Open Source Application Servers & Thin Client Desktops
Turning your I.T. department Green will benefit your bank balance as well as your conscience!
How? By reducing the two most environmentally polluting aspects of IT
-
Your energy consumption
-
Your equipment redundancy
It may seem like taking a step backwards, but increasingly, companies are starting to embrace the benefits of providing their staff with a slimmed down IT environment, afforded by using application servers and thin client terminals instead of PCs.
If you think about all of the administration requirements for modern PCs, these benefits become obvious:
-
Application installations on each PC
-
Regular software updates at each PC
-
Keeping track of all the assets and their purchase dates etc
-
Anti-virus protection / cleanup if infected
-
Backup of local data
-
Update and Disposal of equipment every 4 or so years
-
License costs for software for each PC - much of which may never be used.
-
Security costs of locking down local peripheral devices attached to PCs
For many organisations, this takes up one or two (or may be more) full time IT staff to administer.
However, by removing the PC, and providing a Thin Client terminal, many of these distributed costs are removed.
-
Save Money with ZERO Operating System Costs
-
Save Money with Zero Application Licensing Costs (If using Open Office)
-
Reduce Administration Overheads
-
Save energy using low energy desk top terminals
The Case for Change
A large proportion of PCs users only ever use the following standard applications and in this order:
-
An Email Client
-
An Internet Browser
-
A text editor such as MS Word
-
A PDF Reader (Adobe Reader)
-
A Spreadsheet such as MS Excel
Additionally, they will have some requirement for data storage - disk space.
However, to meet these very limited, requirements, they invariably have a full installation of Microsoft Office, running on a high specification / energy hungry PC, with an operating system requiring constant security (and other) updates.
An Overview of the Solution
Instead of each user having their own copies of all the applications installed on their own computer hard disks, their PC is replaced / modified so that the hard disk is no longer required. At all!
When their terminal is switched on, it automatically connects to a server, which provides their operating environment and applications.
Thereafter, the only routine administration tasks, take place at the server and not each individual desktop PC. Applications need only be installed and updated for one machine instead of hundreds. Only one machine need be backed up and virus protected. And with each PC replaced, up to £50 year may be saved in electricity costs
Furthermore, by using an Open Source Server, there are no operating system costs, resulting in software savings of thousands of pounds per year.
Still further cost reductions are achieved by using an open source suite of office applications such as Open Office - again saving thousands of pounds per year.
Optimus have invested extensive development and testing resources to provide a reliable Open Source Server platforms which can make applications available to to low energy consumption desktop terminals.
If you would like to review this solution and see how much your organisation could save, contact Optimus and we will be happy to help you.
|