A new study shows that IGEL thin clients in a virtual desktop environment can be
up to 63% less harmful to the environment than a traditional PC deployment. The
independent study, conducted by the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in
Germany, analyzed two scenarios with
virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs) across their entire
lifecycle.
In the first scenario at a Dutch
healthcare organization, the combination of IGEL thin clients and virtual
desktops based on VMware View proved to be 47% less harmful to the climate than
a PC workstation with locally installed applications put to equivalent use. This
research covered the entire lifecycle of the device: from its production, over a
five-year period of operation, all the way to its ultimate
disposal.
In the second installation at
Fraunhofer, using Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop virtualization software,
the global warming potential (GWP) calculated over the entire lifecycle, with
a service life of three years, was 30% to 63% that of the PC workstation control
scenario, depending on the type of user involved.
For medium-level users, the
combination of an IGEL thin client and a shared desktop provisioned via Citrix
XenApp (terminal server) is currently the best solution from an ecological and
energy-efficiency perspective. Compared to the control scenario with a
conventional PC workstation, this configuration decreases the global warming
potential (GWP) over its entire lifecycle by 63%. For a medium-level user, the
GWP, measured in kilograms of CO2-equivalent (kg CO2eq), is 417 kg CO2eq for a
conventional PC workstation and just 156 kg CO2eq for an IGEL thin client,
including its terminal server share.
The study also showed that most of
the climate-relevant advantages of thin client/VDI solutions are accounted for
by savings during their operational phase. Depending on the application scenario
and user type, 61% to 77% of the greenhouse gases emitted throughout the
lifecycle are from operation, followed by 17% to 28% during
production.
IGEL Thin Clients: Universally
Deployable End-User Devices
In both of the installations
examined, thin clients from IGEL Technology were used. The lean, non-proprietary
thin clients (model used: IGEL Universal Desktop UD3 LX) support traditional
terminal server environments running Citrix or Microsoft, as well as desktop
virtualization solutions from VMware, Citrix, Microsoft, Red Hat and other
providers. In direct comparison to a typical PC workstation, the compact thin
client with a service life of three years causes just 122 kg CO2eq, while a
desktop PC used for the same amount of time causes between 417 and 692 kg CO2eq
(ranging from medium-level user to power user).
Conclusion: Thin Clients a
Definite Alternative to PCs
“Our conclusion from the study is
that thin clients are definitely more environmentally-friendly and cost
effective than the desktop PC,” declared Christian Knermann, Project Manager of
the environmental impact study and Deputy Head of the IT Management department
at Fraunhofer UMSICHT. “From an IT point of view, desktop virtualization is a
prudent extension of the terminal server model, which provides for particularly
demanding user scenarios in an efficient and environmentally conscious way. The
integration of both technologies ultimately allows us optimal capacity
utilization of our server hardware.”
“We are delighted with this
informative study because it offers our customers further guidance and
motivation to centralize their IT infrastructures in the interests of sustained
cost savings,” added Simon Richards, UK General Manager at IGEL
Technology. “We’re also pleased that both scenarios show how IGEL thin clients
contribute to climate protection and to reduction of electricity
costs.”
A full copy of the report can be
found at: http://it.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/TC2011/index_en.html