I attended the Open Source for Business Applications seminar last July 3, 2009 which was presented by Mr. Ben Alegre and Paul de Paula of Spinweb Productions, Inc. I learned that the Open Source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. And Open Source Software is defined as computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open source software is the most prominent example of open source development and often compared to user-generated content. The term open source software originated as part of a marketing campaign for free software. A report by Standish Group states that adoption of open source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.
I discovered that the Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. Mr. Ben Alegre presented the following criteria of the distribution terms of open-source software to comply with:
1. Free Redistribution
The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
2. Source Code
The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.
3. Derived Works
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
7. Distribution of License
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.
10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral
No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
In the seminar, Mr. Ben Alegre showed many Open Source Technologies and these are Ubuntu, OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, GIMPshop, Transmission, LimeWire, VLC, LAMP, Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, OS Commerce, Zen Cart, Ruby on Rails, PHP Cake, Civi CRM, and Moodle. I learned that in the Open Source, there is no vendor lock-in, there are large support communities, and it is more secure. Like the Proprietary Software, Open Source is reliable, proven performance, highly scalable, and widely used. And, there are many applications that the Open Source Software (OSS) can apply with in the web. It can apply in Portals, Corporate, Publishing, Government, Education, Art, Music, Multimedia, Social Networking Sites, E-commerce, and CRM.
I also attended the Hewlett-Packard Thin Client Server Computing seminar the same day which was presented by Nexus Technologies, Inc. I imbibed that Thin Client is a client computer or client software in client-server architecture networks which depends primarily on the central server for processing activities, and mainly focuses on conveying input and output between the user and the remote server. In contrast, a thick or fat client does as much processing as possible and passes only data for communications and storage to the server.
I discovered that many thin client devices run only web browsers or remote desktop software, meaning that all significant processing occurs on the server. However, recent devices marketed as thin clients can run complete operating systems such as Debian Linux, qualifying them as diskless nodes or hybrid clients. Some thin clients are also called "access terminals." I realized that many people that already have computers want the same functionality that a thin client has. The presenter of the seminar said that computers can simulate a thin client in a single window (as thru a browser) or with a separate operating system boot-up. Either way, these are often called "fat clients" to differentiate them from thin clients and computers without thin-client functionality.
I find the several advantages of thin clients and these are:
· Lower IT administration costs. Thin clients are managed almost entirely at the server. The hardware has fewer points of failure and the client is simpler (and often lacks permanent storage), providing protection from malware.
· Easier to secure. Thin clients can be designed so that no application data ever resides on the client (just whatever is displayed), centralizing malware protection and reducing the risks of physical data theft.
· Enhanced data security. Should a thin-client device suffer serious mishap or industrial accident, no data will be lost, as it resides on the terminal server and not the point-of-operation device.
· Lower hardware costs. Thin client hardware is generally cheaper because it does not contain a disk, application memory, or a powerful processor. They also generally have a longer period before requiring an upgrade or becoming obsolete. There are fewer moving parts and one upgrades the server and network instead because the limitation on performance is the display resolution which has a very long life cycle. Many thick clients are replaced after 3 years to avoid failures of hardware in service and to use the latest software while thin clients can do the same, well-defined task of displaying images for 10 years. The total hardware requirements for a thin client system (including both servers and clients) are usually much lower compared to a system with fat clients. One reason for this is that the hardware is better utilized. A CPU in a fat workstation is idle most of the time. With thin clients, CPU cycles are shared. If several users are running the same application, it only needs to be loaded into RAM once with a central server (if the application is written to support this capability). With fat clients, each workstation must have its own copy of the program in memory.
· Less energy consumption. Dedicated thin client hardware has much lower energy consumption than typical thick client PCs. This not only reduces energy costs but may mean that in some cases air-conditioning systems are not required or need not be upgraded which can be a significant cost saving and contribute to achieving energy saving targets. However, more powerful servers and communications are required.
· Easier hardware failure management. If a thin client fails, a replacement can simply be swapped in while the client is repaired; the user is not inconvenienced because their data is not on the client.
· Worth less to most thieves. Thin client hardware, whether dedicated or simply older hardware that has been repurposed via cascading, is less useful outside a client-server environment. Burglars interested in computer equipment may have a much harder time fencing thin client hardware.
· Operable in Hostile Environments. Most thin clients have no moving parts so can be used in dusty environments without the worry of PC fans clogging up and overheating and burning out the PC.
· Less network bandwidth. Since terminal servers typically reside on the same high-speed network backbone as file servers, most network traffic is confined to the server room. In a fat client environment if you open a 10MB document that’s 10MB transferred from the file server to your PC. When you save it that’s another 10MB from your PC to the server. When you print it the same happens again — another 10MB over the network to your print server and then 10MB onward to the printer. This is highly inefficient. In a thin client environment only mouse movements, keystrokes and screen updates are transmitted from/to the end user. Over efficient protocols such as ICA or NX this can consume as little as 5 kbit/s bandwidth. This statement makes some very heavy assumptions about the operating environment, though.
· More efficient use of computing resources. A typical thick-client will be specified to cope with the maximum load the user needs, which can be inefficient at times when it is not used. In contrast, thin clients only use the exact amount of computing resources required by the current task – in a large network, there is a high probability the load from each user will fluctuate in a different cycle to that of another user (i.e. the peaks of one will more than likely correspond, time-wise, to the troughs of another. This is a natural result of the additive effect of many random, independent loads. The total load will be normally distributed about a mean and not the sum of the maximum possible loads.
· Simple hardware upgrade path. If the peak resource usage is above a pre-defined limit, it is a relatively simple process to add another component to a server rack (be it power, processing, storage), boosting resources to exactly the amount required. The existing units can continue to serve alongside the new, whereas a thick client model requires an entire desktop unit be replaced, resulting in down-time for the user, and the problem of disposing of the old unit.
· Lower noise. The aforementioned removal of fans reduces the noise produced by the unit. This can create a more pleasant and productive working environment.
· Less wasted hardware. Computer hardware contains heavy metals and plastics and requires energy and resources to create. Thin clients can remain in service longer and ultimately produce less surplus computer hardware than an equivalent thick client installation because they can be made with no moving parts. Computer Fans and disk storage (used for cooling and storage in thick clients) have mean times before failures of many thousands of hours but the transistors and conductors in the thin client have mean times before failure of millions of hours. A thick client is considered old after one or two cycles of Moore’s Law to keep up with increasing software bloat but a thin client is asked to do the same simple job year after year. A thin client, on the other hand will be replaced only when it lacks some feature deemed essential. With audio, video, and USB, thin clients have changed little in 15 years, being essentially, stripped-down PCs.
I discovered that the Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. Mr. Ben Alegre presented the following criteria of the distribution terms of open-source software to comply with:
1. Free Redistribution
The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
2. Source Code
The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.
3. Derived Works
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
7. Distribution of License
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.
10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral
No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
In the seminar, Mr. Ben Alegre showed many Open Source Technologies and these are Ubuntu, OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, GIMPshop, Transmission, LimeWire, VLC, LAMP, Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, OS Commerce, Zen Cart, Ruby on Rails, PHP Cake, Civi CRM, and Moodle. I learned that in the Open Source, there is no vendor lock-in, there are large support communities, and it is more secure. Like the Proprietary Software, Open Source is reliable, proven performance, highly scalable, and widely used. And, there are many applications that the Open Source Software (OSS) can apply with in the web. It can apply in Portals, Corporate, Publishing, Government, Education, Art, Music, Multimedia, Social Networking Sites, E-commerce, and CRM.
I also attended the Hewlett-Packard Thin Client Server Computing seminar the same day which was presented by Nexus Technologies, Inc. I imbibed that Thin Client is a client computer or client software in client-server architecture networks which depends primarily on the central server for processing activities, and mainly focuses on conveying input and output between the user and the remote server. In contrast, a thick or fat client does as much processing as possible and passes only data for communications and storage to the server.
I discovered that many thin client devices run only web browsers or remote desktop software, meaning that all significant processing occurs on the server. However, recent devices marketed as thin clients can run complete operating systems such as Debian Linux, qualifying them as diskless nodes or hybrid clients. Some thin clients are also called "access terminals." I realized that many people that already have computers want the same functionality that a thin client has. The presenter of the seminar said that computers can simulate a thin client in a single window (as thru a browser) or with a separate operating system boot-up. Either way, these are often called "fat clients" to differentiate them from thin clients and computers without thin-client functionality.
I find the several advantages of thin clients and these are:
· Lower IT administration costs. Thin clients are managed almost entirely at the server. The hardware has fewer points of failure and the client is simpler (and often lacks permanent storage), providing protection from malware.
· Easier to secure. Thin clients can be designed so that no application data ever resides on the client (just whatever is displayed), centralizing malware protection and reducing the risks of physical data theft.
· Enhanced data security. Should a thin-client device suffer serious mishap or industrial accident, no data will be lost, as it resides on the terminal server and not the point-of-operation device.
· Lower hardware costs. Thin client hardware is generally cheaper because it does not contain a disk, application memory, or a powerful processor. They also generally have a longer period before requiring an upgrade or becoming obsolete. There are fewer moving parts and one upgrades the server and network instead because the limitation on performance is the display resolution which has a very long life cycle. Many thick clients are replaced after 3 years to avoid failures of hardware in service and to use the latest software while thin clients can do the same, well-defined task of displaying images for 10 years. The total hardware requirements for a thin client system (including both servers and clients) are usually much lower compared to a system with fat clients. One reason for this is that the hardware is better utilized. A CPU in a fat workstation is idle most of the time. With thin clients, CPU cycles are shared. If several users are running the same application, it only needs to be loaded into RAM once with a central server (if the application is written to support this capability). With fat clients, each workstation must have its own copy of the program in memory.
· Less energy consumption. Dedicated thin client hardware has much lower energy consumption than typical thick client PCs. This not only reduces energy costs but may mean that in some cases air-conditioning systems are not required or need not be upgraded which can be a significant cost saving and contribute to achieving energy saving targets. However, more powerful servers and communications are required.
· Easier hardware failure management. If a thin client fails, a replacement can simply be swapped in while the client is repaired; the user is not inconvenienced because their data is not on the client.
· Worth less to most thieves. Thin client hardware, whether dedicated or simply older hardware that has been repurposed via cascading, is less useful outside a client-server environment. Burglars interested in computer equipment may have a much harder time fencing thin client hardware.
· Operable in Hostile Environments. Most thin clients have no moving parts so can be used in dusty environments without the worry of PC fans clogging up and overheating and burning out the PC.
· Less network bandwidth. Since terminal servers typically reside on the same high-speed network backbone as file servers, most network traffic is confined to the server room. In a fat client environment if you open a 10MB document that’s 10MB transferred from the file server to your PC. When you save it that’s another 10MB from your PC to the server. When you print it the same happens again — another 10MB over the network to your print server and then 10MB onward to the printer. This is highly inefficient. In a thin client environment only mouse movements, keystrokes and screen updates are transmitted from/to the end user. Over efficient protocols such as ICA or NX this can consume as little as 5 kbit/s bandwidth. This statement makes some very heavy assumptions about the operating environment, though.
· More efficient use of computing resources. A typical thick-client will be specified to cope with the maximum load the user needs, which can be inefficient at times when it is not used. In contrast, thin clients only use the exact amount of computing resources required by the current task – in a large network, there is a high probability the load from each user will fluctuate in a different cycle to that of another user (i.e. the peaks of one will more than likely correspond, time-wise, to the troughs of another. This is a natural result of the additive effect of many random, independent loads. The total load will be normally distributed about a mean and not the sum of the maximum possible loads.
· Simple hardware upgrade path. If the peak resource usage is above a pre-defined limit, it is a relatively simple process to add another component to a server rack (be it power, processing, storage), boosting resources to exactly the amount required. The existing units can continue to serve alongside the new, whereas a thick client model requires an entire desktop unit be replaced, resulting in down-time for the user, and the problem of disposing of the old unit.
· Lower noise. The aforementioned removal of fans reduces the noise produced by the unit. This can create a more pleasant and productive working environment.
· Less wasted hardware. Computer hardware contains heavy metals and plastics and requires energy and resources to create. Thin clients can remain in service longer and ultimately produce less surplus computer hardware than an equivalent thick client installation because they can be made with no moving parts. Computer Fans and disk storage (used for cooling and storage in thick clients) have mean times before failures of many thousands of hours but the transistors and conductors in the thin client have mean times before failure of millions of hours. A thick client is considered old after one or two cycles of Moore’s Law to keep up with increasing software bloat but a thin client is asked to do the same simple job year after year. A thin client, on the other hand will be replaced only when it lacks some feature deemed essential. With audio, video, and USB, thin clients have changed little in 15 years, being essentially, stripped-down PCs.
Reference:
WIKIPEDIA.org
http://www.nexus.com.ph
http://www.spinweb.ph
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