14 DAY TRIAL // PC and server vendor Hewlett-Packard has introduced the company's first thin mobile client. The notebook works in conjunction with a centralized server that is linked to it via a wireless connection. Hp introduced two desktop thin clients, namely the Compaq t5730 and t5735 as an addition to the Compaq 6720t. While the 6720t and t5730 are powered by Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, the t5735 is running Debian Linux and the open-source applications suite.
HP has built the thin client notebook using the technology it acquired last year, with the purchase of Neoware ($214 million). The company sold hardware and software for desktop PCs that could be managed by a central cluster of servers. The Neoware thin-client systems running Linux completed HP's Windows-based systems.
The 6720t mobile PC is built around an 1.06-GHz IntelCeleron M Processor 423 and comes with a 15.4-inch display powered by Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 1 GB of memory, a 1-GB solid-state flash drive, and three USB 2.0 ports. Since the device runs the applications directly from the server, there is no need for larger storage space.
The small flash drive is inexpensive and extremely fast. The server is also handling processing for all business applications such as the Microsoft Office suite. Communication is done via a Wi-Fi network. Moreover, the computer comes with a PC memory slot that allows the computer to connect to 3G broadband wireless networks.
The thin client is aimed at companies whose employees are working mostly outside their office, especially to inventory managers, office administrators or insurance claim processors. According to HP, the thin client is much easier to maintain, and at the same time, they are more secure, since the applications are installed by specialized staff directly on the server. This way the risk of virus infections is extremely low, because the user does not have effective access to the datacenter that is serving the software.