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Thin-client computing offers a solution to the increasingly
unmanageable costs of today's IT infrastructure. Thin-client
computing moves user data and application management from the desktop
to centralized servers in professional-managed data centers.
Application service providers (ASPs) are using thin-client computing
to enable desktop machines, web browsing terminals, and other low-cost
embedded devices to function as simple user interface devices for
accessing computational services over the Internet. ASPs have the
potential to deliver easier-to-maintain computational services with
reduced total cost of ownership.
A key enabling technology in thin-client computing is the remote
display protocol. The protocol allows graphical displays to be
served across a network to a client device, while applications and
even window systems are executed on the server. Using such a
protocol, the client transmits user input to the server, and the
server returns screen updates to the client.
To assess the viability of the thin-client computing model, we are
conducting a series of detailed experiments to quantify the
performance of thin-client platforms for various application
workloads. We focus on the network performance of remote display
technologies. Our experiments include measurements of popular
thin-client platforms such as AT&T VNC, Citrix Metaframe, Microsoft
Terminal Services, Sun Ray,
and Tarantella.
To measure thin-client performance even in the case of
proprietary, closed systems, we have developed a novel, non-intrusive
measurement methodology called slow-motion benchmarking, which has
resulted in the NCL ThinBench benchmark suite. Our results indicate
that current thin-client solutions generally work well in LAN
environments, but their performance degrades substantially in the
broadband environments envisioned by ASPs.
To address this problem, we are developing new remote display
technologies that will enable ASPs to deliver graphical and multimedia
applications in a broadband environment. We are also investigating
issues in scalable server resource management to support the demands
of large numbers of interactive users in thin-client environments.
More Information:
- Albert Lai and Jason Nieh, "On the Performance of Wide-Area Thin-Client Computing", ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (TOCS), 24(2), May 2006, pp. 175-209.
- Albert M. Lai and Jason Nieh, "Web Content Delivery Using Thin-Client Computing", Web Content Delivery (Web Information Systems Engineering and Internet Technologies Book Series), edited by S. T. Chanson, X. Tang, J. Xu, Springer, September 2005, pp. 325-345.
- Albert Lai, Jason Nieh, Andrew Laine, and Justin Starren, "Remote Display Performance for Wireless Healthcare Computing", Proceedings of the Eleventh World Conference on Medical Informatics (Medinfo 2004), San Francisco, CA, September 7-11, 2004, pp. 1438-1442.
- Albert Lai, Jason Nieh, Bhagyashree Bohra, Vijayarka Nandikonda, Abhishek P. Surana, and Suchita Varshneya, "Improving Web Browsing on Wireless PDAs Using Thin-Client Computing", Proceedings of the Thirteenth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2004), New York, NY, May 17-22, 2004, pp. 143-154.
- Albert Lai, Jason Nieh, Andrew Laine, and Justin Starren, "Thin Client Performance for Remote 3-D Image Display", Abstract in Proceedings of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2003 Annual Symposium, Washington, DC, November 8-12, 2003, p. 904.
- S. Jae Yang, Jason Nieh, Shilpa Krishnappa, Aparna Mohla, and Mahdi Sajjadpour, "Web Browsing Performance of Wireless Thin-Client Computing", Proceedings of the Twelfth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2003), Budapest, Hungary, May 20-24, 2003, pp. 68-79.
- Jason Nieh, S. Jae Yang, and Naomi Novik, "Measuring Thin-Client Performance Using Slow-Motion Benchmarking", ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (TOCS), 21(1), February 2003, pp. 87-115.
- Albert Lai and Jason Nieh, "Limits of Wide-Area Thin-Client Computing", Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems (SIGMETRICS 2002), Marina del Rey, CA, June 15-19, 2002, pp. 228-239.
- S. Jae Yang, Jason Nieh, Matt Selsky, and Nikhil Tiwari, "The Performance of Remote Display Mechanisms for Thin-Client Computing", Proceedings of the 2002 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, Monterey, CA, June 10-15, 2002, pp. 131-146.
- S. Jae Yang and Jason Nieh, "MetaFrame XP Extends the Citrix Platform", PC Magazine, 21(9), Ziff-Davis Media, New York, NY, May 7, 2002, p. 48.
- Fei Li and Jason Nieh, "Optimal Linear Interpolation Coding for Server-Based Computing", Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) 2002, New York, NY, April 28-May 2, 2002, pp. 2542-2546.
- Fei Li and Jason Nieh, "Low-complexity Interpolation Coding for Server-Based Computing", Abstract in Proceedings of the Data Compression Conference (DCC) 2002, Snowbird, UT, April 2-4, 2002, p. 461.
- S. Jae Yang, Jason Nieh, and Naomi Novik, "Measuring Thin-Client Performance Using Slow-Motion Benchmarking", Proceedings of the 2001 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, Boston, MA, June 25-30, 2001, pp. 35-49.
- Jason Nieh, S. Jae Yang, and Naomi Novik, "A Comparison of Thin-Client Computing Architectures", Technical Report CUCS-022-00, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, November 2000.
- Jason Nieh and S. Jae Yang, "Measuring the Multimedia Performance of Server-Based Computing", Proceedings of the Tenth International Workshop on Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video, Chapel Hill, NC, June 26-28, 2000, pp. 55-64.
- S. Jae Yang and Jason Nieh, "Thin Is In", PC Magazine, 19(13), Ziff-Davis Media, New York, NY, July 1, 2000, p. 68.
- Jason Nieh, "On the Network Performance of Thin-Client Computing", OS-PIC, IBM Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, May 30, 2000.
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