Network Computing – Where Did It Go Wrong?
The idea is just a broken one – network computing. The official reason why it will not work was at the time of its inception likely is a combination of bandwidth access (or lack there of) along with the dropping price of stand alone PCs with a real hard drive.
Fast forward to now, I see that for most people, a stand alone PC is “okay”, but a growing segment of the population frankly needs something managed as updating their OS is something that they find to be more than they can tackle due to issues arising when things go wrong.
I have grown tired of watching users of Windows, OS X or anything else you throw at them, being too much as there is always going to be some level of responsibility for maintaining things. Unfortunately, many individuals are not equipped to this task.
In the enterprise world, I see the growth of thin clients being used, sometimes with Linux but often connecting to a Windows server. Based on what I have seen, it appears to be the perfect marriage as both Windows and Linux thin clients today are more robust than ever.
Ignoring mistakes like Webtv amongst others, does anyone see managed services for “Ma and Pa Kettle PC User” being a boon, technology allowing for subscription based/diskless computing again? I am interested in hearing perspectives from both sides of the issue. Because regardless of how bad an idea it may seem like, the fact is that I have talked with a number of people about the concept of Windows (or any other OS) as a service they subscribe to, using old hardware, they loved the idea.
- Use a thin client with something like Thinstation which is Linux but works well with Windows Server. It can also provide a seamless Windows experience, but not rely so heavily on the client hardware.
- Many people would rather just have the software they need installed, ready to go, than have to deal with the installation and maintenance of it themselves.
- In a bad economy, who would not want to be able to use the latest operating system environments without having to fork over their first born just to cover the cost of hardware that will likely overwhelm them anyway? $30 per month vs $399 plus endless calls to the local tech for help? Seems fairly obvious.
Clearly, the concept is not all bad. It is just a matter of getting the logistics in play. We have seen it working in the local fields of the enterprise and remotely via VPN. Is there room for the home user here, too?
4 Comments
AC
November 13th, 2008
at 5:47am
Maybe I have a somewhat more diversified client base than Matt!
Whilst the ideas you have brought up are initially attractive, the implementation quickly becomes a logistical nightmare.
The basic office software is easy and can be addressed with just two products although there will then be different versions for the clients preferred hardware.
Then we get to accounting software and it starts to get messy. Some clients need farm oriented packages both with & without paddock (field) management, others general business packages and yet others an industry-specific package. Even within the farm stuff there are several different solutions according to the size of the farm!
Mustn’t forget the CAD, CAM and PCB design stuff of which there are about 17 differing packages throughout my client base.
To sum up, I did a quick calculation of the resources I would need to service my client base and came up with around 700GB of storage alone. I haven’t tried to work out the comms bandwidth I would need but I’m pretty sure it would be in the multi-gigabit range to have any hope of servicing the clients in a timely fashion.
My time has to be paid for in maintaining those resources including software updates, conversions of data files to the new format etc., service hardware has to be constantly updated so $30 is a totally unrealistic dreamland figure.
With a workable client base of 300 per system manager that would require more like $120 per month to be economically feasible.
In a corporate environment that’s do-able but I don’t think Joe Public is gonna buy it!
Mike
November 14th, 2008
at 6:45am
I think it could be possible, if certain ISP’s provided bundles to the basic home user only wanting to do basic documents, email pictures, internet etc…. They lease a thin client along with paying for internet and phone. It could be a one stop shop. They would ever have to worry about backups, or updates for they would be done at server level. And it would also give them the option of RDP when they are on vacation. Even some business class users could use the same thin client to connect to office.
MrDragon
November 14th, 2008
at 8:00am
AC, I think you are mixing two different user bases. I think Matt was talking about the average home user. Someone who wants to access email, the web, play with their pictures, create a flier for their upcoming garage sale, etc. The users you describe are the corporate user type or high end user that probably does at least some work from home.
I wouldn’t dream of trying to host all my SMB customers on my own farm for the very reasons you mention. However, I am really considering trying to host the multitude of family members and friends I support on my Citrix farm. I can only imagine how fewer calls, emails and texts I would get if I could just send these users a bootable CD that launches a browser that connects them to a Windows environment with everything they need. I know, dream on. ;-)
Actually, I think it could work if I spend the time creating the tutorials up front for the apps I choose to provide. The advantages look appealing enough for me to give it some serious thought at least. Just think, one version of one OS to support, one version of Office, one version of pdf reader/writer, one anti virus to support, etc. Most other services can be found on the Net and wouldn’t need to be hosted in the farm, i.e. IM, editing, organizing, sharing of photos, videos, music and other documents, etc. I wouldn’t have to rely on the users to update their OS, anti virus, apps, etc. and they would not have to worry about maintaining any of the aforementioned.
Perception is everything!
AG Wright
November 15th, 2008
at 1:41pm
In an office environment where there is a local server I can see your point but when Annie and Luke Client lose connectivity because the teenager just hit a pole down the street or the router just died a messy death due to a power surge and Annie can’t play her afternoon Solitaire there are going to be some serious issues.
In the past three months I’ve been off line with DSL for about three of those weeks. Much of what I needed to do was still possible because I could download files at work and transfer them with a thumb drive but if I used a thin client I would have had nothing but a screen and a keyboard. No games, no CD/DVD burning…
I still like having stuff on my local hard drive.
AG