Thin Client/Server Computing Works

AT&T Wireless Services
Sacramento, California

Challenge: Support retail stores located in 10 states.

Evaluation: AT&T Wireless Services provides cellular phone service to 10 western states. During an evaluation of its computing environment, the company discovered that ICA traffic consumed 80 percent less bandwidth over a T1 line than in a similarly configured remote PC environment. "Citrix's ICA protocol is lean and mean," said Rod Crownover, AT&T's western area IS services manager.

Solution: AT&T created Citrix WinFrame application server clusters at two central locations—Sacramento and Seattle—that are connected to individual stores via T1 or frame relay. Each server is a Compaq 5000 4 * 200 with 1GB of RAM and serves about 50 clients. The servers use IP rotary for load balancing. AT&T deploys 400 Wyse Winterm 2310 terminals in its retail stores, training rooms, and for temporary employees. AT&T finds the Wyse terminals smaller, lighter, and less expensive than PCs.

Results: "It took us a year to migrate our 12,000 desktops from Windows 3.11 to NT 3.51. We needed to make massive changes to the PC hardware to support the applications," Crownover said. In contrast, AT&T upgraded to a new version of Office 97 using WinFrame and the Wyse terminals in 2 hours. "WinFrame gives us centralized processing, easy remote support, and lower cost than a desktop. We haven't needed to add any desktop support people, even though the organization is growing at 20 percent," Crownover added. "Easier spares, no moving parts, and interchangeable, stable boxes—not much to them. This solution lets you set it and forget it. About 60 percent of our 12,000 desktops could use this technology."

AT&T plans to stick with ICA even after the company upgrades to Terminal Server by purchasing Citrix's MetaFrame. "All the things we wanted, we got," Crownover said.

Recommendation: "The cheaper you can put up the desktop, the better. Why do you need a PC? Every time someone saves something to [a] PC, it's different from box to box," Crownover said. "What do you do with older PCs?" I asked. Crownover replied, "I tell the end user to keep the monitor, keyboard, and mouse and replace the box with a Wyse terminal. Once a PC has reached maturity it's not worth the cost of maintenance."

The biggest problem AT&T encountered was configuring 16-bit internal or customized applications for the WinFrame environment. Crownover noted that 16-bit applications run at half the speed of an equivalent 32-bit application, saying, "we had to tweak it for about a month before we got it right. Some of Citrix's Value Added Resellers have been really good at helping us overcome these configuration problems." Crownover recommends finding an experienced Citrix Value Added Reseller (VAR) to help with deployment.

SUNY Health Library
Stonybrook, New York

Evaluation: The library needed to replace aging 3270 terminals. Roger Kelley, the library's systems administrator, began by putting PCs in public areas but found it hard to secure the computers. He also tried using Exodus Technologies' NTERPRISE on a Digital Alpha server to serve Boundless X terminals but ran into problems with the TN3270 software and scrapped the solution.

Challenge: Give library patrons the ability to use Web-based technology to search catalogs, journals, and databases from around the world. Budgets and staff are down, so the solution must be cost-effective and require no additional support personnel. Patrons must not be able to change the configuration of the client device. The library needs to keep track of printer usage and charge fees for that usage.

Solution: The library runs Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame to serve 50 Boundless TC200 ICA terminals. For its servers, the library uses a pair of dual-Pentium Digital 6200 systems with 768MB of RAM. Roger Kelley chose Opera!, Opera Software's Web browser, over Microsoft's and Netscape's because Opera Software's product is smaller, faster, and more customizable. Kelley found that the browser's 1MB footprint lets Terminal Server serve many more users than Internet Explorer (IE) or Netscape. In addition, Kelley customized the browser to prevent users from accessing anything beyond authorized Web sites. The library also supports centralized Zip and 3.5" drives for users who need access to digital data. Finally, the library supports centralized printing through a solution called UnipriNT for Universities by Pharos Systems. UnipriNT lets the library charge for printing on a per-use basis.

Results: "Surprise—it works," said Kelley. "I've got 50 terminals working, and I barely get one support call per day. I'm able to do application development instead of PC support."

Recommendation: According to Kelley, TCSC "will cost you less to operate. Your return on investment is much better. You don't need to upgrade everything; you can run with old PCs. You can run Macs on there. You get more connectivity. It takes bigger servers, but big deal. I've had no complaints on performance. To really convince yourself, take a 386 and run the DOS ICA client and watch it work."

EDS
Plano, Texas

Challenge: Provide a total banking services solution with centralized support for 800 community banks throughout the US with $250 million to $8 billion in total assets. Solution must not require onsite IS personnel.

Evaluation: EDS's Business Banking Division, a provider of professional banking services, tried putting an independent client/ server solution in each of the 800 banks it serves. This solution required a full-time support person at each site to support the servers, the network, and 100 to 150 users. EDS calculated that centralizing the application would drastically simplify infrastructure, eliminate onsite support personnel, and reduce the cost to bank customers. EDS's insurance division had already experienced success with Citrix WinFrame, which gave the company's banking division confidence in thin client/server technology.

Solution: To date, EDS has installed Citrix WinFrame 1.7 in its four training sites. This strategy has let EDS train its customers on the banking application and stress-test the system. EDS plans to have implemented Terminal Server in 300 of its 800 customer sites within the next 12 months. EDS uses multiple Sequent NTX 2000 4 * 200 servers with 2GB of RAM to serve its thin clients. The servers are clustered with the Citrix MetaFrame load-balancing option. To EDS, the MetaFrame shadowing feature is essential to training users at remote sites. "In the past, we needed to fly in our customers for training. Now we can distribute training to multiple locations," said Kathy Garnett, EDS Business Services Group executive.

EDS plans to test Sequent's 8-way servers to see whether Terminal Server will scale. So far, the company has found memory to be a more limiting factor than processing power.

Results: "By moving the application to thin client, we avoid sending EDS technicians out to customer sites. We are responsible for PC failures even though the problem has nothing to do with the EDS solution. We eliminate the downtime for end users, which could be as much as a day. Our insurance division has already experienced a 30 percent to 40 percent reduction in Help desk calls. We expect the same," Garnett said.

Recommendation: EDS recommends finding a partner with Citrix expertise. EDS finds invaluable Sequent's expertise in application profiling, WAN performance, and application load balancing. "Sequent provides a total solution. I didn't want to deal with pieces," Garnett explained.

Following Up
Windows NT Magazine provides an interactive Web-based forum that lets you talk with other readers and industry professionals about TCSC. Just point your browser to http://www.winntmag.com/terminal.