Secure PC, notebook and thin client operation and standardized remote-administration –
these objectives can be achieved quickly and cost-effectively with the help of "software
thin clients". The benefits include a considerable reduction in hardware investments and
license fees as well as a significant decrease in the outlay for client management and
user support.
Software thin clients on the rise:
standardized operating system, central
2/5
Preparing for Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
In the second usage scenario, software thin clients provide a way of pre-paring an existing PC environment for the cost-efficient, secure use of DaaS. With a service like this billed on a rental basis, IT users use an externally hosted virtual desktop. Thanks to the comprehensive remote-administration capabilities of software thin clients, client management too can be included as an additional part of the DaaS strategy and simply outsourced to the provider. After all, there is no longer any need to maintain local applications on the machine. The hard drives can be replaced with low-maintenance, low-cost SSD cards with a few GB storage capacity. This allows further savings to be made.
The third usage scenario is the step-by-step introduction of a central IT in-frastructure. The new investments in physical IT infrastructure are at least partially compensated for by the fact that there is no need to renew desk-top hardware as planned. Instead, the company or the authority simply continues using the existing PCs, notebooks or thin clients as software thin clients. As a comparison, a basic business PC costs around €200 to €300, while an IGEL UDC2 license costs just €59.
What are software thin clients?
The term "software thin client" describes a thin client operating system running on the local desktop hardware that has all the necessary com-munication protocols, software clients and tools for central IT or cloud ac-cess. A set-up of this type allows various end devices to be standardized, centrally administered and managed on an operating system level. An ex-ample: The IGEL Universal Desktop Converter 2 (UDC2) software solution installs/boots and licenses the modern IGEL Linux 5 thin client OS on any x86 platform and selected thin clients. Thanks to comprehensive driver support, the UDC2 is suitable for existing workstation PCs and for newly acquired nettops, all-in-one PCs or notebooks. The IGEL Linux thin client operating system on which the solution is based is derived from the Long Time Support version (LTS) of Ubuntu Linux, which, thanks to a particularly long support period, offers significant investment protection. Linux-based operating systems are also regarded as being particularly secure.
Why do I need software thin clients?
There are five typical usage scenarios for software thin clients within central or virtualized IT infrastructures. The first of these is aimed at the standardization of operating systems and management for existing PCs, notebooks and thin clients. This not only allows a permanent reduction in overall desktop costs but also lengthens investment cycles from the usual three or four years to up to six or more – and with no risks involved. After all, there is no risk of data losses, availability problems or high administra-tion costs even if the hardware hosting the software thin client should fail. What is more, there are no locally installed applications – all user data are stored either centrally or in the cloud. Even the specific configuration for the software thin client is transferred remotely via the network or the Internet.
aOS standardization
Standardizing client operating systems
aDaaS / outsourcing
Remote-administrable cloud access
aReplacing Windows XP
With a modern, secure OS free of licensing costs
aMobile thin clients (boot option also possible)
Using notebooks as thin clients (optional)
aGentle migration (cost distribution)
Using existing PCs as thin clients
5 tyPical caSeS fOR SOftWaRe thin clientS
A key challenge for IT innovations lies in increasing performance while reducing the outlay for management and administration. In recent years, this was particularly obvious in the area of servers. With the help of virtualization technology, it has been possible to separate the logic layer from the physical layer. This means that the operating systems and applications isolated from the hardware can be provided from the computer center and administered there easily, quickly and cost-effectively. Software thin clients achieve these properties in the context of end devices too. The same secure and stable operating system that not only allows users universal access to their IT resources but also allows seamless, central remote-management for administrators runs on all desktop devices, whether they be PCs, notebooks or thin clients. This reduces costs and saves a great deal of time.
Software thin clients for mobile devices as a replacement for XP
Replacing Windows XP, which will no longer be updated beginning April 2014, is an excellent reason to set up or further develop a central IT infra-structure or private cloud. A modern and secure thin client OS such as IGEL Linux provides a low-cost and secure alternative which also improves the performance of old PCs thanks to its minimal system requirements. Mobile end devices, especially laptops and notebooks, are the fifth typical usage scenario for software thin clients. Since a LAN or WLAN connection to the computer center is not available in all workplaces, IGEL offers an al-ternative to permanent operation as a software thin client. If the IGEL UDC2 is installed on a USB stick, the software thin client can also be licensed for the relevant end device. After booting from this stick, a business notebook or even a private PC for example can safely access the company network without jeopardizing IT security. The computer then works exclusively as a thin client and the use of internal and external storage media by the user can be regulated from a central point.Effects on overall desktop costs (TCO)
The "PC vs. TC" cost-effectiveness analysis carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT shows the benefits of using software thin clients. The study compares the costs for a managed thin client environment and a client/server network with PCs but without remote-administration. The overall desktop costs (Total
Cost of Ownership) for the thin client environment are up to 70 percent lower, although the study assumes the use of physical thin clients whose hardware is designed to offer a particularly long operating life. However, the lower procurement costs for software thin clients will naturally have a bearing on the overall savings achieved. According to the study, the non-hardware-related costs for administration and user support are 68 percent lower than those for a workstation PC (see Graphic 1). The main reasons for these substantial savings are the seamless remote-configuration of all thin client settings and the remote-management of the virtual sessions, applications and desktops. A thin client operating system also eliminates the need for local patch and installation management.
Effects on data security
Other savings that are harder to quantify, e.g. improvements in IT and data security, are further arguments in favor of introducing software thin cli-ents. End devices standardized using IGEL UDC2 are virtually impossible to manipulate. The USB ports can be disabled and enabled as needed, and the operating system features read-only protection. During installation, the hard drive/SSD of the relevant PC, laptop or thin client hardware is for-mated before IGEL Linux is transferred to it, and access to local data during booting from the IGEL UDC2 stick is disabled as standard. Consequently, user data can only be stored in the computer center, where professional security mechanisms are in place. Compared to Windows Embedded sys-tems, the IGEL Linux thin client operating system is also more resistant to infiltration by viruses and other malware, which means that there is normally no need for separate anti-virus software.
Implementation and management
Software clients can be implemented either on the individual device it-self or via the network. The UDC2 solution offers a total of five different routes for doing this. For remote-management of the software thin clients, IGEL supplies the sector-leading, license-free Universal Management Suite (UMS) along with the UDC2. With this high-performance, scalable and op-tionally redundant management tool, all IGEL hardware and software thin clients and zero clients can be remote-administered and centrally man-aged in a clear, group-based and standardized manner. For even greater efficiency, there are integrated overview, reporting and asset management tools as well as numerous automation functions including scheduled and bandwidth-optimized firmware updates with a failsafe mechanism. To help speed up the roll-out, individual and group profiles can be defined in ad-vance and then transferred to the respective end devices by drag and drop. Once it has been licensed, the software thin client automatically retrieves its specific settings from the management server and is then immediately ready for use.
cOMPaRiSOn Of ManaGeMent cOStS in euROS*
Pc Pc with uDc Savings
Software
installation 60.24 32.36 46%
Patches 210.84 0.00 100%
Relocation 89.19 89.19 0%
4/5
Flexibility: Features and firmware packages
The implementation of the thin client operating system deliberately re-moves the option of locally installing applications on the PCs concerned. This makes it all the more important that the newly generated software thin client can work in as many central IT environments as possible – whether it be as a client for sessions and applications provided with the help of Microsoft RemoteApp, App-V or Citrix® XenApp, or as a VDI client for the leading VMware Horizon View, Citrix XenDesktop and Microsoft VDI solutions. The connectivity of the extensive IGEL Universal Desktop (UD) firmware also makes allowances for numerous other VDI and cloud com-puting solutions as well as legacy host systems using terminal emulation, a native IBM 5250 client for System i or AS/400 and a local web browser for direct access to cloud services. For workstations with special require-ments, the IGEL UD firmware also includes two optional features: a codec pack for local multimedia decoding and the Shared Workplace software add-on which allows a user-dependent thin client configuration in, for ex-ample, call centers..
Model and driver support
Companies that would like to standardize their desktop infrastructure us-ing software thin clients should ensure the most comprehensive driver support possible. This is important not only for the standardization of exist-ing thin clients from Acer, Dell / Wyse, Fujitsu, HP and other manufacturers but also when it comes to ensuring an optimum user experience when using PC hardware. If, as is the case with the IGEL UDC2, accelerated graphics drivers too are supported as standard, users can make full use of the capabilities of their x86 hardware, e.g. Dualview. In contrast, compre-hensive WiFi support along with an integrated battery level indicator are important for notebook users. Other drivers or special applications can also be added to software thin clients. The optional IGEL Universal Customiza-tion Builder (UCB) UMS add-on allows individual add-on packages for the IGEL UD firmware to be put together with software support, packaged with syntax checking, debugged and rolled out remotely.
Future options: open, but secure
Software thin clients can be upgraded in a variety of ways. This can be anything from a low-cost switchover to a sustainable desktop infra-structure with efficient client management or an extension of hardware investment cycles to the modernization and homogenization of client op-erating systems. However, the key advantage over physical thin clients is ultimately the fact that the underlying hardware can be chosen by users themselves to meet their requirements. Software thin clients are therefore highly flexible in use, yet provide a good basis on which to achieve further cost savings or, if necessary, outsource desktop management as part of a DaaS model.
RefeRenceS
aBootable DVD from the manufacturer
aBootable uSB stick (created using IGEL UDC2 or
FTP server)
aiGel uDc2 token incl. license SiM card
aRiS Remote installation Service (in Microsoft Windows Server
2003)
aiGel Deployment appliance (PXE server with web GUI)
iMPleMentatiOn ROuteS (iGel uDc2)
a.t.u cOVeRtS 6,500 PcS intO thin clientS
A.T.U Auto-Teile Unger Handels & Co. KG, the German market leader for vehicle service and spares, has been pursuing a con-sistent IT centralization strategy since 2006. The company, which employs around 13,000 people and has 650 branches, provides its ap-plications Europe-wide from a central computer center and is remote-managing an increasing number of desktop devices too. By doing this, A.T.U has reduced its annual support costs by approximately 25 percent compared to the original client/server network. In order to roll out thin client computing at all its branches, A.T.U converted around 6,500 PCs with the help of the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter software (now: IGEL UDC2). These now complement the existing 1,200 IGEL thin clients. "This way, we can stagger the overall costs for company-wide migration over a longer period," explained Head of IT Manfred Gerlach. "The PCs are already amortized, and the switchover is simple and inexpensive."
WeKO WOhnen: StanDaRDizeD thin client OS
The Bavarian furniture retailer WEKO Wohnen is using IGEL software and hardware to standardize the management of its heterogeneous thin client landscape. In order to make this possible, the medium-sized family company with 600 employees and five sites homogenized its evolved thin client environment with devices from three different manufacturers. With the help of the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter software (now: UDC2), the existing thin clients from HP were standardized with the IGEL Linux operating system. As a replacement for the existing Neoware and eSeSIX ThinTune thin clients, WEKO introduced physical IGEL Universal Desktop thin clients – even at the checkouts. The remote-management of all software and hardware thin clients is carried out efficiently with the help of the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) which comes supplied with IGEL products.
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