Gotten a couple emails about our thin clients…thought I’d share some details for those that might be interested.

BACKGROUND (skip if all you want is the techy stuff)

About a year ago some of our ministries wanted designated stations for their volunteers/nonstaff personnel to work without having to use their systems. At the time I didn’t want to invest big $$$ in desktop systems for volunteers who may come and go as well as all the headaches associated with security of desktop systems; enter the thin client. I looked at options from HP and other main stage players in the thin client arena but couldn’t seem to find anything cheap; some thin clients were more than desktops! Finally after much research I came across Ncomputing. They are a relatively new startup out of California with pretty cool products and good support especially when you consider you don’t have to pay for it! Their machines hit below $200 a piece and even include additional-purchase management software for all the clients.

THE TECHIE PART

(L100 pictured – currently the “old model”)

The concept is pretty simple…the little black box has a main board that contains some basic firmware, has no moving parts and contains your monitor/keyboard/etc. hookups. Everything runs from the server (host) device you connect it to. Ncomputing has a network option as well as a hard wired option that involves a pci card and a short distance to the server. Basically you install Ncomputing’s server software on your host XP/2003 box…the client boxes automatically find the host and connect…from there everything is a standard WinXP/2003 session as if you were locally logged in to a box. We run a WinXPPRO virtual machine and have had no problems since install.

These boxes work great for the “average” web/Office user…they have no dedicated video in the box which means everything is done server side which does make multimedia difficult if not impossible. In tests and production we can still not get decent performance from users when they attempt to watch Youtube videos or play videos. Ncomputing does however have a newer thin client model that is suppost to improve performance, have not tested however. For users who only surf the web and do Office these boxes rock. Some of my boxes have been in use for 2+ years with no issues. Updates/upgrades to the OS/applications need only be done on the host machine. If we could get better performance out of them video wise I would consider using them for some of our full-time staff/users. I have also tinkered with using them for our new checkin system (more about that later)…although I would need USB ports. The newest L230 from Ncomputing has a USB port which we would need.

If your looking for some thin clients without the hefty price tag (thanks HP) you might want to give Ncomputing a try. Here is the coolest part…they will let you test drive their equipment for 30 days before you buy! Ncomputing Test Drive

A good friend and mentor of mine has a blog out there now…

He works in public school I.T. but is also very involved in his local church tech/I.T. stuff….check it out!

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/dlhousem

Just got done installing the new version of AVG 8.0 and it rocks! We’ve been using AVG for close to a year now since I got tired of ridiculous pricing from Symantec/Norton. We use the network edition in 7.5 and I was worried we wouldn’t be eligible for free updates to 8.0; went to AVG’s website and it claimed we were so I downloaded and installed!

They completely reworked the interface and made it much easier to use! The 7.5 version GUI required a lot of scrolling and multiple menus just to access certain features. The newest version also has some really neat additions such as Rootkit scanning and a very increased presence in the web browser; with a very big focus on web/link security. Apparently with the optional IE toolbar addin it can scan links/search results before you click and notify you of potential issues in the site. I did notice it adds a 1-2 sec. delay in IE7s load time but it could be worth it considering all the positive things it offers to the normal web user.

The Remote Admin. utility has also matured since 7.5. Installation was quick and a host of new wizards makes setup a snap; don’t forget the convenient network install options! Looks like AVG changed the port numbers from 4156 to 4158  as default although you can change that in setup.

Overall this new and improved AVG is quite good; I really like the rootkit and deeper layers of scanning/detection that this new version offers….really looks like AVG is responding to the mass of new threats out there. The web and toolbar integration does seem a little young and hopefully will improve with age. I am very happy with it so far; and the crazy thing is the low amount of system resources it uses even with all/most modules installed! If your using Symantec or someone else you might really want to give AVG a look; they offer VERY good nonprofit discounts. I’ll post more as I begin to roll this out to the actual users/desktops…looks exciting so far!

We finally made the jump from EMS 4 to 6.1 and added the Virtual EMS browse option. For those who don’t know, EMS is an event management system from a company called Dean Evans and Associates (DEA). Basically it allows for the scheduling of rooms/resources based on a variety of criteria. EMS 6.1 is a software application that communicates to a database server (SQL); virtual EMS basically replicates that SQL data to a website for viewing (using IIS/SQL).

Obviously there are many software products that could accomplish this. We also looked at a couple other options; including Shelby (our CMS) and Serviceu. Both of these options seemed to meet our needs but EMS had much more functionality plus allowed a smooth migration from our discontinued EMS product. Serviceu also was a little on the pricey side.

Install basically consists of running an .exe file to setup the EMS software and create the necessary SQL database. (SQL Express included) Once that is done most of the configuration is done from the EMS client. (importing our old data, setting options, etc.) Once our data was imported it was time to install Virtual EMS. Again a simple .exe file launches the install that sets up the Virtual EMS software and links in with SQL and IIS. I must admit I wish running from Linux was an option; I typically prefer Linux for public-facing services. I don’t dislike Microsoft products because I believe they can be as secure as Linux stuff as long as properly configured and vice-versa. I do wish EMS would have included some sort of utility on the server side to manage backups easier. (Shelby includes a built-in utility that is really nifty) I will give DEA big points for quick and easy setup. Minus security/optimzation settings for IIS; the majority of EMS was up and running in under an hour.

Probably the biggest PLUS for EMS is their support; you pay for it but its worth every penny. I’ve called them for a couple questions and have never waited more than 2 minutes to speak with someone who knew their stuff and actually spoke good English (read American based support).

PROS
- SQL backend versus Access in older versions.
- Very detailed resource/room scheduling, multiple users in client/server format.
- Virtual EMS really is slick (custom logos, css/layouts and other customizations really enhance the offering).
- Upgrade credits really help with the initial sticker price.
- Support is AMAZING!

CONS
- While not crazy, the initial sticker price is a little higher than other options (but you do get what you pay for) especially the Shelby scheduling option (less than 500). With that said, upgrade credits do help quite a bit to lower the price. For less than $1500 we got the latest version of EMS Lite plus the Virtual EMS Lite package as well as a year of support/updates.
- Not really a negative but during install apparently password methods changed from V4 to V6 resulting in our EMS client user not being able to login immediately (a quick call to DEA fixed the issue, but did require running an .exe file to reset the password, would be nice if that info was said earlier on/patched in the software)

EMS really is an enterprise software; even in the Lite version. It offers much more detail/possibilies than I have seen in other packages and even greatly improves itself from older versions. Scalability is also in the product in a big way; the Lite verions can easily be upgraded to the large enterprise and beyond packages offered. If you need a better scheduling solution you might want to check out EMS from DEA. http://dea.com/

Just found this little gem…it is a free recursive DNS service. My ISP’s (Charter) DNS servers were extremely slow in resolving names; after switching to OpenDNS I have noticed a huge increase in name resolution. It also incorporates a range of neat features: usage reporting, phishing protection and mistake correction (example: you type in yahoo.cmo, it will still go to yahoo.com). They even have a FREE Business product that I am considering trying out at church. It has numerous options, perhaps the best is the reporting that can be done. If you are tired of your ISP’s DNS servers you might want to give OpenDNS a glance.

http://www.opendns.com/