Understanding Thin Client Computing and the Shift Towards Mobility in IT Management

1. Mgt 20600: IT Management & ApplicationsSoftware Tuesday February 14, 2006

2. Reminders • Reading • Fundamentals text, Chapter Two, Software section • Homework • Homework Two due Friday, 2/24 by 5pm • Next week’s class session: Application Software

3. Thin Clients • Computers connected to a server in a network and have no hard drives • Thin-client sales grew 46% from 2004 to 2005 • Advantages • Support telecommuting • Better security • Easier administration • Faster and easier backups • Efficient disaster recovery • Less expensive • Can cut costs up to 70% • Thin client model has 35% to 40% lower TCO overall • Centralized data

4. Thin Client Outlook

5. Thin Client Computing What is the most compelling business value case for thin client computing?

6. Personal Computers • Demise of the Desktop? • Laptop to Desktop ratio in corporations • 1 in 5 in 1999 • 1 in 3 in 2005 • 1 in 2 in next few years • Why? • Mobility! • Outside and inside of workplace • Changes in work habits • Used on the road, in the home, into meetings • Facilitate collaboration as well as email access • Wireless connectivity improvements • Battery life improvements • Price/Performance gap between laptops and desktops has narrowed considerably • Availability of workstation-class laptops for computing intensive tasks like software development and computer-aided design • Laptop reliability has improved • Laptop concerns • Security!

7. PC Virtualization • PC hardware moved into data center as part of PC blades • Fit into a chassis that can be centrally managed • Several users can share a single blade • Simplifies PC management • Thin client on desktop that functions as an extended keyboard, monitor, and mouse

8. Servers • Midrange computers in data center that provide applications, web services, and storage to client devices • Defining features • Use faster, multi-core processors than pc’s • 64 bit processors • Often run Unix or Linux as their operating systems • Often deployed in server farms or blades for easy management and flexibility • Less costly than mainframes • Ability to load balance

9. Mainframes • Large, very fast computers that support the enterprise • Many legacy systems run on mainframes • Known for reliability and scalability • Can replace many midrange servers and can cut IT staff costs as a result

10. What a Mainframe Looks Like

11. AARP Mainframe Example • Members • 35 million members • 76 million baby-boomers preparing for retirement • Central customer database • Can be accessed by • Members • Trading partners • Insurance providers • Retirement communities • Technology • Mainframe used for customer database • Centralized • Member information can be maintained and secured independently of the numerous IT applications that use it • Reliable • Scalable • Will support increasing numbers of transactions as membership grows • Continuously updated • Makes it easier to market products and services to its members • Application-independent • Common interface to the database for suppliers • Standard method for integrating applications with the database

12. What a SuperComputer Looks Like Terabyte: A thousand billion bytes or a thousand gigabytes Gigaflop: One billion floating point operations per second

13. Corporate Supercomputing • Ping Inc., golf club maker • Uses supercomputer to run simulations of golf club designs • Has drastically reduced development time • Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. • Uses supercomputing for tire simulations • Reduces amount of money spent on building physical tire prototypes, from 40% to 15% of the research and development budget • Supercomputing also supports • Digital animation • Bioinformatics • RFID chips and the huge databases they create

14. Overview of Software • Computer programs: sequences of instructions • Two Types • Systems software:coordinates the activities of hardware and programs • Application software: helps users solve particular problems

15. Supporting Individual, Group, and Organizational Goals • Sphere of influence: the scope of problems and opportunities addressed by a particular software application • Personal • Workgroup • Enterprise

16. Software: Operating System • When selecting an operating system, you must consider the current and future requirements for application software to meet the needs of the organization. In addition, your choice of a particular operating system must be consistent with your choice of hardware.

17. Systems Software: Operating Systems • Operating system (OS): set ofprograms that control the hardware and act as an interface with applications • Common hardware functions • Get input (e.g., keyboard) • Retrieve data from disks and store data on disks • Display information on a monitor or printer

18. Operating Systems

19. Operating Systems • User interface • Allows individuals to access and command the computer system • Command-based user interface: uses text commands • Graphical user interface (GUI): uses icons and menus to send commands to the computer system • Bringing Vista to life

20. Operating Systems • Hardware independence • Application program interface (API): allows applications to make use of the operating system • Memory management • Control how memory is accessed and maximize available memory and storage

21. Operating Systems • Processing tasks • Multitasking: more than one program running at the same time • Time-sharing: more than one person using a computer system at the same time • Scalability: ability to handle an increasing number of concurrent users smoothly • Networking capability: features that aid users in connecting to a computer network

22. Operating Systems • Access to system resources • Protection against unauthorized access • Logons and passwords • File management • Ensures that files in secondary storage are • Available when needed • Protected from access by unauthorized users

23. Current Operating Systems

24. Linux: Personal Operating System • Novell’s Linux Desktop 10 • Designed to go head-to-head against Windows • Includes • Desktop operating system • Desktop search feature • Desktop note-taking technology • OpenOffice.org office productivity suite • Mozilla Firefox • Instant-messaging client • Open-source collaboration client • F-Spot personal photo management application • Technical support • Working with software vendors to develop more applications for Linux • HP delivers Linux laptop

25. Linux: Workgroup and Enterprise Operating System • Open source operating systems (Linux) • Increasing comfort level with this alternative • Dominates as server operating system • Why? • Lower total cost of ownership • Lower capital investment • Greater reliability and uptime compared to commercial alternatives • Greater flexibility and control • Faster, cheaper application development

26. Linux Example • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) • China’s biggest bank • $640 billion in total assets • 100 million individuals as customers • 8.1 million corporate accounts • Linux deployment • Plans to deploy Linux on servers across its network of 20,000 national branches • Will use Turbolinux Inc.’s Turbolinux 7 DataServer operating system • Will support front-end banking operations • 390,000 employees will be using terminals to access applications hosted on Linux servers on a daily basis • Why Linux? • Chosen because existing applications (developed in-house) run on Unix • Easier to migrate applications to Linux than Windows • Need better software performance • Need better vendor support • Lower operating costs