NComputing U170

In the early days of screen-and-keyboard office computing, thin clients were commonplace. Computers were accessed through “dumb” terminals that just accepted input, passed it along to a server and spat out the resulting output. This meant many users could share the same computing hardware, which was ideal in the days when a computer-per-desk would have been unthinkable for more reasons than I’d care to list.

The desktop PC marginalised thin clients for a few years, before they swung back into semi-prominence in libraries, universities and a few businesses. Now with virtualisation on the rise and companies out to cut IT costs in any way possible, thin clients are once again drifting into the public eye.

NComputing has taken a very no-nonsense approach to the problem, putting together a range of devices optimised for small-to-medium businesses and educational institutions. With their simple “vSpace” desktop virtualisation software, a standard Windows XP or 7 machine can be set up as an NComputing server in minutes. I won’t even say “configured”, as I didn’t have to do anything but double-click the installer and click a couple of “Next” buttons to get the software up and running.

With the server software installed, any U170 thin-clients plugged into the PC via a USB port can be used to log in remotely to any Windows user account configured for remote access.

Unlike Windows’ own Remote Desktop feature, logging in with an NComputing thin client doesn’t kick off the PC’s own user: you can continue to use the host machine normally while it’s also being used remotely. Likewise, up to nine NComputing thin clients can access the PC simultaneously (depending on the gruntiness of the machine’s hardware, and available USB bandwidth).

The U170 itself requires virtually no setup. I just plugged it into an available USB port, added a USB mouse and keyboard, and was presented with a Windows login prompt. Easy as that.

Once logged in, I was able to do anything on the client that I would have been able to do on the host PC. The maximum screen resolution supported by the U170 is an ample 1,680 x 1,050 pixels, in full 24-bit colour. Unfortunately, with my particular LCD monitor, I was only able to run at 1,280 x 1,024.