyse or Compaq.
HP offers enterprise customers the ability to manage all their HP networked clients with its Altiris software. Maxspeed's Thin Client management software (MMS) supplies a method to remotely manage the complete line of MaxTerms. TeleVideo also has its own management software, called TeleManager. But as the others, only controls its own brand name thin clients.
Wyse Technologies now has a new product, called Alcatraz, that lets users turn PCs into thin clients and gives them a centralized way to manage those PCs. But like Rapport, it is only designed to manage a specific product, and users with a mix of Thin Clients and converted PCs must use two products.
ACP's ThinManager recognizes any ACP Enabled Thin Client, whether industrial hardware (from companies like Advantech and Xycom), office grade Thin clients, or even PCs that have been converted to dedicated Thin Clients using ACP's Thin Adapter card.
ThinManager automatically identifies the unique properties of each of these devices, and downloads the specific drivers needed to support the varying touch screens, I/O ports, video modes, etc. This allows the system manager to customize a particular Thin Client with a startup application, user login, video mode, etc., and have that configuration remain even if the device is swapped for one from a different manufacturer.
For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
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