Midrange Stuff, OS/400 Edition

OS/400 shops that like their computing on-the-fly have several new wireless-capable thin-client terminals to choose from. Three established thin client manufacturers--Affirmative Computer Products, Computer Lab International, and NLynx Technologies--recently announced thin client offerings that feature embedded Windows CE operating systems, 5250 emulation software, and the capability to connect to wireless local area networks (LANs) using the 802.11b standard.

Computer Lab International last week launched its latest thin client, the ET5000n, a Windows-based terminal that features a slew of emulation software and productivity applications, and is upgradeable to wireless LANs with an optional 802.11b adapter. Placentia, California, based Computer Lab International makes a range of thin client devices, and the ET5000n is one of the most advanced. With an embedded Windows CE operating system, and wireless capability through an optional Cisco wireless LAN adapter, the ET5000n is eclipsed only by the top-of-the-line ET5000x, which features Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6.0 (the ET5000n ships only with IE 5.0), as well as the wireless LAN support.

Wireless LANs based on the 802.11 standard are becoming more accepted as efficient alternatives to wired Ethernet LANs in congested locales, like office buildings, schools, or factories. The 802.11b standard, which boosted data transfer speeds to 11 MB per second (pretty much compatible with first-generation Ethernet), was adopted by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1999. Computer Lab International uses Cisco's Aironet 350 Series Client Adaptor to connect the ET5000n to an 802.11b base station.

NLynx Technologies has also been busy readying a new wireless-compatible, top-of-the-line thin client for the midrange and mainframe marketplace. The Austin, Texas, company last week announced the OmniTerm/900w, a Windows-based terminal that NLynx Technologies CEO Alan Humphrey says will appeal to users who want a true Windows look and feel.

The 900w, like the rest of NLynx's OmniTerm family of thin clients and all of the devices mentioned in this story, is based on a solid-state design, with no moving parts (not even fans or hard disks), which should please systems administrators concerned with viruses or other rogue applications finding their way to their users' PCs. NLynx's 900w announcement follows on the heels of last summer's launch of the OmniTerm/750t, a $449 text-based terminal that can be upgraded to a full Windows-based terminal.

The OmniTerm/900w ships with a full range of software out of the box, including Windows CE operating system; 5250-, 3270-, and Unix emulators; support for Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Citrix independent computing architecture (ICA) clients; as well as productivity applications, such as Microsoft Notepad, IE, and e-mail applications. NLynx claims that its OmniTerm/900w supports the broadest range of OS/400 features on the market. It supports 122-key twinax keyboards, keyboard mapping, 80/132 columns support, play, record, and pause macros, and hot spot support. This computer also supports copy and paste functions; can be set up for different foreground, background, and textual colors; and features customizable toolbars.

The OmniTerm/900w ships with an Ethernet card for connecting to LANs. But the OmniTerm/900w can also be upgraded with 802.11b technology to provide wireless LAN connectivity. The OmniTerm/900w is set to ship this month at a price of $669.

Affirmative Computer Products, the Tempe, Arizona, provider of thin clients and other peripherals, also has a couple of new offerings. The new YEStablet model 7370 is a modification of the original wireless, portable, Windows-based thin-client YEStablet 7380, which Affirmative launched last June. The YEStablet 7370 features a magnesium alloy case and a shock-protection boot that allows a computer to survive a three-foot drop onto concrete. You'll pay an extra $800 for the alloy case, shock-protection boot, and neck strap (so maybe you don't have to find out how durable the case is), which brings the cost of the 7370 to $2,495. The basic 7380 costs $1,695.

Both of these tablet computers feature an Intel Strong ARM RISC processor, 32 MB Flash Memory, 64 MB SDRAM, a USB port, a Compact Flash expansion slot, an 802.11b card, an infrared interface, an 8.4-inch LCD touch screen, and the benefit of no moving parts. Windows CE, 5250-, 3270-, Unix-, and Citrix emulators are all standard, as is some productivity software, such as e-mail, word processing, Web browsing, and document viewing applications.

Affirmative has also introduced a new product at the lower end of its broad product spectrum. The new YEStation LE model 2509 is a $449, text-based terminal that is based on the same hardware as the original YEStation LE 2505, which rings up at a bargain-basement price of only $340. Affirmative said it was asked to develop a low-cost, text-based terminal that could compete with text-based terminals from NLynx and Computer Lab International, so it built the YEStation LE model 2509.

Bargain hunters will be drawn to the YEStation LE thin clients, which boast capabilities that are comparable to thin clients costing hundreds of dollars more. In terms of hardware, both feature a 300 MHz Geode processor with access to 32 MB of SDRAM memory (upgradeable to 64 MB). Serial, parallel, PS/2, and USB ports, and Ethernet connectivity are all standard, as well as support for 102- and 122-key keyboards and a range of VGA monitors.

In terms of software, the model 2505 features a Linux operating system; whereas the 2509 runs Windows CE. (While the model 2509 runs an embedded version of the Windows operating system, it is not a Windows-based terminal; you need to pay an additional $50 to get the GUI capability.) The 2505 boots from the LAN; the 2509 is a little more self-sufficient and can self-boot from an 8 MB disk on a chip. Both devices feature preloaded 5250 and 3270 emulation software. You're not going to find a whole lot of productivity software, such as e-mail or browsing, on these devices. But if you absolutely need these GUI applications, you can easily upgrade the 2509 to a Windows-based terminal with RDP and ICA support for $50 more.

Sponsored By

MIDRANGE PERFORMANCE GROUP

Performance Navigator ® at Boise Cascade Office Products

Doug Mewmaw, Technical Support Manager for Boise Cascade Office Products, manages an iSeries environment that includes 14 separate servers. Doug's responsibilities include performance management and reporting. For several years, management was receiving regular weekly reports on the performance of each system. This time consuming task fell to Doug. Until March of 2000, Doug used a combination of IBM's Performance Tools, and various desktop tools such as spreadsheets and graphing packages. In March of 2000, Doug attended COMMON, and registered for a vendor course offering that discussed Performance Navigator.

Doug immediately saw the huge impact this product would have in his operation. "With Performance Navigator, everything is a simple point-and-click" said Mewmaw. He continues- "What I used to have to do involved 6 or 7 steps for each graph, for each system. With PerfNav, I can set many of the reports up on a scheduler, and they're done automatically." Mewmaw estimated that he used to spend over a day each week doing routine reporting. Now that is reduced to an hour or two.

Performance Navigator also provides Boise Cascade with the ability to constantly tune their configurations for optimum return on investment. Consolidations of multiple workloads onto a single server can be modeled in minutes, with complete confidence in the results. Increasing the workload of a specific job can be modeled to provide clear impact on future growth. As Doug Mewmaw said, "If Performance Navigator says we have a bottleneck, we almost certainly do. Better yet, PerfNav can tell us which users or which jobs are causing a performance problem."

Another issue that Performance Navigator addressed was Mewmaw's comfort level. "Best/1® has always been my performance and capacity planning tool. To be honest, I've not only felt frustration with the 'hardware promoting' tool, but I have never felt 100 percent confident in its predictions. I hate that. After switching to Performance Navigator, I don't have that uneasy feeling anymore. I really think this product will become the new industry standard".

Mewmaw continues, "MPG's support is just terrific, however there is so much that Performance Navigator does I actually went to their headquarters for a 2 day course. Even though I had worked with the product almost daily for over a year, I learned an incredible amount in those 2 days."

Free download at
www.mpginc.com