Is Terminal Services worth it?

[dsdjnpfvf]

Hi,

I have a small network of 6 PC at my office. We are looking to buy a new Windows 2000/2003 server and all new workstations. I was looking at using Terminal Services and thin clients instead of buying 6 new PCs. I looked at the extra benefits Citrix Metaframe can offer over Terminal services but that doesn't seem worth it.

Is it actually much of a cost saving if I was to go the think client direction with such a small amount of clients?

I'm aware of the cost of have a fairly high performance server but I'm not too clued up on how much this might cost licensing wise.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Daniel

 

[GlenJohnson]

[opiniononly]With only 6 clients, I'd buy new machines since the cost of them is low. You can usually find a company that will give you a deal if they know you want more than one machine. Plus, I've never liked getting into the cost of licensing with MS, but again, that's just an opinion.[/opinion] Check out

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/pricing/tsfaq.asp

Glen A. Johnson
"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
Proverb

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[Ashaman074]

In your situation, I would say no. Citrix has more value to a larger company looking to publish applications, maintain a large farm, etc.

For example, it includes Nfuse (or whatever they are calling it now) to enable applications to be accessed through a website; that way you truly can access it anywhere there is an internet connection. Public libraries, colleges, kiosks, etc.

It does load balancing, so if you have a LOT of conections, the load can be distributed among several servers.

It has features like auto-reconnect; if you had a lot of users on flaky net connections (Dial-up), this could be very nice.

It has some nice management tools.

At any rate, for only 6 people, and using it on a LAN rather than WAN, I wouldn't bother. Terminal services should work out well.

Keep in mind however, that not all applications support it. Check with your software vendors first!

As for costs, terminal services licenses (one per PC is required) are usually ~$90. Windows 2000 & XP Pro do not require them though. Citrix would start with 20 licenses, and is required on TOP of that (check pricegrabber for current pricing).

Asha'man

 

[abrannon]

This is just my opinion.

For six users in one location, neither Terminal server or Citrix is warranted. Do you currently have a Domain or a Workgroup?

You will get more bang for your buck by going with a server and 6 Workstations. You can get a good PC for just a little more than the cost of a Thin Client. You will need 1 server Lic, with 5 CAL's (Typical bundled software package from Server Vendor $800-$1000) and I would go ahead and purchase another 5 CAL's, that would give you the 6 you need and 4 to grow on. Then get 6 stand alone PC's to serve as WS.