Discussion on low cost internet for home use

Dear Readers,

This blog discusses the low cost and good value internet for home use.


Also with this topic,I will also cover how internet devices like MTS/Tata Photon/Reliance/BSNL CDMA or 3g are very costly for home use

Introduction:
Nowadays mobile phones with GPRS connectivity having USB data cable to connect to PC,with bluetooth are very common and are available in market almost from 5 years

Nowadays GSM service provider 2G sim cards like Aircel,Tata Docomo,Airtel,Vodafone,BSNL,Idea etc gives good gprs plans for very less amount

Objective of the topic
To connect to internet from your mobile phone supporting gprs(A Common Man's Internet)


Tools required for this implementation
It is observed that Nokia mobile phone offers you best softwares to connect your Phone to your PC and then to Internet
Samsung also is good but the USB drivers gives too much problems for Windows XP/Win 7
I could not install Samsung PC Suite application because it failed to install USB drver on my PC
Nokia is the best option.

I am using Windows 2003 Server operating system with DNS configured and one client PC in domain

 This topic assumes that you have
1) Mobile phone supporting GPRS,WAP,Bluetooth technologies.I have tried with Nokia 3110 classic phone
2)A PC suite application having software and relevant drivers to connect mobile phone to internet
3) USB Data cable to connect mobile phone to PC
4) 2G Internet plan activated and appropriate recharge done on the Sim card.(In my case it is Aircel with 98 rupees monthly unlimited pack activated in prepaid)

The mobile phone with Sim card will act as the modem and the cellular service provider will act as your ISP

2G mobile Internet plans
Regarding 2G internet plans,there are many cellular service providers providing 2G internet services at cost effective prices.Some of them are given below(Maharashtra-Goa circle prepaid plans)
1) Aircel: 98 rupees per month unlimited usage,501 rupees 6 months unlimited,1001 rupees monthly unlimited
2) Tata Docomo: 97 rupees month 5 GB
3) Airtel: 100 rupees monthly 2 GB
4) Vodafone: 100 rupees 500 mb

Also there are plans from Idea,BSNL

Speed offered is 256 kbps for all GSM service providers

I used Aircel and tested it on www.speedtest.net
The results were quite amazing for Aircel
I was able to get actual speed between  200 to 230 kbps
Downloading:I got 24.1 kbps max and 8 kbps minimum(A download of 85 mb was done in 1.5 to 2 hours)
Uploading was also satisfactory
With Tata Docomo and Airtel also the results were similar
I didnt test Vodafone,Idea,BSNL hence cant comment on that


Starting point

1)Installation of Nokia PC suite: Install the Nokia PC suite on your PC.You can download it from the net or from any good mobile shops,you can source it for max 150 rupees
2) A Data cable to connect to PC: It can be obtained in 60 rupees max from good mobile shops

3) GPRS configuration on your mobile phone:Obtain GPRS settings from your service provider and save it on your mobile phone.Also ask for APN name from your service provider because it is very important in further configuration

Now you have a PC suite software installed,Data cable ready and GPRS settings instaled and configured on mobile phone
Next step is to connect your mobile phone to PC via the PC suite via data cable
Put the data cable in USB slot of your PC and plug it to your mobile phone

Special note
***Now when you are using PC suite for first time,you will be prompted to install USB drivers through various wizards, hence it is recommended to keep the CD of "PC Suite software" inserted in the CD drive till you connect to internet.This is only for first time use.After being connected to internet,you can take out the CD.

So I hope that the drivers are installed successfully and you are now ready to use the internet
But here is one step remaining and that is ......CONFIGURATION of PC suite

Here are the screenshots which demonstrates the configuration of PC suite to connect to internet
I am using configuration of aircel but readers are advised to refer their service provider's settings

Screen 1:
PC suite application main screen looks like this.To connect to internet,there is a button named "Connect to internet"  shown in first row third column in the screen

As discussed above about APN,
The APN is the main entity in connecting your PC to internet via mobile phone.
This APN(Access Point Name) is obtained from your respective cellular service provider
Once you confirm it,you need to store it in the settings of the PC suite

Click on the "Connect to internet" button as shown in above screen and you get the screen shown below

Click the settings button as shown in the screen below(There are 3 buttons namely Connect,Disconnect and Settings on the screen)

You get the configuration screen as shown below.
Make sure that your mobile phone model is mentioned in this screen dropdown mentioned as a modem.
If you see this,this means that Nokia PC Suite and the relevant USB drivers are succesfully installed and there is no problem.
Click next on the screen shown below

Select the "Configure connection manually" option.
By default the first option of "Select operator from the list" is selected hence before proceeding next,verify that you have select manual configuration option
After selecting this option,proceed to next

Now in the APN textfield, type the exact APN name 
For Aircel, only APN is required.The other parameters are kept blank
Thus confirm the user name,password and additional parameters from your service provider

In my opinion,only APN name is sufficient for almost all cellular service providers
Click on finish button.This saves your configuration

Now again go to the main screen of PC suite and click on "Connect to internet button"
Now click on the "Connect" button as shown below in screen

If all the settings are perfect as discussed above
Just see in the right side bottom of this screen shown below
You must get the message of connection succesful

Also on the PC suite application as shown in screen below,you will get the status as "Connected"
Now the connect button will be disabled and the "Disconnect" and "Settings" button are only enabled

Thus following the steps as shown above,Your PC is connected to internet through mobile phone

Results
Speed obtained more than 230 kbps
Downloading speed: Max 24.1 kbps and 8 kbps minimum
Uploading speed: approx 11 kbps

The results were the same for Airtel and Tata Docomo.Airtel was ahead of Aircel by just a whisker in performance but considering the cost,Airtel offers 2 GB in 100 rupees and Aircel gives 98 rupees per month unlimited usage thus Aircel and Tata Docomo are value for money in mobile internet category
Along with this many pros,it is having one con and that is live streaming applications over internet like youtube etc are very very slow.But those who just surf the internet and download,this mobile internet is very much affordable plus applications like youtube provides options to download the video thus instead of live streaming,depending on the size of video(a file size of 100 mb can be downloaded in 2 hours) this is a preferable option.It will be no live streaming but downloading and watching videos thus this is not a big issue
For watching live streaming videos,broadband and Wi-Fi services are too good
Nowadays BSNL gives broadband internet for unlimited in 499 rupees to anyone who has the basic phone with them and 625 rupees for unlimited broadband+Phone combo with 100 free calls .Speed is 256 kbps but downloading speed is upto 70 kbps max which is better than speed obtained by the 3.1 mbps USB CDMA modems
Thus in 650 rupees,you get good internet and phone facility with 100 free calls whereas in case of USB modem CDMA internet,in 650 rupees you get just 1 GB of data usage per month which finishes miraculously in 15 to 20 days itself


Thus from above result
98 rupees for unlimited usage per month with browsing speed approx above 200 kbps and 20+ kbps for downloading with satisfactory upload speeds,a question comes in mind

WHAT IS THE USE OF MTS/PHOTON/RELIANCE/BSNL USB wireless internet on CDMA???
The answer to this question is
Absoloutely useless!

If you want to surf the net at home with less downloads,then why use these  USB CDMA modems
All these CDMA modems provide speed of 3.1 mbps in certain limits.They also provide 230 kbps ie CDMA 1.x when out side the city limits
And speaking straightforward,CDMA 1.x mode of 230 kbps,these USB modems gives a useless speed of just 4 to 10 kbps for download and it take ages to upload a file(attaching file in email)
Hence the cost of 400 to 650 rupees per month for 1 GB usage is not justified.These USB internet on cdma is very very costly as compared to its features.They are 300% overpriced currently


I Hope the GSM service providers to do something to increase the speed from 256 kbps to 512 kbps so that people will not purchase these crap USB CDMA modems which is more of a show business wrapped in useless services


I think that GSM service providers like Aircel,Tata Docomo,Airtel,BSNL,Idea,Vodafone etc are doing good job to spread the internet usage to vast majority of people in all parts of India.
Internet has become a common man's need today thus this must be accessible to majority of people at nominal costs.
My intention of demonstrating all this was that if you all know it,forward it to as many of people who know it.This is about common man's internet.This information is definately not a piece of junk to throw in a dustbin/trashcan of an mailbox.People are not knowing this
Can you imagine if majority of people in India knows about  then what could happen??


Since GSM mobile phone technology is almost in every part of India,very soon, a day will come when a person living in remotest part of country can send and recieve a email from that location thus in case of help needed by person at remote place,the much need help can be given , school childrens in tribal part of our country will be able to gather information over the internet and get a chance to increase their knowledge without need to travel thousands of miles for getting basic knowledge.Many such good things can happen due to empowerment of cost effective technology
With information accessible to all parts of country,definately our country can progress and I think that this common man's internet can do it

Desktop Computers and peripherals price list

Dear All,
Here I publish the price list of Desktop computers and peripherals.

Here are the quotations for some PCs given according to their categories

Before that kindly note that Seagate the largest HDD manufacturer is affected by floods in Thailand and its manufacturing operations are stopped completely in Thailand, hence for minimum 2-3 months or more,prices of Hard disks are supposed to remain in this high price range hence at this time,quotations of Laptops,Desktop Computers are to be remain on high for some period hence kindly bear with us.We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience as well as price hike caused due to this situation but it is inevitable in this condition.

Genuinity of parts used in all products assembled by us will be guaranteed.
No Counterfeit/substandard parts will be used with the assembled PCs.Hence in normal usage,we ensure durability in our products.We could have compromised on quality for giving lowest quotation price to our prospective customers but we dont encourage such things.
Our aim is to give a durable and long lasting product to our customers
Hence we give excellent quality product,plus good service at reasonable prices(and not lowest price because at lowest  price,nobody in this world can give guarantee about quality and service)


Combination1:
Category: Desktop PC

Budget PCs for offices and schools(Non Multimedia and without DVD Writer)

1) AMD Sempron 2.8 Ghz+Asus M4n68t Motherboard  5750 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 2 GB Kingston/Transcend                         950  INR
3) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB                                             3750 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                     1650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                         4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                          600 INR
                                               
                                                                     Total      17,000 INR


Combination 2:
Category: Desktop PC
Performance with Budget PCs for offices and schools(Non Multimedia and without DVD Writer)

1) AMD Athalon X260 3.2 Ghz+Asus M4n68t Motherboard   6450 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 4 GB Kingston/Transcend                               1750  INR
3) Hard Disk Drive 500 GB                                                      4950 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                             1650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                                  4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                                   600 INR
                                               
                                                                                    Total      19,700 INR



Combination 3:

Category: Desktop PC
Performance PCs for offices and home use(with DVD Writer and 18.5 Inch Monitor)

1) AMD Athalon X260 3.2 Ghz+Asus M4n68t Motherboard   6450 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 4 GB Kingston/Transcend                               1750  INR
3) Hard Disk Drive 500 GB                                                      4950 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                             1650 INR
5) Monitor 18.5 Inch LED                                                        5950 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                                   600 INR
7) DVD R/W LG Sata                                                              1150 
                                               
                                                                                    Total      22,500 INR


Combination 4:

Category: Desktop PC
Performance PCs for Software Development/Animation and CAD (with DVD Writer and 18.5 Inch Monitor)

1) AMD Athalon X260 3.2 Ghz+Asus M4n68t Motherboard   6450 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 4 GB Kingston/Transcend                               1750  INR
3) Hard Disk Drive 500 GB                                                      4950 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                             1650 INR
5) Monitor 18.5 Inch LED                                                        5950 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                                   600 INR
7) DVD R/W LG Sata                                                              1150
8) NVDIA AGP card 1 GB                                                       2400

                                               
                                                                                    Total      24,900 INR
***AMD processors on Asus Motherboard gives good combination for high end graphics hence recommended for 64 bit Autocad applications on a 64 bit Windows OS.All AMD processors have 64 bit architecture.

Combination 5:

Category: Desktop PC
Performance PCs for Software development (with DVD Writer and 18.5 Inch Monitor)

1) Intel Core 2 Duo                                                                 6750 INR
2) Intel 41WV Motherboard                                                    2950 INR
3) DDR3 RAM 4 GB Kingston/Transcend                               1750  INR
4) Hard Disk Drive 500 GB                                                      4950 INR
5) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                             1650 INR
6) Monitor 18.5 Inch LED                                                        5950 INR
7) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                                   600 INR
8) DVD R/W LG Sata                                                              1150

                                               
                                                                                 Total      25,750 INR


Intel Core i3 is available in same configuration of Core 2 Duo at price 27,250 INR

Combination 6

Category: Desktop PC

PCs for offices (Non Multimedia and without DVD Writer)

1) Intel Dual Core 3.2 Ghz                                                3950 INR
2) Intel 41WV  Motherboard                                            5750 INR
3) DDR3 RAM 2 GB Kingston/Transcend                         950  INR
4) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB                                             3750 INR
5) Cabinet ATX Circle                                                     1650 INR
6) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                         4300 INR
7) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                          600 INR
                                               
                                                                     Total      20,950 INR


Combination 7:

Category: Desktop PC

Server for a small organization based on Windows 2008/Redhat Linux enterprise 6

1) Intel i7 Processor + Intel 67CL motherboard                25,800 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 16 GB Kingston/Transcend                        7000 INR
3) Two Hard Disk Drives 1 Terabyte each                       12,750 INR
4) Server Cabinet ATX Circle/VIP                                     3650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                            4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                             600 INR
7) DVD Writer LG SATA                                                 1150 INR
                                               
                                                                     Total      55,150 INR


Combination 8:

Category: Desktop PC

Server for a small organization based on Windows 2008/Redhat Linux enterprise 6


1) Intel i5 Processor + Intel 67CL motherboard                18,800 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 16 GB Kingston/Transcend                        7000 INR
3) Two Hard Disk Drives 1 Terabyte each                       12,750 INR
4) Server Cabinet ATX Circle/VIP                                     3650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                            4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                             600 INR
7) DVD Writer LG SATA                                                 1150 INR

                                               
                                                                     Total      48,150 INR


Combination 9:

Category: Desktop PC

Intel i5 based PC for high end CAD/CAM/Animation/3d Gaming applications


1) Intel i5 Processor + Intel 67BL motherboard                16,800 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 4 GB Kingston/Transcend                          1750 INR
3) One Hard Disk Drive 1 Terabyte                                     6500 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle/VIP                                                 2200 INR
5) Monitor LG 20 Inch Inch LED                                         6700 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                             600 INR
7) DVD Writer LG SATA                                                 1150 INR
8) AGP Card NVDIA GE XForce GTS 450 1 GB            7000 INR

                                               
                                                                     Total      42,700 INR


Combination 10:

Category: Desktop PC

Server for a small organization/Computer Institute/Educational Institute/Computer Lab based on Windows 2008/Redhat Linux enterprise 6


1) AMD Phenom X 560 + Asus M4N68 Motherboard    8,300 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 8 GB Kingston/Transcend                        3500 INR
3) 1 Hard Disk Drive 1 Terabyte                                       6500 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle/VIP                                               1650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                            4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                             600 INR
7) DVD Writer LG SATA                                                 1150 INR

                                               
                                                                     Total      26,000 INR

Combination 11:

Category: Desktop PC

High proocessing AMD Server for a small organization/Computer Institute/Educational Institute/Computer Lab based on Windows 2008/Redhat Linux enterprise 6


1) AMD Phenom X4 840 + Asus M4N68 Motherboard   11,200 INR
2) DDR3 RAM 8 GB Kingston/Transcend                        3500 INR
3) 1 Hard Disk Drive 1 Terabyte                                       6500 INR
4) Cabinet ATX Circle/VIP                                               1650 INR
5) Monitor LG 15.6 Inch LED                                            4300 INR
6) Keyboard+Mouse Logitech                                             600 INR
7) DVD Writer LG SATA                                                 1150 INR

                                               
                                                                     Total      28,900 INR


Category Laptops

Combination 12
Dell Vostro 1440/1540 Laptops

Features:
Core 13 Intel processor
320 GB HDD
2 GB RAM
15 Inch screen
DOS based


INR 29,500
Price for Windows 7 Professional is seperate and not included.
Price for Windows 7 Professional is approx around 8200 INR in Pune

Category Laptops

Combination 13
Dell Inspiron 5050/5110 Laptops

Features:
Core 13 Intel processor
320 GB HDD
3 GB RAM
15 Inch screen

Windows 7 Home Basic License

INR 34,500
Also here is the price list of some components


Motherboards
1)  Biostar motherboard 2500 INR (Used only for Intel Core 2 Duo and Dual core desktops and DDR3 RAM support)
2) ASUS p5g4it 2900 INR(DDR2 RAM support for Intel Dual core and Core 2 Duo desktops)


Monitors(LED)
Acer 15.6 Inches 4000 INR
Acer18.5 Inches 5600 INR
Acer 20 Inches: 6200 INR
LG 22 Inches with DVI port : 9600 INR (You can use DVI to HDMI adapter and can use it with HDMI cable)

RAM DDR2,DDR3

1 GB DDR2 IVM/Dynet  850 INR
2 GB DDR2 Kingston     1650 INR

2 GB DDR3 RAM IVM 1333 Ghz       800 INR
2 GB DDR3 RAM Kingston 1333 Ghz 950 INR

4 GB DDR3 RAM IVM 1333 Ghz  1600 INR

Speakers
2.1 Artis/Logitech/Creative 1475 INR
5.1 Logitech 6500 INR

NComputing Devices for desktop Virtualization

Let me explain about NComputing in short.NComputing provides a desktop virtualization solution which allows users to share the computing resources efficiently ,thus helping organizations reduce their costs involved in IT infrastructure setup and also reducing the running maintainence costs
NComputing reduces the initial IT infrastructure costs by 30%-50 % and further in long run,it saves the maintainence and electricity bill costs due to its minimal power consumption by the devices
Hence in long run of say 7-8 years,an organization can save around 70% which is a good one for small and medium sized organizations.
Please refer to my previous blog for more details of NComputing at the following link.
http://psconsultingltd-computingtech.blogspot.com/2011/10/saving-huge-amount-on-it-infrastructure.html


The NComputing devices are available in various series

X-Series:-
NComputing X550 PCI card 5 users kit(XD2)
17500 INR including Installation (travel charges of our technical persons beyond 250 kms from Pune city are not included.)

NComputing L-Series devices
 L130 :- 5100 INR per device
 L230 :- 5900 INR per device
 L300 :- 7800 INR per device

The sum of 1000 INR will be charged for installation per 5 devices/5 users (travel charges beyond 250 kms only from Pune are not included)

Please refer to my earlier blog on NComputing given at

http://psconsultingltd-computingtech.blogspot.com/2011/10/saving-huge-amount-on-it-infrastructure.html

and please feel free to ask us if you want more details about NComputing

Antivirus Softwares

Netprotector 1 year subscription with Installation and updation 550 INR( and 400 INR without installation)
Netprotector 3 year subscription with installation and updation 1350 INR(and 1200 INR without installation)

Quickheal Antivirus Pro
450 INR 1 user and service charges extra for installation and configuration
For 3 users 1150 INR and service charges extra for installation and configuration

Quickheal Internet Security
750 INR 1 user plus service charges extra for installation and configuration
1950 INR for 3 user pack and service charges extra for installation and configuration

Quickheal TOTAL Security
1050 INR 1 user plus service charges extra for installation and configuration
2950 INR for 3 user pack and service charges extra for installation and configuration
Quickheal TOTAL Security 10 user pack 1 year subscription
5200 INR plus service charges extra for installation and configuration


Quickheal TOTAL Security 10 user pack 3 years subscription

11,500 INR plus service charges extra for installation and configuration


Quickheal Guardian Antivirus(Introductory offer)
 375 INR plus service charges extra for installation and configuration.(Introductory MRP 550 and our price is 375 INR)
Guardian antivirus is an affordable antivirus solution from Quickheal
For more details please visit the following website.
http://www.guardianav.co.in/index-1.asp

Well,we have published the prices with various and popular combinations
We customize the product according to your needs hence in case you want to put forth any particular configuration you like,feel free to contact us.

P.S Consulting LTD
303,Tejas Apts,Subashnagar Vishrantwadi
Near Ashirwad Mangal Karyalay
Pune 411015
Email:psconsultingltd@gmail.com
Vodafone :- 9420196156


***IMP :-The price is payable in INR and also can be paid through cheque in favor of "P.S Consulting Services" payable at Bank of India Vishrantwadi Pune branch, account no 053920110000289.

Saving huge amount on IT infrastructure setup for small and medium sized offices

Dear Readers,

This blog covers the topic of how can an organization save IT infrastructure setup costs for any office which are small and medium sized and this blog will cover topics about desktop virtualization solutions from NComputing.

Introduction:

Basically while setting up an IT infrastructure,there are huge costs of hardware and softwares involved and till now to reduce this cost was not in the hands of the customer but now since virtualization is gaining popularity in market,one new technology perspective in form of desktop virtualization comes to the rescue of customers when it comes to allocating budget for IT infrastructure setup of an organization .There are hardware devices from NComputing available in market which are cost effective and are value for money for any organization when it comes to saving costs involved in IT infrastructure setup.
Details of topics covered in this blog are
A brief overview of NComputing devices
Where do the NComputing devices fits
Which NComputing device for what scenario
How to install and configure a NComputing device
Total cost of ownership figures and a sample demo of how much can a organization can save  if they opt to go for NComputing.                       

Why Desktop Virtualization? 

Basically organizations having front office/Admin/Library/Facilities management desk services or firms like Data Entry, Medical transcriptions, Sales and marketing offices, Chartered Accountant firms,Factories,Schools,colleges,hospitals,small start-up to mid size call centers etc will find this technology very beneficial and there is nothing much complex in this technology to understand .

The simple concept is,we need to share the computing resources within the users of the organization so that there is less wastage of resources

Reason to do this sharing is maximum utilization of computing resources. As per experience till date, it is observed that a average user utilizes maximum 5 to 10% of CPU resources and remaining 90% is sheer wastage.

Here is an solution from NComputing for desktop virtualization.

There are variety of hardware devices available from NComputing to suit the needs of the organization.

In simple terms,there is nothing much to explain about sharing resources

There is a simple solution given by NComputing to avoid wastage of computing resources.The solution is as follows 

instead of giving each desktop user a single CPU, one single CPU has been shared between multiple users.Hardware devices from NComputing allows you to do this very easily. 

So instead of going for multiple CPU's,the customer can opt for just one high performance CPU  which will be the server and say 5/10/25 or even 50 users having only keyboard+Mouse+Monitor at their end and sharing that CPU resources

 Also with these devices,the customer will get a licensed copy of VSpace software

VSpace software is installed on the shared CPU and it manages communication between the clients and server,manage sessions of users through a protocol called User Extension protocol(UEXP)

so just imagine that if this single CPU can be shared between 5/10 users or even more so that you can utilize the CPU to its maximum plus you save too much cost involved in setting up an IT infrastructure. 

One small example of 5 users with NComputing: 

Case:A small library which wants to setup their IT infrastructure for their customers to browse pdf books which are shared on a common location plus it wants to give limited internet facility to its users inside their premises

I am Just giving a short example say a library wants to setup 5 desktop computers but say users in library just surf the internet/read a Word Doc/PDF file and nothing much is done hence instead of 5 CPU,5 Monitors,5 Keyboard mouse you will just require a single CPU and 5 monitors,5 keyboard Mouse thus you yourself see how much cost is saved in setting an infrastructure. It takes hardly 2 hours to do all this setup as compared to time required earlier plus you save cost of 5 CPUs thus if you calculate the cost, you will find that you almost save around 50% cost in Hardware infrastructure.

I gave one small example above but there are varieties of devices available from NComputing suiting needs of different users 

The various forms of NComputing devices are

LSeries(Or LAN series):

These devices comes in L130,L230 and L300 models.

For these devices,you can even assign IP addresses 

1) L130:- it is the basic device which has only PS/2 terminals for keyboard and mouse and one 24 pin port for monitor.

2) L230:-This device is same as L130, only one difference is that it has got one USB along with PS/2 hence you can have a flash drive/usb external hard-disk drive or a printer attached to this device

3) L300:-These devices comes with 2 USB ports along with PS/2 ports.These devices are used when you want to share a intensive graphics and  multimedia streaming applications amongst the users

Following are the images of NComputing L-Series taken from taken from NComputing website.(Images by Courtesy of NComputing.)

From the following figure,L series devices L130/L230 communicate with the shared CPU through LAN cables via a network switch

Installation of L Series:
1) Installation is simple.Just connect your CPU with a network switch with a LAN cable.
2) Next just connect the L Series devices with LAN cables.
3) Connect the L-Series  device with monitor,keyboard,mouse
4) Install VSpace software on shared CPU(It is recommended to install VMWare on the shared CPU,create one virtual machine and install one OS in that virtual machine and then install the VSpace software in it.Reason to do so is that when any OS crashes,you can switch from one virtual machine to another very easily thus impact on work is less)
5)Assign appropriate IP addresses to your CPU and NComputing devices

This whole setup of 5 users takes 2 to 4 hours max(In 2 days max, a Lab of 50 users can be setup)



X-Series 

These devices fit into the PCI slots of your computers.They look like a LAN card having 5 ports

Following are the figures of NComputing X-Series devices.Images taken from NComputing website( Images by Courtesy of NComputing.)
From the figure,The card device shown is the X550 card and the black boxes shown are the terminal devices/NCVomputing devices.
These NComputing devices communicate with the CPU through LAN cables and these devices provide ports to add keyboard,mouse and monitor.

Where does this x-series fits well:

An small office with limited space and having say 4 to 10 people at the max.

This is ideal for such small offices like data entry firms,computer institutes,small cyber cafes,  libraries,chartered accountants firms,branch offices for insurance or marketing offices etc which are operating in a single room.

You cant extend this device too much in distance.This device doesnt work beyond distance of 10 meters cable length thats why we are keeping this solution restricted to a single room offices only.

for spanned length of 100 meters or more,L Series come to your rescue.

L-Series are used in factory establishments,large office establishments etc.

Installation of X Series:
1) In the PCI slot of your CPU,add this X550 card(1 card for 5 user and 2 cards for 10 users)
2) Install VSpace software on shared CPU
3) connect the terminal devices(NComputing devices) with LAN cables

4) Now connect monitors,keyboard and mouse with the terminal devices

5)Now the whole setup is ready within 2 hours max

U-Series :U Series devices are same like L Series .The major difference is that they only have end user devices having USB ports.Thus you have to connect your PC and this device through USB and connect the keyboard+mouse eith the device through USB and monitor with this device through the port.
You need a USB keyboard and mouse for that.This device don't have a PS/2 port

U-Series is mostly for home use where you have to share your PC with one or 2 more users at home or small home office

Salient features and advantages of NComputing

1)      Cost effective: Reduces your setup cost

2)      Only one CPU needs licensed softwares whereas in case of 1 CPU per user, you need 1 license per user. Thus the licensing cost is reduced tremendously(1 Windows+ 1 MS Office+ 1 Antivirus license for say 10 users).

3)      Secure i.e each assigned user will only see his/her data and cant view anybody’s data unless being an administrator of server.

4)      Energy Efficient: Saves Electricity because one CPU consumes around 35 to 110 watts whereas 1 NComputing device consumes 1 watt to 5 watts only plus less air conditioning required.

5)      Compatible with all standard PCs

6)      Less time required to setup an infrastructure

7)      Maintenance required is less

8)      Saving of space and lightweight

9)      Longer life than the CPU. Normal CPU is disposed in 5 years(figures from developed countries) whereas NComputing devices can be used without any problem for 8 years or more hence less e-waste is produced hence NComputing also can be called as Green Computing>Help saving our planet earth by shifting to green computing.

The only drawback is that if that shared host CPU fails, the whole system might come to standstill but if proper backup system is implemented, this scenario can be avoided and work can be carried on uninterruptedly using VMWare Desktop Virtualization solution

We have created this document in a technical perspective and not in a marketing perspective to just sell the product hence along with various advantages; we have also put forth the disadvantages so that the end user/customer must be aware of it before implementing this solution and should plan for the proper fail proof  system. Use of VMWare workstation eliminates this problem to a greater extent    

Thus you can clearly see the advantages initial setup cost plus the Software licensing costs are tremendously reduced

Detailed Technical Information with diagrammatic explanation is given on further pages

It will clearly let you know the difference of costs incurred in traditional setup versus the NComputing approach.

Diagrammatic explanation of use cases:

Following diagrams demonstrate few use cases with a sample of 5 user network setup

First diagram shows the current scenario where in case of 5 user LAN setup, each user has his/her own CPU and all of them are connected through a Switch, router etc networking devices

The second diagram shows the NComputing approach where only one CPU is needed in 5/10 or 25 to 30 users

Diagram 1:- Here is a traditional setup of 1 CPU per user

Thus one has an idea of how much cost can be involved in doing this setup. The following setup shows 4 PCs connected via a switch in say a small office/institute. For sake of avoiding complexity, just 4 PCs are shown.But the number of PCs can span upto 25/30 or up to 50 also in a small-midsized office.

Diagram 2 :- Here is an NComputing approach to the same solution

From the diagram 2 shown above, it is clear that only one High performance CPU is sufficient for sharing 30 users also.

Practically it is possible to share a Core 2 Duo Desktop PC with 4 GB RAM with 10 users and still it gives satisfactory utilization ratio.

Total Cost of Ownership

The total cost of ownership(TCO) is as given below 
The first scenario is for traditional setup where each user has his/her individual CPU.The total costs involved in this scenario right from setup till 5 to 8 years are given for 5 user setup.
The second scenario is given for NComputing devices with costs involved right from setup till 5 to 8 years costs.Thus this section will demonstrate how much can a organization save using NComputing technology

Following is the  cost given for a traditional setup of per user CPU shown in diagram 1 for say 5 users

Setup costs

How much PCs required : 5

How many Windows Licenses: 5

How many MS Office licenses: 5

If we consider a Dual Core CPU with 250 GB HDD and 2 GB RAM per user and 15.6 inch monitor PC for an office with software licenses of Windows and MS office

  Condition A:- Considering the total hardware and software cost goes upto 1,75,000 rupees approx plus cost of networking switches and wiring extra hence total hardware cost goes upto around 1,90,000 rupees including the labor charges for setup.


Running cost for the setup for 5 years


Condition B: Power consumption
How much watts each computers consume: 100 to 140 watts(around 180-200 watts if you are using CRT monitor)
How much time PC's will be used: 8 hours+2 hours extended(10 hours a day)

Considering energy efficient LED monitors along with CPUs, total units consumed 7 units per day
210 units in a month only on PC's(Lighting used in company is not considered)
In India,average cost per unit is around 7 rupees hence 5 PC's will cost around 1470 rupees per month thus it will cost 17,600 rupees a year on 5 PCs.
Thus for 5 years,average of 90,000 will be spent on electricity bill by 5 PCs


Condition C: Annual Maintainence contract for 5 PCs
How much is the AMC cost for 5 PCs: Consider it to be 2000 INR for 1 PC per year
I will be 10,000 per year
50,000 INR for 5 years
Thus for 5 years,average of 50,000 will be spent on maintaining 5 PCs

Thus adding all the three conditions above a total of 3,30,000 INR is spent on 5 PCs in 5 years
Assuming that a life of PC is 5 year(according to developed countries where a PC is disposed every 5 year)


This same cycle will continue for 5 years

TCO figures with NComputing devices

TCO for NComputing is as given below 

Following is the  cost given for a NComputing 5 user setup with LSeries L 230 Setup

Setup costs

How much PCs required : 1

How many Windows Licenses:1

How many MS Office licenses:1

How many NComputing devices L Series L230 required: 5 

Following is the  cost given for a NComputing 5 user setup with XSeries X550 Setup

Setup costs

How much PCs required : 1

How many Windows Licenses:1

How many MS Office licenses:1

How many NComputing devices X Series X550 required: 1 card +5 devices kit

If we consider a Core 2 Duo CPU with 2 or more 500 GB Hard disks and 4 GB RAM per user and 15.6 inch monitor PC for an office with software licenses of Windows and MS office

  Condition A:- Considering the total hardware and software cost goes upto 1,04,000 rupees approx plus cost of networking switches and wiring extra hence total hardware cost goes upto around 1,15,000 rupees including the labor charges for setup.
In X series,X550 for 5 users setup goes to approx 1,00,000 INR thus more saving if it is a single room office


Running cost for the setup for 5 years



Condition B: Power consumption

How much watts 1 PC consume: 100 to 140 watts(around 180-200 watts if you are using CRT monitor)
How much time PC's will be used: 8 hours+2 hours extended(10 hours a day)

How much watts 1 NComputing device consume: 1 to 5 watts
How much time PC's will be used: 8 hours+2 hours extended(10 hours a day)


Considering energy efficient LED monitors along with CPUs, total units consumed 1.65 to 2 units per day
60 units in a month only on PC's(Lighting used in company is not considered)
In India,average cost per unit is around 7 rupees hence 5 PC's will cost around 420 rupees per month thus it will cost 5040 rupees a year on 5 PCs.
Thus for 5 years,average of 25,200 will be spent on electricity bill by 5 PCs



Condition C: Annual Maintainence contract for NComputing setup
How much is the AMC cost for 1 PC: Consider it to be 2000 INR for 1 PC per year plus technical support service charges whenever service needed.


10,000 INR for 5 years
Thus for 5 years,average of 10,000 will be spent on maintaining 5 PCs

Thus adding all the three conditions above a total of 1,50,000 INR is spent on 5 PCs in 5 years
Assuming that a life of PC is 5 year(according to developed countries where a PC is disposed every 5 year)
Life of NComputing is 8 years hence after 5 years,user only has to replace the shared PC and after 3 more years,the user may have to replace the 5 NComputing devices


Thus after 8 years
Total cost on NComputing setup spent will be around 2,30,000 INR


Whereas total cost after 8 years in case of tradition 1 cpu per user total costs incurred will be 5,03,000 INR


Thus you can clearly see that
NComputing reduces your initial setup cost by around 30%
Saves your electricity to upto 70% per year
Saves maintainence cost by around 80%


Thus on an average,in 5 to 8 years,you save around 60% of your total costs involved in a traditional setup

Cost of NComputing devices


X Series
X550:14,500 rupees(This kit includes a Card,5 terminal devices and VSpace software license)

Installation charges 1000 INR

**** The prices mentioned above are current prices.They are subject to change as per market conditions

Thus from the above small example you can see clearly that you save almost 30% on initial infrastructure cost and in future, you save a lot of costs due to electricity and also reduce e-waste hence huge savings upto 60%.
AND THE MORE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT BY DOING THIS SHARING,THERE IS NO EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE.
Performance is guaranteed
Also NComputing devices have 3 years replacement warranty

******Updated Blog*************************
Newly added description of NComputing M series

Background:
Commonly used NComputing devices are X series (X-550 for 5 users and X-350 for 3 users)
X series are PCI slot based wherein we need to insert this device into PCI slot and from this card, we need to connect client terminals by means of LAN cables

The fact is that now PCI slots will be discarded in coming times. Infact Dell desktops available in countries like Singapore,Hongkong doesnt have PCI slots on their motherboards and other manufacturers also to do the same thing in forthcoming period

Thus NComputing came up with M series devices

Features
1) No PCI slot required.Only ethernet based connectivity through switches

2) M-300 features Numo2** SOC(Silicon on Chip) which features better video streaming without excessive host side processing

3) 24 bit video support

4) One PC can host upto max 45 client terminals

M300 is ideal for
Classroms, Labs, Libraries, Small offices

Numo2
It is a technique that offers HD quality video support and consuming less amount of resources on host PC thus creating no additional performance impact on the host PC
NComputing has achieved this by use of Video Scalar Hardware on this M300 device that can scale any type of video stream at no performance cost

The main advantage of NComputing is that its implementation approach is kept very simple and thus the cost of complexity is saved
Reason behind this is that when you purchase one NComputing kit, you get everything in it and the user doesnt have to go for any additional components like hypervisors (Citrix/VMWare etc)
VSpace software is included in the nComputing kit which itself is enough for a simple setup.When the infrastructure setup gets more complex,we can configure this VSpace with other hypervisors if necesscary

Comparable products to nComputing available in markets:
There are many available but here is comparison of one popular product called Citrus virtual terminal

Advantages:- This device is compact and has got its own storage devices and processor and Operating system
Disadvantages:- its cost
Though it is having superior performance but it has a seperate OS(Linux/Windows based) thus having cost of licensing involved.So instead of going for this device,it is better to have a seperate desktop because difference between cost of this device and a desktop is not too much.

Summary
Thus with nComputing devices,there is lot of flexibility involved along with no performance impact, affordable cost, good ROI in long term and simple to implement and maintain

Definately there are many advantages of going for this technology called Desktop virtualization