From fat to thin

FST. Thin client PCs take the CPU off the desktop, and centralise the management of PC architecture. Can you start by identifying some possible time and cost savings that this approach can bring?

NEC’s Virtual PC Center (VPCC) can offer many advantages in these areas. Firstly, the power consumption can be reduced by up to 70 percent which is one of the contributing factors to reducing the total cost of ownership by up to 40 percent over three years. Furthermore, the IT support team can benefit from real time savings as historically there has been a need for one IT support for every 200 PC users, however, NEC’s VPCC solution requires only one IT support member to every 1000 users.

FST. Security is a core competency in the financial services world. How can the Virtual PC Center help secure the network?

The VPCC helps by changing entirely the way data is sent across the network. In a traditional ‘fat client’ environment, desktop PCs access files via network storage – meaning each file opened will first have to be sent to the user’s desktop. This is bad, because this can potentially allow a hacker to intercept the data being transferred and take a copy without the original user ever knowing. With the VPCC the only data that travels to the desk is the pixel image updates of the users desktop – not the files themselves. If this (scrambled) data was intercepted, it would effectively be useless to a hacker.

FST. Improving communication through the enterprise is important and thin clients give the opportunity to embed VoIP through the PC – how easy is this in practice?

NEC’s Virtual PC Center is the first unified thin client solution combining computing and IP telephony. To the user, it’s just as easy as using already established software such as Skype. Instead of having a physical keypad on your phone, you have a digital keypad on your screen to call somebody – but you can continue to use a conventional telephone device to actually speak on the call. Further benefits come with the integration of already-existing phone directories, meaning you instantly have your enterprises phonebook to have quick access to all the contacts you need.

FST. Although the hardware exists to offer a virtual PC architecture across the enterprise, how about the software? How easy is it to push feature rich applications through to the desktop, and is this a barrier to adoption?

NEC’s VPCC deployments and proof of concepts to date have not yet discovered any software that will not run on this solution within a Windows XP environment! An important component of the Virtual PC Center is SigmaSystemCenter running on the management server. Part of this solution is a package called NEC Deployment Manager – which allows the administrator to push applications to user’s virtual machines. It can also be used to update, and indeed remove programs if desired. In terms of these applications being feature-rich, we’re confident that any software that runs on Windows XP Professional, will run on VPCC without re-development.

FST. Culturally and conceptually people are used to working with and supporting ‘fat client’ PCs, do you think that this is a mind-set that needs to be overcome before thin clients catch on? How can that be achieved?

There is a resistance to change due to previous capabilities from thin client solutions, however NEC’s VPCC has overcome such barriers to deliver an environmentally sustainable solution with no compromise on performance.
There is a mind-set change required, but the best way to think about desktop virtualisation is that a virtual machine behaves and is managed the same way as a physical desktop PC. We’ve seen the architecture be very appealing to IT Managers once it’s understood, thanks to the many inherent benefits it brings – such as centralised management, complete and localised control of the machines, and the incredible ease in which new machines can be ‘built’ – a previously a time consuming chore, now done in a matter of minutes.

FST. What are the limits of a virtual PC architecture? For instance, how could this approach to system management be extended outside the enterprise – to customers for example?

NEC’s VPCC is only limited by the network it is deployed in. All of the operating components are entirely localised to the server room, but this is accessed (from anywhere) over the network – so the slower and less stable the network, the slower the entire solution appears to be. Extending this solution to customers outside of the enterprise requires a fast wide area network, though I would say that we’re very nearly there – in 2006 the UK average broadband connection was 4.87Mbps, which if stable/maintained is enough for the VPCC at least to perform comfortably. And this introduces an exciting possibility, that home users could be provided with nothing more than an inexpensive thin client device, and have full access to a range of applications and services, all subscription based.

About Mike Tonkin

He has been NEC Computers Sales Director in the UK since 2005. He has over 15 years of Sales experience, including 11 within the IT industry. Professional life started at DNCS before he moved on to DSG’s large accounts team based in Heywood before arriving at NEC Direct. In the summer of 2000 he was promoted to Sales Manager for NEC Computers in the UK before taking the SME Business Development role in Europe in 2002. Since taking charge of the UK business Tonkin has developed strong partnerships both within the channel and the public sector to deliver unique NEC solutions, NEC Computers in the UK has benefited from a strong growth increasing server sales by 60 percent and service sales by 80 percent. Tonkin lives in the Loire Valley with his French wife and their children.