The Register has discovered the VIA Product from IBM of late, as thin client is being pushed back on the agenda for utility computing. This industry loop seems to come around every three years or so at the moment, with Sun and Oracle having invested heavily in PR, if not product, previously on the the subject.
If your organization is struggling with increasing IT complexity, costs and service concerns, and with accommodating an increasingly mobile workforce, we can help you create a simplified, virtualized environment leveraging centralized IT services. And, according to Gartner analysts, “When implemented properly, server-based computing (SBC) can help lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) of client computing by offering an alternative to traditional to PC-based configurations.”¹
IBM Global Services – Virtual Infrastructure Access Services
There is definitely something to be said for thin client at the moment. I’m thinking that an alternative TCO for running a virtualised setup could be to look at the Carbon cost of an enterprise setup where, say, P4 based desktops are on a rolling replacement plan of every 3 years. My expectation is that the majority of users in enterprise computing just don’t need all the horsepower that is put in front of them on the desktop for doing 80% of their official activities.
The old (actually, still current in some places) model of having a server per application/service, with standby boxes for failover just isn’t sustainable in the long run – and is an additional waste of clock cycles. Still, when you have 5-10K desktops all idling 70% of the day, then you have a real energy issue to contend with and I can see why there’s merit in taking onboard some of the PR around thin client right now.
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Paul lives, rides and works in Cardiff, South Wales. His work seems to largely entail fixing things and keeping wheels on. Officially, he is actively engaged and interested in Enterprise Architecture these days, but has a secret past that involved standing around on glaciers collecting meltwater samples, and walking through endless fields of wheat taking radiance measurements. 