Lesson Learned

When you are a tech, you need to think things through completely before acting. When you are the only tech in the organization, you need to spend a little extra time thinking things through. After all, no one is going to have your back so you have to double-check yourself.

Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 sounds really nice. I read up on RemoteApps, TS Gateway, Web Access, and even EasyPrint (we use network printers not local, so EasyPrint would be of marginal use for us.) I checked into Active Directory integration. I read about the changes to the Session Broker. I was even aware of the changes in RDP.

Ah, the RDP client. We mainly use Neoware C50s from about three years ago. We're adding HP t5135s now (since HP bought Neoware), but the majority of our thin clients are the old Neowares. These clients run a modified version of Linux with an old version of rdesktop.

The problem? rdesktop is not compatible with the new RDP used in Terminal Server 2008. So for now I am back to Windows Server 2003 for my Terminal Servers. All the cool functionality will have to wait until I can replace my old thin clients.

The kicker to the whole thing is that one of the reasons I went to server-based computing in the first place in order to get longer life out of my clients. I guess you really can't fight progress.

Neoware Image Manager (The Saga Continues)

Thanks to the great input from you guys, I'm trying to set up some demos so I can compare Neoware Image Manager with Wyse Streaming Manager. I'm still working on Wyse, but here's what's going on with Neoware.

I called my reseller to set something up. In a three-way call with the Neoware rep, I was told point-blank that Neoware doesn't recommend using their Image Manager! According to the representative of Neoware, there wasn't a lot of effort put into this product. He called it non-intuitive and complicated. Then he spent some time talking about their VDI offering.

It sounds to me like Neoware came out with the Image Manager as a response to WSM. Now that VDI is hot, they are waiting to see what happens in the virtualization space before they spend much effort on NIM.

I may still try it out so I have something to compare WSM to, but I'm leary of this. If VDI takes off, I imagine NIM will get dropped fast.

DABCC

Check out dabcc.com. Actually, most of you probably have. The only reason I discovered it was because I noticed a large amount of traffic coming here from there. Someone (thank you!) posted a link to my article on VDI there.

As much as I appreciate the publicity, I'm more happy that they turned me on to a great resource for server-based computing information. I'm a firm believer that server-based computing improves the ability of LonelyTechs out there to support their organization. This site collects the information, downloads, news and tips you need to make it work for you.

Now excuse me while I start adding their RSS feeds to my Bloglines page...

Why I'm Losing My Excitement Over VDI

I spent some time talking with reps from Neoware about their VDI offerings. I've also spent some time at the VMware VDI forums and read Brian Madden's article on it (which I posted about here). I've gone from feeling like this is the next big thing for my organization to deciding to hold out for now. I think that this technology has its place but let me tell you why I'm no longer excited about it in a school setting.

As I understand VDI (VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, for the uninitiated), you create a virtual machine for each user (I'm unclear on whether you can use one created VM and copy it each time a user logs in, which would be a cool concept in my mind). Each PC or thin client (or laptop) has a connection broker installed which finds the proper VMware host containing the user's VM. The user is then connected to their VM and the screens, keystrokes, and mouse clicks/movements are sent between the client and the host over RDP.

So, this could replace my Terminal Services setup. To do so would require me to install enough servers to contain all the virtual machines I would need (about 250) and deal with all the network traffic. I don't think that I want to manage that. Managing 250 virtual machines sounds an awful lot like managing 250 desktop PCs. (Granted, I would have them all in the same room and not spread over the entire district, but still... I don't want to manage 250 desktops!)

I do think that I could get out of the refresh cycle for PCs and laptops by switching to thin clients and a combination of VDI and Terminal Services. I could put 90% of my users on thin clients connecting to Terminal Servers. The remaining users, administrators mainly, could have virtual machines. This means I never have to buy another PC. The refresh cycle on thin clients is five years compared to three years for PCs. This puts nearly all the maintenance costs on the server end.

Top this off with the lack of clarity in Neoware's message about VDI (they really haven't thought this completely through yet) and I am happy to wait another year to see how it shakes out before committing to the concept.