Thin Client Computing

2010
Thin Client Computing

Server Based Computing Model
Purnendu Great Lakes Institute of Management 9/1/2010

Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 History................................................................................................................................................. 5 What is Thin Client? ............................................................................................................................ 5 Architecture ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Typical Thin Client Architecture with J2EE framework ....................................................................... 9 Why Thin Client Computing? ................................................................................................................ 10 Hardware ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Centralized Support ........................................................................................................................... 10 Bandwidth Conservation .................................................................................................................... 11 Power saving ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Licensing ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Security ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Protection from External Attacks ....................................................................................................... 13 The pros and cons of centrally managed antivirus software............................................................. 13 Speed of deployment, repair and replacement ..................................................................................... 14 Issues with Thin Clients ......................................................................................................................... 15 User acceptance ................................................................................................................................. 15 High performance environments ........................................................................................................ 15 LAN/WAN resilience ........................................................................................................................ 16 Legacy applications ........................................................................................................................... 16 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 17 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................... 18 Thin Client platform Characteristics ................................................................................................... 18 References ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Great Lakes Institute of Management
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Thin Client Computing Executive Summary

The last two decades have seen computing shifting from Mainframe computing to the more distributed model of desktop computing. As the Desktop computers gained prominence in the corporate and academic organizations, the cost of maintaining and updating them in accordance with the rapidly changing technology has proven to be a difficult and resource consuming job. In addition to this, updating the software installed on individual machines and version monitoring and control gets very complicated if the machines are spread over different geographies. In response to these problems, there is a growing need being felt to return to a more centralized and resource saving model of computing. The Thin-Client computing model is one of the results of the effort taken in this field.
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Thin Client Computing Introduction

A thin client, also called a lean or slim client, is a computer or software which depends on some other computer to perform its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional Thick Clients, computers designed to take on these roles by them. The other computers providing support to connected Thin Client Computers are called servers. They are designed in such a way so as to provide data persistence and actual processing on the behalf of the client computer. A thin client computer often has a low end terminal providing a graphical user interface to the user along with the input/ output devices. There is a small RAM and network drive within the terminal and the remaining functionalities including the operating systems are provided by the server.
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History
Thin Clients first came in the form of the mainframe computers which were heavy duty machines accessed by multiple terminal computers. As technology matured, these computers matured from providing just command line interface to a complete graphical user interface. These machines ran on Unix and Unix type environments like BSD and Linux. After the arrival of Windows NT, Citrix Solutions was able to provide a multi user operating system known as WinFrame which later became Metaframe and later Xen App. The term Thin Client was coined in 1993 by Tim Nigris and soon found place in popular usage.
What is Thin Client?

Thin clients are network-based computing devices that use the resources of servers to store applications and data and deliver them to users. Individuals who sit in front of thin clients may see a familiar Windows desktop environment that looks and feels virtually identical to that of a traditional PC; thus, no user training is necessary. However, unlike many PCs used in business environments, thin clients are in the complete control of the IT department, and all connections to the outside world happen through a centralized, easily managed source. Therefore, unlike traditional client PC/server IT environments, where each device has to be closely monitored for Potential security breaches and the opportunity to create independent connections to the Internet is a very real possibility, all Web connections, email, applications, and data for thin clients on a given network come through a single point. The goal of the thin-client model is to centralize computing resources, with all the attendant benefits of easier maintenance and cheaper upgrades, while maintaining the same quality of service for the end user that could be provided by a dedicated workstation. In a thin-client computing environment, end users move from full-featured computers to thin clients, lightweight
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machines primarily used for display and input and which require less maintenance and fewer upgrades. Organizations then provide computing services to their end users' thin clients from high-powered servers over a network connection. Server resources can be shared across many users, resulting in more effective utilization of computing hardware. Therefore, the core idea of modern Thin Client platforms is the use of a remote display protocol. This technology enables graphical displays to be served across a network to a client device while all application processing is performed at the server. The client transmits user input to the server and server returns screen updates to the client.
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Architecture
The fundamental approach behind thin-client computing dictates that; instead of running applications locally on individual PCs with all of their associated challenges and costs. The typical thin-client platform consists of a client application that executes on a user's local desktop machine and a server application that executes on a remote system. The end users machine can be a hardware device designed specifically to run the client application or simply a low-end personal computer. The remote server machine typically runs a standard server operating system, and the client and server communicate across a network connection between the desktop and server. The client sends input data across the network to the server, and the server returns display updates. There are many design choices to be made within this basic framework, and as the results of our testing demonstrate, these can have a dramatic impact on the performance of these systems. We studied a wide range of current systems to reach our conclusions, including Citrix Metaframe and Microsoft Windows Terminal Services (both the Windows NT and Windows 2000 versions of these systems), AT&T , VNC, Sun Ray, and LapLink. In Thin client system, applications run centrally with only keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) updates transmitted across the network. Bandwidth usage is minimal compared to traditional PC/server environments, with wireless LAN being ideal for the clients. The server backbone linking the terminal servers, data servers, mail servers, and so on is the only LAN connection that needs high capacity.
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Thin Client model is geared towards a centralized system of computing with the benefits of easier maintenance and economical and uniform upgrades, while maintaining the same quality of user experience and computing capacity. Thin Client terminals are lighter machines with input and output devices and small flash memory, connected via the network to highly powered servers. Keystrokes and mouse clicks go to the server where the computing is done and output is sent back to the terminal. All data is stored not locally but at Centralized data centers. Thus connectivity to a Users virtual desktop becomes independent of the physical machine being used. The upgrades etc are done at the server level and there is hardly any need to make any changes in the client terminals. It also helps in implementing Standardized Desktop policy across large organizations.
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Typical Thin Client Architecture with J2EE framework
Internet enabled UI
1st tier
Client browser IE 6.0 or above
Thin client
Web Server Application Server EJB JDBC 2.0 2nd tier Application
Oracle 9i,10g server / DB2 ver8.0 server
3rd tier Database layer
Because of its so many potential cost and convenience benefits of Thin Client, many large corporate and academic organizations across the world have started transitioning from Thick Client to Thin Client machines. Some of the players providing Thin Client Services in the market are: Wyse, Citrix, AT & T, IBM etc. A lot of application platforms have been developed for this technology which provides a Virtual Windows/ Mac like Desktop environment to the user. Some of these Application Servers are Citrix Metaframe, Xen App, Microsoft Terminal Service etc. These Application servers are accessible over the Internet using Internet browsers and are quite easy to use.
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Thin Client Computing Why Thin Client Computing?

Hardware
Constant innovations in the Computing technology have made it a big challenge for the corporations and academic institutions alike to cope up with the rapid advancement in hardware. The average accepted life of a PC is 2 years, although often depreciated over 3 years. As a PC is getting obsolete for a particular need, it is reallocated, often needing new hardware and software build. Thin Client computing tackles this issue by integrated updating. PCs are replaced by dumb terminals for their useful life and all the Software/ hardware upgrades are done at the Server end, later delegated to the thin terminals.
Centralized Support
Thin Client helps in centralizing the support process, especially for the software. This is even more cost saving when the user base is widely spread over different geographies. Thin Clients come with the Remote Takeover or Shadowing ability wherein Support personnel can control the desktop of a user and resolve the issues. In a usual remote takeover, performance is very slow if the machines are not on the same physical server. In Thin Client computing, however, there is no performance drop issue as all the users are running on the same network. The provision of having Centralized servers and support means not having the need to keep support staff at the remote sites for server support. This reduces the cost of maintenance to a great extent.
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Bandwidth Conservation
A study done by Microsoft and NEC shows that the highest bandwidth user is the one who is performing the same task repetitively. Switching to a thin client helps reduce the bandwidth consumption to a great extent as the net bandwidth use is very less in thin clients as compared to the thick clients. Far less bandwidth is required for remote and local sites, further reducing the bandwidth costs.
Power saving
Power consumption of a thin-client device is about 15% when compared to a PC. Reduced cooling requirements also lower the costs. Since a thin-client device will be expected to have a useful life beyond 5 years, the power savings alone will offset 25% of the cost of those devices.
Licensing
Licensing is a major component of IT expenditure. The difficulty of supplying software when needed has led businesses to adopt one of two approaches; deploy software to all PCs and lock users out of those applications that they are not licensed for or purchase licenses for every PC, regardless of whether the application will be used or not.
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Security
One of the main issues with a thick-client environment is the inability to control precisely how the information security is ensured. Data is always at a risk in this environment, with users often taking data home to work on a document, thus putting the information at risk. With thin-clients having no facility for local storage, this concern is almost eliminated in a thin-client computing environment. On the contrary, if setup correctly, the security of the network can actually be enhanced by adding levels of encryption to the network data. One other benefit is that it can be accessed from anywhere but cannot be copied or saved on host computer. Work conducted from outside of the office environment, for example at home, can be done through an internet connection. The data remains at the server and is stored at the various data centers. There is simply no need for it to ever be taken offsite, other than during controlled backup storage routines. As long as e-mail security is addressed, the risk of potential leak for confidential data remains minimal.
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Protection from External Attacks
By eliminating the need to handle data locally, the scope of External attacks like is greatly reduced. Since the majority of thin-client devices do not physically have floppy and CD drives, this concern is non-existent. In common with thick-client environments, the servers must still be adequately protected, particularly where e-mail is concerned. The lower-risk and cost benefits come from not exposing the desktops. The pros and cons of centrally managed antivirus software With a centrally managed antivirus solution, there is the benefit of downloading the virus signatures/definitions and software updates to a single server, thus requiring only one machine to be connected to the Internet on that port. Once the update files are downloaded, the PCs can then pull them from the server and not the Internet. This is a better solution for organizations with limited Internet bandwidth or organizations that don't provide downloading rights on every PC.
Despite their advantages, centrally managed antivirus solutions are not without drawbacks. Because such systems store the virus signature/definition files in a single locationusually a network serverthis server becomes the single point of failure for the entire system. In case of a server crash, all workstations will be without a way to update their virus signatures. However this risk can be mitigated by having a load balanced server and data center with Primary and Secondary servers and COB servers connected to Load balancers
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Speed of deployment, repair and replacement
Thin-client computing environments typically enjoy faster deployment times for new software and upgrades. Fewer IT staff is required to track and ensure successful distribution. In a thickclient managed environment, an application is tested in a lab, packaged, scripted and then advertised to clients for automatic delivery. The clients will pick up the advertisement at an interval predetermined by the administrator with due regard to bandwidth issues. Regardless of the delivery software used, it is difficult to get all the systems upgrades in the first go itself. It takes some time for a package advertisement to start being collected by PCs, a couple of hours at an average. Without manual intervention from IT support staff, remote sites will take even longer. For critical, security or virus related updates, this delay can be unacceptable.
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Thin Client Computing Issues with Thin Clients

User acceptance
One of the major challenges to thin-client computing is getting the user acceptance, before, during and after deployment. Outside a managed environment, users will have had access to their disk drives along with the ability to install software on their own PCs or add screensavers. Whilst this approach is great for employee relations, it is not so great for security and enhances performance of the computers. User acceptance begins at the top and management buy-in to this principle is essential. Problems can also be prevented by using enterprise management tools. The rights come at a cost in terms of infrastructure and bandwidth. Whilst dummy terminal-client devices may permit some of this functionality to be retained, in a true thin-client environment, they will not. This is not as big a problem it is initially perceived to be as very few users actually need to use disk drives, although there are ways to provide access to those that do.
High performance environments

In a thin-client computing environment, all processing is done at the server and the KVM refreshes are transferred via the network. By their very nature, CAD, terrain modeling and DTP environments have constant screen redraws, which may increase network traffic to an unacceptable degree thus increasing the latency.
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Generally, such types of applications are not suited to a thin-client model, though a hybrid model may be feasible. However, if Object Linking and Embedding is required, even a hybrid model will not be able to perform optimally and Thick client should be provided for such users.
LAN/WAN resilience
Thin-client computing relies on constant connectivity between the server and the client. If this connectivity is disturbed, clients cannot continue working, although their current session will remain in the state it was in at the time the link was lost. Therefore, LAN/WAN resilience is vital. In high-availability environments, best-practice recommends that alternate path and supplier routing, particularly for WAN links, exists. This may increase year 1 costs over a fatclient environment, although, since each of these links do not need as much bandwidth as before, year 2 and onwards costs will be lower.
Legacy applications
With the advent of terminal services, several users will be using the same PC (the terminal server) simultaneously to access the same application. Software certified for Windows 2000 will adequately resolve the potential problems associated with this, by tracking registry keys and ensuring that individual user settings do not overwrite system settings. Legacy software generally does not do this tracking and so the scope for conflicts between settings is greatly increased. These conflicts can normally be resolved, but it is crucial that adequate testing and redesign takes place.
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Thin Client Computing Conclusion

Thin-client computing is an important option to consider in any organizations strategy. If implemented correctly, it can significantly lower the operating costs and increase the quality of support plus reducing the Information security risk. The key is assessing and planning the deployment correctly. In order to avoid actually increasing the operating costs, it is vital that relevant assistance from independent partners is obtained. The costs associated with this will often be offset by the significant savings achieved. In a nutshell, Thin-client computing is highly useful in the following cases: y y y y y Standard applications certified with Windows 2000 are in use Currently not running a managed environment The enterprise is very distributed, with many WAN links across different geographies The LAN requires upgrading; The client devices have lived their useful life and are nearing replacement date.
Thin-client computing will not be of much use in the following cases: y y y The workforce consists mainly of high performance users Currently running a fully managed environment There are many legacy applications with high migration costs
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Thin Client Computing Appendix A

Thin Client platform Characteristics
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Thin Client Computing References

1. Pilot Experiments for disaster Recovery in Private Cloud and Physical environment- Dr Sunil Nakrani, Tata Consultancy Services 2. A Comparison of Thin-Client Computing Architectures - Technical Report CUCS-02200, November 2000 3. Thin Client Benefits Barrie David, Newburn Consulting, 2002 4. www.thinclient.org 5. www.wyse.com 6. Boca Research, "Citrix ICA Technology Brief." Technical White Paper, Boca Raton, FL, 1999. 7. Citrix Systems, "Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 Backgrounder", Citrix White Paper, June 1998. 8. T. W. Mathers, S. P. Genoway, Windows NT Thin Client Solutions: Implementing Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame, Macmillan Technical Publishing, Indianapolis, IN, Nov. 1998. 9. T. Richardson, Q. Stafford-Fraser, K. R. Wood and A. Hopper, "Virtual Network Computing." IEEE Internet Computing, 2(1), Jan/Feb 1998. 10. Tolly Research, "Thin-Client Networking: Bandwidth Consumption Using Citrix ICA," IT clarity, Feb. 2000. 11. S. J. Yang, J. Nieh, "Thin Is In," PC Magazine, 19(13), Ziff-Davis Media, New York, NY, July 2000. 12. Evaluating Thin Client Security in a Changing Landscape Intel Infromation Technology, Apr 2010
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2010