Who is the server client serving?

Our government agency has approximately 2,400 computers. All computers are managed by an outsourcing agreement that includes a two-year update cycle. So about one-third of computers (mostly in the management function) already have Windows 7 installed, and other computers plan to complete the upgrade by mid-year. In addition, they have a highly virtualized data center with approximately 160 real X86 physical servers (mostly running multiple instances of Windows Server and VMware applications) configured with regular shared data storage and absolute concentration. Managed networks can connect to the rest of the world.

From an industry perspective, these configurations look great: professional operations, redundancy of critical systems; active computer security teams; almost parallel offline backups; interconnected communications and well-established usage protocols; There are even third-party career management services for IT staff.

Historically, the organization upgraded its system in 1995 (built around the 327X/3096 architecture), trying to use WANG and DEC as suppliers, to 91/92 The year selected the client-server architecture recommended by their current outsourcing service provider. Since then, their IT staff has grown from 11 to about 80, from OS2 systems to Windows 7 operating systems, with data scales scaling from megabytes to gigabytes, from very limited systems and data access to Known as information everywhere.

Good from the reality, IT deployment has changed from 327X/3096 to Wintel client-server architecture, but enterprise structure, access control and basic workflow have been used until now, if there is a change, it is also Changes that have taken place since the 1960s. Therefore, the information is strictly divided: some data input by the staff cannot understand other related data; the front-end personnel cannot access the detailed agency reports and cannot use the operational data provided to some senior executives; the personnel who use the application software You need to exchange files with the person in charge of monitoring, and so on.

I was told that the IT staff responsible for senior management will try to solve these problems by taking actions such as MOM projects and companies. The mid-level management of effectively digesting those dazzling technologies is also a positive signal to some extent.

So I think the bottom line is what is the current cost budget for the 327X/3096 architecture that they want to replace in 1985? The next question is: What are their options? SunOS with NCD X years ago, Apple laptops in 1988 or 1989, and where are they now?

I think the answer is that they are now developing into Solaris, Sun Rays and iDevices; they still have only 11 employees and no outsourcing service providers; they may be able to more easily with lower failure rates and security. The risk to use more applications, which means IT limitations, costs and the possibility of enterprise development, these effects are much smaller from an absolute interval, and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

How to communicate those differences is obviously a question worth considering, because the only company I am familiar with is the choice made more than 20 years ago, and now they face different corporate pressures in security operations, but I believe The direction and extent of these differences can be assessed by asking a question: From the 1989/90 selection to the present 20 years of system development process is the advantage of enterprise client servers? In other words, can the current choice be possible?

The most important thing is to deliver IT control to user management. Centralized control has been enhanced over a period of time, centralized file management, centralized standard execution processes, and communication autonomy losses through cell management.

In contrast, the advantages of IT are obvious: more employees, more investment and common sense of wintel can help them avoid performance, security and sustainability.

So what is the bottom line for companies making client-server decisions? I think they have to spend more IT costs, more loopholes, more centralized control, less user-use software, performance loss and nowhere to go.