Pyramid Ltd is in
a position to offer Server Based Computing solutions through another
division of the Pyramid Group, Server Centric. We have a wealth
of experience in planning, testing and deploying thin client technologies
into some of the most demanding IT environments in the world.
We specialise in the implementation of Citrix
MetaFrame, Windows 2000 Terminal Services and associated technologies
to deploy applications over the LAN, WAN or Internet and in many
heterogonous environments.
Thin Client computing and server based computing
(SBC) has evolved a long way from the green screen terminals of
mainframes into a technology that today can present almost any
application to almost any desktop or handheld client. Today the
most prominent technologies in thin client computing are Citrix’ MetaFrame
and Terminal Services in Windows 2000.
The trend towards centralising Windows applications
has been driven by a number of historical factors facing today’s
IS departments: client server performance, administration costs
and desktop upgrade costs.
The Terminal Services capability of the Windows
2000 operating system frees IS/IT departments from the need to
install applications on to all client PCs and other devices. The
application can be installed once on a central server or farm*
of servers and then deployed within a few minutes to all clients.
All that is required is a small piece of client software installed
on a client desktop machine or handheld device.
Terminal Services work by executing the application
on the server, utilising its memory and processors rather than
the clients’. Screen, keyboard and mouse information is then
intercepted, compressed and placed into a very efficient protocol
such as Citrix’ ICA. These protocols then run over the network’s
existing protocol stack such as TCP/IP or IPX and are interpreted
at the client by the client application or Web Browser. Efficiency
of these protocols has been developed to the extent that even users
connecting to the terminal server over a modem can receive performance
similar to working locally on the corporate network. This efficiency
also has the benefit of reducing network traffic on today’s
already congested networks.
*With Citrix software. For further information
on Citrix, click here.
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