According to recent studies, most IT managers are failing in their
objectives to manage their company’s desktop environment - a
failure that continues to drive up the cost of ownership for PCs.
Is there a simple solution?
Managing the Cost and Complexity of Desktop PCs
Over the past several years, IT managers have been struggling with
the ever-increasing strain of managing desktop PCs. Because nodes
are continually being added to the network and PC vendors are
constantly introducing more sophisticated operating systems and
applications, IT managers are always behind the curve trying to
keep the desktop updated and supported. This challenge is magnified
by the tendency of end users to add new (and potentially
disruptive) software and hardware to their PCs. The sheer number of
PCs on the network also creates administrative problems.
Distributing something as simple as an upgraded device driver
throughout the organisation can become a major, time-consuming
operation. And because few organisations replace all of their PCs
at one time, multiple generations of technologies are typically
present simultaneously, exacerbating support problems. IT managers
are also faced with the additional support burden that comes with
putting significant computing power in the hands of non-technical
employees. This support burden includes direct and indirect
training costs, the costs associated with either creating an
internal PC help desk or contracting for outside support services,
and the so-called "shadow costs" associated with co-workers who
become informal help desk support for their colleagues. These
escalating costs associated with managing the desktop environment
are well documented, but the solution is far from clear. In fact,
there are numerous ways in which companies have tried to lower the
cost of PC ownership over the last several years, from top-down
management to moving to a new generation of network computers. None
of these approaches is either inexpensive or, thus far, effective.
The following is a look at these conventional approaches and an
overview of a far more cost-effective and demonstrably successful
solution: boot ROM technology.
Top-down management and networked
computers First let's look at the top-down management
approaches that companies traditionally rely on to get their
desktops under control. Essentially, there are three approaches:
integrated management toolsets, desktop standardisation, and
installing network or diskless computers.
Integrated management
toolsets Integrated management toolsets or frameworks are a
customised set of tools provided by vendors. Historically, these
toolsets are expensive to build and maintain, and there is always a
lag between the management tools and desktop changes, which usually
results in the management toolset being six to nine months behind
the PC environment.
Desktop standardisation Another typical
strategy that IT managers use is to standardise the desktop in
order to make it more manageable. With desktop standardisation, all
PC configurations are kept strictly identical and only one vendor's
products are purchased. Not only does this eliminate variations, it
also allows vendor-specific management tools to be employed with
good results. Disadvantages of this approach include a loss of
creativity and vendor lock-in. Uniformity is not what spurred the
explosion of PC-based LANs. Adaptability and choice were ( and
still are ( the driving forces behind the technology. By
standardising the desktop, companies risk losing the value of the
personal computing environment. Strict desktop standardisation also
requires that companies commit to a single vendor or technology,
which may limit migration options and other choices later.
The
network computer One of the hottest issues in the IT community
today is the so-called network computer or diskless computer. The
network computer is workstation specifically designed to eliminate
the management headaches associated with the conventional PC. The
network computer loads applications and data from LAN servers. By
centralising applications and data at the server, a network
computer gives IT managers centralised control of these resources.
There are several downsides to the network computer, including:(
The cost of retooling the corporate computing environment with a
radically new computing paradigm( The complexity of a mixed
environment of existing PCs and network computers( Uncertainty over
a new, unproven architecture and a lack of availability of these
new devices( The additional burden that network computers would
place on the network in terms of additional traffic( The
vulnerability of end users in case the network goes down.
The
boot ROM alternative There is an alternative to all of the
above approaches that is inexpensive, available today, and able to
solve a significant portion of desktop management issues. This
solution is network booting using boot ROM technology. Network
booting does more than ensure proper power-up; it also runs
diagnostics, checks for viruses, and picks up system changes before
the operating system even loads. In fact, this simple, proven
solution has the ability to lower the total cost of PC.Boot ROMs
are firmware-equipped chips that are installed on the network
interface card (NIC) at the desktop. When the PC is powered on, the
boot ROM immediately directs the PC to boot from a set of
configuration files (or boot images) located on network file
servers. Boot ROMs provide much more effective control of desktop
configurations than software-based solutions, which must wait for
the PC to fully boot and attach itself to the network before they
can act on it. In fact, simply adding a NIC with boot ROM
capabilities achieves much of the same result as diskless computers
without spending thousands of pounds to replace each existing PC.
The benefits of boot ROM There are numerous advantages to
using boot ROM technology, including its flexible design, ease of
use, security, cost savings, and migration support. These and other
benefits are discussed in the sections that follow.
Flexible
design Boot ROMs give network managers the option of using
centralised booting or a combination of centralised and remote
booting. Administrators can eliminate the headaches of file
distribution associated with booting from local hard drives and
even forego local hard drives altogether. Or they can continue
using local hard drives for specific applications and/or data
storage functions.
More efficient updates Rather than having
to copy files out to hundreds of individual desktops ( and flood
the network with additional traffic ( IT managers can make changes
at a single point and update hundreds or thousands of clients in
just minutes. And because all changes are executed on the file
server, boot file changes can be executed even when PCs are turned
off or in use. Because IT managers can execute updates with less
time and effort, they are more likely to make incremental
modifications that they would previously have avoided. Such system
"tweaks" can often optimise workstation performance or resolve
chronic, but relatively minor, problems. By streamlining the change
process, boot ROMs make it more practical for IT managers to make
these small but important changes that would otherwise not be worth
the effort.
Enhanced security Server-based booting
eliminates the possibility of end users altering their boot files
during the course of the workday. The nature of desktop operating
systems makes it easy for users to cause these kinds of changes
without even realising it, as they make other seemingly innocuous
adjustments to their machines. The resulting problem may not
surface until the next time they power up their PC. Boot sector
viruses are extremely dangerous, because they can attack files
before most conventional virus protection software can take effect.
Client PCs are generally much more exposed to common sources of
virus infection, such as infected floppies or unauthorised
software. By maintaining pristine boot files on the server, LAN
administrators can ensure that client PCs boot without activating
these viruses, allowing anti-virus applications to do their work
effectively. The use of anti-virus firmware in the boot ROM
virtually eliminates the possibility of infection from any known
source. There are other security benefits as well. When a PC boots
from the server, access to critical boot files is restricted to IT
staff, and connections to secure servers can be blocked.
Reduced
support costs Rather than requiring extended local boot image
configuration, LAN administrators can quickly build network-ready
workstations. The combination of PC, LAN adapter, and boot ROM is
as close to a plug-and-play solution as the industry currently
offers. Studies show that nearly half of all help desk calls are
related to booting problems. Because the failure to boot properly
often results in an inability to attach to the network, all of the
remote management tools at the administrator's disposal are of no
use. As a result, technicians have to walk to the user's office to
resolve the problem, which is far more labour-intensive and
expensive. It also means that the end-user is down longer, which
translates into reduced productivity for the organisation. Boot
ROMs instantly eliminate the high percentage of support calls
related to the failure of PCs to boot properly.
Protects
equipment investments Perhaps the most compelling argument in
favour of using boot ROMs is that no massive retooling or
reinvestment is required. Boot ROMs are available today for most
leading brands of NICs. The implementation costs for retrofitting
existing PCs with boot ROMs are very low and the incremental cost
for purchasing new PCs with boot ROMs pre-installed is even less.
Boot ROMs provide good investment protection as well. Boot ROMs are
equipped with flash memory, so they can be software-upgraded as new
requirements emerge.
Suitable for distributed organisations
In many industries with distributed operation ( such as airlines,
retailers, financial institutions, etc ( hundreds of machines have
to be powered up simultaneously, as soon as the company opens for
business. If these companies use conventional remote booting with
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), each client that requests a
file or group of files starts its own TFTP service. This massive
requirement for I/O on the server can cause severe network
congestion or even a server crash. Alternatively, these companies
can take advantage of multicast booting, which enables large
numbers of PCs to boot simultaneously while appearing to the
network and the server as a single client. When one PC requests a
file or group of files, the other PCs simply "listen in" on the
network and pick up the transmission. After the requesting machine
has booted, the listening PCs request any missing information and
the server broadcasts that information to the remaining machines.
A user-friendly solution One final advantage of network
booting is that it is completely transparent to the end-user and
requires no intervention on their part. This means no extra
training and no support hassles. For those users who might need to
override a network boot, IT managers can enable this feature
easily. And if users encounter any difficulty with a modified boot
image, they can easily toggle to a pristine image on the server (
without calling a help desk or losing valuable time. Boot ROMs are
a proven technology; over four million PCs have been equipped with
boot ROMs over the past decade, with consistently outstanding
results. However, until now this solution has not been highly
publicised. The only reason more PCs and NICs aren't shipped with
boot ROMs is that users haven't demanded it. It is therefore up to
technology consumers to specify this inexpensive and highly
effective desktop management solution as part of their equipment
requirements. It is time for the industry to take another look at a
tried-and-true approach that's been quietly waiting for higher
recognition ( boot ROMs, the solution for managing the desktop.
Compiled by Richard Pitt from the 3Com website