Easy to Administer

With a company full of employees, are full-blown PCs a good idea? Are we going back to the days of dumb terminals, only with a prettier face? And if we were, does it really matter?

Think about it - if you can set up a Citrix or RDP server that is locked down by one set of security and rules, along with the proper applications installed, you'd only need to maintain and update a single computer (the server itself).

Everyone's work can be stored in a central location, so no worries about where things are saved at. And if you have a plan for daily back-ups and storage, even better. Why deal with troublesome PCs that need to be fixed, configured, and updated individually?

This is why terminal services such as Microsoft's Remote Desktop (RDP) and Citrix comes in. Sure you can use them with a full-blown PC, but it does add confusion to the ill-informed users. "Is it my desktop, or the remote?" Some people don't even realize they are on a virtual desktop on a remote server!

The Wyse Winterm S50
The Wyse Winterm S50 is a what they call a "thin client". It's a small terminal with limited abilities compared to a full blown PC. It is meant to connect using RDP or Citrix protocols so that the user can log in and use the virtual remote desktop environment to do their work. Using Windows Server 2003 and Citrix, most users don't even realize they are using a Winterm, citing that they are on a PC when asked (that causes confusion to help desk techies like myself).

There are advantages of using Winterms, though. When a user moves from one desk to another, they don't have to move any equipment, since one Winterm is the same as another. With a PC, you'd have to move the PC over because many users save documents and have files on the hard drive of the local PC.

Also, any updates to software are immediately in effect for everyone, so no need to worry which PC received the updates and which ones didn't. Deploying new software is also easy, since you only have to make sure it is configured properly on the server and not need to install it individually on each PC.

The S50 is as small as a paperback book. It has a mesh grill on top and on bottom to facilitate cooling, though not much is really needed. The S50 draws so little power that it only gets warm. On the front, you have 2 USB ports (1.1 only), a headphone jack, and a microphone jack. In the back, you get a network jack, 2 more USB jacks, a COM port (serial port), a VGA port, and a jack for the AD adapter. There is also a security hole for you to use industry standard tie-downs to secure the small Winterm so it doesn't sprout legs and walk.

Configuring
A custom Linux operating system is preinstalled from Wyse. The version of their own Linux OS is v6. In reality, the newest version is v6.4.0 and is on their web site, but the splash screen still says v6. Out of the box, no matter how close their serial numbers were, we found that they used various sub-versions of their Linux OS, ranging from v6.3.0 to v6.3.4. Previously, we standardized on v6.3.1, but have tested and approve the upgrade to v6.4.0.

Flashing the device requires you to have a TFTP server, which is a pain to set up. Thankfully, my manager already have this set up, and flashing only requires you to type in the server's IP address, setting it to automatically grab an updated firmware, and reboot. It takes about 15 minutes for a flash session.

Once done, booting the OS automatically downloads configuration files on the network. This configuration file can include things such as which server to use to sync the time and date, and configuration for RDP or Citrix sessions.

We only use Citrix here, and every Winterm grabs the configuration for it when connected to the network. We set it to automatically run the session upon boot up, and users are greeted with a familiar CTRL-ATL-DEL Windows login screen.

Just for s* and giggles, I pulled the network cable and rebooted the Winterm. Surprisingly, the configuration isn't persistent. I basically get a clean desktop as if you just took the Winterm out of the box!

In Use
The Citrix client works very well and is very easy to configure. The only issue we had were some keyboard configurations. For example, in a custom application, we have a key combo that we use (Shift F12), but it doesn't work in a Citrix session. Turns out that the Citrix client that Wyse uses maps that particular keys to do "Speed Screen", which is a different way of drawing the screen. Fortunately, with the new version of the Linux firmware, we were allowed to customize the hot keys. Of course, we took out the "Shift F12" combo, and everything else.

The nice thing about the S50 is that if you were to use the Winterm to do presentations (we have one connected to a projector), the USB port recognizes most mouse-like devices, including presentation remotes. Once it detects it as a mouse, it works inside of the session as well. Of course, for security reasons, it does not recognize any external USB storage devices. This means even if you plug it in during a Citrix session, the remote Windows session does not recognize that anything was plugged in.

And before you ask, yes it's slow. Computing remotely (especially a full graphical user interface) is not as snappy as if you were using a PC, but it's not too bad. You won't be watching any videos remotely, that's for sure. Images are choppy, and the colors aren't right. To save bandwidth and to keep it feeling snappy, we use a low 800x600 resolution along with 16-bit colors. This is definately for work, not play.

Interesting Uses
Because it is basically an x86 compatible computer, you can actually install Windows or any OS that is x86 compatible and use it! You'll need a USB CD or DVD-ROM drive and a USB hard drive or flash drive.

Installation will be slow, since the USB ports are only 1.1, but it is possible to run Windows XP on the S50. It proved to be slow, so it's not a very useful tip, but it sure is fun and interesting!

The processor is an AMD Geode GX CPU (clock speed unspecified but I'm thinking 400 MHz), and with 64 or 128 MB of flash memory (depending on when it was made). It does come with 256MB of RAM built-in, though I don't think you can upgrade it. As you can see, it is a very lowly spec'd machine, so don't expect to make much use of a heavy OS like Windows XP. Though one idea that came to my mind is a home network server. Think about it... a low-power consuming device with a few hard drives sharing a printer or two. Of course, the slow USB 1.1 transfer speed may deter a lot of people from using the Winterm this way, but it's perfectly fine for streaming audio and low-bitrate videos.

Or, you can install a full blown Linux distro, which will probably make better use of the puny hardware. With this, you can create a web server, DHCP server, print server, or even a firewall. And what's great is that all of this can fit on a single USB thumb drive so you don't have to have a separate power for an external hard drive.

To do this, you'll have to go into the BIOS of the Winterm. Upon boot up, keep hitting F2 or the DEL key. You'll enter a green screen and will be asked for a password. By default, the factory set password is "Fireport" with a capitol "F". You can then change the boot order to make your USB device the first boot device. The other two devices (IDE for internal flash drive, and PXE for booting from the network) are there for you to prioritize.

I have successfully booted from USB flash drives and a USB floppy drive. I have yet to try a CD-ROM drive or an external USB drive, but I'm sure they will work as well.

Conclusion
For a company with many employees, deploying Wyse Winterms maybe a smart move. I must admit that working at an environment with 50/50 Winterms and PCs, we have less issues with Winterms themselves than PCs. Any issues we hear from Winterm users are actually centralized on the server and affect everyone, so fixing the source is easy.

The only issues we have with individual Winterms were the clock, when the new 2007 DST changed when we set our clocks back and forward. A new patch is available, but obviously not all of the Winterms received the update via the TFTP server. They were easily updated once we put the patch on the TFTP server.

As for a hobbiest toy, it's not worth it. The Wyse Winterm S50 is $300, so the dream of taking a Winterm and turning it into a cheap PC doesn't make financial sense. For that price, you can easily get a cheap Fry's special notebook (best deal), or one of Asus's eeePC (luke-warm deal).

If your company was getting rid of a few badly-flashed or unflashable corrupt Winterms, you can set the BIOS to boot from USB and repurpose them into cheap PCs, but it's not worth buying a brand new one for that purpose.

A for work, A for play (if you can get one that your company i getting rid of). Not so good for play if you are looking for a brand new one, since they do cost a pretty penny.