Review: Igel Technology UD3 thin client

Igel Technology's UD3 is a mid-range thin client terminal offering built-in support for a number of connection brokers for virtual desktop infrastructure, in addition to traditional server-hosted sessions, and terminal emulation for legacy systems.

Launched earlier this year, the UD3 series is available with Linux, Windows Embedded CE or Windows Embedded Standard, as are all of Igel's models. The Flash storage and memory vary depending on the operating system and the level of functionality the customer requires.

Customers must also choose from one of three 'digital service pack' levels - Entry, Standard and Advanced - depending on the functionality required.

We tested the UD3-720 ES model which runs Windows Embedded Standard (formerly Windows XP Embedded) as its operating system, with 2GB Flash and 1GB memory, plus the top-level Advanced service pack. This configuration, coupled with an 800MHz VIA Eden processor, gives the device ample performance for most applications, but also makes it cost almost as much as a full-blown PC at £349.

However, as with other thin clients, the UD3 is designed to be more appliance-like than a Windows PC in order to reduce management costs. It also consumes less energy (12W) and is more compact than a typical desktop computer, roughly comparable in size to some wireless routers.

Igel has equipped the UD3 with a reasonable number of I/O ports. It has a digital video DVI connector that can be used to connect two monitors when used with a Y-cable adapter, 10/100 Ethernet for network connection, PS/2 keyboard socket, serial port and five USB ports, one of which is behind a flap on the front panel along with audio jack sockets. There is also a built-in smartcard reader to support user authentication.

An optional pedestal fits under the UD3 and adds 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and a second serial port. The Wi-Fi interface gives greater flexibility in locating the terminal where there may be no available Ethernet ports.

The Advanced service pack of the UD3-720 ES includes support for virtual desktop infrastructure based on VMware View, Leostream Connect, Citrix XenDesktop and Ericom WebConnect.

Also included are clients for server-hosted desktop sessions via Microsoft's RDP, Citrix's XenApp and the NoMachine NX Client.

Ericom's PowerTerm is included for emulation of legacy terminal equipment used with systems such as IBM mainframes. It also has ThinPrint support for driverless printing, and Internet Explorer 7 for access to browser-based enterprise applications.

The Advanced service pack also includes a client for RES PowerFuse Workspace Extender, to support what Igel calls Digital Services Virtualisation. This is aimed at firms using thin clients as the front end for virtual desktop PCs, and enables content such as audio and video to be handled locally by the Igel terminal rather than being played on the virtual PC and related across the network. This requires a copy of RES PowerFuse on the virtual PC, however.

Support is also provided for FabulaTech's USB over Network, which links a virtual desktop PC with the USB ports on the UD3 terminal. This enables the user to plug in USB devices such as memory sticks just like they would on a typical PC.

We tested the UD3 as the user console for a session running on a Windows Server 2003 host and found its performance ample for this kind of scenario. We also tested it as the console to access a virtual desktop hosted remotely by service provider ThinkGrid, and the UD3 also proved more than adequate for this task.

ThinkGrid's service uses yet another remote desktop protocol, the Virtual Access Suite (VAS) from Provision Networks (now Quest Software). To access this, we had to use administrator access to download and install the VAS client, but once in place, we were able to use the ThinkGrid remote desktop just as if the Igel UD3 was a Windows PC running the desktop session locally. In everyday use, the UD3 boots up with standard user access rights that do not allow the user to alter any settings.

When logged in as an administrator, users can also access the Igel Setup tool. This allows a wide array of settings to be configured, including the session settings for all the access clients, the display and language settings, configuration of the network interfaces, whether USB devices can be used, updating the device firmware, and toggling the file-based write filter on and off. The latter prevents any software from making changes to the file system, protecting the integrity of the operating system.

Igel's Universal Management Suite software can be used to manage all of the same settings centrally, and the terminal also supports shadowing via the VNC protocol for remote support purposes.