Would You Move to Windows Thin Clients?

mcck asks: "My workplace is getting ready to study this problem in depth. From my preliminary research, there is very little savings when moving to a thin client environment that isn't based on Linux. Current thinking is that we will have to stick with Windows, so Linux is out for now. Citrix maxes out at around 10-25 users per server. I haven't studied Windows Terminal Server as deeply, but it looks to be about the same. Once we buy the 100 servers we would need to support 1000 or so of our users that would be migrated, plus increase our system administration staff to adequately support those servers, it looks doubtful that we would save much money at all, if any. Plus, if we upgrade all of the related desktop hardware to snazzy new official thin client boxes instead of trying to get more life out of old hardware (which is what they want to do right now), costs go up even more. So here's a question for anyone who has studied this issue, or seen its consequences at their workplace: Is thin client really a cost-saving approach to a large user environment?"

"Most users will be running basic MS Office apps, Groupwise for e-mail, and accessing some Oracle databases. A consultant hired for preliminary recommendations is saying that we should run Windows XP on the thin client boxes, not even the embedded version but the full one. Additionally, some of our users have more powerful applications like AutoCAD and ArcMap. We have already determined that those users will not be moving to the thin client machines.

Our department has spoken with a Citrix support/sales person who claims you can support up to 1000 clients on a single Citrix server. That seems so far from what I have generally read that I have a hard time buying it. Can anyone corroborate that claim? Again, most users will be using Office, Groupwise, and accessing Oracle DBs.

Does anyone have any experience with a workplace making this sort of migration? I would love to find a way to make it work, but from the research I have done so far, it doesn't look like we are going to get any cost-savings (unless they miraculously decide to go with Linux)."

Comments

A couple of considerations

[Future Man 3000]

Thin clients have less hardware to break. By their nature, it isn't likely a person using a thin client can mess it up from the software side such that a reboot won't fix the problem. The whole setup is more centralized, making it easier to address Windows patches and virus updates.

The savings would be better with Linux, but they may very well be worthwhile anyway. Determine how much IT time you're going to save against the cost of the setup.

Looking at it as well

[mrscott]

I've been looking at this as well but on a smaller scale. First, Citrix doesn't support 10-25 users per server -- it's per processor. So a 4 way processor can conceivably handle 40-100 users and since you don't seem to be running hard core apps like CAD (you mentioned that these users would not be migrating), etc, let's say 20 users per processor or 80 users on a 4 way box.

That puts you at 12 Citrix servers.

Next, according to the Citrix folks I've worked with, Windows Server 2003 handles Citrix MUCH more efficiently than Windows 2000 resulting in -- according to them -- a doubling of the number of users possible on each server. Since I don't quite buy that, let's go with a factor of 1.5 times the users rather than doubling. But let's stick with 12 4-way Citrix server to account for redundancy which you will surely want for this solution. Heck -- let's go with 15 even. It's still a lot fewer than 100.

I agree that -- at the beginning, using old hardware would save money initially. But, consider the support angle for a second. Rather than new, identical thin clients, you'll still have whatever you currently support for desktops. If you just maintain the copy of Windows that's on there, when one breaks, it's a total reload. If you use the new thin clients, it's a matter of swapping out the unit and they're less expensive to buy initially as well as more reliable due to fewer moving parts. You should see support costs drop dramatically with this rollout.

The Citrix guy that mentioned 1000 users on a single box had to be talking about something much larger than 4 processors... personally, I would recommend a cluster of 4 ways servers for teh redundancy that it would provide in the event of a hardware failure.

Going with Linux won't necessarily save in the long run. Sure -- you'll save on the initial software acquisition. But consider the support, end-user retraining and other problems that could crop up. Even if you use Cross Over office or something like that, your users WILL require retraining and you will suffer a productivity issue initally.

Not going with a Linux solution won't automatically doom the project nor will it prevent savings from the implementation.

I'm all for Linux (I have it deployed where it makes sense), but am wary of making generalizations that it automatically saves money.