NEC Looks to Build a 'Virtual' Client Network

NEC Corp. of America, best known in the enterprise for its line of fault-tolerant servers, is now looking to offer IT managers a way to control an enterprise's fleet of PCs from the data center to the front office.

At the Gartner IT Expo in San Francisco, NEC will detail an offering called Virtual PC Center, which will combine the company's servers, new thin client PCs, software and virtualization technology from VMware into one complete package.

The underlying theory behind this offering, said Ken Hertzler, the director of Virtual PC Center for NEC, is to offer customers a complete package of hardware and software from a single company instead of leaving it up to IT managers to buy and configure software, hardware and networking from different vendors.

By offering a single management suite of hardware and software, Hertzler said that NEC is addressing both security concerns as well as the total cost of ownership for companies that have to oversee a large fleets of PCs.

"What we saw was a lot of medium and large companies with a large number of PCs to monitor and maintain," Hertzler told eWEEK. "The cost of maintaining these PCs has continued to go up and it's not just the physical PCs themselves. There's also the cost of the software and then the cost of management and the resources used to maintain the help desk."

In recent months, several IT vendors have offered new products aimed at keeping data, operating systems and applications in the back room, while offering employees access through a thin client machine that can be easily and more affordably managed and maintained by IT administrators.

One example is ClearCube. On April 9, the company launched its Sentral 5.5 software that will work with VMware's virtualization technology and offer customers additional scalability when creating virtualized desktop environment through blades.

Hewlett-Packard, which is also one of the world's largest makers of thin client PCs, offers software to help control access to a company's network. For example, HP's ProCurve Network Access Controller 800 appliance provides a way to verify a device's integrity before giving it access to a network.

The NEC's PC Center has been selling in Japan for about a year and the system will make its North American debut on April 23. Hertzler said that NEC believes that the system will appeal to specific verticals, such as hotel chains, or universities and colleges.

"In the hospitality industry, hotels can equip each room with a thin client but the hotel can also configure the system for virtual pooling since not every one of those PCs will be used at the same time," Hertzler said.

The backbone of the NEC's PC Center is the NEC Express5800 server, which is powered by an Intel dual-core Xeon processor, with clock speeds ranging from 1.6GHz to 3.0GHz. The company is offering both a 1U (1.75-inch) management server and a 2U (3.5-inch) systems that will control the clients.

The 1U Express5800, which offers 12GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD (hard disk drive), is a dedicated management server. This system will also include NEC's SigmaSystemCenter, the company's management and monitoring software, which will provide the central management and monitoring for the system through one console.

The 2U system, which can be configured to support either 20 or 50 thin clients, is a dual-socket system that comes with either 12GB or 24GB of RAM and either five 73GB HDDs or five 146GB HDDs. These servers work with the SigmaSystemCenter, which sits on top of VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, to manage all the client workstations and sessions.

Finally, NEC will launch a line of thin client PCs, called NEC100. Like other thin clients, this PC will include a monitor, mouse and keypad for front-office users, but Hertzler added that NEC, along with ServerEngines, a private company, will work to develop a microprocessor called NetClient for the thin client.

This chip will give the thin client better audio, graphics and video capabilities, which will help with applications such as VOIP (voice over IP). Hertzler added that the microprocessor will also deliver a better environment for Microsoft Windows XP. (The company is working to offer the Vista OS later.)

The cost of the software and servers vary from $19,900 to $49,500, according to NEC, which is based in Irving, Texas. The price for the servers also includes the licenses for VMware's software. The company will sell the thin clients separately at a cost of $349 each.

The Virtual PC Center offering is already shipping to customers, according to NEC.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International

Desktop Virtualization Is Starting to Expand
With virtualization fairly well established in the data center as a way to squeeze more out of x86 servers, top vendors, industry watchers and customers have started to turn more attention to getting that same type of potential out of the desktop.
AMD sues Intel over monopoly abuses
AMD announced today that it filed an antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation yesterday in U.S. federal district court for the district of Delaware under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, and the California Business and Professions Code. The 48-page complaint explains in detail how Intel has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD. It identifies 38 companies that have been victims of coercion by Intel – including large scale computer-makers, small system-builders, wholesale distributors, and retailers, through seven types of illegality across three continents.
NEC's High-End 21.3-Inch LCD with RGB LED Back-Light Technology
NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. today announced that sample shipments of its new 21.3-inch, ultra-extended graphics array (UXGA), amorphous silicon thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) module, part number NL160120BC27-10, will commence April 2005. This model is aimed at professional color processing use such as in digital photo editing, digital pre-press operation and various computer design work. Supporting Adobe RGB, which is the de facto standard color space in the professional color processing fields mentioned above, it is equipped with a high luminance RGB light emitting diode (LED) array as the light source of the back-light system.
Slower growth expected in tech industry
Lower prices on consumer electronics may help carry the tech industry through a difficult holiday shopping season. But analysts believe corporate spending on computer servers, PCs and business software is entering a period of slower growth that will last well into next year.
Novel imaging approach may assist in predicting success of treatment for atrial fibrillation
University of Utah researchers have developed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based method for detecting and quantifying injury to the wall of the heart's left atrium in patients who have undergone a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. The results of the study are published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Now is a good time for neophytes to catch up with the iPod
When Apple released the iPod in October 2001 it cost $399 and held just 5 GB of music, or about 1,000 songs. The new line of iPods that Apple introduced last week range in price from $49 to $399, can hold up to 120 GB of music (30,000 songs), videos and photos, play games, surf the Internet, access e-mail or download music.
Intel Unveils New Chip Designs
In his Intel Developer Forum keynote today, Pat Gelsinger detailed the roadmap for Intel's continued march toward pervasive, higher performance and power efficient computing. The senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group discussed new features of the company's next-generation processor family including a new turbo mode that shifts the processor into a higher gear for mind-blowing performance without a heat penalty.
Meet Robo habilis
(PhysOrg.com) -- A European research project has brought the dream of human-like robots closer to reality by creating a human-like arm and hand controlled by an electronic ‘brain’ modelled on the human cerebellum.

NEC Looks to Build a 'Virtual' Client Network

Related stories:

News discussion: