Citrix, Thin Clients, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows XP, XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer, , , , , ,

One of my customer needs to have robust workstations in a factory where there is a lot of dust and vibrations. This is a common environment for a factory but it doesn’t really suit for a computer. My customer is spending a lot of money in the maintenance of these computers. Worker in the factory need to access the company main ERP with those computers and they are accessing this software through a XenApp connection.

My project was to build from the ground a new Citrix Architecture (XenApp / PVS / EdgeSight / PCM / XenServer / Netscaler etc…) and early in this project I wanted to include endpoints as a full part in this architecture. (If endpoints are failing, old plug-in versions for ex) the whole architecture won’t mean anything if users are not able to have the full and last functionality introduced in this project.

The factory workstations were a pain in the ass for everyone, for the IT department, technicians were always on the move, spending time trying to repair and most of the time just replace the computer. For the Finance department, it’s very expensive to replace computer every month (basic / normal life cycle renewal for a workstation is about 3 year) and the need for more technicians to change and repair these machines.

With issues listed above, bringing thin clients in this project was obvious and I really wanted to try the new Wyse product Xenith. So I called my french contact Boris Espiand (Wyse France) to borrow me this ‘HDX ready’ thin client. Less than one week after, I had it in my lab ready to test it. As my personal lab is limited to my XenServer @ Home, I won’t make any performance test but I will be more focus on features and integration in the architecture I chose to design for my customer.

I tested access to XenApp 6 published desktop (Hosted Shared), XenDesktop 4 with Windows 7 virtual machines and with Windows XP virtual machines (Hosted VDI)

Of course HDX features have been tested, I plugged all sort of devices, webcam, wacom devices, mouses, USB hard drives, USB pen drives…

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Stephane Thirion

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  • Selecting a thin client is never easy.

    Actually the most difficult point is to qualify the “Citrix XenApp and XenDestop compliant” item.

    HDX is a wide thing and there are many HDX subfeatures.

    For now, only a Windows core can handle all of them (HDX for Flash, MediaStream, Universal Printing, HDX 3D …) and then you have to select your thinclient not only for the price and the ease of deployment but also for all features you could need.

    I really like the Zero client concept however when it comes to cover all HDX features the only choice is a “fat” Windows Embedded thin client.

  • You’re right Pierre, on the paper everything look perfect, marketing team works a lot to make us believe everything is perfect in a perfect world.
    I must admit I was a bit disapointed about the MediaStream and HDX for Flash with this device. I was looking for a full HD video or flash movie to play very smoothly but I wasn’t able to do it.

    This is a very nice device, very fast and reliable, very easy to manage without having a central administration software.

    I will continue to test this device on the second part, I think I will be done tonight or tomorrow and then I have a Windows XPe one to test as well (Wyse Rx0L)

  • ahh super … Je crois que je vais m’abonner à ce blog 😉

    Par contre j’ai un souci avec XenDesktop sur une installation toute fraîche … impossible de faire un quick deploy (ou un deploy tout court) .. à chaque fois j’ai deux choses étranges :
    – il me demande des alternatives credentials pour ma BDD (alors que j’utilise le SQL Express fourni avec XD)
    – il me fait un “Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation” au moment de finir le quick deploy

    Déjà rencontré le souci ?

  • Geert

    Very good review. Got the same experience with the device. Nice for a factory or place you don’t use it very often. Wouldn’t advice using it for an real task/office worker, slow screen refresh etc.

    HDX support sticker can be removed 😉

    • I think this sticker can stay, because HDX = SpeedScreen 😛