The Real Chances for Thin Client Computing and Why Consumers Do Not Like It

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This article is courtesy of Paul Barrett, a web and systems developer for Living Media, a leading aggregator for bathroom renovations Perth and kitchen renovations Perth.

Many times in my career I have been asked my opinion on the viability of thin client solutions. Having worked in both types of environments, I have become more and more of the opinion that I do not like thin computing much and I will give you some of my reasons why.

Thin Computing receives a small grassroots stir up every few years where it is promised to be the solution for a new IT problem.  Recently, there has been the newly coined term ‘BYO Computing’. This basically refers to the ability of employees to bring their own devices to work (laptops, tablets, smartphones etc.) and access company network data via them. The end result has been that the IT minds of the world have tried to tell us that a thin client solution is the way to go to resolve the dilemma of uncontrolled network devices.

IBM Thin client (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Less obscure is the new term of VDI computing or Virtual Desktop Interface. This is simply the idea that we’re all going to run thin clients, except the solution is usually a cloud based one. If you don’t have an internet connection then nobody has a computer to use, simple. This brings us to the first main point.

Single Point of Failure

Single point of failure is both a positive and negative thing. Thin client aficionados claim that the single point of failure is a good thing in terms of increased security and decreased maintenance required for a stable platform. From my point of view, the single point of failure is a recipe for catastrophic and show stopping system failures. Without the most expensive clustered systems, a reboot spells several minutes multiplied by as many users that are on the network. So every outage is multiplied by the number of users on the network. In the truest thin client environments, an outage renders the clients completely unable to function. This means no computer for your employees until the system problems are rectified.

Clientron U700 Thin Client VS Tradition PC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Centralized Security Risks

Again, we can argue that this is good but if an attacker is able to gain access to the server or cluster then there is much greater ease of navigating the network, stealing or vandalizing data. As much as it is easier to administer, it is easier to destroy once compromised.

Third party software

Like it or not, thin client solutions place limitations on the type of software that can be installed on them. Things just do not run as well. Graphic intensive solutions are generally not feasible at all on thin clients. There will be third party business applications that will be more difficult to troubleshoot for external consultants, or to get working at all. One answer is to get programming support that supports the thin client platforms, but this is simply another expense that the consumer will ultimately pay for.

Cost

Most of the computing costs are tied up in software, and thin computing does not reduce the software costs. In fact it increases them. You still need to pay for Office licenses, server CALS, and the cost of the thin client’s OS. Additionally you may need to pay for an expensive thin client framework such as Citrix. Money saved on computer costs is negligible.

Conclusion

While thin clients present a centralized management dream that may excite some managers and IT staffers, the reality is they are often only suited to the most soul destroying work environments including call centers and mail processing centers. People who work in more creative or technical roles, or those using a computer at home for entertainment or gaming will require a real computer, and this is unlikely to ever change. 

This article is courtesy of Paul Barrett, a web and systems developer for Living Media, a leading aggregator for bathroom renovations Perth and kitchen renovations Perth.

Computer 101: The ABC of File attachment and Transfer via your email or using Web Based Free Services.

Today I'm going blog about using the internet to send all types of files from you to your friend or simply just uploading them to your favorite social network or free on-line file storage website. Let's face it the internet has become an integral part of our daily work routine. Flash drive and external drive are simply not enough for some of us. We always want to access our file or at least a copy of it using the internet or move it from one location to another. Sometimes we are confused on what to use to accomplish all our desired goal of moving or more commonly called file transfer or file upload and download. Now how do we accomplish this task? Well there are several ways on how to go about it. First there your standard free email account from different email provider. Yup every kind of email account has function for transferring your desired file to your friend, work place and family email account. Let's your friend is asking for a copy of the birthday picture you have taken from yesterday's birthday. They requesting for copy to be printed. Instead of doing it yourself or giving the memory card to your friend which would require you to physically move around from your place to his/her place say you need to transfer picture stored on your computer to give them the copy. Why not use your email account to this. Just simple login and create or compose a new letter and after typing all the detail and message you are now ready to attach the requested picture by your friend. But wait do not attach the entire picture at once. Every email has this feature but this feature has a limit. Yup there a limit to how many you can send and attach per email. Also the process of attaching files to your email is also dependent on the speed that your computer is connected to the internet. Oh also file attachment speed is also dependent on how large each individual file and or how many file your going to attach to a single email.

 

You say, but my friends are requesting a whole bunch of picture that i have taken during the birthday party. Yup those are the reality of attaching picture thru your email free account. The size, number and the internet connection speed. All of this will determine how long you will take to upload those entire pictures and send them to your friends. One or two files you have no problem, but more than that and if each file has a large size then think of another way of transferring them via the internet. Okay how about we use free online storage system. There are a lot of them in the internet, hey that a great idea, they are much faster than on ordinary email file attachment plus you do not have to send the file always whenever your friend requested a copy. They can just copy or save the picture as they view them one by one. Well they one catch to this type of on-line storage, the number of file you can store is limited. Some of them offer up to 15 or 20 files per account. Also you need to sign-up or create an account with them in order to have your picture stored in this web based storage service. The same is true with your favorite social networking site. Creating an account is a requirement in order to use the services also every time you use the service you need to log in to use it. Well i guess is not a bad thing, it is also for security reason why you need to have an account with them. Yup they have limitation but this should not discourage you in using this kind of free file transfer services. 

Filecatalyst.com Home Page

Okay i will ask a question is there a web based free service that you could use to transfer your file without having to create an account and log on every time you need to transfer file? Well there is such such and they call their company File Catalyst and their website is http://www.filecatalyst.com/ just click on the link to go to their website. But wait let's make things clear first, I am not in any way related to them, i am just sharing this things because it may help you and me at some point in time. I am sharing this as an alternative means to transfer your files. It is up to you if you're going to use the free Fast File Transfer that they are offering a free service to transfer your file via the internet. Also if ever you're going to use their free services make a research of the company background and other stuff that are related to them. Everyone is free to make his own choice on what to use. Another thing when it comes to sending large files don't even attempt to send them through your standard email server. The file size is generally too large for the basic email server and it will usually exceed the limit. A great alternative is FileCatalyst, they have a free service where you can use their fast file transfer software for sending files quickly and easily, no login or registration necessary. Although you have to input your name and email address so they could notify you if the file transfer has been completed. They also offer several services including Managed File Transfers, FileCatalyst workflow, and many others. You can also always tell a company's success by their client list...check it out. To access the FREE file transfer service you can go to their products page at: http://www.filecatalyst.com/products.