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Cloud solution for an internet cafe? i.e, Minimum hardware.

By fnanfne ·
I want to revamp my internet cafe. I am currently using ten Dell Optiplex GX620 machines as they are very small, compact and somewhat powerful.

Unfortunately, Dell has discontinued this model and the next best model is almost twice as big. This made me wonder if there are any solutions available out there to minimise the hardware used in these setups.

Can you utilise one server(physical or cloud) to serve, say, 10 clients without the clients themselves having any hardware? (Except of course for the monitor, keyboard and mouse) If not, are there any brands out there that do have small desktops? (affordable of course)

Thanks for reading!

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"Could", but performance?

by oldbaritone In reply to Cloud solution for an int ...

"Thin Client" solutions have been around for many years. Usually, they face two challenges, particularly in the wireless environment:

1) Server Performance - a terminal server needs to be a "screamer" of a system with mega-memory if the end users are going to be happy with it. (It needs to be 10x as fast as the "regular" machine because 10 people are using it simultaneously, in addition to anything else it was doing as a server.)

2) Network Bandwidth - Since thin client is bandwidth-intensive because it transmits the virtual desktop rather than data-only, it requires much more bandwidth than the typical cafe internet user. Then multiply that demand by 10, for each terminal in use during peak times. If you're using wireless, you may be limited to 54 Mhz total bandwidth - so you can see how quickly bandwidth could become the bottleneck.

"Netbooks" were a thin-client solution - and they flopped. They're OK if the ONLY thing you want to do is browse the net, but that's rarely the case.

You might get some ideas by a search on "thin client". But be careful, there are many pitfalls.

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Looking over your shoulder

by santeewelding In reply to "Could", but performance?

Thanks for that, old man.

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