Wyse Technology shows how migrating to Windows 2000 could be an
ideal opportunity to move large parts of the network onto a thin
client, server-based computing architecture
The introduction of Windows 2000 Server Edition from Microsoft
offers every purchaser the option of deploying a less expensive,
more efficient, more productive, and safer IT architecture than has
been available in the Windows NT environment.
Using the multi-user capabilities of Terminal Services, a feature
in Windows 2000, organisations can deliver the benefits of the
Windows 2000 Professional desktop client software environment
immediately to all their users, without having to upgrade or
replace any of their current desktop machines. Enabling the
Terminal Services application mode option is the fastest way to
upgrade your desktop PC to Windows 2000, with no extra desktop
hardware costs.By transferring all applications and data to
centralised server-based computing, organisations can free
themselves of the maintenance, support, and upgrade challenges
posed by PCs. They also can improve their software and network
administration and management, increase productivity, efficiency,
IT availability and security, while deploying other applications
more rapidly. It also lowers the cost of providing and supporting
desktop computing assets, achieving a lower Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO).Many of these values are delivered, to a lesser degree, by
Windows 2000 operating in its conventional PC client/server mode.
But the investment required in new or upgraded PCs, in increased
bandwidth and in increasingly complex administration tasks, makes
the Terminal Services alternative a very attractive option to
explore. Windows-based terminals can offer further advantages to
running Terminal Server. They can replace PCs in up to 80 per cent
of corporate situations while guaranteeing all the operating and
productivity benefits Terminal Services offers, and can deliver
significant advantages over other desktop technology, because they
are designed and tailored to run in the Terminal Services
environment.
Terminal ServicesTerminal Services is a
component of Windows 2000 Server that enables organisations to
implement a multi-user computing architecture in a Windows
application environment. In this architecture, all software
applications, data processing, and data storage occur on central
servers, and are displayed across local area or wide area networks
or dial-up connections to desktop devices (Windows-based terminals
or PCs).The user's experience is that of using a PC to run Windows
and Windows-based applications, free of the need to administer
and/or trouble-shoot the PC, back up files, or suffer periods of
inactivity when the computer breaks or when it is offline for a
software or hardware upgrade.The experience of IT administrators in
this environment is one of regained control, lower cost, and
ease-of-administration. As a result of the shift of computing
resources, data storage, software applications, and data to the
server environment, the administrator can ensure a more secure,
reliable, efficient, and productive IT environment for the company.
Vulnerability to viruses, theft of corporate data, or other attacks
from the desktop is reduced. Software administration is simplified
and licences more effectively managed. Perhaps the biggest headache
for all IT administrators, desktop service, management, and
support, is brought under control. As Microsoft puts it: "When
Terminal Services is enabled on Windows 2000 Server, administrators
do not have to install Windows-based 32-bit applications on each
desktop computer. Instead, the application is installed once on the
server, and the clients automatically have access to the new or
upgraded software package".In the multi-user Terminal Services
architecture, software applications execute only on the server and
are centrally managed, allowing for greater control and security,
vastly easier bug fixing and software upgrades, and near-instant
software deployment. Desktop service and support may be greatly
reduced, due to the centralised architecture, and through the
opportunity to place a simpler, longer-lasting, more reliable
machine on the desktop.In addition, this architecture enables
integration of Windows-based applications and other graphics-based
and Internet-based applications with legacy-, Unix-, or
mainframe-based applications, all on one desktop device. To
companies who benefit from the lower cost of ownership of the
centralised architecture and who are loathe to relinquish the
benefits of centralised computing for the flexibility and "personal
empowerment" of the PC, this provides a powerful opportunity to get
the best of both worlds. In the case of Windows 2000, Terminal
Services is a configurable service that is standard to the server
software which gives it the ability to run 32-bit Windows-based
applications centrally from a server. For the first time, these
services are fully integrated with the Windows 2000 Server kernel.
When Terminal Services is activated, all application processing
occurs on the server and only the application presentation, the
GUI, is sent to the client. Each user logs on and sees only his or
her session, independent of any other client session.One of the
biggest benefits of this approach, Microsoft points out, is that
most 16-bit or 32-bit Windows-based applications can run as is,
with no programming changes required to run in the multi-user
environment. User profiles stored on the server allow numerous
users to see their personal desktop preferences and settings, and
run their applications. Security policies control remote access
rights and permissions, and operating system interfaces allow
simultaneous sessions in which users safely access common files and
databases stored on file servers. Terminal Services also allows
users and applications to share central server hardware resources -
CPU, memory, storage, operating system, system backup, peripherals,
and other resources such as registry and other data structures.
This sharing can be extended across banks of central servers -
often called "server farms" - that are deployed to connect to
hundreds or thousands of Windows-based terminals and/or PCs acting
as thin clients. Server farms provide redundancy and back-up, allow
for better resource sharing, and eliminate single-point-of-failure
concerns. With proper allocation of user needs for computing
resources among servers, Terminal Services can deliver a computing
experience harnessed to a powerful central server that is every bit
as flexible and versatile as a PC, without most or all of the
"personal" IT administration experience that accompanies use of
PCs.Where Windows 2000 Server is implemented to support desktop
computers and other devices, administrators will face an enormously
expensive and time-consuming task. In order to run Windows 2000
Professional on a PC, Microsoft says you need a computer with a
minimum of a 133MHz CPU, 64MB of RAM, and 1GB of hard drive space
for the operating system alone. Independent reviewers have
concluded that these CPU and RAM requirements are insufficient, and
conclude that a minimum of a 300MHz Pentium processor and 128MB of
RAM will be required, plus the necessary applications software.
This will inevitably involve a series of significant costly
hardware upgrades for the PC network. There is also the significant
cost of buying the Windows 2000 Professional licence for every
desktop to consider.But by enabling the Application Server mode of
Terminal Services, companies can deliver a "virtual" version of
Windows 2000 Professional immediately to all their desktops,
including MS-DOS PCs, Macintosh, Unix-based machines, and others.
No hardware upgrades or replacements are required, and the cost of
a Terminal Services Client Access Licence is much cheaper than a
copy of Windows 2000 Professional.Windows 2000 Terminal Services
supports all the basic server-based benefits and features of
Windows 2000 Server, such as Active Directory services, the
Microsoft Management Console, Distributed File System, and Server
Performance Monitor. In addition, Terminal Services offers many new
features not available in Windows NT 4.0, Terminal Server Edition.
Terminal Server Edition delivered the basic multi-user
functionality of a server-based architecture, but lacked a number
of improvements that Microsoft did not include, such as local
printer support, load balancing and remote client administration,
pending release of Windows 2000.
Windows 2000 Terminal Services
with Windows-based terminalsIndustry analysts predict that 10
to 30 million Windows-based terminals will be installed worldwide
over the next five years. These thin clients will connect to
Windows 2000 Server with multi-user Terminal Services enabled or
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition. The multi-user Windows NT
server operating system (now Windows 2000 Server) is fast moving
into the front ranks of departmental, divisional, and
enterprise-wide computing, because it delivers a wide array of
Windows-based applications to users through the familiar Windows
graphic interface.Users can access Windows applications in a
multi-user architecture, in which the computing and data are kept
at the central server and the desktop thin client is a device for
display, input, and output. Desktop devices, software applications,
and corporate data can be managed, maintained, upgraded, and
supported more easily, rapidly, and efficiently than in a standard,
distributed client/server environment. Windows-based terminals
offer several advantages over PCs. They have no moving parts, low
power demands, and connect to powerful centralised networked
servers which provide better computing power and data storage than
a desktop PC. Thin clients do not need the latest CPU, the greatest
amount of RAM, or other rapidly changing features of the PC. In
effect, all the instability and uncertainty that is inherent to the
present and future value of a personal computer is off-loaded to
the server.Windows 2000 Server makes Windows-based terminals and
personal computers peers on the corporate desktop for the first
time. Prior to this, customers who wished to adopt a centralised,
multi-user Windows environment had to buy different software or
additional software from Microsoft.The release of Windows 2000
Server marks the end of the early-adopter period for thin clients -
multi-user deployments of Windows-based applications should now
become mainstream, particularly in very large enterprises and
government organisations. Terminal Services is an easy, cheap, and
less time-consuming way to deliver the Windows 2000 Professional
desktop operating system and applications to all an organisation's
IT users.
Compiled by Paul Grant(c) 2000 Wyse Technology,
Inc.