NComputing U170

Screen quality is perfect: it’s nothing like the blocky, badly compressed desktop you experience with some remote-access solutions. Full-motion video runs smoothly at YouTube-friendly resolutions such as 480p, though you can’t really squeeze full-screen video out of the U170 at any of the higher screen resolutions.

You can view slideshows, animations and even play Flash games. Web-applications such as Google Maps or Docs run along at great speed: a fully cloud-based business could do well with a fleet of U170s linked back to a few high-spec PCs.

The U170 can also be used to set up multi-monitor displays, multi-user kiosks based around a single machine, or just to share a family PC among the kids when it’s homework time. With a high enough spec PC, you can even have one user gaming on the main box while someone surfs the net on the U170.
Too easy, you say? Well, yes.

If you actually want more than one person to use the host PC at the same time – say, your ideal maximum of ten users (nine U170s and a user on the main PC) – you can’t just install vSpace on a normal Windows box and start logging people in. Well, technically you can, but it’s not exactly legal.

Each user requires the appropriate Microsoft Windows licensing, which depends on the operating system and multi-user setup you have. You’re going to need a server operating system such as Windows Server 2003 or 2008, so you can actually get those licenses in the first place.

Small businesses with no IT department and a collection of individually licensed, off-the-shelf computers are going to find this a comparative nightmare. In reality it’s not so bad, but it definitely presents a barrier when converting to an NComputing setup. For home users, this is really a deal-breaker: buying client access licences so your kids can do their homework at the same time is just more hassle than it’s worth.

If you’re using Linux, licensing is likely to present much less of an issue (if it crops up at all). However, properly configuring and securing a Linux system from scratch isn’t any easier than taking the Microsoft licensing road – just cheaper.

If you can find a cost-effective (and legal) way around the licensing issues, replacing grossly overpowered machines with thin-clients really can cut your IT costs – in the office or at home. Just be sure to consult closely with your users first: anything from undocumented job functions to badly written software can make those “overpowered” machines secretly mission-critical.