July 15, 2013 at 7:43 am
I have a beefy desktop sitting under a rarely used desk, and I VPN into that from a laptop. Thanks to VPN, the laptop is a cheap $350 model and there is no corporate data stored on it.
For a large corporation or government agency, I think the best infrastructure would be to have a massive virtual desktop farm (inhouse or on a hosted cloud) from which employees connect using laptops via VPN. When hiring a new employee or contractor, you just spin up a new VM using an image reconfigured based on their role. It's a lot easier to keep VMs backed up, and if your VM gets hosed after applying a service pack, then just re-image from backup.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 15, 2013 at 7:48 am
I use a work laptop, hate that I have to carry it around but it does make it easier to move around and i find it, it does come in handy in meetings. Especially ones that I should not even be in, than that 1-2 hours actually becomes productive (blame the people setting up meetings and inviting everyone they can)
Having said that I do miss a desktop and the ability to VPN/RDP into it from home or anywhere else.
I also did setup SQL on my personal PC for playing around with new technology and making sure I stay on top of new stuff. One of these days I think I will finally setup a server to do this fun stuff at home and do a mix of that and Azure (love that MSDN credit 😀 ) for exploring new stuff since i pretty much will be scaling down to a laptop as the next PC upgrade when Broadwell or even Skylake come out.
July 15, 2013 at 8:00 am
Used to use Remote Desktop but moved to citrix's Xen Desktop with desktop hardware in the datacenter. That gives our desktop fully redundant power, A/C, network connectivity, etc and it's always available / accessible with full device access (think USB over IP). They even have a software client for ipads. It's cool technology, but the cost / benefit may be questionable. There is a virtualization benefit at the server, but we ended up dedicating resources since we're all very active information users and virtualization induced an unacceptable overhead for desktop experience.
July 15, 2013 at 8:24 am
Scott Arendt (7/15/2013)
No laptop at work and I don't really want one either. Without one, I am free to go home without carrying a laptop and free to go to meetings without being asked to host the presentations.The *only* time that I would like a work laptop is when I am traveling for work, but that is only once or twice a year.
I can get by without one.
Scott
I agree 100%. We use Citrix so I can get to SSMS or other software from my home PC or remote my PC at work.
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we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
July 15, 2013 at 8:52 am
Wasn't this problem solved by docking stations? Take the computer with you when you want, leave it plugged into the desk when you don't? Seems like there isn't a need for this type of machine.
I don't want an employer provided machine. It's one more thing of theirs I need to take care of. Never mind that some employers go bonkers when you use a "work" machine for non work purposes.
Combine this with the fact that most work machines are simply ancient, and loaded with all sorts of crap then I have even less desire to use theirs.
Just give me a copy of the VPN software and ill take care of myself.
July 15, 2013 at 8:54 am
Totally agree with Jeff. Work provided desktop and laptop with VPN/RDP access is the only way I roll (although I will say I have been doing more on my laptop as time goes by, probably because I have created a world for myself in which I can accomplish most tasks remotely these days, in the begining there was more heavy lifting to be done).
But the end of the day "set it and forget it" RonCo Food Dehydrater style is where it's at! 😉
Not having to babysit something into the wee hours of the night/morning on site is BOMBING!!!
Plus you get all the power of a stationary workhorse with all the flexibility of a pro-on-the-go 😀
And all software/hardware on both rigs is paid for/replaced/upgraded by employer (and if they wanna be cheap, let them feel the pain... I will say my employer can tolerate lots of pain it seems though, we're almost always a few years behind current software if not more :crying:).
In any case, I really can not over-sell the awesome here. Make it so... 😛
July 15, 2013 at 9:46 am
I have both a high-powered laptop with lots of RAM, an SSD and docking station with multiple large monitors and standard keyboard and mouse, and a 10" tablet with a docking station that has gigabit LAN, several USB3 ports, and an HDM port with a very large monitor, and the tablet is more than sufficient for most normal business tasks and great for meetings and travel, while the laptop is powerful enough to do everything I need to do remotely, and it stays on at the office and I RDP from the tablet. I also have a VDI desktop available to me with as much server hardware as I could ever need. Everything connects remotely to everything else with VPN, so my options for being mobile and traveling are pretty much unlimited. The best part is that the tablet was only an extra $1,000 and that includes the docking station and a very nice warranty. So, my employer is paying much less for the laptop and tablet than it would have cost for the desktop and laptop option that used to be the standard. In case you're wondering, the tablet is a Dell Latitude 10. With all that I listed about it already for enterprise features, the best part is actually the swappable battery.
Joshua Perry
http://www.greenarrow.net
July 15, 2013 at 10:07 am
paul s-306273 (7/15/2013)
No wider than a golf ball. Why golf ball?
Probably because many people know that golf balls are small. Probably because "marketing" types spend alot of time on the golf course "working".
From Steve's picture, or the one he used, I was going to say it should be "no taller" than a golf ball, but looking at the article I see the picture there has the desktop in a stand on "edge". Is the new "standard" for Desktops to be upright in that fashion? Will this desktop take "standard" desktop cards? (if so I assume the bus slots are also on "edge"). Maybe those days are past. I will admit I have not put a card in a PC for many years.
Perhaps I am hopelessly out of date.
<><
Livin' down on the cube farm. Left, left, then a right.
July 15, 2013 at 11:17 am
I was laptop only from 1999 until 2012. My company put computer replacements on hold in 2007 so they were in the position of having to replace 1000's of machines the last couple of years. As an alternative they started handing out WYSE devices. Now my "desktop" is really connecting to a virtual instance on a terminal server. Upside is that I can now connect to that "desktop" from anywhere using whatever device I can get to (iPhone screen is a bit small for it though). Works pretty well, and it is quite liberating to no longer have to cart a company laptop home each night.
July 15, 2013 at 12:12 pm
chris-945648 (7/15/2013)
Wasn't this problem solved by docking stations?
Kind of... in our company, you're not allowed to leave a laptop in an open area after hours. You HAVE to take it with you or lock it in your desk.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
July 15, 2013 at 6:32 pm
RDP is the real tool, laptop is only needed if you need to connect somewhere besides home or work. I finish up work at 5, go home and spend time with my family, and then check on jobs at 9 from home and take care of a few things. Then the next morning it's all right where I left it.
July 15, 2013 at 7:49 pm
anon_tyrant (7/15/2013)
RDP is the real tool, laptop is only needed if you need to connect somewhere besides home or work. I finish up work at 5, go home and spend time with my family, and then check on jobs at 9 from home and take care of a few things. Then the next morning it's all right where I left it.
Ditto that. Makes life really easy.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
July 16, 2013 at 6:55 am
anon_tyrant (7/15/2013)
RDP is the real tool, laptop is only needed if you need to connect somewhere besides home or work. I finish up work at 5, go home and spend time with my family, and then check on jobs at 9 from home and take care of a few things. Then the next morning it's all right where I left it.
Does anyone here use a RDP client for Andriod or iPhone that they'd reccomend?
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 17, 2013 at 9:09 pm
If I cannot do it via RDP or Citrix; than it can wait till I get to the Office. 24/7 is NOT my lifestyle.
July 18, 2013 at 2:30 am
I use 2XClient on iPhone for RDP.
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