CTXS..Computers in Business
The move to server based computing
Dublin , Ireland , July 2000
Server-based computing is the equivalent of using a jumbo jet to carry passengers in preference to a team of
smaller aircraft, as IBM's sales and marketing director, John Scully, explains it.
"If you want to fly 400 people across the Atlantic, it's much easier to charter a 747 than to try to do the job with 400
Cessnas," he said.
"That's what server-based computing is all about."
Whatever about Cessnas and jumbo jets, there's no doubt that server-based computing (SBC) is taking off in a big
way at the moment. Faced with an ever-changing computer environment, IT professionals are struggling to provide
their workforce with access to the right applications and data - whenever and wherever they're needed - as well as
balancing bandwidth and security needs.
Supporters of server-based computing claim that it provides a solution to those problems, as well as supplying a
competitive edge in performance and management strategies.
Peter Tipping of SBC specialists, Citrix, said: "The likes of Microsoft and Intel have been driving client-server
architecture for years. But that model is often time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to maintain. Now server-based
computing has turned that on its head. We want to go back to the days of host computing, but we also want to use
graphical-rich applications."
Citrix defines server-based computing as a model in which applications are deployed, managed, supported, and
executed 100 per cent on a server. It uses a multi-user operating system and a method for distributing the
presentation of an application's interface to a client device.
"Basically, we provide a technology that allows application service provision," said Peter Flood, sales director with
Data Solutions, Citrix's sole distributor in Ireland.
"The technology allows applications to run only on servers, as distinct from the traditional client-server model, where
there's an element of the application running on the server, and an element running on the client. In SBC, all the
application logic is actually running on the server.
"In relation to traffic, the only thing that's actually sent to and from the user is screen updates - keyboard strokes,
mouse movements, that sort of thing.
"If you compare it to a television - we get our TV programmes broadcast to our screens by RTE, or whoever. They
have all the technology that's needed to do that and we have a very simple device in our home. There's no logic on a
television at all; it's just a mechanism to allow you to display a screen. SBC is very similar.
"Any client machine that can display a Windows screen, such as a desktop, laptop, or PDA, will give the user the full
functionality of Windows applications and operating system. It's been referred to as `Windows for the mainframe',
taking the same principles as the mainframe and using the rich graphical user interface of Windows to present
those screens to the users. So, logically it's quite simple, but there's an awful lot of strength there as well."
Scully agrees: "What's driving the move back to a server-based model is its strength - security, availability,
scaleability, and the ease with which it can be managed. It's become difficult and expensive to maintain the old
networks, because bandwidth needs are increasing so rapidly.
"To simplify it: we don't have an ESB generating station in each one of our houses and, if we did, those stations
would rarely run at 100 per cent capacity. So the problem is the efficiency and economy of having so much distributed
power. Your disk drives may be always half full. For example, 20 Pentium III machines on 20 different desks don't
add up to one Pentium III going at 20 times the rate.
"So this is why there's a drawback to the centre model. For starters, you've only got one operating system to support."
However, its centralised management facility is also one of SBC biggest's advantages.
"With SBC, management of applications and servers is a lot easier," Flood said. "If you've got a large corporate
network with many branch offices, or users who are teleworking in from home or on the road, then, in a traditional
client-server environment, you need to have a large number of IT staff available to support those users. With
server-based computing, however, your IT department can support all users from a central location."
DHL recently completed its installation of Citrix's client management network solution in Ireland. Its Irish wing
employs more than 500 people and has service centres in Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Waterford, Athlone, Belfast and
Derry.
"The main problem we wanted to address with the Citrix solution was the area of centralised management," said
Derek Monahan, national information services manager at DHL.
"We had over 500 devices connected to our local area network, in several locations. So if a user had a problem, it
meant that a systems support analyst had to go out physically to the person's PC and find out what the problem was.
We decided to run a pilot of Citrix for the Dublin head office area and we found it did exactly what we wanted it to do."
A substantial budget was required to put the entire solution in place, but Monahan thinks it is worth the investment.
"It's a seamless system which integrates into all our core applications," he said, "DHL's investment in the software
has been realised and the cost of ownership has decreased dramatically."
Citrix's Tipping said that one of the biggest keys to server-based computing is cost of ownership.
"With centralised management, particularly in a branch sort of scenario, like DHL, you don't have the expense of
deploying IT people to each branch," he said.
Delivery of applications is also far easier with SBC. Rather than having to install applications like Microsoft Office or
SAP clients on every single PC in the company, you can now deploy the application centrally by just installing it once
on the server. So, upgrading your entire company could take you a few minutes, rather than days or even months.
Most corporate applications are designed for high-performance desktop computers and so put tremendous strain on
congested networks, yielding poor performance over lower-bandwidth.
"The Citrix solution is very efficient over bandwidth," Tipping said.
"Bandwidth is very expensive these days, because telcos are charging a fortune. But, with SBC, you'll get far more
users over a small capacity."
Today's corporate computer landscape often comprises a mix of desktop devices, network connectivity, and
operating systems, that can make integrating a single solution difficult, if not nigh impossible.
"Where SBC really comes into its own with regards to access is if you're looking at a merger or acquisition of a
company, say, where you may have an AS400, some Apples, and some NT platforms as well," Tipping said. "SBC
can operate across all these, so you don't have to chuck out all sorts of old devices and replace them.
`The Citrix solution also means that you can set up a server-based computing network to be as secure as your
company policy dictates. For instance, you can prohibit users from accessing certain things, or from saving data onto
anything but the server, so everything's retained at a central point. You can also stop them from down-loading
software or information onto their devices."
Migrating to a server-based model is a relatively simple process, but it can be costly.
"Initially, it can be quite an outlay especially for SMEs," Tipping said. "For a company of say, 20 users, it can cost up to
£9,000 just to purchase the necessary software - and that's before you even look at hardware. So, it's not a cheap
solution, but it pays for itself over time. Although I do think that SMEs would realise the benefits over a longer period,
where larger companies would reap the benefits much quicker."
Server-based computing is not for everyone, however, John Scully acknowledged.
"If you have a small company, your business is fairly static, and you've already got a solution that works for you, then
you don't really need to change just for change's sake," he said.
"I do think though that the impact of e-business is gathering momentum. The government is pushing very hard to
make Ireland the e-business leader in Europe, and many foreign companies will use Ireland as their base for
e-business into Europe and beyond.
"As e-business accelerates here, local companies will be able to compete and to enjoy the benefits of e-business.
Instead of just selling to a local market, they'll be able to sell worldwide. "That's going to create `churn' and
requirements in their systems, as the range of necessary applications expands.
"For instance, IBM spends $45 billion dollars a year. Last year, $13 billion of that was spent through the internet. This
year, that figure is going to be $40 billion.
"So that means that most of our manufacturers and suppliers are going to have to integrate their sales systems into
the internet, because we've integrated our purchasing systems into the internet. It's this sort of seamlessness that's
driving the expansion into server-based computing and application service providers (ASPs).
"On the ASP front, what we're finding is that the traditional purveyors of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software,
such as SAP, Oracle etc, which would normally make their money from licence fees, are seeing ASPs both as an
opportunity and a threat.
"Instead of companies having to make a large, upfront licence fee payment, they can now pay on a per-seat basis, on
a quarterly or monthly basis, and that spreads the expense out for them significantly.
"What this really means is that unless a lot of traditional software companies at least provide an ASP - they don't have
to migrate totally to the ASP model, but they must at least give an option of the ASP model - they will fall behind."
The managing director of Horizon Open Systems, agrees, "The ASPs that are springing up now are a very important
part of server-based computing. With the current skills shortage, ASPs are a very cost-effective way of implementing
world class software. They save on IT people, and they save on premium-cost floor space.
"Typically, an ASP would work with a hosting partner to provide a service to customers. Ifusion, which is a subsidiary
of the Horizon group is a good example of an ASP in Ireland."
Ifusion was launched in March, and works with SAP to offer ASP services to high growth companies in the technology
sector. The company predicts that the market for ASP services will grow very strongly over the next couple of years,
driven by faster implementation schedules, reduction of IT overheads and optimised alignment with fast growth
business models through greater flexibility.
Citrix is one of the cornerstone technologies in the new ASP market, with roughly 85 per cent of all the ASPS in the
world using the Citrix solution to allow companies to host applications.
"Citrix has a specific business unit, called the i-business unit," Flood said. "This is devoted to educating and
maturing and developing the ASP market. Companies in Ireland, such as eHost, are very big advocates of the Citrix
model - they use it as their ASP offering. In Britain, Futurelink, is using Citrix to deliver applications, and we expect
further expansion into Europe."
IBM is also investing in ASP technology.
"We're doing a lot of work here on the different operating systems we support, particularly on our RS6000 range,
which is a Unix-based box," Scully said. "Internic, the company in the US that allocates domain names, has just
installed one of our RS6000s, which we're quite pleased about. We're also offering Linux across the board on our
laptops, desktops and on RS6000s as well, which gives flexibility to people to set up their ASPs.
"As far as ASPs go, we work with potential customers to determine their requirements. Often, there may not be one
single solution, we may have to choose different paths for different parts. Or you might start out with an ASP model
and then move the whole application in-house as you get up to date and the number of staff increases."
Meanwhile, Sun is busy creating the technology to power the web focus of ASPs.
"What Sun is interested in is the provision of internet infrastructure," Coburn said. "The whole infrastructure build for
the new economy is only beginning, and this is a rapidly growing market. We're developing something we call a web
tone switch, which will give everyone access to the vast amount of information and applications on the internet. The
important thing about it is that it's available all the time, just like the dial tone.
"This is what ASPs and e-procurement companies can build on to create the new, more server-based economy. So,
as well as the traditional model of large companies having their own massive servers in-house, smaller companies
will be able to take advantage of this technology. The power that large companies are getting because of their size,
will be available to small companies through web tone and ASPs." |
