Choose Your Terminal Server Solution
The WorldMark 4300 can be configured with an impressive amount of additional
memory, hard disks, and disk arrays for terabyte (TB) storage. The system
configuration NCR sent the Lab included two 4-way servers, but you need only add
the symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) system and 10GB of storage to eight nodes
per cabinet. Each node can contain a minimum of 2 processors and a maximum of 32
processors, and memory can be as little as 1GB per server (upgradeable to 4GB
per server).
The architecture provides flexible configurations for a variety of
thin-client solutions. NCR provides tools such as SMP Manager (so you can
prioritize the processor user) and Master Minder (which lets administrators
manage applications via rules and thresholds). Neither of these programs
provides dynamic load balancing when both systems are online, but they can
adjust when one server fails.
One Concern
My only concern about the WorldMark 4300 is that NCR encourages using
round-robin Domain Name System (DNS) or LifeKeeper's IP addressing rather than
dynamic load balancing. Round-robin DNS comes native with Terminal Server, and
LifeKeeper protected IP addressing is included in the base LifeKeeper software.
But these provide only fault tolerance and not load balancing. You can install a
copy of Citrix MetaFrame or Cubix Balanced Cluster Service on the
WorldMark 4300, but I was disappointed that NCR didn't include either of them
with the system I received.
Marking the Path to Thin Clients
The WorldMark 4300 is a compelling solution for providing fault-tolerant,
Terminal Server capabilities to clients. The system I tested included
everything you look for in a Terminal Server solution. However,
implementing 4-way servers raises the WorldMark 4300's price and results in
users placing their front-end and back-end applications on the same
server. A server failure might reduce the performance of the surviving server.
Other solutions provide more flexibility using dual-processor systems,
which you can flexibly configure. NCR is banking on its LifeKeeper solution, but
in my opinion the company can enhance the base configuration by including
Cubix's load-balancing solution, which offers a low-cost alternative to Citrix
MetaFrame. The combination of LifeKeeper, Cubix Balanced Cluster Service,
Terminal Server, and the WorldMark 4300 would form a resilient thin-client
competitor.