This assumes that there is anyone in IT that has the time, skill set, and/or management support to do any sort of training
Training is not something that a IT support person should really be asked to do. It's more a case of spend money to save money. I worked at one of the UK's largest pharmaceutical companies when they were rolling out Windows 95 and MSX (precedessor to Outlook) replacing a whole mismatch of systems and the VMS All-in-One email application. In the morning, the user was sent off to a half day training course to learn the basics of Windows 95 and MSX email. When they came back in the afternoon, their PC was sat on their desk and off they went.
It worked incredibly well with a surprising few number of technical support "how do I" type queries.
But of course this company had the foresight to realise that computer user's do need training.
developing acceptable usage policies
I agree. It'll hurt a small number of people (those who like to fiddle) but the overall saving is high. On terminal server (yeah I know), you can lock it down so they can't even sneeze. If they try and run a EXE off the network, then *bang* - we know about it via email and it's blocked.
This image could even come PXE. Ooooohh.... I get myself all tingly.
For a while, we standardised on the Compaq iPAQ (the PC not the PDA) as our dumb terminals - they looked nice:-) We had set-up down to a simple GHOST restore but it's on the list to check out PXE.
Most linux distos use X11 for displaying GUIs, which has built in support for network transparency.
Ahh right, got you now. It's possible that the Linux solution is more efficient and uses less of the server's processing power as it's off loading the rendering of the display to the client PC. I'm not 100% sure how the rendering side of TS works. I doubt it's like technologies like pcAnywhere and VNC which are brute force "which bits of the screen have changed, ahh yes, that bit - compress it and send it down the wire". TS works pretty well over dial-up modem so I'm guessing that TS & Citrix intercept rendering requests instead of watching a screen bufffer for which bits change.
Most common problem, not removing tabs in hp laser cartridges!!
Which probably brings up another way to save money - train the users! If I had my way, nobody would be let near Word to write a long document unless they can demonstrate they understand styles and headings. I dare not recall the number of times I've come across a Word document that's numbered manually...
Instead of using just TS, add Citrix http://www.citrix.com/ and a second server
Thank god! Somebody else who has seen the light:-)
Oh yes, another way of saving a *lot* of money is instead of paying $$$ to web enable a legacy winapp, simply stick it on a terminal server. You can "web-enable" that VB client in minutes.
Very nice. Then when your single point of failure, mind you a microsoft product, goes down, all your users go down and quite possibly lose all their data...
You'd be daft to have a single point of failure. Almost every TS environment should have at least two servers for this eventuallity. Aside from it's easier to take one server down for maintenance during low usage.
Yes, the server will occasionally crash but because you tend to test/pilot/configure/restrict applications more carefully in a TS environment, the system is surprisingly stable.
Until recently we had 30 users running quite happily on a four year old dual 800MHz P3 terminal server. I continued to be amazed how it worked at all as my PC at home was faster...
On the subject of consolidating servers, think about using VMware workstation and server products. Not tried Microsoft's Virtual PC's yet. Saves having a batch of PCs lying around for testing and piloting software in many circumstances. We recently wanted to build a Dutch Windows PC to fix a bug in a program that only occurred in Dutch. Just built a virtual PC on my own PC and bob's your uncle. Didn't even have to get out of my chair. So saved having to buy/borrow a PC.
The server version is for consolidating multiple servers onto fewer boxes. I've not used the technology so can't really comment but it's attractive. You can have NT 4 and Windows 2003 server running on the same box as you migrate:-)
Disaster recovery also sounds a lot easier. Box blows up? Just restore the VM to another server.
Seriously consider Citrix and Terminal Server environment for your desktop. Sure the startup costs and licenses are higher but it very soon pays for itself. The price of three high spec servers (probably okay for 100 users) is very small compared to upgrading 100 PCs every 3 years. Citrix has a very low requirement of the desktop PC - runs fine on a 486.
Rolled out an upgrade to a package recently - took 5 minutes for 100 users. Even SMS or similar rollout can't compare.
I'm amazed that Citrix and Terminal Server isn't used more. I was a sceptic, now I'm a convert. It saves us at least one support person a year.
And the hot desking and remote working is a dream!
Isn't that the point where the egg analogy falls down? Sure, if I give my egg to somebody else then nobody can really complain. But in software piracy, it's a copy - the original owner can have his cake (egg) and eat it.
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This assumes that there is anyone in IT that has the time, skill set, and/or management support to do any sort of training
Training is not something that a IT support person should really be asked to do. It's more a case of spend money to save money. I worked at one of the UK's largest pharmaceutical companies when they were rolling out Windows 95 and MSX (precedessor to Outlook) replacing a whole mismatch of systems and the VMS All-in-One email application. In the morning, the user was sent off to a half day training course to learn the basics of Windows 95 and MSX email. When they came back in the afternoon, their PC was sat on their desk and off they went.
It worked incredibly well with a surprising few number of technical support "how do I" type queries.
But of course this company had the foresight to realise that computer user's do need training.
developing acceptable usage policies
I agree. It'll hurt a small number of people (those who like to fiddle) but the overall saving is high. On terminal server (yeah I know), you can lock it down so they can't even sneeze. If they try and run a EXE off the network, then *bang* - we know about it via email and it's blocked.
Rob.
This image could even come PXE. Ooooohh.... I get myself all tingly.
:-) We had set-up down to a simple GHOST restore but it's on the list to check out PXE.
For a while, we standardised on the Compaq iPAQ (the PC not the PDA) as our dumb terminals - they looked nice
Rob.
Most linux distos use X11 for displaying GUIs, which has built in support for network transparency.
Ahh right, got you now. It's possible that the Linux solution is more efficient and uses less of the server's processing power as it's off loading the rendering of the display to the client PC. I'm not 100% sure how the rendering side of TS works. I doubt it's like technologies like pcAnywhere and VNC which are brute force "which bits of the screen have changed, ahh yes, that bit - compress it and send it down the wire". TS works pretty well over dial-up modem so I'm guessing that TS & Citrix intercept rendering requests instead of watching a screen bufffer for which bits change.
Rob.
Most common problem, not removing tabs in hp laser cartridges!!
Which probably brings up another way to save money - train the users! If I had my way, nobody would be let near Word to write a long document unless they can demonstrate they understand styles and headings. I dare not recall the number of times I've come across a Word document that's numbered manually...
Rob.
Instead of using just TS, add Citrix http://www.citrix.com/ and a second server
:-)
Thank god! Somebody else who has seen the light
Oh yes, another way of saving a *lot* of money is instead of paying $$$ to web enable a legacy winapp, simply stick it on a terminal server. You can "web-enable" that VB client in minutes.
Rob.
Very nice. Then when your single point of failure, mind you a microsoft product, goes down, all your users go down and quite possibly lose all their data...
You'd be daft to have a single point of failure. Almost every TS environment should have at least two servers for this eventuallity. Aside from it's easier to take one server down for maintenance during low usage.
Yes, the server will occasionally crash but because you tend to test/pilot/configure/restrict applications more carefully in a TS environment, the system is surprisingly stable.
Until recently we had 30 users running quite happily on a four year old dual 800MHz P3 terminal server. I continued to be amazed how it worked at all as my PC at home was faster...
Rob.
So each department keeps one system running MS Windows and MS Office somewhere in a cornerr, hooked up on the network but turned off.
Only practical if the company doesn't have to regularly deal with the outside world.
Rob.
If you really want to cut costs, find ways to do things with less manpower.
Terminal Server and Citrix...
Can I have my sales bonus now please?
Rob.
In fact, if I had my way, we wouldn't have any printers. Or at least you'd have to ask permission before using them.
Aren't printers #1 IT support issue?
Rob.
On the subject of consolidating servers, think about using VMware workstation and server products. Not tried Microsoft's Virtual PC's yet. Saves having a batch of PCs lying around for testing and piloting software in many circumstances. We recently wanted to build a Dutch Windows PC to fix a bug in a program that only occurred in Dutch. Just built a virtual PC on my own PC and bob's your uncle. Didn't even have to get out of my chair. So saved having to buy/borrow a PC.
:-)
The server version is for consolidating multiple servers onto fewer boxes. I've not used the technology so can't really comment but it's attractive. You can have NT 4 and Windows 2003 server running on the same box as you migrate
Disaster recovery also sounds a lot easier. Box blows up? Just restore the VM to another server.
Rob
Is the "Linux Terminal Server" a Linux equivilent of Microsoft's terminal server environment or the Linux variant of the MS TS client?
Rob.
Seriously consider Citrix and Terminal Server environment for your desktop. Sure the startup costs and licenses are higher but it very soon pays for itself. The price of three high spec servers (probably okay for 100 users) is very small compared to upgrading 100 PCs every 3 years. Citrix has a very low requirement of the desktop PC - runs fine on a 486.
Rolled out an upgrade to a package recently - took 5 minutes for 100 users. Even SMS or similar rollout can't compare.
I'm amazed that Citrix and Terminal Server isn't used more. I was a sceptic, now I'm a convert. It saves us at least one support person a year.
And the hot desking and remote working is a dream!
Rob.
Isn't that the point where the egg analogy falls down? Sure, if I give my egg to somebody else then nobody can really complain. But in software piracy, it's a copy - the original owner can have his cake (egg) and eat it.
Sure you'll never catch every bug but peer reviews are more effective at catching bugs than end-user testing.
Rob.