C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G CSU PDI 2010 Thin Clients as Desktop Computers Mark R. Ritschard Director, Engineering Network Services College of Engineering Colorado State University Professional Development Institute 2010

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 What’s a “thin client”? A networked device Centrally Managed No standard definition – just fewer (or “smaller”) components Thin ClientProcessorRAMOSVideoNetSession Mobility HP t5735 Sempron GB Debian Linux 4.0 up to 1920 x /100/ 1000 none Sun Ray 2FS none up to 70 Hz for two monitors 10/100/ 1000 via smart card Wyse P20 PCoIP Portal Processor 1GBnone Dual monitors up to 1920x /100/ 1000 none Wyse S30 AMD Geode GX 366MHz 128MB Microsoft Windows CE up to Hz 10/100none

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 History of Thin Mainframe Terminals: circa 1970 – monochrome display 1 Mainframe Terminals: circa 1978 – color display 2 Rise of the workstation: circa Diskless clients – a step “back” – circa Heyday of the “Fat Client”: Moving back to the terminal - the rise of Citrix ® : The first thin client is introduced: Sun Microsystems introduces the “Sun Ray”: Thin Clients enter mainstream technology market: vt100.net/vt_history 2 design.osu.edu/carlson/history/timeline.html 3 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workstation#History 4 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun gcn.com/articles/2005/06/09/is-thin-really-in.aspx 7 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Ray

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray Thin Client Solution Sun Microsystems A truly thin client - single mainboard with network and video built-in Managed by a central server (Solaris or Linux) running “Sun Ray Server Software” Native OS of the client is OS of the server Serve up any other OS MacOS: via VNC Viewer UNIX or Linux: via ssh or an X display Microsoft Windows: via Citrix or Sun Ray Connector or Windows Terminal Services Serve up individual applications via Citrix or Sun Secure Global Desktop Provides a mobile session via a card with a smart chip, e.g. Schlumberger SmartCard

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops AMGH redirect Citrix connection Sun Ray sessions Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Linux compute servers Sun Ray 170 & Sun Ray Campus Kiosks Sun Ray servers for campus kiosks Linux workstations Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers X-session Direct login nfs approximately 550 Sun Rays

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Network file space nfs Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops Sun Ray 2 approximately 550 Sun Rays Sun Ray Server Software (load balancing) Sun Ray servers 7 Sun Ray Servers 44 core, 176GB 1 Sun X4100 (8 core, 32MB) 1 Sun T5120 (8 core, 32MB) 3 Sun T2000 (24 core, 96GB) 2 Sun Fire V490 (4 core, 16GB) Solaris desktop Solaris compute servers X-session nfs

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops Citrix connection Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers Linux compute servers X-session Linux workstations Direct login nfs 28 Sun Ray Windows Servers 98 core, 312GB 1 Dell PowerEdge 1950 (8 core, 8GB) 15 Sun Fire X4100 (60 core, 208GB) 3 Dell PowerEdge 1955 (12 core, 12GB) 6 Sun V20Z (12 core, 72GB) 3 Dell PowerEdge 1850 (6 core, 12GB) Citrix ® (load balancing) Could also be: Sun Secure Global Desktop Sun Ray Connector Windows Terminal Services

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops Citrix connection Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Linux compute servers Linux workstations Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers X-session Direct login nfs Access to Three Operating Systems: Linux Solaris Windows

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops Citrix connection Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Linux compute servers Linux workstations Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers X-session Direct login nfs Access to Three Operating Systems: Linux Solaris Windows

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops Citrix connection Sun Ray sessions Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Linux compute servers Linux workstations Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers X-session Direct login nfs Access to Three Operating Systems: Linux Solaris Windows

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 AMGH redirect Sun Ray 170 & Sun Ray Campus Kiosks Sun Ray servers for campus kiosks Sun Ray System at Colorado State University

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 nfs Sun Ray System at Colorado State University Sun Ray 2 Classrooms & Labs faculty & staff desktops AMGH redirect Citrix connection Sun Ray sessions Windows ™ servers for faculty & staff Windows ™ servers for labs & classrooms Linux compute servers Sun Ray 170 & Sun Ray Campus Kiosks Sun Ray servers for campus kiosks Linux workstations Sun Ray servers: Solaris desktop Network file space Samba Solaris compute servers X-session Direct login nfs approximately 550 Sun Rays

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 What’s a “session” All software run by the user after login Operating systems are just another piece of “software” Includes the desktop and all associated windows and processes Managed via the Smart Card Provides mobility of all software running in the session Maintains integrity of all running operating systems Managed via Citrix Mobility of Windows desktop only Controlled via Citrix Metaframe login window Let’s start a session… The Sun Ray session

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Sun Ray login window

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Whole Desktop A Solaris Desktop: IceWM

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 IceWM desktop (default) Access to Solaris software Access to Windows desktop UNIX command line Multiple session windows (1, 2, 3, 4) The Sun Ray Session – It’s all Mobile!

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 IceWM desktop Multiple session windows (1, 2, 3, 4) The Sun Ray Session – It’s all Mobile!

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 IceWM desktop Access to Solaris software The Sun Ray Session – It’s all Mobile!

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 IceWM desktop Access to Windows desktop The Sun Ray Session – It’s all Mobile!

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 IceWM desktop UNIX command line The Sun Ray Session – It’s all Mobile!

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Whole Desktop

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Citrix manages the Windows desktop A Citrix session can be retrieved from anywhere with Internet access Web access is very straightforward Citrix Session Mobility

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Direct Access to Servers

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Where We Use Sun Ray Thin Clients Graduate Student desktops9 Faculty & Staff desktops43 Computer Labs - open access67 Campus Kiosks75 Electronic Classrooms111 Residences of Academic Village261 Total Sun Rays566

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Desktop Systems

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Electronic Classrooms

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Computer Labs

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Campus Kiosks

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Academic Village - Engineering Residential thin clients: 261

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Personnel Sun Ray server (3% FTE) One staff member: Solaris or Linux administration CSU Engineering has 1 primary and 1 backup Windows servers (16% FTE) One staff member: Windows Systems administration CSU Engineering has 1 primary and 1 backup Classroom management & Desktop Support (16% FTE) No specific expertise needed beyond computer classroom setup Expertise still needed to maintain Linux, Solaris, and Windows desktops Administration & Management of Overall System (12% FTE) TOTAL FTE for 566 thin clients: 47% (less than half!)

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Low Cost of Ownership (Hardware) (actual numbers from CSU Engineering) Annual Cost of Sun Ray servers$23,199 Annual Cost of Sun Ray Windows Servers$31,202 Annual Cost of Windows desktop$6,715 Annual Cost of minimal file space (25GB per Sun Ray) (provided to faculty and staff only) $649 Annual Cost of Infrastructure$3,066 Annual cost of Sun Ray support system$64,829 Max number of Sun Rays that could be supported 540 Annual Cost to support each Sunray$120 Annual Cost of Sun Ray setup (client, monitor, etc.)$103 Annual Hardware Cost of a Sun Ray$223 Annual Hardware Cost of “Similarly Configured” PC: $235

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Annual Support (Labor) for Sun Ray servers$1,900 Annual Support (Labor) for Sun Ray Windows servers$9,018 Annual Support (Labor) for Sun Ray Desktops$10,222 Annual Labor for Sun Ray System Administration$11,710 Annual cost of Sun Ray support system$32,850 Actual Sun Rays that could be supported 540 Annual Cost to Support a Sun Ray$61 Annual Cost to Support a PC: $ (labor, not repairs) Low Cost of Ownership (Labor) (actual numbers from CSU Engineering)

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Low Cost of Ownership Annual Cost for Sun Ray System (per Sun Ray): $223 Annual Cost to support a Sun Ray: $ 61 Annual Cost to provide a Sun Ray:$284 Annual Cost for a desktop computer: $235 Annual Cost to support a desktop computer: $1,050 Annual Cost for a desktop computer:$1,285 Savings of $1,000 per seat! x 540 seats = $540,000 per year

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 The Challenges New Environment “strange” logon “strange” desktop Multiple operating systems Lack of (or limited choice of) peripherals Need for a robust graphical environment Confused vendors & antiquated licensing Microsoft Mathworks Example of Gambit

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G SIGUCCS 2009 Make Thin Clients Work for You! Reduce Costs – both hardware & support (make your budget work for you!) Increase Services: Session Mobility Operating System becomes a tool Greater access to compute resources Long run-time without locking out the seat Increased reliability Security managed by a system administrator More frequent software updates Low power consumption: 39W (8 per Sun Ray, 31 from servers) Size & No(!) noise

C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G CSU PDI 2010 Thin Clients as Desktop Computers Mark R. Ritschard Director, Engineering Network Services College of Engineering Colorado State University