Thin clients: how to buy them
Knowing the kitchen in which thin clients do, having enough of looked at the solutions of competitors and the problems that I argued with the developers, I can give some tips on how to choose a thin client.
Then I considered the questions about TC for windows-networks, because I fiddled with them a lot more. Part of the tips relate to linux terminals, but there most likely has its own specifics.
Questions that you need to clarify before buying:
1) Order how much you need them <20, 20-50, 50-100, 100+
2) Are you ready for thin clients from the server side? Goodbye scanners, goodbye bank clients, goodbye cheap host-based printers (including an inkjet printer from a designer), goodbye PERSW from accountants.
3) Will the TC be beyond the reach of specialists? (branches, small divisions).
')
If you are not ready for TC (P2), think further past this text. Of course, there are hybrid solutions (when some of the employees are on the TC, and some on the workstations are fully or combining work with individual terminal connections).
Before buying, you should fully understand who will work on the TC, who is not on the TC. It is best to do a couple of “self-made” TCs (roughly, Windows with mstsc) and look at the process of their work at different workplaces. [at this stage, I believe that you have decided to work on terminal servers, because this is significantly more serious work].
If you have a shopping mall in the IT department, and they are <20 pieces, you have free time and a desire to poke around in it - feel free to make yours. How to do it will work. In principle, with openthinclient , this can be done in a very reasonable time, and with thinstation and other distributors, and, most importantly, due enthusiasm, it can be done on their basis too.
If there is no desire to mess with them, TK> 20-30 pieces, there is a TK outside the branches (in small offices and representative offices, in shops, etc.), then it makes sense to look at the ready-made solutions.
Immediately I say: no commercial solution with PXE loading is worth considering. The reason is free and with open source [openthinclient]. Paying for the same (sometimes of poorer quality), fooling around with license files and the internal feeling of defying the foundations of the GPL is clearly not worth it.
So the choice is local loading. Fortunately, the difference in the price of a version without the DOM (Disk-on-module) and with it will differ by units of dollars, if it differs at all.
Next, you should decide on the platform. I already did a general review, I’ll repeat now:
CE- good RDP, scanty peripheral hardware drivers (flash drives ok, the rest is worse), decent download speed. Usually, the complete absence of something outside of RDP / ICA, rarely embed VNC viewer / putty. Most advanced offer samopisnye VMWare View Clients. The embedded browser is most often IE6CE, very similar to regular IE6.
CE5 - deprecated, rdp client 5.2, only for working with windows 2003
CE6 is newer, has been working more or less since 2008, although RDP7 is still not supported.
Linux - rdesktop, protocol 5.2, i.e. old. More problems in RDP, usually a good browser (Internet Explorer for Linux 3.6+), usually a bundle of protocols for non-windows systems.
WES - XP-undersized. It makes sense to take only if there are local applications. The real use is to combine local work with the word “thin client” in the report before the boss. If you don’t have any obligatory dances of small nano-faces around an innovatively modernizing tree, then it’s not interesting, you can just continue to use ordinary desktops. If you buy not in exchange, but for new places, then it may come in handy as a cheaper version of XP with a significantly longer update period.
In other words: if you have the main RDP protocol - better than CE6 (I speak like a rabid red-eyed admin spitting from the Windows on occasion and without). If the basic protocol is citrix, Linux protocols or VMView, then it is up to you, although I advise Linux.
NEVER buy a cat in a bag. Even if this cat is plastered with brands of HP, Fujitsu or Microsoft itself. Most giants do it by outsourcing, and with very different quality. Ideally, before the purchase you can take it for testing (on bail) for 2-3-5 days. Many manufacturers / sellers of TC is a common practice. If you can not, first buy 1 pc. Never believe the sellers - they always have and everything is good, because the seller is not a friend to the admin, even if the seller understands what he is selling.
The list of things to check on shopping mall after purchase:
1) Widescreen support. Frequent problem. Even if you now have the old 17 ", you will change - most likely there will be widescreen monitors.
2) The speed of rendering in full screen at high resolution. The easiest way is to connect to the workstation in 16-bit (or higher) with the sound prokynutnuyu and run a flash toy or walk on YouTube. Many TCs are eliminated on the very first page scrolling in the browser (lag when scrolling).
3) Download time. More than a minute - throw out.
4) Work with flash drives. See how the flash drive prokirayvaetsya, better even 2 pieces at a time.
5) See how the printer will work. Frequent problem. Probably unsolvable with TC tools, if you have solid host-based printers.
6) See what happens when the sessions are broken (remove the cord from the net and put it back). Behavior should not frighten the user.
7) Check ALL buttons in the session in Russian, English in both registers. I am not kidding. Very often there are problems with separate combinations of buttons (for example, instead of a large “B”, a small one, regardless of the caps and shift).
8) Check the operation of the mouse, especially at the edges of the screen, the passage of all buttons and wheels.
9) see if there is a Russian language on TC. If there is, is it possible to set the layout, and is it transmitted to the server (different users like different layouts, and the only method to give them their favorite layout BEFORE the login is to transfer it from the client).
10) Look at the time zones, try to put Russia. (Actual for Citrix). Pay attention to the time of issuing a DHCP lease (if the TC allows it to look). Many CEs have a terrible bug with DHCP and summer time, which is why the client stops working with DHCP for a long time (even after a reboot).
11) Find out if there is a button (combination of buttons) to reset the resolution. Without this button you can get a non-working thin client from 1920x1200 @ 100Hz.
12) Check how the autorun connection works and whether there is a functional task after the connection is completed (what will happen to the TC when the user ends the session). Autorun should be checked with DHCP, it is often the race condition between getting an address and starting a session. A good TC should “wait” for the network to initialize before starting the connection.
13) Ability to update software. Microsoft regularly patches holes in CE, for Linux, any security fixes are also equally regular. The presence (on the manufacturers website) of updates is important and necessary. The hacked thin client is funny until it starts to replace IP addresses on the network.
14) If you are using a microphone, be sure to listen to how quietly he writes. Many glands come with mic microphone ports.
Look thin client features. It is not always necessary for everyone, but when it is, it is pleasant.
1) Password protection settings. (Try to bypass this protection without entering a password, if you fail, this is good).
2) Availability of remote administration. Check how it works with statics and with DHCP.
3) The presence of a centralized management (about it below).
4) Availability of several sessions, incl. at the same time, the convenience of switching between them.
5) The presence of a built-in VNC server or something similar for the administrator to connect to the user's workplace.
6) The ability to p.5 off or switch to the mode "with a request for permission from the user."
About centralized management. The main thing that it should do is to minimize the amount of time spent on the TC.
1) Display the status of TC (on / off, ideally: the name of the running session)
2) Auto search for new TCs in the network
3) TC groups, with the ability to set part of the settings (the rest is taken locally) for the group.
4) aerobatics - integration with AD (in the presence of AD, of course) and showing the TC in the general list of domain computers.
5) The ability to centrally update the TC without interrupting work (usually the firmware is sucked as far as possible, and the update itself takes place either at the time of the reboot, into a new image), or at the next boot (updated, rebooted).
6) Ability to draw a network map
7) Integration with existing large network management solutions like OpenView or nagios.
Support for advanced features of thin clients (not everyone has it, not everyone needs it).
1) Smart cards. Most TCs on their clients declare them, as shown by the control dialing of the market, 90% are not able to say anything about them (and about the desired type, nor about what will happen on the server when using smart cards). If you need it, choose with great predilection.
2) WiFi. A wifi thin client is cool minus one wire. Main problems: glitches with auto-connection to networks, flight condition between wifi initialization and auto-start connection.
3) Dual-monitor TC (applies to CE6) - if necessary, check how much they lag. Check that both TC heads are DVI. One DVI, the second VGA is nonsense.
4) Built-in skype / sip. See how calls will come when a session is running, how to dial a number when a session is running. See if the conversation and work in the session will be lagging at the same time. See if the user can cheat in the settings of the softphone, whether his settings are changing centrally.
5) VPN (pptp / l2tp) - it is in most CE, and in most systems it does not know how to install automatically. If you need it - check, as well as checking for flight condition and behavior when it is impossible to connect.
6) work with a modem (GSM / telephone). Similar to p.5.
7) If it is mounted on a monitor (and you plan to use it) - see how well the connectors will hang (not in all directions?), Do you need to additionally hang the fasteners and how bulky it is.
Extras: look at the food. If 220 is stuck inside the case, this is a plus (that is, a minus extra PSU on the floor), if the PSU is external, see how well the power connector holds.
Then I considered the questions about TC for windows-networks, because I fiddled with them a lot more. Part of the tips relate to linux terminals, but there most likely has its own specifics.
Questions that you need to clarify before buying:
1) Order how much you need them <20, 20-50, 50-100, 100+
2) Are you ready for thin clients from the server side? Goodbye scanners, goodbye bank clients, goodbye cheap host-based printers (including an inkjet printer from a designer), goodbye PERSW from accountants.
3) Will the TC be beyond the reach of specialists? (branches, small divisions).
')
If you are not ready for TC (P2), think further past this text. Of course, there are hybrid solutions (when some of the employees are on the TC, and some on the workstations are fully or combining work with individual terminal connections).
Before buying, you should fully understand who will work on the TC, who is not on the TC. It is best to do a couple of “self-made” TCs (roughly, Windows with mstsc) and look at the process of their work at different workplaces. [at this stage, I believe that you have decided to work on terminal servers, because this is significantly more serious work].
If you have a shopping mall in the IT department, and they are <20 pieces, you have free time and a desire to poke around in it - feel free to make yours. How to do it will work. In principle, with openthinclient , this can be done in a very reasonable time, and with thinstation and other distributors, and, most importantly, due enthusiasm, it can be done on their basis too.
If there is no desire to mess with them, TK> 20-30 pieces, there is a TK outside the branches (in small offices and representative offices, in shops, etc.), then it makes sense to look at the ready-made solutions.
Immediately I say: no commercial solution with PXE loading is worth considering. The reason is free and with open source [openthinclient]. Paying for the same (sometimes of poorer quality), fooling around with license files and the internal feeling of defying the foundations of the GPL is clearly not worth it.
So the choice is local loading. Fortunately, the difference in the price of a version without the DOM (Disk-on-module) and with it will differ by units of dollars, if it differs at all.
Next, you should decide on the platform. I already did a general review, I’ll repeat now:
CE- good RDP, scanty peripheral hardware drivers (flash drives ok, the rest is worse), decent download speed. Usually, the complete absence of something outside of RDP / ICA, rarely embed VNC viewer / putty. Most advanced offer samopisnye VMWare View Clients. The embedded browser is most often IE6CE, very similar to regular IE6.
CE5 - deprecated, rdp client 5.2, only for working with windows 2003
CE6 is newer, has been working more or less since 2008, although RDP7 is still not supported.
Linux - rdesktop, protocol 5.2, i.e. old. More problems in RDP, usually a good browser (Internet Explorer for Linux 3.6+), usually a bundle of protocols for non-windows systems.
WES - XP-undersized. It makes sense to take only if there are local applications. The real use is to combine local work with the word “thin client” in the report before the boss. If you don’t have any obligatory dances of small nano-faces around an innovatively modernizing tree, then it’s not interesting, you can just continue to use ordinary desktops. If you buy not in exchange, but for new places, then it may come in handy as a cheaper version of XP with a significantly longer update period.
In other words: if you have the main RDP protocol - better than CE6 (I speak like a rabid red-eyed admin spitting from the Windows on occasion and without). If the basic protocol is citrix, Linux protocols or VMView, then it is up to you, although I advise Linux.
NEVER buy a cat in a bag. Even if this cat is plastered with brands of HP, Fujitsu or Microsoft itself. Most giants do it by outsourcing, and with very different quality. Ideally, before the purchase you can take it for testing (on bail) for 2-3-5 days. Many manufacturers / sellers of TC is a common practice. If you can not, first buy 1 pc. Never believe the sellers - they always have and everything is good, because the seller is not a friend to the admin, even if the seller understands what he is selling.
The list of things to check on shopping mall after purchase:
1) Widescreen support. Frequent problem. Even if you now have the old 17 ", you will change - most likely there will be widescreen monitors.
2) The speed of rendering in full screen at high resolution. The easiest way is to connect to the workstation in 16-bit (or higher) with the sound prokynutnuyu and run a flash toy or walk on YouTube. Many TCs are eliminated on the very first page scrolling in the browser (lag when scrolling).
3) Download time. More than a minute - throw out.
4) Work with flash drives. See how the flash drive prokirayvaetsya, better even 2 pieces at a time.
5) See how the printer will work. Frequent problem. Probably unsolvable with TC tools, if you have solid host-based printers.
6) See what happens when the sessions are broken (remove the cord from the net and put it back). Behavior should not frighten the user.
7) Check ALL buttons in the session in Russian, English in both registers. I am not kidding. Very often there are problems with separate combinations of buttons (for example, instead of a large “B”, a small one, regardless of the caps and shift).
8) Check the operation of the mouse, especially at the edges of the screen, the passage of all buttons and wheels.
9) see if there is a Russian language on TC. If there is, is it possible to set the layout, and is it transmitted to the server (different users like different layouts, and the only method to give them their favorite layout BEFORE the login is to transfer it from the client).
10) Look at the time zones, try to put Russia. (Actual for Citrix). Pay attention to the time of issuing a DHCP lease (if the TC allows it to look). Many CEs have a terrible bug with DHCP and summer time, which is why the client stops working with DHCP for a long time (even after a reboot).
11) Find out if there is a button (combination of buttons) to reset the resolution. Without this button you can get a non-working thin client from 1920x1200 @ 100Hz.
12) Check how the autorun connection works and whether there is a functional task after the connection is completed (what will happen to the TC when the user ends the session). Autorun should be checked with DHCP, it is often the race condition between getting an address and starting a session. A good TC should “wait” for the network to initialize before starting the connection.
13) Ability to update software. Microsoft regularly patches holes in CE, for Linux, any security fixes are also equally regular. The presence (on the manufacturers website) of updates is important and necessary. The hacked thin client is funny until it starts to replace IP addresses on the network.
14) If you are using a microphone, be sure to listen to how quietly he writes. Many glands come with mic microphone ports.
Look thin client features. It is not always necessary for everyone, but when it is, it is pleasant.
1) Password protection settings. (Try to bypass this protection without entering a password, if you fail, this is good).
2) Availability of remote administration. Check how it works with statics and with DHCP.
3) The presence of a centralized management (about it below).
4) Availability of several sessions, incl. at the same time, the convenience of switching between them.
5) The presence of a built-in VNC server or something similar for the administrator to connect to the user's workplace.
6) The ability to p.5 off or switch to the mode "with a request for permission from the user."
About centralized management. The main thing that it should do is to minimize the amount of time spent on the TC.
1) Display the status of TC (on / off, ideally: the name of the running session)
2) Auto search for new TCs in the network
3) TC groups, with the ability to set part of the settings (the rest is taken locally) for the group.
4) aerobatics - integration with AD (in the presence of AD, of course) and showing the TC in the general list of domain computers.
5) The ability to centrally update the TC without interrupting work (usually the firmware is sucked as far as possible, and the update itself takes place either at the time of the reboot, into a new image), or at the next boot (updated, rebooted).
6) Ability to draw a network map
7) Integration with existing large network management solutions like OpenView or nagios.
Support for advanced features of thin clients (not everyone has it, not everyone needs it).
1) Smart cards. Most TCs on their clients declare them, as shown by the control dialing of the market, 90% are not able to say anything about them (and about the desired type, nor about what will happen on the server when using smart cards). If you need it, choose with great predilection.
2) WiFi. A wifi thin client is cool minus one wire. Main problems: glitches with auto-connection to networks, flight condition between wifi initialization and auto-start connection.
3) Dual-monitor TC (applies to CE6) - if necessary, check how much they lag. Check that both TC heads are DVI. One DVI, the second VGA is nonsense.
4) Built-in skype / sip. See how calls will come when a session is running, how to dial a number when a session is running. See if the conversation and work in the session will be lagging at the same time. See if the user can cheat in the settings of the softphone, whether his settings are changing centrally.
5) VPN (pptp / l2tp) - it is in most CE, and in most systems it does not know how to install automatically. If you need it - check, as well as checking for flight condition and behavior when it is impossible to connect.
6) work with a modem (GSM / telephone). Similar to p.5.
7) If it is mounted on a monitor (and you plan to use it) - see how well the connectors will hang (not in all directions?), Do you need to additionally hang the fasteners and how bulky it is.
Extras: look at the food. If 220 is stuck inside the case, this is a plus (that is, a minus extra PSU on the floor), if the PSU is external, see how well the power connector holds.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/91246/
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