Microsoft, Citrix detail thin-client server costs

By John Cox
Network World Fusion, 6/18/98

New York - Users can now calculate the cost of Microsoft Corp.'s thin client software, which began shipping this week to selected customers.

Microsoft and development partner Citrix Systems, Inc., announced the release and final pricing of their software, which creates a multiuser NT server accessed by terminals (or PCs).

Instead of running applications on desktop PCs, customers can load them on servers running Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition (TSE). Users equipped with relatively cheap graphical terminals can access the applications at the same time. This thin-client approach should reduce desktop support and maintenance costs by centralizing the applications. (Using software from Citrix, existing PCs, Unix workstations and Macintosh computers can also access TSE servers.)

TSE is priced the same as the standard edition of NT Server. Customers also have to buy a Windows NT Workstation 4.0 license and a file and print Client Access License (CAL) for each desktop. For 10 users, TSE is $1,129, which includes the CALs. The workstation licenses are priced at $269 each, or $2,690. The total is $3,819. Additional CALs are $39.95. But big customers can cu

t those figures through various discount programs. Via the Microsoft Open License Program, the TSE price is just $627, NT Workstation is $238, and each CAL is $31.

Citrix, in keeping with past practice, will license its TSE companiion software, MetaFrame, on a concurrent use basis rather than a per user basis. MetaFrame loads on a TSE server using a Citrix protocol to connect a range of clients to the TSE server. It also supports server clustering and management. For a 15-user license, up to 15 users in a 30 user department can access the software at once, for example. The suggested retail price for a 15-user is license $4,995. Users can be added in increments: an additional 10 users is $1,995. A maximum five-user version is available for workgroups and small businesses, priced at $1,995. A second version hosts only Windows-based terminals or other devices that use Citrix's Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol. This version is $995 for five users. Two optional packages are Load Balancing Services and SecureICA priced respectively at $1,495 per server and $2,495.

Migration fees

Customers now using Citrix WinFrame, on which TSE is based, can buy TSE, including all client licenses for 15 users, for $2,599 until November 30. Those WinFrame customers who also want to use MetaFrame, and most are expected to, can upgrade to the Citrix software at a suggested retail price of $1,495 per server, regardless of the number of users.

An array of hardware and software vendors announced support for Microsoft TSE:

Cruise Technologies, Inc. demonstrated the next version of its mobile Windows-based terminal, called CruisePad NXT. The new design lets users slot in different wireless PC cards to connect to a LAN. The flat tablet-shaped device, a bit larger than an 11.5 x 8 sheet of paper, has a 800 x 600 resolution, on a 12.1-inch touch screen. It supports either the Microsoft RDP or Citrix ICA protocols. The device is due out later this year and pricing will be announced at that time.
Neoware Systems, Inc. demonstrated its new line of NeoStation thin client devices, running the Windows CE and the Microsoft RDP protocol. They also include ICA, licensed from Citrix. Prices start at $599.
Network Computing Devices, Inc., unveiled its ThinStar line of Windows-based terminals for TSE, along with a suite of connectivity software programs to connect to Unix and mainframe computers. Also announced were a range of consulting services to help users plan, design, and install a thin client system. Finally, NCD demonstrated a prototype of a Windows-based terminal outfitted with an Intel microprocessor. Intel has introduced a design guideline for so-called lean clients and chose NCD to create a terminal based on the guideline.
Motorola Corp. introduced the WinCept 100 and 110 reference designs for building Windows-based terminals. The designs will be licensed to hardware vendors, and include all the needed hardware, software drivers, a choice of operating systems, and design files for manufacturing. These vendors will use the design to build and brand their own line of Windows terminals. The designs are based on the Morotorola MPC821 microprocessor, a one-chip, integrated PowerPC microprocessor.

The designs will be downloadable from www.motorola.com/wincept.

Motorola said the cost of the bill of materials to build the printed circuit boards based on the designs is just over $100, in quanties of 10,000. That figure could trigger a big drop in the final prices of today's Windows terminals, which typically run from $600 to $800.