Zero Client Computers Reduce Power Usage in Walton College of Business Labs

The Sam M. Walton College of Business is installing zero client, a virtual desktop infrastructure, in computer labs across the University of Arkansas campus to reduce energy consumption. The hardware and software associated with zero client saves energy by shifting power demands from individual workstations in the labs to single servers.

Last summer, William Allred, associate director of technology, and Scott Zemke, network administrator, began the zero client project on campus. Currently, the Dell Wyse zero clients are installed in computer labs and classrooms in JB Hunt Hall, Willard J. Walker Hall, Walton College of Business.

The zero client system is composed of a terminal and a server. The system's job is to shift power loads from local computing to server-based computing. This system is extremely efficient because it has secure means of delivering applications to users.

Students, faculty and staff log onto the virtual desktop with their university credentials to gain access.

"Not only do these use one-twenty-fifth of the power when they're on, once you get to a virtual desktop you can use any device at anytime from anywhere to connect to your virtual desktop," said Allred.

Zero client reduces maintenance and labor while increasing the lifespan of the individual workstation in each lab.

"Sustainability is how we came at it. This is also much more secure because the data all stays in the data center," said Allred.

Allred said with physical desktops, such as the traditional PC tower, a significant amount of time and electrical power is used to patch security flaws—sometimes two to three weeks of filtering.

"We can have all of 400 virtual desktops patched within hours and everything is up to date. It's easy to manage and costs less," said Allred.

The zero client system provides access to Walton College Lab computers over any internet connection from any device at any time for students and staff. The virtual desktops can be accessed from laptops as well as tablets, including iPad, Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and Chromebook.

"There are so many good reasons to do this, and ultimately its 2014—it's stupid to require students to come to a physical lab to access software that we can only install on university systems, now they don't have to," said Allred.

Even though zero client may not be the most ideal for every computer users' needs, it's an effective system for general access computing and has potential to save thousands of dollars annually.

Allred said although it's still rather early in the project to see drastic savings from zero client, if the system was installed in all labs across campus, then the savings would go through the roof.

"It's going to give us a lot more flexibility. Now, there are costs of ownership projections that we've done and this does have a bigger up-front cost, but in the long run it's still much cheaper if you stick with those averages. Just changing out 400 systems ... from the PCs that were there to zero clients should save about $40,000 per year," said Allred.

The economic and environmental benefits of the zero client system make it something the "campus needs to have a strategy for and it needs to be adopted as a standard," said Allred.

"I would love to see them go across campus, but this is just the Walton College, so we do what we can do," said Allred.