The server software that supports Sun Microsystems' Sun
Ray thin-client devices can now run on x86-based Linux systems in
addition to Sparc/Solaris machines.
Sun Ray Server Software 3.0 also includes new bandwidth
adaptation and management technology that is designed to make it
easier for IT managers to support remote use of the thin clients.
Because of reduced bandwidth needs, the devices can now be linked
to back-office systems via Digital Subscriber Line or cable modem
connections, Sun said, which also introduced a thin client with a
17in screen.
Time Warner Cable is a large Sun Ray user, with about 750 of the
terminals. Cesar Beltran, vice-president of IT at the Time Warner
division's datacentre facilities in New York, said he is interested
in both of the major new features that Sun is adding to the Sun Ray
server software.
Beltran plans to investigate the possibility of switching from
the UltraSparc-based Solaris servers that currently support Time
Warner Cable's Sun Ray users to x86 hardware running Linux. "We're
exploring ways to eliminate some costs," he said.
In addition, using Linux would help employees who provide
technical support to customers who access the internet on
Linux-based desktop systems equipped with cable modems, according
to Beltran. The workers would be able to enter Linux commands at
their terminals to help troubleshoot customer problems.
Time Warner Cable is also looking at allowing its customer
service workers to telecommute in order to increase workforce
flexibility and respond to the demands of handling some 40,000
customer calls daily, Beltran said. The telecommuting could start
as early as next year, but a final decision has not been made.
Beltran said thin clients provide better data security than full
PCs do and require little support from IT staffers. He envisions
end users taking the thin-client terminals home with instructions
on how to hook them up to DSL or cable modems on their own.
Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at IDC, said telecommuting via thin
clients is a niche that could grow as part of an overall increase
in corporate use of the devices. IDC expects shipments of 1.6
million thin clients worldwide this year, a 9.4% increase over last
year's level, and it's forecasting a 19% jump in shipments next
year.
"We think the awareness level is growing, the cost equation
makes more sense, and obviously the [PC] security problem is going
to get worse and worse," O'Donnell said. For now, thin clients
continue to be deployed primarily in call centres and as part of
point-of-sale systems, according to O'Donnell and other
analysts.
Tyler Best, chief information officer at Vanguard Car Rental USA
, the company which owns the National and Alamo brands, said
Vanguard is installing Windows-based thin clients from
Hewlett-Packard in its point-of-sale systems. The thin clients are
about 72% less expensive than fully loaded PCs, Best said.
"I think the thin client has a place at the point of sale,"
Tyler said. "I'm not so sure I would put it in my corporate
environment."
He added that PCs are not very expensive and that end users in
finance and other corporate departments need more functionality
than point-of-sale workers do.
Patrick Thibodeau writes for Computerworld