Thin Client Hardware

Written by Brad Dougherty

 

We at E-LEET Solutions understand that North Salem High School has a very tight budget and to better utilize the limited funds that will be allocated to machine upgrades we suggest the use of thin clients (Wikipedia.org). Thin clients work as dumb terminals that connect to a terminal server. All computing is performed by the server so client hardware has no affect on performance, just the server hardware and network connection. All user data and settings are stored on the server and follow them from machine to machine so no matter what thin client they are using they will have their same interface and settings as well as access to their data. Since the server is the only true computer in the network, it is the only one that will require software related maintenance such as updates, patches, and security.

 

Recycle Old PCs into Thin Clients

This is our least expensive solution and it is our most highly recommended one for North Salem High School because it requires very little extra hardware if any. The only requirements the PCs need to meet in order to be turned into a thin client are a CPU, RAM, and a Boot-Image (Wikipedia.org) compatible NIC. Most computers that were manufactured in the last eight years meet these requirements. If a machine does not have a compatible NIC we suggest purchasing the Intel PRO 1000 NIC (DC193A -V15 ).  One major benefit of using old machines is that they can have a CD drive that can be mapped to the terminal server upon login. This would allow students to use CD in a thin client just like a normal machine without any user configuration. The same concept applies to USB drives which works with any thin client with USB ports.

 

Purchase Manufactured Thin Clients

If North Salem High School wishes to minimize the physical footprint of the client hardware we suggest purchasing the Sun Ray 170 Ultra-Thin Client.

Sun Ray 170 Ultra-Thin Client

Features (from Sun.com)

  • All-in-one design.
  • No local state on the desktop.
  • Resource sharing.
  • Smart card.

For more information on thin clients visit these sites:

Sun’s Thin Client Solutions (Sun.com)

Thin Clients (Wikipedia.org)

Boot-Image (Wikipedia.org)