Understanding Thin-Client/Server Computing

Joel Kanter
ISBN 1-57231-744-2

Chapter 1: The Thin-Client/Server Computing Model

• What Is Thin-Client/Server Computing?

• How Does Thin-Client/Server Computing Work?
• What Do You Need to Do, and Where Do You Need to Do It?
o Mobile Task-Based User
o Office Task-Based User
o Knowledge Workers
o Power Users with Creative and Analytic Task Needs
• Addressing the Issues: Management and Scalability, Access, Performance,
Security, and Total Cost of Ownership
o Management and Scalability
o Access
o Performance
o Security
o Total Cost of Ownership
• In Conclusion

During my tenure as a Microsoft product manager, members of the Windows Strategy

group introduced me to Citrix Systems' thin-client/server computing model, which
consists of the WinFrame server and Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) client
software. To me, the greatest appeal of this model was the removal of hardware
barriers to the introduction of the most current 32-bit software, which included both
development and productivity tools. I immediately realized the impact this computing
model would have on total cost of ownership, including application access from any
hardware platform, bandwidth-independent performance, and additional levels of data
security.

I could envision the model having important benefits for small and large corporations,
organizations, schools, system administrators, and even the user relationship to an
Internet Service Provider (ISP). Although WinFrame was already an authorized
extension to Microsoft Windows NT Server, Microsoft further validated the thin-
client/server model by licensing Citrix's MultiWin technology for future versions of
Windows NT Server, a project referred to by Microsoft as "Hydra."

The phrase that everyone is working with these days is "total cost of ownership"
(TCO), which really boils down to getting the most out of your technology investment
with the least amount of unnecessary effort. To that end, a thin-client/server solution
might well be the best thing that ever happened to your IS department. With thin-
client/server computing, your IS people can deploy applications instantly, without ever
needing to "touch" every desktop. No, you're not dreaming: mission-critical
applications can be deployed and updated on one central server. This TCO benefit
saves IS organizations literally months in rollout time. Such rapid application
deployment is just one of the many management benefits that can revolutionize your
IS department and your way of doing business. I'll cover the management issues that
pertain to the thin-client/server model in more detail in the "Addressing the Issues:
Management and Scalability, Access, Performance, Security, and Total Cost of
Ownership" section later in this chapter.

Another boon to your company as a result of adopting the thin-client/server model will
be your ability to give your employees access to the most current software
applications without breaking your budget. Currently, corporations that supply their
employees with personal computers must upgrade or purchase new hardware before
testing and rolling out new, more robust 32-bit software applications. If the
Information Systems (IS) department wants to deploy custom internal applications, it
needs to create and test client software for each operating system and version thereof
that the company uses. The thin-client/server model, using technologies from Citrix
Systems built on Microsoft Windows NT Server, allows rapid application deployment
regardless of platform. The application executes completely on the server--only mouse
clicks and keystrokes are sent to the server for processing, and video display is
returned to the client device via an efficient networking protocol and thin-client
software on the local device. As I've become more familiar with the technology and
seen it im-plemented across a variety of business situations, I've seen how quickly IS
departments become better able to serve their users: the deployment of applications
becomes easier to manage; users have greater access to applications and data, which
increases their performance; and security is enhanced because all data is maintained
on the network.

In this chapter, you'll be introduced to the basics of thin-client/server computing.

Chapter 2 gets into the relationship of the thin-client/server model to two-and three-
tier client/server computing and the download-and-run model used for Java
computing. But for now, let's start with an overview of thin-client/server computing--a
model of computing that's sure to catch on because it allows IS professionals and
organizations to maximize their resources and save time while providing quality
services to their users.

What Is Thin-Client/Server Computing?

The thin-client/server computing model involves connecting thin-client software or a
thin-client hardware device with the server side using a highly efficient network
protocol such as Citrix's ICA. The thin-client/server architecture enables 100 percent
server-based processing, management, deployment, and support for mission-critical,
productivity, Web-based, or other custom applications across any type of connection
to any type of client hardware, regardless of platform. The client hardware can include
Windows-based terminals, PCs, NetPCs, network computers, Apple Macintosh
computers, or UNIX devices.

Using the thin-client/server computing model, you won't need to purchase or upgrade
hardware just to run the latest software--instead, you'll be able to let it comfortably
evolve, leveraging your existing hardware, operating systems, software, networks,
and standards. Thin-client/server computing extends the life of your computing
infrastructure considerably.

How Does Thin-Client/Server Computing Work?

To see how thin-client/server computing really works, you need to start with the
server part of the model. To put it simply, in thin-client/server computing, all your
applications and data are deployed, managed, and supported at the server. In
addition, 100 percent of the application executes at the server. The application logic is
separated from the user interface at the server and transported to the client. (See
Figure 1-1.) This separation means that only screen updates, mouse clicks, and
keystrokes travel the network to the server.
FIGURE 1-1 The application executes on the server, and screen updates are sent to the client
device.

The thin-client software accesses and takes advantage of the server system software.
MultiWin, the extension to Windows NT Server, allows multiple concurrent thin-client
users to log on and run applications in separate, protected Windows sessions on the
server.

The ICA thin-client software that works with MultiWin enables a wide variety of client
devices to access the same applications--without special emulation software, changes
in system configuration, or application rewrites. Figure 1-2 depicts a server running
with four different computing devices that use thin-client/server software.

FIGURE 1-2 The Citrix WinFrame product line with the Citrix MultiWin technology enables a wide
variety of devices to access your applications.

With the server splitting the execution and display logic, only keystrokes, mouse clicks,
and screen updates travel the network. Thus, applications consume just a fraction of the
normal network bandwidth usually required. Because applications require fewer resources,
they can be extended from one location across any type of connection to any type of client
with exceptional performance.

About Citrix MultiWin

Citrix created MultiWin as an authorized multiuser extension to Microsoft Windows NT Server for its
WinFrame server. The MultiWin technology is currently available from Citrix Systems in WinFrame
Enterprise version 1.7, built on the Windows NT Server 3.51 platform. In mid-1997, Citrix licensed
the MultiWin technology to Microsoft as part of a cooperative development agreement for creating
native multiuser capabilities in Windows NT Server version 4 and future versions.
If you compare bandwidth requirements across shared Ethernet, wireless Ethernet, ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network), and modem speeds, you'll find a thin-client/server
protocol such as Citrix ICA extremely efficient. (See Figure 1-3.)

FIGURE 1-3 Using just a fraction of network bandwidth, ICA enables robust 32-bit applications to
generate consistent perfor-mance through any connection.
Using a protocol such as ICA with a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network
(WAN) connection, the user experience with many software applications is the same for
applications running on a WinFrame server as it is for applications running on a local
computer with a full complement of application and operating system software. In a thin-
client/server session, users can cut and paste between sessions, save to local storage
devices, and print to local or network printers.

In summary, the thin-client/server architecture includes three components sitting on top of

the Microsoft Windows NT Server:
• MultiWin, a multiuser layer on the server that simulates local application processing

• ICA display services on the multiuser layer that divide the application execution from the display
logic

• Thin-client software, such as the ICA client, on the client device that sends mouse movements and
keystrokes to the server while accepting display images

Separation of the application execution from the display logic reduces the amount of data
that needs to be communicated across the network, allowing efficient use of available
bandwidth--and in the case of ICA, very efficient use of low-bandwidth situations.

What Do You Need to Do, and Where Do You Need to Do It?

Thin-client/server computing is not necessarily for everyone, everywhere, all the time. It
should not be perceived as a religious technology war to see which company survives the
next great era in the information age. Less of that type of noise would help customers make
better decisions about what they need to accomplish. Ideally, to figure out what form of
technology is best suited to a particular business situation, an IS department should
conduct a functional assessment of the company's installed base and projected needs. To
that end, the thin-client/server computing model allows the use of most recent versions of
line-of-business, mission-critical, or information applications on different devices along
with existing native applications. IS departments will be able to deploy and integrate these
applications on existing systems where needed.

The thin-client software, especially the Citrix ICA client, can reside on any device: a
handheld computer, a network computer, JavaStation, NetPC, a Windows terminal, a PC
running any Microsoft Windows operating system (Windows 3.x, Windows 95, or
Windows NT), a Macintosh, or a UNIX workstation. You can also choose to run Windows
applications either locally or from a server.

A Personal Experience

In my previous positions as product manager, instructional designer, and technical writer at

Microsoft, I always outgrew the capacity of the equipment issued to do my work. Arriving at
Microsoft in December 1988, I was given a Compaq 386/20E with a 120-MB hard drive and a Mac
II with 5 MB of RAM and an 80-MB hard drive for my technical writing. By the time I left Microsoft in
October 1996, I was using a Toshiba notebook with a P75 processor, 24 MB of RAM, and an 850-
MB hard drive. Between testing different Microsoft products in alpha and beta stages and dealing
with huge e-mail files and an ever-increasing number of internal custom information and requisition
types of applications, my machines were forever at maximum capacity. My e-mail files often
reached the 100-MB limit.
Microsoft internal information and eform applications were written at different times with different
tools by various groups within the company and often increased the size of my system directory.
Occasionally, the applications conflicted because of different DLL versions and didn't work well
together. At the same time, I regularly used Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Excel,
Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Internet Explorer and development tools such as Microsoft Visual
Basic. As a knowledge worker with creative application needs, I was always working with macros
or using Office applications in some exotic manner for which they weren't intended. While I couldn't
imagine giving up local control of my applications, I would have been far better off not only keeping
my e-mail files on a server but also executing the mail client there as well and viewing my mail
through a thin client. I could also have better accessed a number of the many Microsoft internal
applications (for example, benefits, Help desk, product information) using a thin client residing on
my desktop. And rather than running Internet Explorer locally, I would have made better use of my
hard drive space and system resources if I had run Inter-net Explorer on a server and accessed it
with thin-client software on my desktop.

At Microsoft, thousands of users worldwide are serviced by ITG, Microsoft's IS group. ITG is
responsible for deploying and maintaining corporate applications. The thin-client/server model
would facilitate the rollout of the myriad applications used by Microsoft employees. At the same
time, this model would help maximize the use of each employee's computing resources.

The following table lists various user scenarios for thin-client/server computing. In the
next four sections, you'll see how each type of user mentioned in this table might actually
work within a company or organization.
User Scenarios

Tasks, Devices Application or Job Thin-

Settings, User Titles Client/Server
Type vs. Local
Apps. (%)

Mobile task- Handheld or Writing traffic tickets, Line-of-business 0% local/100%

based user mobile thin- monitoring car rental applications thin-client
client device returns, taking
restaurant orders,
reading gas/water
meters, tracking
 deliveries

Office task- Windows Traditional office Word processing, line- 0% local/100%

based user terminal, environments, with of-business thin-client
computer NetPC, or workers ranging from applications,
network temporary to information
marketers, administrative; bank
insurance claim tellers, tele-applications
adjustors; fast food
service; automobile
service departments;
information kiosks

Knowledge Notebook PC Project management, Productivity 50% local/ 50%

workers and/or desktop financial reporting, applications; groupware thin- client
PC, handheld proposal writing, sales, and communications;
devices presentations, e-mail, Internet, intranet, and
scheduling, contact extranet infor-mation;
management documents and
applications

Power users Notebook PC Knowledge worker All of the software used 70% local/ 30%
with creative, and/or desktop tasks, with the addition by the knowledge thin- client
analytic, or PC, and/or of statistical or scientific worker with the
engineering high-end analysis and research; addition of desktop
task needs workstation; periodical or book publishing applications,
handheld publishing; graphics; graphics software, and
devices multi- media and Web software development
authoring; software tools
application development

Mobile Task-Based User

An example of a mobile task-based user is a police officer with a thin-client mobile device
in her car. As the officer requires information, she can access any of the applications on the
server through her terminal via wireless communications. For example, she might be
giving a traffic ticket and need to check with the registry of motor vehicles. Other officers
might use maps or other information that is updated daily. The server that the police
officers are logged on to can be powerful and robust and connected directly to national
databases through high-speed lines. The device in the police car doesn't carry any
confidential information; all transactions are executed on the server and displayed on the
mobile device.
An express delivery carrier is another excellent example of a person who uses a mobile
client device with thin-client software. As this person picks up and delivers packages, he
enters the latest tracking and status data into his handheld device. The thin client in the
handheld device encrypts and transmits the information back to the driver's base of
operations, where all data is consolidated for quick processing and where the carrier has
access to the most up-to-date data. Again, no confidential information exists on the local
device because 100 percent of the application executes on the server.

Office Task-Based User

Imagine that you're the head of IS at a large insurance company. You need to provide the
claims department access to customized forms and tables, and you need to allow the
company access to a centralized database that contains current data. Although the claims
workers and other company personnel might need to use e-mail or scheduling software,
they would be unnecessarily distracted by any other software. These users don't need to
spend any time with the intricacies of an operating system. In settings such as this,
employees could be using a Windows-based terminal, NetPC, or network computer with
the applications completely developed, deployed, and maintained by an internal IS
department. Your company could even use Citrix ICA thin-client/server software with
some older PCs and effectively turn them into Windows terminals with just a network card
and a VGA video card and monitor. The insurance industry is certainly not the only type of
industry that can greatly benefit from using thin-client/server-based applications. IS
professionals who plan, deploy, and support systems for all types of customer service
professionals can increase their productivity and streamline their computing infrastructure
with this new technology. Whether providing information, taking orders, troubleshooting,
tracking customer information, or using group scheduling and communications, customer
service professionals are a segment of task-based workers whose computing needs can be
most efficiently met with thin-client/server technology.

Knowledge Workers
Are you responsible for providing IS services to knowledge workers? Knowledge workers
might include writers, editors, planners, managers, lawyers, doctors, clergy, and faculty
teaching at any level of education. Knowledge work is work that is based on researching,
extending, applying, and distributing information in one form or another. This type of
worker might prefer to use a desktop or notebook PC with a full complement of
productivity software. Even though the work of knowledge workers doesn't tax the limits
of the operating system or of locally run software, these workers might prefer storing
documents locally and having the choice of using this software with or without a network.
They could be using their notebook computers not only at work but also while on the road
or at home. On the other hand, many of these professionals might be equally well served
by a thin-client/server device and software solutions. It's a matter of how you, the IS
professional, balance the needs and work habits of your user base with IS resources.

As the table on page 9 indicates, knowledge workers might prefer to have about half their
tasks executed locally and half through a thin-client/server solution. I would say that tasks
might logically be divided along these lines: frequently used productivity tools are used
locally, and infrequently used productivity tools are run on the server. This split assumes
that other kinds of tasks--such as e-mail, information management, scheduling, and any
applications specific to the company--can save local resources by being run in a thin-
client/server scenario. Desktop icons for e-mail and other thin-client/server applications
would look identical to the icons for starting local applications. The only difference would
be in the execution: whether the application executed locally or on the server. Again,
deciding how and when to use thin-client/server technology is a matter of optimizing the
professional's time and computing resources, and of making sure that mission-critical
applications are always available, regardless of the proverbial rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Power Users with Creative and Analytic Task Needs

Power users share certain characteristics: they are often professionally interested in
technology; they push the limits of the software they regularly use; and they sometimes
need high-end tools that require robust, high-powered hardware that can handle intensive
local application processing. Because of their interest or their job requirements, some
knowledge workers also reach the limits of their computing capacity and become a
population of power users demanding not only performance but also storage capacity.
These users might require creative, analytic, or engineering applications. They often push
productivity tools beyond the limit that an IS group is prepared to support. Power users can
include artists requiring high-end graphics applications; researchers and engineers running
modeling, simulation, or intensive number-crunching applications; and software engineers
using development tools to create software for distribution to a small group or a wide
audience.
Hardware used by the power user can include high-end PCs, high-end notebook computers,
and dedicated workstations. Power users might even use a combination of devices along
with a handheld PC. Although power users would prefer to have a complement of tools on
their local devices, they might be best served if applications such as e-mail, scheduling, an
Internet browser, internal information, and form applications are run from a server in a
thin-client/server scenario. These applications need not take up either system resources or
space on the local computer. Power users would also benefit from having a backup set of
tools on a server that they could access through thin-client software. All tools executed on
the server are the ones that would be most easily supported by an IS department. Rather
than having to go to user sites, the support staff would be able to deploy, maintain, and
troubleshoot these applications from the server. In the table on page 9, the speculation that
power users might run up to 30 percent of their applications through a thin-client/server
scenario is a guess that these users spend most of their time with a core set of tools that are
best run locally. It also suggests that they would be best served if the other applications,
such as e-mail, scheduling, and information applications, didn't detract from either CPU
usage or storage; and software that didn't need to be on the local computer would not
conflict with applications that were required to be there.
Figure 1-4 illustrates how thin-client/server computing holds a place within the computing
environment of almost any user

FIGURE 1-4 This figure compares different user types, showing an estimate of the proportion of
time spent with locally run applications vs. thin-client/server solutions. within an organization.
From 100 percent of the applications for task-specific functions to approximately 30
percent for the most intense power user, this computing model can help you make the most
of your available computing resources.

Addressing the Issues: Management and Scalability, Access,

Performance, Security, and Total Cost of Ownership
So now you know the basics of how the thin-client/server model works, where it might be
used, and who might use it. You've also seen how this model will allow you to use your
computing equipment efficiently and your IS support and maintenance resources wisely. In
this section, I'll present the issues involved in using the thin-client/server model from the
IS perspective. Certainly, TCO is important to IS professionals. But just as key to them is
what the thin-client/server solution can offer to the company in terms of management and
scalability, access, performance, and security.

Management and Scalability

IS professionals clearly prefer single-point control. They don't want to travel around a
company providing support for each desktop computer that has an operating system. The
thin-client/server architecture allows IS departments to consolidate databases, file servers,
and application servers in the same location in which they manage user access. This
consolidation means that users worldwide can access the same centralized information and
that companies can avoid the security, cost, reliability, and management issues involved in
having widely dispersed databases. At the same time, workstations with a full complement
of software, including a desktop operating system and locally run applications, can be
deployed as required for a particular job. Figure 1-5 illustrates the way in which the server
is connected to file, application, and database servers.

FIGURE 1-5 Using the thin-client/server model, you can consolidate databases, file servers, and
application servers at one location while managing user access.

Scalability presents another challenge to IS professionals, who might need to scale a

growing enterprise from dozens to thousands of users. You'll find that Citrix's WinFrame
load-balancing option allows for extremely reliable deployment of thin-client application
solutions from a server "farm." With the WinFrame load-balancing scenario, users are
dynamically routed to the WinFrame server that offers the best application performance.
System administrators will still see and manage a single system image for the entire
network. Figure 1-6 shows a cluster of clients attached to a server farm using WinFrame
load balancing.
FIGURE 1-6 The Citrix load-balancing feature enables multiple WinFrame Servers with the Citrix
add-on to be grouped together to meet the needs of thousands of users.

Access
From that single location that houses all of your application ser-vers, file servers, and
databases, you can manage not only the users on your LAN but also the users in branch
offices, telecommuters, and mobile professionals. Because of the efficiency of not only
processing on the server but also of using network bandwidth, applications run extremely
well over existing remote-node servers and branch-office routers. Figure 1-7 shows a
WinFrame server farm.

Performance
In developing WinFrame and the ICA client, Citrix has optimized network performance for
connections as low as 9600 baud for use over a cellular modem. Because ICA clients are
sending only mouse clicks and keystrokes to the server and receiving only screen updates,
ICA clients maximize the use of your bandwidth whether you're on a LAN or using an
analog or ISDN modem.

FIGURE 1-7 The thin-client/server computing model gives you the power of single-point control to
extend applications over any connection to any client with increased performance and security.
Ironically, it takes a while for users to understand how this system software works because
application performance is something they take for granted. However, when you add the
ICA client to an old 386 with 2 MB of RAM and demonstrate the use of the latest 32-bit
version of your software, eyes light up.

Security
Security for thin-client/server computing comes from WinFrame's base of services
provided by Microsoft Windows NT Server. Windows NT Server provides security
through individual and group accounts, user profiles, and the differing levels of security
required for the U.S. Department of Defense's C2 security specification. In addition,
regardless of whether the user has the latest PC or a Windows-based terminal, sensitive
data can be maintained in a single secure place on the server.

Performance Research

Citrix commissioned the Tolly Group to evaluate the performance and scalability of the Citrix
WinFrame Enterprise (version 1.6) application server when supporting clients running 32-bit
Windows applications. Among the tests, the Tolly Group measured the time required for a Windows
95 client using a 28.8 modem connection to complete some common Microsoft Excel tasks when
an increasing number of LAN clients were running on the WinFrame server.
The results showed that up to 30 clients--29 LAN clients and 1 WAN client--could run Excel from a
dual-processor Pentium 90 WinFrame server without significant degradation. The WAN client took
about 30 seconds to perform a group of common Excel tasks with no other clients accessing the
WinFrame server. With 19 LAN clients simultaneously accessing the WinFrame server, the WAN
client's response times in Excel were degraded by less than 10 percent. With 29 LAN clients
simultaneously accessing the server, response time on the dial-up client was degraded by less
than 35 percent.

The Tolly Group found that the WinFrame server provides a scalable solution that is capable of
supporting up to 30 clients on a dual-processor Pentium server, without significant degradation in
response times for any one client. The Tolly Group also found that the WinFrame architecture
makes efficient use of bandwidth, indicating that it is a good solution for bandwidth-constrained
environments such as dial-up analog modem connections.

Total Cost of Ownership

Zona Research, quoted on both the Boundless and NCD Web sites, calculates a 54-57
percent savings by using the thin-client/server model over a comparable number of
networked PCs. The savings were projected over a five-year period by comparing the costs
of setting up and maintaining 15 PCs and 15 Windows terminal solutions using ICA clients
and a WinFrame server.
Leading research firms are seeing the impact that thin-client/server computing can make in
extended enterprises. Gartner Group, Intelliquest, IDC, and Zona Research are all
conducting comprehensive studies on the market potential and user and enterprise benefits
of the thin-client/server computing solution.
In summary, the thin-client/server architecture provides IS departments and professionals
with an excellent solution for managing databases, file servers, and application servers in
one location while providing a central point for user configurations and security. It
provides access to different types of users, including local users, remote users, and
telecommuters. In addition, IS professionals will be able to scale services from a small
number of users on a LAN to thousands of users worldwide. Corporations currently
deploying applications using Citrix's WinFrame include AT&T Wireless, Chevron, GE
Capital Services, and Sears. In the case studies in Chapter 8, you'll find even more
companies that are taking advantage of thin-client/server computing using Citrix tech-
nology, including LaSalle Partners, Omnes, Honeywell Europe S.A., Pyramid Breweries,
Standard Forms, Anne E. Biedel & Associates, Clarion Health, Mecon, Claimsnet.com,
Pro Staff, Relo-Action, Bell Mobility, and Vodac. Organizations as varied as the Orange
County Public Defender's Office, Florida Water Services, Goodwill Industries of Southern
Arizona, the Tulsa City-County Library, and Idaho State University are also benefiting
from this technology.

In Conclusion
The thin-client/server architecture can bring the best of different computing models and
architectures together. You can instantly provide access to virtually any business-critical
application, including 16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications, across any type of network
connection to any type of client. You get the power of single-point control for deploying,
managing, and supporting applications, including enterprise-wide rollouts, updates, and
additions. Users get the universal access to the applications they need, the exceptional
performance they require, and the familiarity and ease of use they're accustomed to. Plus,
this technology is cost-effective and secure. IS administrators can optimize resources by
providing thin-client/server solutions to task-based users via thin-client devices, or thin-
client/server software solutions to knowledge workers and power users.

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