Annex
APPROACH TO THE MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT OF
PC DESKTOPS ATTACHED TO THE PDVN
PREFACE
Supporting a non-standardised workstation environment
becomes increasingly untenable as the underlying technologies
increase in complexity. Only a constant increase in support resources
or restricting change to the network to minimal levels will make
this situation viable post next election.
PCD would like to publish a statement of intent
that effectively details timescales for the phasing out of non-standardised
workstations and the introduction of standardised workstations.
Attempting to support a non-standardised environment for the move
to Windows 2000/ADS may be a huge undertaking. It may be impossible
to support non-standardised "fat client" workstations
into a native Windows 2000 environment.
This paper was written with our existing technology
sets in mind, ie the proposals are achievable by PCD with existing
technology or upgrades to existing technologies. It is not an
exhaustive study of the issue and completely ignores anything
that would introduce a completely new type of technology to the
PDVN eg Java based terminals.
This paper was written such that it does not
pre-suppose any future strategic direction. We have thin, ie Citrix/Windows
Terminal Server, and fat client solutions today. This paper simply
states we can only support future "fat client" solutions
in a STANDARDISED or CONVERGENT environment. We will continue
to support "thin client" in any environment.
SUMMARY/OVERVIEW
The business of providing flexible high performing
network services is becoming increasingly complex.
It has been best practice within the IT industry
over the last few years to reduce the total cost of ownership
through the introduction of standards on the corporate LAN, specifically
the standardisation workstation.
Members of Parliament purchase their workstations
out of their Office Costs Allowance. Workstations purchased in
such a manner conform to no hardware or software standards (are
non-standard).
The lack of a standardised workstation for Parliament
places a vast burden on PCD in terms of support, manageability,
customer service and the introduction of new services. This situation
will become untenable and IT network services increase in complexity.
PCD propose to stop delivery of all new services
to non-standardised workstations from dates detailed in this paper.
PCD propose to no longer support the connection
of any new "fat client" PDVN workstation that is not
built to a PCD defined standard from the next major technology
refresh eg Windows 2000.
PCD can support any workstation (that for whatever
reason cannot be built to a PCD standard) as a "thin client"
(with facility restrictions).
INTRODUCTION
New technologies are constantly being deployed
within the Houses of Parliament as required by the business. As
these rapid changes occur, each PDVN connected workstation requires
the updating or installation of new software so that it can take
advantage of the new services being offered. It is this process
of updating workstations that incurs high cost and prevents the
ability of PCD to react to the business requirement of the House
in a speedy and timely manner. The key reason why PCD has had
difficulties deploying of new services to the desktop is because
PCD has no control over the hardware or software on any workstation
purchased through the Office Costs Allowance (OCA). Each workstation
is a new challenge for PCD to attach to the network and in some
cases it is technically impossible to install the required software.
STATEMENT OF
INTENT
PCD would like to advertise a statement of intent
of how it could efficiently manage and support the workstation
environment over the coming few years. This statement of intent
is intended to define the best approach to workstation management
given that PCD has no authority over devices purchased through
the OCA connected to the PDVN. This statement of intent is in
addition to the original minimum hardware specifications previously
advertised by PCD.
DEFINITIONS
Member Purchased Workstation
A MPW is a workstation that requires PDVN connectivity
purchased through the OCA. The workstation can contain any combination
of PC hardware components running any Microsoft 32-bit Operating
System. It can have any combination of software installed upon
it and no restrictions are enforced upon it. PCD provide a network
card and network connectivity software for PDVN access. This is
installed in a standard manner wherever this is technically possible.
PCD Built Workstation
A PCDW is a workstation that conforms to the
following standards:
— Utilises only PCD supported hardware.
— Utilises only PCD supported standardised
operating system builds.
— Utilises only PCD supported core
network and productivity software.
— Utilises a restore disk to recover
the standardised configuration.
A PCDW (sometimes known as a convergent workstation)
can still have any other application installed on the workstation
by the user. However, if the installation of any such software
conflicts with PCD provided core software, PCD would either:
— Remove the software from the workstation
that causes the conflict, OR
— Rebuild the workstation to the core
standard (worse case scenario) using a restore disk.
A PCDW workstation is fully PDVN compliant.
REQUIREMENTS FOR
PDVN CONNECTIVITY (FULL
NETWORK/"FAT
CLIENT")
Note: Requirements for PDVN Connectivity are
only required for clients acting as network nodes (ie running
network application software on the workstation itself). Such
users exist either on the Parliamentary estate or remote from
the estate as Extranet/VPN users.
PCD to date has only required a workstation
to comply to a generic set of hardware specifications to permit
access to the PDVN. This has guaranteed to date that a workstation
is powerful enough in hardware terms to handle the demands of
the latest application and networking software.
It is because network software and applications
are installed and configured on the same workstation as user installed
applications that a potential conflict of interest exists between
the software required for network access and the software required
for user productivity.
For this reason, PCD would like to extend the
requirements for PDVN connectivity to include operating system
and software considerations also. PCD will recommend and commit
support for PDVN connected workstations on software and hardware
criteria as follows:
MEMBERS PURCHASED WORKSTATION (MPW)
Operating system
(including all revision types)
| Must conform to minimum hardware specifications
| New PDVN services not delivered from
| Support withdrawn from PDVN |
| Windows 95 | No | Summer Recess 2000
| Summer Recess 2001 or next election |
| Windows 98 | Yes | Recess 2001
| Next election |
| Windows NT 4.0 | Yes | Next election
| TBA |
| Windows 2000 | Not supported as MPW
|
| Other | Not supported by PDVN
|
PCD BUILT WORKSTATION (PCDW)
Operating system
(including all revision types)
| Must conform to minimum hardware specifications
| New PDVN services not delivered from
| Support withdrawn from PDVN |
| Windows 95 | Not supported as PCDW
|
| Windows 98 | Yes | Next election
|
| Windows NT 4.0 | Yes | TBA
|
| Windows 2000 | TBA
|
| Other | TBA |
REQUIREMENTS FOR
PDVN CONNECTIVITY (WINDOWS
BASED TERMINALS/THIN
CLIENT)
PCD can always offer PDVN connectivity to any workstation
that cannot meet the criteria specified above through control
of PCD hosted virtual workstations (known either as remote control
or "thin client" technologies). "Thin client"
technology puts the minimum amount of intrusive technology on
the workstation and allows complete autonomy of the workstation
for the owner. The user controls a virtual workstation hosted
on PCD servers for PDVN services only.
ANY WORKSTATION
| "Thin client" technology |
Must conform to minimum hardware specifications
| New PDVN services not delivered from
| Support withdrawn from PDVN |
| Citrtx Winframe | As defined
| Summer Recess 2000 | Summer Recess 2000
|
| Windows 2000 Terminal Server | As defined
| According to Microsoft developments | According to Microsoft developments
|
THIN VERSUS
FAT CLIENT
TECHNOLOGY
Note: It is beyond the scope of this paper to enter
into a thorough discussion of merits of thin vs fat client. The
issues detailed below to provide a basic and non-exhaustive comparison
of the two approaches if applied today within the non-standardised
environment. The "thin client" technology discussed
focuses on Windows Based Terminals—other thin client approaches
have been excluded.
"Thin client" technology allows users to install
and utilise their hardware and software with minimal concern that
they may impact their PDVN connectivity. The "thin client"
software allows the user to remotely control a workstation that
is connected to the PDVN as a full network client. Difficulties
that arise through trying to install, maintain and update PDVN
software are largely reduced as PCD only need to update the centrally
managed servers. The use of "thin client" technology
is ideal for the Parliamentary IT environment today as it keeps
PCD footprint on Members owned workstations to a minimum. However,
there are other factors that need to be considered in adopting
a "thin client" approach to circumvent the issue of
no standards for Member owned workstations.
SUPPORT RESPONSIBILITY
| Thin Client | Fat Client
|
| Provides a clear definition of support responsibilities where the organisation is not responsible for the purchase, building and deployment of the user workstations.
| PCD software is installed alongside Members software. It is not always clear where issues arise and whose responsibility it is to fix.
|
SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION
| Thin Client | Fat Client
|
| Apart from the minimal software that comprises the "thin client" all software is distributed to PCD servers. The "thin client" software itself is usually free, the cost is associated with access to terminal services themselves. Users may need a client license for software that is not used on the workstation, eg Windows NT.
| Software has to be distributed to workstations. This provides a substantial challenge for MPW, but is manageable for PCDW.
|
PERFORMANCE
| Thin Client | Fat Client
|
| Performance can be poor especially for graphic intensive tasks. Best utilised for non-demanding applications or targeted towards "task workers" or non-power users.
| Two or three tier client server applications are well established within the industry and provide the most flexible and highest performing end user solution. Also supports collaborative and distributed computing.
|
COST OF OWNERSHIP
| Thin Client | Fat Client
|
| Is accepted to be potentially lower. Thin client technology can be utilised across a broad range of devices. Bandwidth demands are lower.
| Generally accepted to be potentially higher. In today's network environment standards are essential to promote a lower cost of ownership and better manageability.
|
THIN CLIENT—THE
BOTTOM LINE
The introduction of a Windows based terminal thin client
solution could be a cost effective and practical way of solving
the increasing number of problems that supporting non-standardised
workstations presents PCD. It may provide a disappointing experience
in terms of performance for PDVN users and be perceived as providing
an inferior service to that already provided. It will not support
remote synchronisation.
The licensing policy of Microsoft may not provide a cost
effective service as it stands.
FAT CLIENT—THE
BOTTOM LINE
The continued support of fat clients on the PDVN raises many
issues in terms of costs, responsibility, licensing, support and
customer service. The introduction of standards (PCDW) is essential
if PCD is to be able to provide a flexible high-performing end
user experience.
WHAT DOES
A PCD BUILT
WORKSTATION PROVIDE?
A PCD built workstation provides all the features that any
other workstation provides except that it is built to a set of
standards defined by PCD. Machines bought from the GCAT catalogue
will contain the latest operating system and productivity software
supported by PCD. PCDW builds will be updated as new operating
systems come on the market, and new network software distributed
as and when the business requires. An end user may install any
software they desire. The only caveat being that it will be removed
if it causes issues with PDVN connectivity.
CONCLUSION
PCD have to dedicate an increasing amount of resource to
support a huge and disparate client base. As time goes on this
becomes more difficult to manage and inhibits PCD's ability to
move forward with the new technologies as they appear on the market.
The introduction of workstations built by PCD as the norm for
PDVN connectivity (or the use of thin client where this is not
acceptable) promotes a more cost effective, supportable and manageable
environment that provides a better experience for IT users.
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