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I think this is a pretty hot topic right now. I have been
looking for 5 years for a solution to rid my library of business class PC’s
that do nothing other than serve up a webpage for OPAC access. To me it’s
a waste of resources and capital. That said, all VDI solutions that I have seen
recently typically look great until you get to the Licensing part.. That one requirement
seems to shoot all my ROI studies right out the window. I have, however, recently
run across a product that is intriguing. The overall buy in is low and the
clients are cheap.. The only problem I have and my MS licensing specialist is trying
to figure out is whether Microsoft will ruin my party.. I could share my data
with you off list if you are interested but the product I am looking at is the
Double-Take Flex product.. Very inexpensive and every way I dice it – it works
from an ROI standpoint.. Depending on where Microsoft lands I will see between
20 and 40% savings over just buying decent Dell machines…
\Bob
From: Library NT
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lisa Prolman
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 9:01 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [LIBNT-L] thin clients
Greetings all:
Given
that patrons want more and more computers and my staff has shrunk from 25 full
and part-timers to 13 full and part-timers in the last year, I am searching out
ways to get my patrons more stations without having to spend more time than I
already do on computer maintenance. Thin clients seem like a workable
solution for us as long as I don't spend too much time thinking about how much
it would cost up front.
Anyway,
has anyone done a thin client install over the last few years who can give me
some pointers about what to look for? I have 11 PCs that access the
Internet and offer MS Office (7 in main library, 4 in children's room), 5
catalog computers (3/2), and 2 databases. I know there is an open source
that uses Linux, but I am not all that familiar with Linux and would feel more
comfortable staying with Windows if possible. I would probably keep the
staff PCs fat as I don't want to mess with our circulation network. I
searched the archives for information about this but didn't find anything more
recent than 2004.
Any
and all information is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Lisa
Prolman
Assistant
Director
Greenfield
Public Library
402
Main Street
Greenfield,
MA 01301
(413)
772-1544
The
major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot
possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong
it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair. -- Douglas
Adams