NYS Forum IT Greening Workgroup Thin Client Devices

NYS Forum IT Greening Workgroup Thin Client Devices DHCR Experience with Virtual Desktops June 12, 2010

NYS Forum IT Greening – thin client deployment 2

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-energyconsumption/ 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 CO 2 emissions are caused by the manufacture, use and disposal of equipment in the information sector. [Gartner 2007] http: //it. umsicht. fraunhofer. de/TCecology/docs/TCecology 2008_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 3

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 • 4 4

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. 5 • 5

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. 7 •

Questions Duane Averill NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal (518) 402 -3227 Daverill@nysdhcr. gov 8