Thin vs Fat Clients

New client compute models have been garnering a lot of press lately. Businesses continue to face steep challenges by way of security, management, regulatory, staffing and cost issues. Almost all major IT shops have either evaluated or are contemplating moving to a thin client compute model to meet their management, security, and TCO needs. I'll present a model and framework to evaluate the various options and recommendations of each usage model for particular scenarios.

The framework to apply in considering future compute models should be broken down into the following 5 categories: Terminal Services, Virtual Hosted Desktops, OS and Application Streaming, Application Streaming, and Rich Clients. Each has its merits and tradeoffs. It is also important to separate analysis of the problem, the compute model, and client device before coming to a conclusion. These are all separate issues and should be discussed in this order. Often, decision makers erroneously tightly link the compute model to the client device.

Most IT shops deploy a mix of some form of the above options depending on the weighted value placed on data security, performance, and mobility for each particular business group. For example, IT may apply a different compute model for their mobile salesforce than for their call center workers.

Next time, a deep dive into how to decide which compute model and client device best addresses your problem...

What is vPro and What can it do for Me?

vPro processor technology is beginning to take hold in the enterprise. What is it? Its a new array of technologies designed for businesses that brings new built-in management and security capabilities to solve critical IT enterprise-class problems.

The key underlying technologies that comprise vPro are Active Management Technology (AMT) and chip level virtualization. This allows IT administrators to spend less time on routine maintenance and security tasks, increase uptime with down the wire security and patches even when PCs are off, reduce desk-side visits, and lower power consumption by being able to remotely power off machines at the end of the day.

In the past manageability solutions were confined to software based solutions only. SW solutions were adequate but their functionality was limited to only when the OS was functioning and agents were present. Now with vPro, enterprise management consoles can reach the bare metal of the PC - even if the OS is not functioning or the machine is powered off. vPro technology is not meant to replace SW manageability solutions. Rather its meant to extend the functionality of SW. Therefore it enables the complete enterprise management promise.

Almost all major PC Manufacturers and software vendors as well as leading IT Outsourcers support vPro.

Now, What exactly is Active Management Technology...

Manageability tends to be overused as a buzz word. The root of its meaning can be broken down into 3 primary categories: Discover all assets in an enterprise (ie. Remote HW and SW Asset Inventory), Heal machines that are infected with viruses (ie. Remote diagnostics and repair), and Protect machines from a compromised network (ie. Agent presence checking, Virtualized configuration management, Platform Stability).

Lets go one level deeper into how these 3 categories are enabled in the chipset.

Discover: HW and SW asset information is accessible to IT anytime, even if the OS is hung or PC is off, by storing the information in non-volatile Flash memory. Access to this information doesn't depend on sw agents thereby preventing accidental data loss

Heal: IT has access to remote out-of-band diagnosis and repair in the event of SW, OS, or HW failures. This can be done through Remote Boot, Serial over LAN, or IDE Redirections. Further, alerts and event logging help IT proactively detect these problems to prevent them before they occur and reduce end-user downtime.

Protect: vPro machines on the network are protected from virus and worm attacks through packet filtering and heuristics. Further, IT is able to keep sw versions and virus protection current.

To summarize, the core benefits for IT are:
1. High Availability and Out of Band Remote Management - provides remote manageability in all system power and health states. It runs on auxiliary power.
2. OS-Independent - Complete access to vPro machines regardless of OS state
3. Tamper Resistant - vPro agent is bound to the PC hw and configured by IT. The end-user is unable to modify or disable.

New Manageability Features in 2008 (AMT 2.5)
1. Environment Detection - allows IT to determine if a system is inside or outside the enterprise.
2. 802.1x Support - allows connection to a network requiring 802.1x authentication during shutdown
3. Cisco NAC Support - allows connection to a network requiring Cisco NAC authentication during shutdown