Cyndie Zikmund, Technical Marketing Specialist over at VMware in Palo Alto pusblished a new article about a Zero Client strategy. This article gives you a link to a recetly pubslihed technical document which includes real life VMware View scenarios from customers who have successfully implemented a zero client strategy. A great document which help you to understand how to benefit from zero client environments. The cost less and have a smaller footprint, they’re easy to maintain and of course data security is a hot topic.

Link: VMware

Unfortunately I found this artivle only in German language but it may worth to translate with Google or another translation solution. The article is about the new Wyse X-Class Thin Laptop Client which comes with an SSD hard disk now. It supports Linux, Windows Embedded and Windows 7. And guess what! With Windows 7 it supports VMware View Local Mode. Great news! Did anyone already try that?

Link: searchdatacenter

eVGA has released a new zero client model for VMware View. The client comes with the same Tera1100 processor which is used in the Wyse P20 or the eVGA reference model. The difference is the form factor. The PD02 looks like a small cube and reminds me on a Pano Logic client. Please check the following website for more information: http://www.evga.com/articles/00611/

Kudos go to @skneuss for the information on www.viug.de.

I just got an email from Microsoft Connect saying that the Windows Thin PC Release Candidate is now available. Windows Thin PC is a smaller footprint version of Windows 7 that allows customers to repurpose existing PC hardware as thin clients. There is no need for a VDA license when using WinTPC. But be careful here! WinTPC will only be available for Software Assurance customers which is a bit of a customer lock in. As long as you are paying for the SA, you’re allowed to use the software. I think that software like Devon PC’s VDI blaster is better for repurposing old PC hardware.

Link: Microsoft Connect

Teradici released a new firmware for PCoIP zero clients. This release is only a maintenance release, which fixes some issues from version 3.3.0.

Here is an excerpt from the official release notes:

Compatibility Notes:

• VMware View 4.6 or newer is required to use USB enhancements in Firmware 3.3.x.

Resolved Issues:

• Fixed USB audio issue with VMware View guests running Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit host OS
• Fixed an issue where PCoIP Zero Clients could not connect to the VMware View Connection Server through certain load balancers
• Fixed an issue with a Logitech ClearChat wireless headset
• Fixed degraded performance with PCoIP Host cards on networks with packet loss, high latency, and/or low bandwidth
• Fixed password protection default setting
• Fixed CAC PIV endpoint smart card issue
• Fix for invalid OEM VPD (vendor product information) content
• Fixed issue with OSD appearing on the wrong set of monitors in certain quad display PCoIP Zero Clients
• Fixed issue with Power-over-Ethernet failing to power devices if VLAN enabled
• Language translation updates

Known Issues:

• Low Initial Quality for PCoIP Zero Clients connected to PCoIP Host Cards (15134-636)
• CD/DVD drive interoperability
  • Refer to the list of CD/DVD drives that have been tested.  See What CD/DVD drives have been tested with Firmware 3.3.x? (15134-566).
  • Note that a session disconnect may occur occasionally on disc eject/insert

We can expect all vendors to release their proven version of this firmware version soon.

WinTPC (Windows Thin PC) is a small footprint version of Windows 7 which should help customers to repurpose old computer hardware as a thin client. With WinTCP there is no need for a VDA (Virtual Desktop Access) license for accessing VDI desktops as the Microsoft connect website states. (See screenshot below)

At the moment Windows TPC is available for everyone through the beta program but this will stops latest when WinTPC will be released. As of an article at silicon.de the WinTPC software will only be available for Software Assurance customers. But anyway it should be possible to run the VMware View Client for Windows on WinTPC to access your VMware View environment. This might help to lower the investment costs for a VDI project. In the first step customers can repurpose their old PC hardware and then start a step by step soft migration to proper Zero client hardware like the EVGA or Wyse P20.

Stuart Robinson, Manager of Systems Engineering at Teradici shows how well PCoIP performs over a WAN connection from Orlando to Canada. This video is from this years HIMSS2011 event in Florida.

Devon IT today announced that their VDI Blaster is certified for VMware View 4 now. VDI Blaster is a solution which repurposes PC’s and turns them into thin clients. Companies can download VDI Blaster to their PC’s with USB key or  via network install.

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The German language blog www.vireference.de published an article which compares the three different kinds of Teradici hardware zero clients for VMware View. The main devices are: Class 1 (eVGA, Leadtek, Wyse P20), Class 2 (DevonIT, Verari) and Class 3 (Samsung thin client monitors). Beside the technical information, the article describes the compatibility for View 4. It should be possible to use Google translation for this article.

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Teradici published a new web site which gives you an overview of all Teradici PCoIP zero clients and their compatibility to VMware View 4 with software PCoIP.

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