The idea behind Wyse Streaming Manager takes a little explaining. You're no doubt familiar with the concept of data streaming, whereby music, videos and other files can be delivered to a remote client on demand. You may also have heard of thin client computing where, instead of PCs, applications are run on remote servers using much simpler and cheaper desktop terminals to provide the user interface.

Combine the two and you get Wyse Streaming Manager (WSM), the aim of which is to do away with local PC storage by streaming both operating system and application software to client systems, on demand, from a central server.

As with more conventional thin client solutions the target device will, typically, be a specially designed terminal, like the associated Winterm V00 which has no built-in operating system at all. However, ordinary PCs can also be employed, even virtual PCs if you want. Either way the streamed software is run locally rather than being hosted on a server, making it possible to run demanding multimedia and other applications not normally supported in terminal server environments.

Other benefits include enhanced security and availability, with no local storage to corrupt plus fast recovery from hardware and software failures. Added to which it's possible to deploy a common software image across the entire organisation and manage any patches and other updates centrally.

All very good in theory and we found WSM reasonably straightforward to install. However, a lot of careful planning and preparation work is required to get it all working and in practice it's a far from simple solution.

At the heart of the product, the main Wyse Streaming Manager component needs a well specified Windows Server, with SQL Server also required. You then have to build the operating system images to be streamed using a reference platform on which the software has just been loaded, complete with any drivers required. Windows 2000 and XP are both supported, but normal licensing still applies and a volume agreement is needed to avoid activation issues.

The PXE (Pre-boot eXecution Environment) protocol is used to boot the client PCs and stream the operating system images remotely over the LAN. A special Wyse client can also be installed to enable users to subscribe to applications. These are streamed separately, with yet more preparation work required.

Again, it's not difficult but it takes time, with a separate Publisher tool to take snapshots before and after each application is installed onto a clean reference system (typically a virtual machine) from which the required datasets are then built.

Performance is mostly dictated by the local terminal hardware, with the Winterm V00 pretty much underpowered compared to a standard PC. Despite that, it was hard to tell we were using a terminal rather than an ordinary desktop at times.

That, though, doesn't make Wyse Streaming Manager a good solution, as it's not only complex but also faces fierce competition from virtual desktop alternatives, including one from Wyse itself. A good idea it may be, but we can't really see it taking off as a mass market product

Verdict
Wyse Streaming Manager combines thin client computing with data streaming to deliver operating system images and applications to stateless client devices on demand. However, it's complicated, faces strong competition from virtual desktop alternatives and looks unlikely to become anything other than a niche product.

Company: Wyse

Contact: 0845 604 0038

Tags: thin client wsm windows server personal computer windows xp networking operating system citrix xenapp