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By Jonathan Blackwood
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Network Computer
It's hard to avoid hearing about network computers these days. Oracle, Sun and Apple tout them relentlessly, and lesser-known vendors such as HDS Systems, SunRiver Data Systems and Wyse have products out there, too. But how exactly does this alleged new paradigm differ from the bad old days of mainframes and dumb terminals? And with $1,500 price tags, doesn't it make sense just to buy a PC?
Network computers (NCs), derived from "thin client" systems, consist of simple, pizza box-sized units containing a CPU (typically a RISC processor) and network card, keyboard, mouse, VGA monitor, parallel and serial port-and very little else. Floppy or hard drives are optional; programs are housed on the host, typically a UNIX, Novell or Windows NT server, and are downloaded transparently.
So what are the ad-vantages? First, while some of the machines are Internet- and e-mail-only boxes, units from HDS and SunRiver run not only Web browsers but any Windows, Java, UNIX or legacy app.
Then there's the cost. Researchers say the typical life-cycle cost of a PC is in the neighborhood of $40,000; the five-year cost for an NC is in the $5,000 to $8,000 range.
Finally, in an enterprise environment, a big plus is that all administration takes place on the server. And bandwidth won't be a problem for larger companies with Ethernet.
The boxes sell for less than $500 at the low end but go higher when fully configured. HDS' NC costs $750; its base configuration includes 4MB of RAM, keyboard, mouse, 17-inch gray-scale monitor, Ethernet, parallel port and serial port. RAM can be expanded all the way to 128MB. SunRiver offers similar features, but it plans to customize products for the direct channel.
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