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The skinny on thin clients

Advocates of thin client servers are beating the drum for the technology as an important kiosk component. The technology's supporters say the servers are easier to install and operate than traditional network operating systems.

September 22, 2002

(Editor's note: This is the first of two stories that will focus on thin client servers and their potential in the kiosk industry. Part one is an introduction to thin client servers and discusses possible deployments. Part two will profile current kiosk projects that utilize thin client servers.)

Speculating on the future of thin client servers and their use in the kiosk industry is not an easy task. Simply defining a thin client can be challenge enough.

Essentially, a thin client server can be defined as "operating system light." Thin clients take on the same functions as a normal operating system, but do it in a stripped-down version. The system handles the specific tasks required for the environment it occupies, nothing more, nothing less. It can plug directly into a company's intranet system, requiring less time and complexity in setting up.

Thin client servers have conceptually been around for more than a decade as a less-expensive alternative to traditional computer operating systems. But even the term "thin client" is becoming a bit of an anachronism. In recent years, the delineation between thin clients and their traditional big brothers, known as fat clients, have blurred, according to the Web site Thin Planet, which covers the thin client sector.

"Most thin clients are powered by back-end centralized servers that are capable of serving all types of clients, fat and thin," the site states. "In recognition of this fact, the new term `Server-Based Computing' is being used more frequently."

But to many people in the kiosk industry, the thin client retains its traditional name. And to them, thin clients represent an exciting avenue of growth for an industry that is always looking for new ways to expand its horizons.

"The goal has been to find the most reliable combination of hardware and software possible," said Sylvia Berens, vice president of Apunix Computer Services Inc.

To Berens, that combination is thin client servers.

Taking stock

Apunix took advantage of thin client technology in 1999, using thin clients to power Alamo Rent a Car's Fun Finder Kiosks. The kiosks, which run off Sun Microsystems' Sun Ray Information Appliances without a local operating system for the front end, use Sun Netra appliance servers for the on-site server. The kiosks offer localized information on weather, travel, and services in the city the kiosk serves.

Sun Microsystems' Cobalt Qube, left, is an example of thin-client technology that can been utilized in kiosk deployments.

To Berens and her husband, Apunix president Peter Berens, the Alamo project is the model for kiosk-thin client convergence. The server is easy to install and maintain locally because of its simplicity.

"Thin clients are about ease of maintenance and stronger reliability," Peter Berens said. "By removing the back-end service expenses more kiosk projects could blossom."

"The cost of maintenance can be a deal-killer in many large-scale roll-outs," he added. "Companies see them go to pilot and see the complexity of the solution and don't go beyond the pilot stage."

During the Retail Systems 2002 retail show in Chicago June 24-27, Apunix showcased a totally appliance-based kiosk solution in Sun's booth. The solution, which utilized a Sun Qube thin client server with Apunix's BlackBox Kiosk Appliance, is touted as a cutting-edge application by Apunix because it can be installed on-site without the use of a keyboard or monitor. The server can be connected to its intended IP network through the push of a few buttons. The diskless BlackBox boosts a preconfigured version of Mandrake Linux from a CompactFlash memory card.  

Peter Berens said the thin client bridges the gap that sometimes prevents kiosk projects from maturing beyond test pilots into full-fledged rollouts.

"We can simplify the hardware for a kiosk deployment," he said. "They're simple to install, simple to swap out. It overcomes some of the obstacles of a large-scale rollout."

Bill Roth, Cobalt-Linux group marketing manager for Sun Microsystems, also cites efficiency and cost effectiveness as reasons why the kiosk industry should lean toward thin clients. Roth said Sun's Cobalt Qube thin client server costs $1,149 ordered directly off the Internet. A higher-end appliance can cost $1,600.

For that, Roth said, you get a server that can be operational shortly after you pull it out of its package.

"We'll give you a box that takes less then 15 minutes to set up," Roth said. "A manager can plug it in and you're hooked up and ready to talk to your corporate office.

"Let's say you have 500 locations, something like a 7-Eleven," he added. "The advantage is it's going to be easy to use. The franchisee doesn't have to know much. You just plug it in, screw it to the underside of the counter and it's going to work. You get the utility of the computer without the hassle."

Where they work

But some thin client advocates warn that the solution is not an absolute killer application throughout the kiosk industry.

Thin clients tend to do best in specialized situations where a limited and specific amount of content is made available to customers. Adam Parker, director of product development at Amicus, the electronic commerce division of CIBC, said what works for Alamo may not be as effective for a company with a network of public access Internet kiosks.

"The Alamo scenario makes much more sense," said Parker, who advocates thin client servers as an efficient operating system solution. "Kiosks need to be part of a larger strategy. If the business model relies on having a kiosk or computer device that provides information, you're going to have a really hard time. But if you're offering a service or selling tickets, that makes a lot of sense."

But David Manks, senior director of product marketing for software provider Citrix Systems Inc., believes thin client servers do have a future in applications that require a certain navigational and services flexibility.

"We talk about it as the virtual workplace," Manks said. "I can be anywhere I want to be; the work place is not a destination any longer. Imagine going to an airport kiosk and checking on the Internet and an e-mail you've been seeking. That's what thin client and server-based applications can do."

Being there

But a thin client solution is not effective if a company passes on the technology. Parker said corporate buy-in can be one of the greatest challenges in moving a thin client project to the deployment phase. Parker cites the financial industry as a perfect example of an industry resistant to specialized solutions such as thin clients.

"It's stop and go and you have to work it out," he said. "This kind of creative solution requires thinking outside the box. It's hard to get management in the basic bank mindset to understand the real risk-reward."

Parker said if the financial industry buys in to the concept of thin clients, then it could be possible to achieve the kind of successful convergence between ATM machines and kiosks that has long been discussed in both sectors.

"The reality is that if the ATM business is going to grow, it's only going to grow in two ways," he said. "One is through acquisition and consolidation. But eventually you'll hit a ceiling. The only other way is to introduce new revenue-generating supplies and processes.

"To do that effectively and for the long term, the thin client architecture offers the most promise. You basically configure the client one way and you're done theoretically."

The future is Â…

In a 2000 white paper for IBM Corp., Linux program developer Jim McQuillan argued that thin client servers were finally emerging as a viable operating alternative to "fat" client servers.

He wrote that compatibility problems between different versions of the Java operating language and hardware capacity problems dogged thin clients. But he said the landscape has changed thanks to the emergence of open source networks such as Linux, an operating system that can be downloaded off the Web, and the maturity of Java.

"The availability of thin clients based on open commodity hardware has made it easier for users to understand the technology," McQuillan wrote. "Economies of scale will help keep costs down, while providing security for those apprehensive of thin clients. Customers can be assured that thin client hardware can be quickly and easily turned into a traditional PC, by simply adding a hard drive, floppy, and CD-ROM."

Roth said the convergence of thin clients and kiosks have benefited thin client manufacturers and kiosk deployers alike. While the thin client server can streamline kiosk projects and make them more efficient, the needs of the kiosk industry have forced thin client manufacturers to consider improvements to their product.

"The kiosk market brings in several refinements for us," Roth said. "The unit has to be bulletproof. It has to handle shock and vibration. It has to run forever with the fewest parts possible and it needs to be appropriate for the situation."

In a way, thin clients and the kiosk industry have been able to help each other out. It remains to be seen just how far this cooperation goes.