Think Thin: Thin Client and Server Based Computing Group Blog

On November 10th we announced the release of Sun Ray Software 5. Among the fantastic set of new features, we included a new client called the Sun Desktop Access Client. Simply put, this is a software application that installs on Windows PCs, allowing you to access your desktop session on Sun's desktop virtualization technology. This sounds great, but what does it really mean for me or my customers? Let me explain...

A couple of fairly common scenarios I hear from customers is they believe only a portion of their end-users will fit the desktop or even laptop thin client model. Or many times customers have recently refreshed all their desktop systems and don't want to switch them out just yet. They all agree on the unequaled security and simplified management aspects of the architecture, but usually have concerns for mobile end-users who require a usable laptop even when offline, or maybe they need more graphical power locally, or simply are not ready to exchange their desktop systems for whatever the reason. With the Sun Desktop Access Client, users can now leverage their existing PCs to access the same virtual desktops any Sun Ray client user would. And with the added convenience of choosing between window mode or fullscreen, it's easy to work side-by-side on their current PC.

This now means all end-users, whether they're on a Sun Ray client or not, can access the same data and applications on the same secure architecture. And to make it even more convenient, you can "hot desk" or move your live session between any Sun Ray client and any Sun Desktop Access Client enabled PC.

This makes the Sun Desktop Access Client an extremely powerful and simple migration tool. For example, we have a customer that has several offices all over the world, some very small in remote locations, some large housing over a thousand employees. This makes training each group of employees on any new infrastructure a real challenge. With the Sun Desktop Access Client, they are able to provide everyone instant access from their current PCs to the new infrastructure, and roll out Sun Ray clients to groups in controlled stages. The option to deploy Sun Ray clients in this staged manner, allowed them to immediately standardize onto a single secure and scalable architecture on the back-end, providing every employee access to the same data, without spending all their money and IT resources trying to do a near-impossible replacement of all desktops in one big switch.

These examples use cases are just a sample of how the Sun Desktop Access Client might be able to help you and your business. I'll be posting many more use cases and customer examples in the weeks to come; however, for now, the best use case I can think of is to download the software and try it yourself! Of course you can contact your Sun sales reps and try out a Sun Ray client anytime you want. But for now, with the free 90 day trial period and the ability to use your Windows PC as a client, there's nothing stopping you from giving it a try right now!

-Jeff