Accounting Office Advise
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From: MattK on 1 Aug 2010 18:10 Looking for some advise for an Accounting Office that needs to replace 12 aging pc's. Here is what they are currently running: SBS2008 Standard (OEM) on Dell PE2950 (almost 2 years old) 8GB Ram O/S Mirrored Data on Raid 5 12 Windows XP (OEM) Workstations (7 years old) w/dual monitors and office standard 2003 (OEM) All of the workstations have some type of printer attached via either usb or parallel Besides the standard office apps they run the VERY processor intensive Creative Solutions Software Suite (Thomson/Reutors or what ever they are called today) The client feels that a thin client would be the way to go and just have the thin clients attach to his current server which can't really be done as it sits but they want a full scope type of answer so that is what i am trying to figure out. Here is what i am trying to figure out: Is this a client who is a prime canidate for virtualization? Is it possible to virtualize the SBS and then put a TS on the same box and have the thin clients connect to the TS? I would assume they would have to buy a new SBS License since the OEM version won't allow virtulization. Is it not a good idea to put a Terminal server on a virtualized box. He only has 12 client pc's now but that could go up to about 20. Should we just buy a separate server, create the TS on that then have the clients connect to that. Cost always seems to be a factor with this client so I just can't believe that it would be cheaper to create this Terminal Server than to just replace the workstations. There are just a lot of factors to take into consideration when virtualizing something like this and its always that legacy type software or hardware that will throw a major curve ball into the project... Any suggestions would be appreciate. Matt
From: Susan Bradley on 1 Aug 2010 18:53 Spec out the price tag for that CS version that supports TS as I recall it's extra money. I'd bump that SBS box up to more ram to start with. MattK wrote: > Looking for some advise for an Accounting Office that needs to replace > 12 aging pc's. Here is what they are currently running: > > SBS2008 Standard (OEM) on > Dell PE2950 (almost 2 years old) > 8GB Ram > O/S Mirrored > Data on Raid 5 > > 12 Windows XP (OEM) Workstations (7 years old) w/dual monitors and > office standard 2003 (OEM) > All of the workstations have some type of printer attached via either > usb or parallel > > Besides the standard office apps they run the VERY processor intensive > Creative Solutions Software Suite (Thomson/Reutors or what ever they > are called today) > > The client feels that a thin client would be the way to go and just > have the thin clients attach to his current server which can't really > be done as it sits but they want a full scope type of answer so that > is what i am trying to figure out. > > Here is what i am trying to figure out: > > Is this a client who is a prime canidate for virtualization? Is it > possible to virtualize the SBS and then put a TS on the same box and > have the thin clients connect to the TS? I would assume they would > have to buy a new SBS License since the OEM version won't allow > virtulization. Is it not a good idea to put a Terminal server on a > virtualized box. He only has 12 client pc's now but that could go up > to about 20. Should we just buy a separate server, create the TS on > that then have the clients connect to that. Cost always seems to be a > factor with this client so I just can't believe that it would be > cheaper to create this Terminal Server than to just replace the > workstations. There are just a lot of factors to take into > consideration when virtualizing something like this and its always > that legacy type software or hardware that will throw a major curve > ball into the project... > > Any suggestions would be appreciate. > > Matt >
From: Anteaus on 6 Aug 2010 17:34 Firstly, analyze the thinking behind thin-client working. Is it to avoid roaming -profile issues whilst providing userized logons, or to place the apps on a more powerful computer? Or, what? Also, how many thin clients would be online at once? If twelve, then that would need a server of gargantuan power to equal the performance of twelve reasonable-spec desktops. If you do want to go the thin client route, two roadmaps suggest themselves, a TS server, or virtual machines, which could be on a Windows 2008 server, or VMWare on Linux, or perhaps as ESXi. The licensing costs and performance issues of each route need to be carefully evaluated. SBS is not really suited to either approach, being far too 'fat' a platform to make a good host. You want a lean, mean machine with plenty RAM and no unnecessary services as the host. For a dozen VMs a 64-bit host is more-or-less essential, as a 32-bit host could not provide enough RAM. My feelings would be to stick with the twelve desktops and investigate whether the existing system has performance bottlenecks which could be eliminated. Seven years is a good service life for desktops, so they really need replacing anyway. PSUs, fans, CD/DVD drives etc will be starting to wear out. To keep costs down you could retain the monitors but replace the system units. If running demanding apps on non-thin clients, a 64-bit OS might be an advantage (Allows more than 4GB RAM) BTW in the long term I would look at a small number of business-grade Ethernet-equipped laser printers as a more reliable, cheaper and better-quality alternative to personal printing. Set workstations to print direct to their IP addresses, not via a server share. "MattK" wrote: > Looking for some advise for an Accounting Office that needs to replace > 12 aging pc's. Here is what they are currently running: > > SBS2008 Standard (OEM) on > Dell PE2950 (almost 2 years old) > 8GB Ram > O/S Mirrored > Data on Raid 5 > > 12 Windows XP (OEM) Workstations (7 years old) w/dual monitors and > office standard 2003 (OEM) > All of the workstations have some type of printer attached via either > usb or parallel > > Besides the standard office apps they run the VERY processor intensive > Creative Solutions Software Suite (Thomson/Reutors or what ever they > are called today) > > The client feels that a thin client would be the way to go and just > have the thin clients attach to his current server which can't really > be done as it sits but they want a full scope type of answer so that > is what i am trying to figure out. > > Here is what i am trying to figure out: > > Is this a client who is a prime canidate for virtualization? Is it > possible to virtualize the SBS and then put a TS on the same box and > have the thin clients connect to the TS? I would assume they would > have to buy a new SBS License since the OEM version won't allow > virtulization. Is it not a good idea to put a Terminal server on a > virtualized box. He only has 12 client pc's now but that could go up > to about 20. Should we just buy a separate server, create the TS on > that then have the clients connect to that. Cost always seems to be a > factor with this client so I just can't believe that it would be > cheaper to create this Terminal Server than to just replace the > workstations. There are just a lot of factors to take into > consideration when virtualizing something like this and its always > that legacy type software or hardware that will throw a major curve > ball into the project... > > Any suggestions would be appreciate. > > Matt > . >
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