Managed PC's
One of the biggest problems in information systems now is the
"total cost of ownership" (TCO) of personal computers (PCs). In
addition to the initial cost and the cost of training users, individual
computers (particularly those running Windows) require frequent
updates, use software that is easily damaged by users, and suffer
frequent software problems even when used properly and updated.
There are also hardware problems, but software problems are much more
common.
Multiply the TCO per computer by the number of computers in a large
organization, and
the total cost is staggering. Efforts to reduce the TCO for an
organization's PC's by managing
them as a group rather than
individually is generally known as having "managed PC's."
Techniques usually include one or more of:
- having all PC's fall into one of a relatively small set of
standard
configurations. You can then have standard parts and even
standard drive images. If there is a software problem, just erase
and
re-load the hard drive. This is the McGee Lab solution.
- limiting user access to settings and to the ability to install
software. This is done via "limited" accounts in Windows XP,
which are analagous to "standard user" (non-administrator) accounts operated with "user account
control" in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Unfortunately, some (mostly older) software does not
function properly in this environment.
- allowing technicians to "see" user screens from a remote
location. Windows
XP and later have settings that can enable this. This doesn't
prevent
problems, but at least they can often be fixed without an on-site visit.
- automatically distributing updates that will install whether
the user wants to or not.
- doing
backups over the network to a common server. This simplifies and
reduces the cost of backup and makes it easier to find files when
restore is necessary.
- sharing
applications that reside on a server. That way, only one copy of
an application has to be kept updated.
- the most extreme example of managed PC's is using "network
computers" (NCs), also called "thin clients." Such computers
typically have no disk drives,
and they run both Windows and all applications over a network.
While this can be efficient, there is obviously a serious problem if
the network or the server fails.
- Partial example: computers running the Chrome OS.
Called Chromebooks, these have a very small solid state "hard
drive" and rely on the Internet for virtually all functions.
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Last updated September 17, 2011