Thin Client for the Small Office

Microsoft designed Windows XP so that only one user at a time could access a given PC, either via the local desktop or a remote Terminal Services client. But the OS and today’s hardware can easily accommodate more concurrent users, especially for typical office chores. Enter WinConnect Server XP, a program that lets three remote users log onto a Windows XP system while someone is using the host machine locally.

ThinSoft recommends at least a 1-GHz CPU and 256MB of RAM to support one remote user and one local user. Each additional remote user calls for an extra 100 MHz of CPU speed and 64MB of memory. So, for example, a 2.4-GHz, 512MB system can support at least four concur- rent users.

* More Networking!

WinConnect exploits Windows XP’s built-in Terminal Services based on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 5.1. All of the application logic runs on the host machine; the client machine simply processes display updates and relays the user input to the host.

Small offices can run critical business applications on a WinConnect-equipped PC as the server and send them to remote desktops. Linux shops that need to run Windows programs occasionally can set up a Windows XP machine and have users access it via the WinConnect RDP 5.1 client for Linux ($99). And home users can unlock the shackles of a Smart Display device, which disables the local desktop when the mobile display is in use. With WinConnect, you can have multiple Smart Display devices accessing an XP machine without locking out local access to the system.

On our tests (using a 1-GHz Pentium III system with 512MB of memory as the host), we could not detect any sluggishness in True Color mode when running business applications remotely over a 10-Mbps network. WinConnect Server XP makes thin-client computing a viable option for small offices on a budget.

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