VMware Horizon Community
mrstorey303
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

'Best Of Breed' Thin / Zero Client - Blast, Horizon 7

We've deployed a new VDI environment based on some pretty high end server and storage infrastructure, and I've been tasked with identifying a few thin / zero client devices to get in and test.

I'm not too familiar with this hardware space, so I just wondered what you guys considered 'best of breed' or industry standard thin / zero client devices which support all the latest Horizon 7 tech like Blast Extreme?

Thanks

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26 Replies
Gagan201110141
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hello;

I'm not sure how helpfull I can be but I have used a bunch fo the Zero Clients I work in the educational area so it will be more based in a class rooms and lab's ect

Dell Wyse; They make good units there Imaging tools are not the best and you pay alot for what you get

They have Windows Thin's and Zero's

If you can get a deal get Windows 7 Embeded and just run a Kiosk Script or just Horizon ontop of it.

You can run the Linux cilents as well they u can just setup to run as a host and conenct via a person user name and password very simple but doesn't do well in a kiosk mode

Lenovo ThinkCentre M Series all in ones if what we use now

If you can get a deal get Windows 7 Embedded and just run a Kiosk Script or just Horizon ontop of it.

Pretty much you can run Windows Thin OS with any hardware and setup scripts to run Horizon ontop of anything.

The Intel NUC"s if you like to build up your own PC we have Unbuntu 16.04 with a M2 drive for under 300 bucks it runs Horizon like a dream and kicks all the Windows based Thin Client out of the water but you have to deal with no USB support from VMWare.

You can get a raspberry pi 3 and run VMware Horizon as Cilents for the cheapest way I know of right now

Raspberry Pi Thin Client project

I have personally tested all of these units and it will come down to $$$ and getting the best deal. You want to find something that is easy to manage and setup as well. All of these companies offer imaging tools and soultions. Most of the FREE or open source stuff isn't that great so it's always going to come up to. You will get what you pay for.

bjorn_lundquist
Contributor
Contributor

The Raspberry Pi approach is really interesting.
Only VMware would release a good client for it cause the one for "ARM linux" doesn't have support for hardware H264 on the Pi (the Pi has an hardware onboard H264 decoder) making it kind of useless for desktop works (CPU lies att a constant of 90-100% on the Pi).

This is the same client that comes with the Raspberry Pi Thin Client project.

We use it for some special cases but for the general user Its not ok.

We didn't put Nvidia GRID cards in every host in our Horizon Cluster not beeing able to use them (PCoIP or Blast over H264)

/Björn

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mrstorey303
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Cool, thanks.

I'd prefer a complete, 'works out of the box' solution, rather than manually building something myself with pi, nuc's or the like.

Anyone have experience with these guys?

https://www.10zig.com/resources/vdi-blog/vmware-horizon-7-10zig-blast-extreme-zero-clients-now-certi...

Never heard of the company before - but they look to be one of the few vendors supporting the latest horizon protocols?

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Gagan201110141
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

^^ I saw 10 Zig at Vmware world they are pretty legit; they don't have a good KIOSK or self service sign on method but if your users are using like AD account to log in they are great. They are easy to manage and you can get them cheap. They looked really good at VMworld when I checked them out and talked to there reps.

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psb1963
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I used the LG 23CAV42K Monitor Zero Client for my VDI POC.  I was impressed with the simplicity on setting up PCoIP on them. They worked well, easy to do Teradici updates.  High recommendation.

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RyanHardy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

We went with Dell Wyse P25 zero clients as I liked the stripped down OS and interface. Teradici offers firmware updates and a good management console - HOWEVER they just changed their business model and you'd have to check if it fits you.

Anyway if I were to plan a fresh start now I'd look at Blast clients because VMware seems to push this technology pretty hard to replace PCoIP sometime in the future. 10Zig would be a manufacturer I'd take a closer look at.

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Ray_handels
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

We've tested a bunch of TC's but best overall (if you are to use PCoIP) are PCoIP zero client. Just look for the cheapest ones as they all use the same technique, Teradici's PCoIP chip. We now use LG's and Dell/Wyse TC's but also tested with Samsung etc.

These things only cost about €200 and have better performance than any other device we tested (and we did the machine to thin client build as well). Also management is very easy. One Tera MC, DHCP for setting the TC to connect to the manager and your good to go.

Just 2 downsides to this.

1. No idea how long VMWare will keep PCoIP as a supported protocol as they are pushing on Blast. We tested with W10, vGPU and blast and for now I'm just sticking with PCoIP. Blast scrambles the screen, PCoIP just works.

2. Teradici is not the loving kind of company. The MC (which you most definitely need) has always been free of charge with limited functionality and up until 2000 devices. Functionality was more than enough for us. They are now forcing everyone into a payed model. Free MC is only 100 devices and you need to pay €20 per device per year to use it now. But you do get VIP support for that (whatever that may mean).

dpeterson
Contributor
Contributor

I've tried a bunch of different zero clients: evga, 10ZiG, Samsung, Cisco and LG.  I have a few dozen of the 10ZiG V1200-P's in production right now and they run great.  I switched over to buying the Samsung NX-N2-T zero client because it is cheaper.  I have roughly 50 or so of them in production.  From my testing most if not all of the zero clients perform the same; assuming they have the same Teradici chip in them.  You can't beat the price for the Samsung, I'm paying around $170-$180 each for them.  And they even come with a stand that doubles as a vesa mount.

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mrstorey303
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks for all the responses guys - at the moment we're only allowing blast extreme, so I've just placed an order for a couple of new 10zig units:

- 4448v

- 5848v

Will let you know how I get on.

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bjohn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

We have about 450+ P25's. Teradici's business model indeed does suck. Not sure what we are going to now. Mine are still running the latest 4.x firmware on them. Hopefully someone comes up with a blast ONLY zero client. Do they exist now?

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HussamRabaya
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

P25 and P45 both are Zero with PCOIP only

my advice to upgrade to 5.x firmware it will give you some new features (get firmware from Teradici as 5.3)

i donot like it however in many use cases its can be very good solution

he alternative to use Wyse thinOS as Wyse 3030 or 3040  both of them are nice (costly somehow but its heavy duty )and very good devices and you can manage it easily with zero touch configuration also with firmware 8.4 it support Blast also

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XSavior
Contributor
Contributor

I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

We have a Horizon 6.2.4 Deployment with Nvidia Grid M10's using the M10-1B Profile for most users.

I decided on us using the HP T520 Thin Clients. They have been amazing and perform extremely well. We have had 0 issues and the admin tools (HP Device Manager) is pretty slick.

We have done a dual monitor deployment for all users (except training computers) using a pair of Asus IPS PB238Q screens. The config is nice using Display Port (and the monitors come with every cable) and the T520 uses Dual Display Port and also has a VGA if you need to adapt to any older monitors kicking around.

Hope this helps.

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JohnTwilley
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I'm in a Hospital environment, and we decided on the Dell/Wyse 5040 AIO.  It is basically a monitor with built in ThinOS device running both PCOIP or Blast.  Dell controls the OS, an it's updated quarterly.  Their Wyse Device Manager software is free (on-premise up to 10,000 devices) and can remote control and upgrade the ThinOS.   We use the wireless version and the Intel wifi cards are nice and stable.  If you have a Dell rep, they love to send out demo units...you can manually setup a device before installing WDM if you want...

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bjohn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I always thought thin clients were more work to maintain compared to zero clients. You need to keep another "OS" patched? Compared to zero clients, where it's firmware only. Now that Teradici is changing their console licensing, and PCOIP is probably on the way out, maybe it's time to look at thin clients rather than zero clients.

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XSavior
Contributor
Contributor

I know what you mean. We started out looking at Zero clients but they are quite limited in the big picture.

Just remember Windows 10 IoT is not an OS that gets patched often. I re-deploy the image about 2 - 3 times a year and usually because of Horizon Client updates and a few software updates (not OS updates).

with HP the HPDM (HP Device Manager) allows you to push out if needed a new image to every client with only about 30 seconds of work. You setup a single client (Development Client) with all changes. You then image it using the HPDM. Then you push that image out to as many clients as you want at the same time. I usually do an entire branch each night.

Thin Client management has come a long ways in recently years as having the extreme flexibility of the Windows 10 platform has been great.

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JohnTwilley
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

The Wyse ThinOS is kinda splitting the middle.  Think of it as a firmware...instead of an operating system.  It's actually a FreeBSD linus OS that is managed by Wyse.  It has the Citrix Reciever, Horizon Client, RDP Client, Imprivata Client, etc.. pre-installed in the ThinOS.  You do not even have rights to install anything. You just flash the Image down, and are ready to use.  You do not get root access to their OS.

This method seems to beupdated quite often by Wyse, and is very EASY to manage.

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HussamRabaya
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

this is True

Dell Wyse using BSD customized and tuned version , and the updates packages look like firmware , its small footprint and secure  OS and Wyse have wide range of these devicese based on the usage and number of monitor you need to connect

in addition managing DELL Wyse Devices and update it its very easy compering to Windows Thin clients , also  management software of Wyse (Wyse device manager)  provide huge capabilities even the free or work-group edition

also , Dell wyse mess one feature here , which POE (power over Ethernet) thin or Zero clients which we always facing it as requirement in health care  VDI projects, However most of the cases POE devices have  dependency and issues related to user experience, but still its a requirements that dell donot  offer

one thing to add here ace

recently we have notices that vendors as HP & DELL start calling Windows OS thin Client as Thin Client

and Linux OS Thin Client they call Zero Client this also include ThinOS too

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jroback
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Actually it's even worse than this...

Teradici is not the loving kind of company. The MC (which you most definitely need) has always been free of charge with limited functionality and up until 2000 devices. Functionality was more than enough for us. They are now forcing everyone into a payed model. Free MC is only 100 devices and you need to pay €20 per device per year to use it now.

The under 100 MC is not the full version.  With the <100 version you can't autoconfigure clients or manage certificates.   And you don't get any access to the current 6.x firmware or beyond.  So basically you're able to get a list of devices in the console that you can't act on except by logging into each device one by one.    ref: https://communities.teradici.com/questions/8152/what-is-the-impact-of-pcoip-management-console-sta.h...

So the platform is pretty much unmanageable now unless you pay $30/year/zero client,  forever.  

We've got several hundred of the Samsung all-in-one Zero clients that we've deployed over the past 5 years and have really loved them.... but this is a pretty big change in the finances of the system.  Anyone who works with these knows, that the firmware updates of the past 5 years have been important for just keeping basic functionality going, and outside of better management capabilities, they  haven't added much functionality beyond keeping them working with the latest View releases.   So being locked out of firmware updates is pretty disturbing.

Overall this does seem like a a desperate cash grab.   Over time, the cost of the maintenance will add up.    So perhaps we'll buy new thin clients and just use the old thin clients as monitors....

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beutlern
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

one thing i want to throw out as well is a RPi3 in combination with thinlinx.com.

It seems to work quite well since they officially support blast extreme.

you can also use it for hdx, rdp, vnc and overall the management console is doing a good job.

definitely worth a try (depending on your use case).

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