Zero Client Computing

Sometimes what seems like a small difference can make a very big difference.

Many vendors offer thin clients as virtual desktop endpoints, usually repurposed from past generations of hardware designed for terminal services. While thin clients claim to be simpler than traditional desktop PCs they add the headache of supporting yet another client OS, such as Windows Embedded Standard or some proprietary Linux variant.

And thin clients carry along the baggage of a PC-based architecture of local drivers, storage, management software stacks, introducing many potential break/fix points and security holes, forcing IT to continue travelling to user’s desks for troubleshooting and repairs. In fact they carry with them so much of this PC baggage, having grown increasingly “chubby” to run demanding and heavily patched VDI protocols, that they wipe out almost all of the TCO advantages VDI has to offer. On the other hand, a zero client like the Pano is basically an extension of the desktop virtual machine, connecting the display and input devices to the desktop virtual machine running on the hypervisor server.

A Pano Zero Client has no CPU, no OS, no storage, no memory, no security holes, no moving parts — and most importantly no endpoint management. This is why the TCO calculations for zero clients are far better than for any thin client — no matter how thin it is. The Pano is the only hypervisor-independent zero client on the market, making it the easiest virtual desktop endpoint to buy, deploy, use, and manage, and delivering the best TCO. In this case — zero is far better than thin.

View one of the videos below for more information on true zero client computing.
What Is Zero
Evolve to Zero