Out with PCs, in with thin client for wide service

By ADAM GIFFORD

Geographically challenged organisations are turning to "thin client" networking software from Citrix Systems to create cost-effective computing systems.

A thin client is a low-cost, centrally managed computer devoid of CD-Rom players, diskette drives, and expansion slots.

The Whangarei District Council has just completed an upgrade to Citrix MetaFrame, allowing it to offer users in its far-flung offices a broader range of applications.

It's a similar story at the Fire Service, which is also using MetaFrame to link more than 1600 paid firefighters and 438 management and administration staff, as well as hundreds of volunteer fire stations.

Whangarei District computer services adviser Bob Wolff said the council had 180 end users scattered across a wide area. It made the shift to WinFrame three years ago and was gradually replacing PCs with Wyse thin client terminals.

"They last three times as long as PCs and there are no moving parts to break down," Mr Wolff said.

"We've got about 40 PCs left, usually with scanners attached or CAD [computer assisted drawing] applications, and we're using some old PCs as Windows terminals."

The council shifted to Citrix technology for system management reasons, which also drove the latest upgrade.

"MetaFrame has lots of extra goodies, particularly from a systems administration side. We have a systems maintenance contract with ComputerLand, and two of its people along with myself run the whole operation, so the whole point is ease of deployment and support," Mr Wolff said.

"It means we can do things in a weekend that people with a standard client-server architecture may have to project-manage for months to do."

The upgrade to MetaFrame and the installation of Windows 2000 was done in a weekend, and the applications - running on three Compaq Proliant servers - were available to all users on the network on Monday.

Mr Wolff said the new system enabled the council to provide more and better services within a limited budget.

By not having to replace a third of its PCs each year, as it expected to do under a distributed computing system, the WDC saved about $180,000 a year, about two-thirds of its hardware budget.

Connection with the council's 10 remote sites is by ISDN (integrated services digital network) and employees can work from home using the VPN (virtual private network) capability within Citrix.

The Fire Service MetaFrame project was managed by systems integrator gen-i.

Fire Service information technology strategy manager Alan Thompson said the lower costs of MetaFrame versus dedicated lines also made it feasible to connect volunteer fire stations to the central information system.

He said that before implementing Citrix, most PCs in the organisation were standalone and few applications or procedures were standardised.

Most interoffice communications were by phone, fax or paper memo rather than e-mail.

"Software was being loaded with few controls in place and it was becoming an extremely difficult environment to manage and support on a national basis," said Mr Thompson.

MetaFrame has been used to give all stations Microsoft Exchange for e-mail, Microsoft Office and Access.

It is also being used nationally to implement Rebus payroll and human resources software and a Cronus rostering application.

The service has a tender out for a financial management information system and is developing in-house a national online fire incident reporting system.



The latest version of MetaFrame includes Speed Screen 3, a technology developed by Citrix's Sydney development team, which gets over the latency problem users encounter using applications over satellite connections.

Citrix says MetaFrame is a transitional technology until true internet computing becomes mainstream.