Sun Microsystems’ new Sun Ray Server 3.0 might actually bring thin clients into the ready for prime-time category. The big breakthrough is the bandwidth management software that allows these clients to run across standard high speed internet connections. Though they’re still targeting large organizations, this new version opens up the home market, via internet providers. A company like AOL could market a totally managed thin client with a monthly service fee.
This could be a killer product if marketed well. For the stereotypical AOL user, a managed desktop space on a server farm delivered over broadband would be a good option. Privacy is certainly a concern, I just hope the stereotypical AOL user wouldn’t do anything illegal or immoral on a server managed by someone else (get your own computer for that mess). However, since we already trust e-mail to people like Yahoo! and Google, other basic functionality might not be much of a stretch. Could this be a new round of the long-hyped application server…just not over HTTP?
“A company like AOL could market a totally managed thin client with a monthly service fee.”
Haven’t dedicated machines already been tried in the marketplace…and failed?
“Haven’t dedicated machines already been tried in the marketplace…and failed?”
The ones I’ve seen were those bizarre e-mail-only keyboard-and-greyscale-LCD units that were obviously crippled and of limited use for any monthly fee. Sun Rays, on the other hand, give full access to Solaris, GNOME, Mozilla/Firefox, StarOffice, etc. It’s basically a PC without any moving parts and no sysadmin roles for the customer. The only thing I think might fall short with a Sun Ray might be 3-D graphics for gaming, so that could be a marketing hurdle if they try to cover that up.
The only thing I think might fall short with a Sun Ray might be 3-D graphics for gaming, so that could be a marketing hurdle if they try to cover that up.
The new Sunrays allegedly sport an nVidia chipset and the new protocol is supposed to allow for tunneling of OpenGL meshes and textures which are rendered locally. Unfortunately my information on “Sunray 3D” isn’t current and it could simply be an experimental project that Sun has abandoned.
The only thing I think might fall short with a Sun Ray might be 3-D graphics for gaming, so that could be a marketing hurdle if they try to cover that up.
I think it is pretty much a none issue as those who use AOL, would tend to have a dedicated gaming machine for their kids to use.
As for gaming overall, contra to the big myth, from my little informal surveys, you’ll find that the vast majority of people out there tend to use gaming machines for their games, and thus, the fact that the SUN Ray would be crap as a gaming machine is a none issue.
If Joe or Jane Doe can connect to the internet, surf, write letters to aunt perl and play the odd game of solitare, all done without worrying about looking after their computer or installing extra software to keep themselves safe, believe me, if marketed well, it will be a real winner.
As a previous poster said, we as users already trust our emails with the likes of Yahoo! and Hotmail, so why not dump everything on a remote server for someone else to manage the finer IT issues and allow the end user to get back to what they’re interested in doing.
It’s great that Sun is really pushing Thin Client technologies, they are an under-rated technology especially for corporations. It’s a pity that the only visible Thin Client’s for the x86 world (RDP support) are either Wyse or HP/Compaq, (which from what I heard HP/Compaq are rebadged Wyse anyway).
PS. Many TCO studies find that Thin Client infrastructures, are cheaper when running more than 15-20 clients on a network…
[tongue-in-cheek]If AOL doesn’t make a move for this device, it’d be a real …I don’t know… eye opener if a competitor did[/tongue-in-cheek]
“It’s a pity that the only visible Thin Client’s for the x86 world (RDP support) are either Wyse or HP/Compaq, (which from what I heard HP/Compaq are rebadged Wyse anyway).”
On Sun’s website, I saw a blurb about the new Sun Ray Server software running on Linux. It’d be interesting to see more information about this.
I am running the beta of version 3.0 on linux with our existing thin clients. Works fine. We are running it without any problems.
Sunrays could certainly be a killer product if marketed properly. Remains to be seen if Sun can execute on the marketing side. The technology side is pretty solid. We boot them into full screen citrix clients, end user don’t even know they aren’t using a pc.
Yes … ISPs could offer an awesome “always on,” totally managed thin-client package to subscribers. Nice PR job, Sun!
Unfortunately, at over $1000 a pop for a screen with a processor, these Sun Ray clients aren’t terribly different from their predecessors. Not to mention the cost of the Sun Ray Server licenses and the server hardware to run the apps. ISPs would have to recoup those costs, pay sysadmins and tech support, and make a profit. They’d have to charge $80 a month on top of current cable/DSL rates to make it worth their while.
Joe Q Public isn’t going to pay that kind of monthly fees for a machine with no tangible ownership or resale value, a machine that doesn’t run Word or Quicken or iTunes or Kazaa or any commercial games, when for less money he could buy an iMac or a couple of Dells. That would be like paying more to lease a Yugo than it costs to buy a BMW.
Joe Q Public has already refused to use “Internet appliances” even when ISPs give them out for free!
I’m sure Sun Ray Server 3.0 is an upgrade, but it’s no breakthrough.
Thin clients can be great for homogenous environments, and where every additional hour of employee uptime is like another $50 in the bank. Not so for the average home user, where the ability to, say, choose what programs you want to run predominates over corporate priorities like network security, control over employee data, ability to restrict what apps can be run, hardware failover and ease of maintenance.
I was about to post the same thing as JH. The minimum price for a Sun Ray seat appears to be $459; I suspect you can build a diskless x86 machine cheaper than that and use LTSP. I wonder if Sun Ray server software for Linux will end up legitimizing LTSP…
Points noted, howver I don’t think that necessarily means, flip a coin and pick one or the other. A home user would like some of the advantages thin clients offer, without the present disadvantages offered with thick clients. Moores law, and other technolgies either here, and immature, or arriving. Could make the reality possible. At least a hybrid, with good remote managment, right out of the box. Would go far.
I was about to post the same thing as JH. The minimum price for a Sun Ray seat appears to be $459; I suspect you can build a diskless x86 machine cheaper than that and use LTSP. I wonder if Sun Ray server software for Linux will end up legitimizing LTSP…
You are assuming however, that SUN will choose not to forgo profits off SUN Ray appliance in favour of making the money at the software end of the equation.
The fact remains, I’ll bet my bottom dollar, you’ll see AOL offer something like a $150-$200 deal, where by the end user pays a small introductory price for a SUN Ray appliance, and the ISP absorbs in the initial loss in favour of making it back via their service providing, just like how a mobile phone company will sell a prepaid mobile phone to end customers below retail pricing knowing that the phone is locked onto their network for atleast 12 months.
Assuming that, hypothetically, AOL charge $30 per month, sell the machines at $200, and buys the machines off SUN at $350 a pop, that still means that even in a year, they’re going to make a cool $210 per customer; not too bad if you ask me.
I think home users will get to certain apps, like Gmail or Turbotax or whatever being served as network applications. Either as rich web apps or served via Java applets or even X. And from the other side, desktop applications will become more network aware.
And that’s how you’ll see more client-server apps in the home, not people trading their $400 eMachine for thin clients. At least not anytime soon!
Personally at work I’d like to push thin clients and OpenMOSIX right now … but it’s hard to get corporate clients to consider that over a standard Windows solution, even after they see the cost savings. Home users are going to be an even harder sell.
The pricing is $99 per seat, there are volume discounts:) You don’t need the Sun Ray 170 for most tasks, you can use the old CRT connected to your desktop without any issues, so the initial cost is not that bad if you are on the cheap. I’ve used Sun Rays and also have one at home, they are lots of fun and perform extrememly well.
I think one thing of note should be made. There’s no hard and fast rule that says the server has to be off premises. The majority of the problems people have are because they (or viruses, spyware, etc) can get to the client machine. One could just as well have a remotely administered server somewere in a closet. That would take care of a lot of issues, including “trust” as far as personal data is concerned.
“I’ve used Sun Rays and also have one at home, they are lots of fun and perform extrememly well.”
They’re a fricking THIN CLIENT. The point is they don’t perform. You presumably mean the server you had running them performs extremely well…
I’ve used both NeoWare and Wyse’s Linux-based thin clients. They’re neato
And they support the X11 protocol (in addition to Citrix and RDP and others).
During bootup, they both (behind the scenes) seem to be running a modified RedHat installation.
(Capio One and 5125SE, respectively)