Ultra Thin-Clients - Energy Efficient by Design
The ukngroup Ultra Thin-Client (UTC) proposition is based around Sun Microsystems' Sun Ray 2 desktop client.
As a stateless device with no local processing power or file storage, it is particularly well suited for high-volume, cost-sensitive environments such as those in the public sector, call centres, education, healthcare, service providers, and finance.
Using Sun Ray 2, ukngroup is able to provide customers with a desktop computing solution that reduces maintenance, upgrade, and operational costs associated with most "fat" PC client environments. The stateless nature of Sun Ray allows for complete session mobility, improved workflow, and helps ensure protection of sensitive data.
Sun Ray architecture consists of two types of components:
- Sun Ray Ultra Thin-Clients – a simple, low-cost, low-power device that requires no desktop administration.
- Sun Ray Software – provides user authentication and encryption between the server and the clients, as well as user session management.
Unlike traditional PCs and other thin-clients, reliant on installed or embedded Microsoft Windows and Linux-based operating systems, Sun Rays do not need to be upgraded when new applications are introduced or more power is required.
Users can access sessions from any Sun Ray client on the Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN). Built in smart card readers allow for two-factor authentication and users can simply insert their Smartcard into an available client and instantly call up an existing session.
Flexible desktop environment
Hot desk mobility
Sun Ray Software completely virtualises the desktop, which lets users move from any UTC device to another and resume their session right from the moment it was last accessed. This also allows employees to work from any location within an office, increasing the utilisation of desktop resource.
Hot Desk mobility lets users with a Smartcard move seamlessly from one Sun Ray Client to another without the need to save or log out. This works across a building, in separate offices, or even in a different part of the world - anywhere there is an authorised access point.
Choice of desktop
ukngroup recommends Windows Terminal Services for desktop and application delivery as a result of its improved functionality and comparative cost effectiveness. However, the Sun Ray Server Software still enables users to display full-screen Windows, Linux and Solaris OS desktops on the client.
Small Footprint
The small size of the Sun Ray means that in offices where space is at a premium, desks need no longer be cluttered by cumbersome desktop PCs. A Sun ray client is similar in size to a VHS video cassette and has connections for mouse, keyboard and monitor as well as the built Smartcard reader and serial port.
Because of its small size, the Sun Ray is extremely easy to secure either on or under a desktop, reducing the likelihood of theft. This is of particular value to installations with public access or in schools and colleges.
Convenient, low-cost security
Securing the Desktop
By moving corporate data and intellectual property from insecure laptops and PCs to secure, corporate storage systems, Sun Ray enables an organisation to impose tighter controls over its information. Exclusion of a disk drive or any other persistent storage, means that all data and applications displayed onscreen, disappear the instant the session is terminated or the access card is removed.
Additionally, a Sun Ray client contains no resident operating system or applications, which makes it virtually immune to viruses and service attacks.
Make removable media impossible to remove
Because no data resides on the client and access to removable media can be centrally restricted, customer data cannot be removed on a USB memory stick, CD-ROM, or portable hard drive unless the user is authorised to do so. All of these types of storage device are supported however.
Secure Your Network Server, Secure Your Clients
If the network server and wiring are secure, the final link to the thin client is switched, and the thin client is plugged directly into the wall jack, it becomes virtually impossible for communications between the server and the Sun Ray Client to be intercepted. The protocol used for communication between the Sun Ray Client and the server can be further protected with ARCFOUR 128-bit encryption, giving an additional layer of security which would otherwise not be possible.
Reduces energy costs
The next generation of sustainable computing solutions
The typical power consumption of a Sun Ray 2 client is an astonishingly low 4 watts. Compare this to PCs, which operate at between 80 – 120 watts or more and the benefits of this solution become apparent immediately. Even most other thin clients still draw 20 watts or more.
By installing a thousand desktops with Sun Ray clients instead of PCs, an organisation is ably to cut power consumption from 80kW to 4kW which means a significant downsizing of their Carbon Footprint.
Run silent, run cheap
At just 4 watts of typical power consumption, the Sun Ray 2 client doesn't produce as much heat or require the noisy, inefficient fan of a PC. It's silent and runs cooler, which improves reliability. What this means in real terms is that an office functions without the ambient computer noise, to which so many people have become accustomed. Also, temperature control in a building becomes far easier without the constant heating effects of PCs. It can also lead to a reduction in the amount of dust and particles which are circulated around.
Reduces cost of ownership
Zero client maintenance
Sun Ray devices reduce the time and cost of installing and maintaining desktops as soon as they are deployed. A new user can unpack a Sun Ray device, plug it in, and be running in minutes, without administrative assistance. From that moment onward, instant-on smart-card access connects any authorised user to their data, applications, and security. For the support team, there's no need to visit the user’s desk – for maintenance or administration – unless the entire unit needs replacement, indicated by a status light. An administrator can manage 1000 Sun Ray clients almost as easily as one, providing a substantial reduction in support overheads.
Reduced Administration
With the Sun Ray clients, all computing occurs on the server. This lets administrators manage the server instead of each individual desktop, requiring fewer administrators. It also eliminates the task of individual desktop software upgrades. Budget can be made to go much further by provisioning users with shared, centrally managed, consolidated processing and storage.
