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Three vendors of server-based computing devices are rolling out enhanced hardware and software products designed to expand the products reach.
Wyse Technology Inc. and Neoware Systems Inc., which make thin-client devices, this week will launch upgraded software to ease management and cover some devices beyond thin clients. Separately, ClearCube Technology Inc. this quarter will release its I/Port technology, which will extend the physical reach of its PC blade offering using standard Ethernet connectivity.
Thin clients and PC blades enable easier manageability and security by hosting applications and data on central servers and corporate networks rather than desktop appliances. In thin-client environments, multiple appliances share servers; with PC blades, each appliance has a dedicated server.
Wyse will add features to its Rapport software that will enable users to manage PDAs running enterprise applications, said officials, in San Jose, Calif. Using a single management console, customers will be able to manage handheld devices from such vendors as Palm Inc. and Symbol Technologies Inc. via Rapport.
Meanwhile, Neoware, of King of Prussia, Pa., will launch an upgraded version of its management software, ezRemote Manager 3.0, which Chairman and CEO Michael Kantrowitz said will give users a greater reach over more devices. With the software, users will be able to manage not only thin clients from Neoware, IBM, Boundless Technologies Inc. and NCD Inc. but also desktop PCs that have been converted into a thin-client appliance via Neowares ThinPC software.
The upgraded software will enable systems administrators to aid employees with help desk questions by allowing them to see what is on an employees screen.
ClearCube currently offers a monitor on the desktop linked to back-end PC blades via a proprietary C/Port, which reaches 200 meters. Using I/Port and Ethernet, the systems will offer virtually unlimited distance, allowing enterprises to house the PC blades in a central site rather than in spaces close to the end user, officials said. It also will let ClearCube run four users on each blade, which will halve the price to as low as $800, officials said.