We've taken advantage of "ThinStation" (http://www.thinstation.org/). It's an open source thin client operating system, based on linux, that can be installed to a local disk, run off a cd-rom, or booted right off the network. They have a tool available on their webpage where you just pick and choose the modules, software, drivers, etc that you want and then the site builds you the files you need to make it all work. You don't have to know Linux at all to use it. The configuration is very flexible as well. You can give yourself a desktop environment, or have it automatically connect a terminal server session. A few of the other features are:
- Auto reboot daily (optional)
- Pass through username and password to log on to a terminal server / Citrix session
- Have multiple display sessions. Switch by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Session#
We are running ThinStation on about 70 of our thin clients of which there are two or three different models of hardware. We took the route of building a PXE image and booting off the network. It works like a charm and the single image that we have includes all the drivers needed for all 70 of those thin clients, so we aren't juggling around different images and configurations all the time. I've spent quite a bit of time tweaking and figuring out what ThinStation can and can't do for us, so if you are thinking of going this route, drop me a note at amoss@... and I can send you a copy of the notes I have.
Andy Moss
Rosenboom Machine & Tool
- Auto reboot daily (optional)
- Pass through username and password to log on to a terminal server / Citrix session
- Have multiple display sessions. Switch by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Session#
We are running ThinStation on about 70 of our thin clients of which there are two or three different models of hardware. We took the route of building a PXE image and booting off the network. It works like a charm and the single image that we have includes all the drivers needed for all 70 of those thin clients, so we aren't juggling around different images and configurations all the time. I've spent quite a bit of time tweaking and figuring out what ThinStation can and can't do for us, so if you are thinking of going this route, drop me a note at amoss@... and I can send you a copy of the notes I have.
Andy Moss
Rosenboom Machine & Tool
--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "brucewbrannan" <bruce.brannan@...> wrote:
>
> There have been some posts on thin clients but they are over a year old. We are already running terminal server 2003 with XP desktops in our shops for MES. We've been playing around with Linux, which happens to boot about 50 times faster on older hardware. We are considering thin clients or simply installing a stripped down version of Linux. All we want is for the MES stations to auto load the Terminal Server session and have nothing else available on the shop floor. No browser, software, etc. The terminal server is already locked down. I just want them to be able to run Vantage.
>
> So, is there a Linux distro that is already tailored to this type of function (like a kiosk) or should we buy some thin clients like WYSE offers? How are these issues being handled today?
>
> Thanks for any feedback.
>
> Bruce
>