Thin Client Network Connections
Once you have performed the steps as outlined previously, you will
need to fi nalize your design for the thin clients themselves. If your
current deployment is only capable of 10 Megabit, you will defi nitely
want to upgrade the wiring and move to a minimum of 100 Megabit.
100 Megabit provides plenty of bandwidth for very crisp response time
from the servers, and mouse and user interface response is excellent.
At the time of this writing, running Gigabit to the desktop has not been
tested by the author; but if your thin clients support that speed that is
an excellent buffer and should provide even greater capabilities. If users
are using devices such as laptops, always encourage them to use a wired
connection in the offi ce. In the case of X windows, it will avoid having to
use a licensed bandwidth compression interface.
At the time of this writing, Gigabit connections to the desktop are
becoming more and more commonplace. If part of your deployment
is a redesign of the network, run the highest-rated wiring that you are
allowed. The author is anticipating that Gigabit thin clients will become
available very shortly. More and more software is making use of the
3-dimensional capabilities of thin client video cards, and each step in this
direction requires additional bandwidth.
Testing the Network
Anyone that has supported users knows that often they will discover
things that the technical staff never anticipated. It's important to turn
that into a positive, and isolate as many problems as possible before fi nal
deployment. It's effective to place a few thin clients at each of your sites,
and on each of the networking technologies that you have selected and
perform their regular day-to-day duties. Some types of connections such
as X windows sessions are not stateless, and will drop if the network
under-performs. If you are considering a new vendor for networking
hardware, they should allow you to install demo devices and test them
on your infrastructure. Be mindful that sales people sometimes over sell
their products or don't understand exactly your design goals, so a realworld
test with their hardware before major purchases is always a
good idea.
Summary
In this chapter we see that though the complexity of networking cannot
be stated strongly enough, it is important to design a
rock-solid and stable network before your deployment begins. Follow
standard methods and designs and work with your hardware vendors
to make the best possible use of their equipment. Once you plug the thin
client in the wall, you will be excited at the things to come and will be
ready to confi gure the application servers.
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