NYS Forum IT Greening Workgroup

Thin Client Devices

DHCR Experience with Virtual Desktops

June 12, 2010

NYS Forum IT Greening – thin client deployment

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Power and Energy Benefits

• University of Pennsylvania study of energy savings• “The approximate savings by implementing Thin Clients for our 1,000 computer network is

$29,291 per year; a 45% savings in energy costs.”• The 5 year savings = $146,455• http://preilly.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/virtualization-thin -clients-and-energy-

consumption/• Fraunhofer Study: Environmental Comparison of the Relevance of PC and Thin

Client Desktop Equipment for the Climate, 2008• According to Gartner market research about two per cent of global CO2 emissions are

caused by the manufacture, use and disposal of equipment in the information sector. [Gartner 2007]

• http://it.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/TCecology/docs/TCecology2008_en.pdf• “Traditional desktop PC’s consume a maximum of 280 watts of power compared to certain

Neoware thin clients which consume 30 watts of power in the same time frame – an energy savings of 90 percent.”

• http://www.thinclient.org/archives/2007/09/green_energy_ne.html• “Longer product lifespan over a PC – 5-7 years. Less heat produced. Lighter than pc –

less energy to ship.”• http://www.wyse.com/green/index.asp

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DHCR Pain Points

• Updating PC’s was sporadic, at best : anti-virus updates and OS updates could not be verified

• Users had local administrator control of their desktops and installed software on own – no control of licensing

• Virus attacks at site were prolific• Carbon footprint was significant at site – looking for green

approach – Governor’s initiative• OS Upgrades to pc’s were complex – a lot of staff time• Refresh cycles were painful,

• Users had pc setups that were personalized• During refresh – all existing pc’s had to be wiped

• Complexity of Technology

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DHCR Solution

• Utilize Citrix Technology – XEN App• Replaced Desktop devices at Borough Regional offices with

Lenova Thin Clients - Ran Pilot project for 2 months• Ran Pilot at our Gertz Plaza Office – selected 20 users to

replace Desktop devices with HP Thin Clients• Rolled out 350 thin clients at Gertz Plaza Site.• Thin clients have 1 GB Flash RAM, 512 RAM• Moved all Apps onto Server farm • Locked down all USB Ports to stop external data leaks.• Handled printing services through printer profiles.• Began implementation of Provisioning Servers.• Looking at XEN Desktop – running a pilot right now…• Would like to consolidate all data centers (presently have 3)

into our Albany site and replicate to a DR Site.

DHCR Lessons learned

• Key is to have staff trained in Citrix• Collect all information upfront – what applications are

installed, files stored on local drives.• Main issues were with non-native Print Drivers and Profiles.• Users did not like losing Hard Drives for personal storage,

nor did they like losing CD-ROM.• Have a few external devices (Floppy disk drive, DVD

burners) we loan out when needed.• Need to have a solid platform to support this setup.• Maximum number of users on a server – about 50.• Works better on standalone servers – still would like to

utilize virtual servers (VMWare).6

DHCR Benefits Gained

• All user data is now on Network Storage and backed up. No lost user files with hard drive crashes. Secured data.

• Users can access their applications and data from any location with a web connection. DR Solution.

• Have not had any thin client devices fail since they were installed. No moving parts in thin client.

• Configurations are done on the servers – no pushdowns to desktops.

• Provisioning services provide consistency of operations.• Savings in energy usage on thin client devices. Reduction in

Carbon Footprint.• Ability to control who has what software – manage licenses.• Thin clients are not as attractive a target for theft.

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Questions

Duane Averill

NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal

(518) 402-3227

Daverill@nysdhcr.gov