I have used Thin Clients in the past. Years ago they were almost as expensive as a PC. I realize that the management/maintenance cost for these is usually much lower.
I have been reading posts and I think the answer is it depends on the application as to whether thin clients make sense.
One thought I had about this is why not if you have thin clients have a small server appliance in a localized area for every 10-20 thin clients which then replicates function to central servers. That way there is more redundancy in the system. Is it more expensive? Maybe, but keep in mind that a mid grade server appliance could handle most of the local traffic and processing and also provide redundance from the central server. More complex though. A study of this is in order I think. Not sure if its a great idea or not.
A second thought I had is about these motherboards a few of which now have a small version of Linux that loads by startup. You could build a cheap Thin client from one of these using a case, powersupply, NO hard drive, integrated video, a monitor and keyboard and mouse. This would be then a machine that could do some local processing using the onboard linux such as perhaps a web browser, email client etc, but then of course it would have RDP/Citrix or Xterm, SSH or whatever terminal server/remote access protocol that you want to use to access the distributed system. I mean you could build one of these fairly cheaply and have the benefits of distributed AND centralized computing.
This is a very interesting subject. The university (Appalachian State Universty, 15,000+ students) that I am going to now has recently switched to using Google for their email. Last year they actually upgraded to a newer version of the email system they already had from Sun. However, it was a huge MESS. Servers were down for days and people were losing their email, etc. I guess someone got tired of the mess with the email and not being able to communicate anymore.
Well, anyway, all of the new freshman this year received new google email accounts and other accounts on campus are being moved over time over to google.
I am not sure what is so hard about managing a reliable email system. It is not like email is a new technology. I know that email servers have to have a lot of storage and adequate capacity to handle email for a campus this size. However, last fall's mess with problems weeks later after the switch over aggravated everyone including myself.
I have flown half way around the world including half of that on the very model of aircraft that was having the problem (Charlotte to Frankfurt). Anyway, although it is somehow possible that a wireless mouse MIGHT cause some kind of problem I really have a hard time understanding how the airline and Airbus could forget to make sure that wiring is properly shielded to prevent this kind of problem. I guess it is too expensive to wire the control systems with fiber which would eliminate the problem completely. Getting a hint from me Airbus and Boeing? I hope so. I hope that there were not extraneous signals traveling around the wires on that USAirways Airbus A330 and Lufthansa Boeing 747 I flew on in the spring.:)
This is an interesting subject. I think that IT people must realize that they exist to support the business needs of a company. It is not up to IT to do it their way. It is up to IT to make things work to support the needs of their users and not the other way around.
On the other hand, business people need to understand the real challenges involved in rewriting an application or redesigning and implementing a network.
Communication and cooperation are the answer and elimination of BS and ego based judgment of each other. The business and the IT are not about you.. that is each individual. The results of business in a corporation are the result of everyone in the company and not just one or a few who think they know better on everything. In America, we have WAY too much individualistic attitude and control going on and wind up with a lot of political infighting and distrust rather than bridge building and honesty that eliminates BS.
Someone posted earlier about working for an IT company rather than working for a company that has an IT department. I would say that I have to agree with this. I am a senior at Appalachian State Univ and a CIS major. In the last year I have visited several IT specific companies including Cisco Systems (awesome company). Additionally, while I was in India I had the privilege to visit IBM, Oracle and Perot systems all of whom are primarily IT companies. I think working for an IT specific company would be quite more enjoyable than working for a company whose IT department is despised (despite whatever differences may exist politically between IT, marketing, accounting, management, etc).
IT investment is very risky and high cost and when something goes wrong it costs even more than the initial investment and this includes the investment in labor which is quite substantial. I think every company has a right to evaluate their employment candidates so that they know that the person is a good fit for the job and so that they know that the person knows what the hell they are doing.
If you want the job your going to have to work for it. I am a senior at App state and a CIS major myself so I face this myself and I am all for it. Companies spend lots of money on IT and they deserve to know that they are getting ROI on their investment whether it is capital expenditures or labor expenditures.
If the phone company (or most other corporations for that matter) believed in a free market they wouldn't be going to the government for handouts and regulations to prevent competition to begin with. I imagine that the CEO of the phone company would claim this is unfair competition. So what, that is the nature of a free market. They need to suck it up and get off their duff and adapt their services and business model so that they can compete with Monticello if that is the case. Instead they violate the spirit of a free market and try to use litigation so they can sit on their fat behinds with the table cloth tied around their neck and eat the whole pie by themselves. They don't want to have to compete with anyone else at the table for a slice of the pie.
Monticello has every right to do this if they want to. Who is it for a phone company to decide that they shouldn't. The phone company is not voted into power by the people of Monticello. The phone company's job is to provide a service to to the people at a cost that covers their expenses and allows them to make a profit. That is their own job and has nothing to do with telling the town what kind of services or infrastructure they should be building or not.
Republicans always love to talk about a free market and the elimination of regulation. However, the same people use their own companies to leverage the courts and litigation to prevent the government from providing services that compete with their company. So on one hand they claim a free market but then leverage BIG government to create their own monopolies and rake in the dough. It is quite a hippocratical setup and I will be glad when its over.
I do not like Microsoft as a company for this reason. They have a history of releasing products that have great potential but too many defects and high failure rates. They rush something out the door stuffing sh&% into stores before it is ready. I like the games for the Xbox 360 and its capabilities are still pretty good among the current generation of consoles. However, their reliability record is unacceptable both with the Xbox 360 and with Windows. My next computer will be an Apple. Thanks a lot Micro$oft. Focus on Office and development tools like Visual Studio that are brilliant instead of trying to sell crap like Windows and Xbox 360.
This is an interesting situation. I also think that software patents have been taken entirely too far and are stifling innovation. However, most companies have you sign a contract that basically is worded in a such a way that whatever work you do there becomes the property of the company and therefore the legitimate (in their eyes and in the courts eyes) intellectual property of the company. Depending on the contract that you signed to work there you may not have any legal recourse.
As other people have pointed out though you would be best to consult with an attorney and especially with one that works with contract and patent law.
Thanks.
Very interesting article that highlights the problems with broadband in this country. Personally, 1.5mpbs DSL that I have now is adequate for me. However, I have put a lot of thought into how this situation can improve. Part of it would require some governmental motivation. Also, the phone companies and the cable companies do seem to be working on the next generation of broadband for us although it is still not nearly as good as what Japan, S. Korea and some european nations have access to.
It seems like the phone companies could have enough DSLAM's installed in Remote Terminals and even build new ones that would allow for 20+mpbs internet service using VDSL2. I know that AT&T U-Verse is going this route although because they are using HD streams for video it only leaves about 6mpbs for internet and now they are improving that to 10mpbs.
Another factor from the cable companies is DOCSIS 3.0 which is now ready and will eventually allow the cable companies to offer 20, 30, 40, 50mpbs service.
All of this is nice but the question is will stuff continue to cost a fortune if you want it. Where I live in Boone, NC (I go to school at Appalachian State University) the fastest plans I can get are 6Mpbs up/512kpbs down from AT&T FastAccess DSL or Charter Commmunications offers 10MPbs up/1Mpbs up. There have been rumors that 16Mpbs down is available from Charter or soon will be.
However, although those are reasonable data rates for me at 6mpbs from AT&T and 10mpbs from Charter it is still a fortune to get it. Also, even then the data rates are nothing like the Asian and Scandinavian countries. And I won't even get into thinking about where this stuff is even available in this county. The outlying areas of beyond town are serviced by a local telephone coop and not by AT&T and their DSL is 1.5mpbs down/256K up ONLY and then its about $45 which is a bit silly.
Anyway, anymore ideas? How do we fix this? Should government regulate broadband like other utilities including POTS phone and electrical utilities? I think it would help.
If M$ really wants to fix windows why not throw in the towel. Honestly, Windows has pretty much always sucked. XP was an important and considerable improvement at the time but it still has a ton of security, virus and spyware vulnerabilities.
M$ will probably never do it. However, here is what I suggest. I suggest that M$ release their own proprietary Win32 compatability system for Linux. OR, if they really want to break down they could open some of their code or at least enough of it to improve WINE to the point that it will run almost anything. The final idea would be for M$ to release a version of Linux that includes a proprietary Win32 system to run windows applications. That would also be nice.
Many scuff at the idea of combining the proprietary code for Win32 with Linux in such a way but its one very good step for M$ to cement their business and still keep the shareholders happy. Vista is almost a flop although they are still selling a lot of copies of it.
Thanks.
I don't really understand why they want this. For one thing, if you require technicians to be PI's they are more likely to go snooping around in someone's computer in the first place. So, this thing is a double edge sword. I don't trust the government with security related legislation anyway. And esp nowadays with all the ridiculous security nonsense pervaded by the whitehouse and by congress (both parties it seems). Oh well, this is what you get from politicians it seems.
Well this is no surprise coming from a bunch of southern baptists and other religious people in the south. It is sad that they don't value education enough. In any case, it is one thing to debate something but its another thing to make critique an oppurtunity to extinguish scientifically accurate information. For instance, with global warming these right wind idiots come on the radio or fox news etc and pronounce that its all a lie. The more someone explains that they are not correct they just get louder. I suppose some people believe that the louder a person's voice is the more likely it is that they are telling the truth. LOL Ridiculous nonsense! The best thing to do for people of education is to completely ignore what these people have to say and to not trust them at all. They will then disappear and fade into the fabric of time and history.
Well, I do live in NC and I think this is a waste of my tax money. These moral do gooders have better things to do with my money than waste because someone was offended by WTF on their license plate. Get a grip conservative, this is as much of a waste of my tax dollars as programs that you hate liberals promoting! This is dumb! Stop wasting money!
I am currently a CIS student at Appalachian State University. In fact, we take a Systems Analysis class and use UML some in Database Design. It is all very interesting. However, particularly in Systems Analysis, Diagramming and System modeling are practically treated as Sacred and Holy. Personally, for Database Design at least it would see that UML is useful. However, for programming in general I am not so sure. It was interesting to read the article and the responses though.
This situation just justifies my lack of faith lately in politicians and politicians of both parties in general. Yes we can switch to open source but if M$ gets their way with the 235 supposed patent violations then there won't be any reason to pursue that either. Some people cannot afford the ridiculous prices for some of the commercial software. Although, I understand that M$ has to make a profit this situation is ridiculous. If this passes I will switch to Linux and OSS software exclusively. I do buy software sometimes. Bill, I hope you are reading this right now. Also, if M$ gets their way with legal pursuit of these patent violations and linux becomes unviable then I will just dump all of my computer equipment and screw the internet and computers in general. Its a waste of time if I am risking "life in prison" or not being able to use OSS software because its not available anymore. At that point screw computers, screw technology and screw the companies that sell it. Its not worth the trouble anymore at that point.
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I have used Thin Clients in the past. Years ago they were almost as expensive as a PC. I realize that the management/maintenance cost for these is usually much lower. I have been reading posts and I think the answer is it depends on the application as to whether thin clients make sense. One thought I had about this is why not if you have thin clients have a small server appliance in a localized area for every 10-20 thin clients which then replicates function to central servers. That way there is more redundancy in the system. Is it more expensive? Maybe, but keep in mind that a mid grade server appliance could handle most of the local traffic and processing and also provide redundance from the central server. More complex though. A study of this is in order I think. Not sure if its a great idea or not. A second thought I had is about these motherboards a few of which now have a small version of Linux that loads by startup. You could build a cheap Thin client from one of these using a case, powersupply, NO hard drive, integrated video, a monitor and keyboard and mouse. This would be then a machine that could do some local processing using the onboard linux such as perhaps a web browser, email client etc, but then of course it would have RDP/Citrix or Xterm, SSH or whatever terminal server/remote access protocol that you want to use to access the distributed system. I mean you could build one of these fairly cheaply and have the benefits of distributed AND centralized computing.
This is a very interesting subject. The university (Appalachian State Universty, 15,000+ students) that I am going to now has recently switched to using Google for their email. Last year they actually upgraded to a newer version of the email system they already had from Sun. However, it was a huge MESS. Servers were down for days and people were losing their email, etc. I guess someone got tired of the mess with the email and not being able to communicate anymore. Well, anyway, all of the new freshman this year received new google email accounts and other accounts on campus are being moved over time over to google. I am not sure what is so hard about managing a reliable email system. It is not like email is a new technology. I know that email servers have to have a lot of storage and adequate capacity to handle email for a campus this size. However, last fall's mess with problems weeks later after the switch over aggravated everyone including myself.
I have flown half way around the world including half of that on the very model of aircraft that was having the problem (Charlotte to Frankfurt). Anyway, although it is somehow possible that a wireless mouse MIGHT cause some kind of problem I really have a hard time understanding how the airline and Airbus could forget to make sure that wiring is properly shielded to prevent this kind of problem. I guess it is too expensive to wire the control systems with fiber which would eliminate the problem completely. Getting a hint from me Airbus and Boeing? I hope so. I hope that there were not extraneous signals traveling around the wires on that USAirways Airbus A330 and Lufthansa Boeing 747 I flew on in the spring. :)
This is an interesting subject. I think that IT people must realize that they exist to support the business needs of a company. It is not up to IT to do it their way. It is up to IT to make things work to support the needs of their users and not the other way around. On the other hand, business people need to understand the real challenges involved in rewriting an application or redesigning and implementing a network. Communication and cooperation are the answer and elimination of BS and ego based judgment of each other. The business and the IT are not about you.. that is each individual. The results of business in a corporation are the result of everyone in the company and not just one or a few who think they know better on everything. In America, we have WAY too much individualistic attitude and control going on and wind up with a lot of political infighting and distrust rather than bridge building and honesty that eliminates BS. Someone posted earlier about working for an IT company rather than working for a company that has an IT department. I would say that I have to agree with this. I am a senior at Appalachian State Univ and a CIS major. In the last year I have visited several IT specific companies including Cisco Systems (awesome company). Additionally, while I was in India I had the privilege to visit IBM, Oracle and Perot systems all of whom are primarily IT companies. I think working for an IT specific company would be quite more enjoyable than working for a company whose IT department is despised (despite whatever differences may exist politically between IT, marketing, accounting, management, etc).
IT investment is very risky and high cost and when something goes wrong it costs even more than the initial investment and this includes the investment in labor which is quite substantial. I think every company has a right to evaluate their employment candidates so that they know that the person is a good fit for the job and so that they know that the person knows what the hell they are doing. If you want the job your going to have to work for it. I am a senior at App state and a CIS major myself so I face this myself and I am all for it. Companies spend lots of money on IT and they deserve to know that they are getting ROI on their investment whether it is capital expenditures or labor expenditures.
If the phone company (or most other corporations for that matter) believed in a free market they wouldn't be going to the government for handouts and regulations to prevent competition to begin with. I imagine that the CEO of the phone company would claim this is unfair competition. So what, that is the nature of a free market. They need to suck it up and get off their duff and adapt their services and business model so that they can compete with Monticello if that is the case. Instead they violate the spirit of a free market and try to use litigation so they can sit on their fat behinds with the table cloth tied around their neck and eat the whole pie by themselves. They don't want to have to compete with anyone else at the table for a slice of the pie.
Monticello has every right to do this if they want to. Who is it for a phone company to decide that they shouldn't. The phone company is not voted into power by the people of Monticello. The phone company's job is to provide a service to to the people at a cost that covers their expenses and allows them to make a profit. That is their own job and has nothing to do with telling the town what kind of services or infrastructure they should be building or not. Republicans always love to talk about a free market and the elimination of regulation. However, the same people use their own companies to leverage the courts and litigation to prevent the government from providing services that compete with their company. So on one hand they claim a free market but then leverage BIG government to create their own monopolies and rake in the dough. It is quite a hippocratical setup and I will be glad when its over.
I do not like Microsoft as a company for this reason. They have a history of releasing products that have great potential but too many defects and high failure rates. They rush something out the door stuffing sh&% into stores before it is ready. I like the games for the Xbox 360 and its capabilities are still pretty good among the current generation of consoles. However, their reliability record is unacceptable both with the Xbox 360 and with Windows. My next computer will be an Apple. Thanks a lot Micro$oft. Focus on Office and development tools like Visual Studio that are brilliant instead of trying to sell crap like Windows and Xbox 360.
This is an interesting situation. I also think that software patents have been taken entirely too far and are stifling innovation. However, most companies have you sign a contract that basically is worded in a such a way that whatever work you do there becomes the property of the company and therefore the legitimate (in their eyes and in the courts eyes) intellectual property of the company. Depending on the contract that you signed to work there you may not have any legal recourse. As other people have pointed out though you would be best to consult with an attorney and especially with one that works with contract and patent law. Thanks.
Very interesting article that highlights the problems with broadband in this country. Personally, 1.5mpbs DSL that I have now is adequate for me. However, I have put a lot of thought into how this situation can improve. Part of it would require some governmental motivation. Also, the phone companies and the cable companies do seem to be working on the next generation of broadband for us although it is still not nearly as good as what Japan, S. Korea and some european nations have access to. It seems like the phone companies could have enough DSLAM's installed in Remote Terminals and even build new ones that would allow for 20+mpbs internet service using VDSL2. I know that AT&T U-Verse is going this route although because they are using HD streams for video it only leaves about 6mpbs for internet and now they are improving that to 10mpbs. Another factor from the cable companies is DOCSIS 3.0 which is now ready and will eventually allow the cable companies to offer 20, 30, 40, 50mpbs service. All of this is nice but the question is will stuff continue to cost a fortune if you want it. Where I live in Boone, NC (I go to school at Appalachian State University) the fastest plans I can get are 6Mpbs up/512kpbs down from AT&T FastAccess DSL or Charter Commmunications offers 10MPbs up/1Mpbs up. There have been rumors that 16Mpbs down is available from Charter or soon will be. However, although those are reasonable data rates for me at 6mpbs from AT&T and 10mpbs from Charter it is still a fortune to get it. Also, even then the data rates are nothing like the Asian and Scandinavian countries. And I won't even get into thinking about where this stuff is even available in this county. The outlying areas of beyond town are serviced by a local telephone coop and not by AT&T and their DSL is 1.5mpbs down/256K up ONLY and then its about $45 which is a bit silly. Anyway, anymore ideas? How do we fix this? Should government regulate broadband like other utilities including POTS phone and electrical utilities? I think it would help.
If M$ really wants to fix windows why not throw in the towel. Honestly, Windows has pretty much always sucked. XP was an important and considerable improvement at the time but it still has a ton of security, virus and spyware vulnerabilities. M$ will probably never do it. However, here is what I suggest. I suggest that M$ release their own proprietary Win32 compatability system for Linux. OR, if they really want to break down they could open some of their code or at least enough of it to improve WINE to the point that it will run almost anything. The final idea would be for M$ to release a version of Linux that includes a proprietary Win32 system to run windows applications. That would also be nice. Many scuff at the idea of combining the proprietary code for Win32 with Linux in such a way but its one very good step for M$ to cement their business and still keep the shareholders happy. Vista is almost a flop although they are still selling a lot of copies of it. Thanks.
I don't really understand why they want this. For one thing, if you require technicians to be PI's they are more likely to go snooping around in someone's computer in the first place. So, this thing is a double edge sword. I don't trust the government with security related legislation anyway. And esp nowadays with all the ridiculous security nonsense pervaded by the whitehouse and by congress (both parties it seems). Oh well, this is what you get from politicians it seems.
Well this is no surprise coming from a bunch of southern baptists and other religious people in the south. It is sad that they don't value education enough. In any case, it is one thing to debate something but its another thing to make critique an oppurtunity to extinguish scientifically accurate information. For instance, with global warming these right wind idiots come on the radio or fox news etc and pronounce that its all a lie. The more someone explains that they are not correct they just get louder. I suppose some people believe that the louder a person's voice is the more likely it is that they are telling the truth. LOL Ridiculous nonsense! The best thing to do for people of education is to completely ignore what these people have to say and to not trust them at all. They will then disappear and fade into the fabric of time and history.
Well, I do live in NC and I think this is a waste of my tax money. These moral do gooders have better things to do with my money than waste because someone was offended by WTF on their license plate. Get a grip conservative, this is as much of a waste of my tax dollars as programs that you hate liberals promoting! This is dumb! Stop wasting money!
I am currently a CIS student at Appalachian State University. In fact, we take a Systems Analysis class and use UML some in Database Design. It is all very interesting. However, particularly in Systems Analysis, Diagramming and System modeling are practically treated as Sacred and Holy. Personally, for Database Design at least it would see that UML is useful. However, for programming in general I am not so sure. It was interesting to read the article and the responses though.
I have an Old Dell C610 that I am using with Clarkconnect right ow. IN fact, I will be using squid as a proxy server with it. :)
This situation just justifies my lack of faith lately in politicians and politicians of both parties in general. Yes we can switch to open source but if M$ gets their way with the 235 supposed patent violations then there won't be any reason to pursue that either. Some people cannot afford the ridiculous prices for some of the commercial software. Although, I understand that M$ has to make a profit this situation is ridiculous. If this passes I will switch to Linux and OSS software exclusively. I do buy software sometimes. Bill, I hope you are reading this right now. Also, if M$ gets their way with legal pursuit of these patent violations and linux becomes unviable then I will just dump all of my computer equipment and screw the internet and computers in general. Its a waste of time if I am risking "life in prison" or not being able to use OSS software because its not available anymore. At that point screw computers, screw technology and screw the companies that sell it. Its not worth the trouble anymore at that point.