The administrative district of Oberhavel in northern Germany is utilizing its participation in the German Government’s “Option Model” for the step-by-step homogenization of its desktop environment: IGEL Thin Clients set the standard for central administration and paperless document management in these setups.

The Oberhavel administrative district is one of 69 local authorities that implement the Option Model to help and support the unemployed. This “Optionskommune” (opting local authority) is consequently responsible, independently of the Federal German Employment Office, for the recipients of long-term unemployment benefits following “Hartz IV” (German unemployment benefit reform). To participate in the field trial that will run for at least six years, the district’s municipal administration set up a total of 230 new IT workstations on the basis of a server-based computing concept with thin clients. Following the initial positive experience, this cost-saving infrastructure will now be expanded step-by-step.

Cost-effective connection of external stations
Some 200,000 people live in the Oberhavel administrative district. Before deciding to participate in the Option Model, the district’s municipal administration included around 800 PC workstations, which were networked in a typical client/server structure. To be able to functionally and efficiently map any organizational changes concerning IT issues, the local authority decided at the beginning of 2004 to try out a centralized computing environment for the first time. “The terminal server technology integrated in Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 appeared to be the right choice for providing applications and data efficiently from a central point to various locations”, says Jens-Erik Ohde, Data Processing Manager at Oberhavel Local Authority. “Our alternative to expanding the existing network concept was to lay 30 km of fiber optic cable. But a terminal server session can even work at ISDN speed, so we were able to cost-effectively set up the network access for the 70 workstations that are part of our Gransee external location via a radio link. The bandwidth requirement for these 70 “Harz IV” workstations at the external location is no more than 5 MBit/s.”

The customer Local authority with responsibility for 200,000 residents Approx. 1,000 IT workstations in administration activities; approx. 1,000 IT workstations in schools in the district Opting local authority: Independent support for long-term unemployment benefit recipients following the “Hartz IV” German unemployment benefit reform

Simple solution with Windows® and IGEL
For the new IT infrastructure the local authority set up twelve terminal servers, which were operated under Windows® Server 2003. As suitable desktop devices for access to the central infrastructure, the local authority looked into and evaluated the diverse thin client models of various providers. “We ran market analyses, visited trade fairs and had the devices demonstrated”, explains Jens-Erik Ohde. “In order to short-list, we applied criteria such as management, usage versatility, stability and internal operating system.” From the tests that followed, the German market leader, IGEL Technology, emerged as the manufacturer with the best price-performance ratio. “The models we chose from the IGEL LX Compact series with Linux-based firmware are a 100 percent match for our technical environment. And we have an enormous amount of faith in Linux for its stability and licensing cost efficiency.”

Efficient management with link to Oracle
The administration software included in the scope of delivery undoubtedly tipped the scales in favor of the decision to opt for IGEL. “The IGEL Remote Management Suite supports various database formats, so we could also use our existing Oracle solution as the database for the thin clients’ remote administration. Configuration, administration and firmware updates run via a Java-based, platform-independent console. Because of the group-based management with numerous inheritance rules, we can very easily and conveniently set-up and efficiently administer numerous user scenarios.” The importance of the management solution in the selection procedure is rooted in the efforts of the local authority to set up a cross-location homogenous IT landscape with standardized desktops and holistic, centralized management. “We can clearly see that server-based computing with thin clients is the neutral platform for future changes.”

The challenge New IT infrastructure for 230 remote employees Efficient network connection of external stations Centralized administration and sufficient graphics performance for paperless document management

Usage versatility provided by Digital Services
The local authority currently uses IGEL thin clients almost exclusively for RDP-based access to terminal servers. For the future, however, the sleek and slender terminal devices already have a wide selection of digital services, ready to serve as diverse access routes to central IT infrastructures. This universal desktop from IGEL as a well- established method allows the local authority’s administration to keep numerous technological options open. According to Mr. Ohde, the standard integrated ICA and X11 protocols within IGEL devices make it easy to access Citrix and Linux-based application servers. The integrated Firefox browser is being used by the district for implementing retrieval and display systems.  “At our request, IGEL integrated special Firefox plug-ins in the device firmware. The plug-ins allowed the Open Source browser to be optimized for sound output and security.” As another future-oriented option, Mr. Ohde also intends to rely on other features of the thin clients including making IP telephone calls via USB headsets and using the smartcard reader for authentication. The IT manager also plans to connect the standard printer server functions of the thin clients and the integrated Cisco VPN Client, in order to securely connect teleworkstations via the Internet.

Impressive graphics performance for modern DMS
The Oberhavel Local Authority is currently preparing the introduction of a new Document Management System (DMS). The objective is to exclude the use of paper as much as possible. However this also presents some new challenges for the thin clients’ graphics performance. “Workstation interactivity is increasing all the time”, is how Jens-Erik Ohde describes the basic trend in E-Government. “More and more information has to be visualized and processed. To display two DIN A4 pages easily legible beside one another we introduced 24” monitors with a graphic resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels.” Jens-Erik Ohde found what he needed with IGEL. “Even at that stage the IGEL LX Premium series could display this high-resolution widescreen format in the 16:10 aspect ratio using a DVI interface, and at the same time it also offered us an option for dual screen operation with two 19” screens.” In the current model generation, the IGEL Compact also offers an appropriately high level of graphics performance. Despite the change to the Premium model, Oberhavel Local Authority does not have to write off the older thin clients prematurely. “The DMS introduction stretches over several years”, explains Mr. Ohde. “We can continue to use the first thin clients at other locations for at least five years, so that we can fully exhaust their typical five year service lifecycle.”

The solution 24 terminal servers with Windows® Server 2003 and Novell ZENworks 400 IGEL LX Compact and IGEL LX Premium Thin Clients (widescreen and dual view support) Integrated administration with IGEL Remote Management Suite

190 thin clients rolled out in four days
Mr. Ohde is also giving top points for the thin client infrastructure when it comes to implementation. “After the official decision by the Federal Government to go ahead with the Option Model, despite our preparatory planning work we had very little time for the technical implementation,” said Ohde. “While the terminal server environment setup, including printing systems, took two months, the new workstations had to be implemented in just one week. We overcame this challenge with the very welcome aid of the IGEL management solution, with which we were able to create the thin client profiles before the actual devices were delivered, and we could assign their MAC addresses. This meant we were then able to implement the first 190 new workstations between Christmas and New Year – network and thin clients included.” The desired success was also right behind: “We significantly reduced the amount of ‘sneaker administration’ thanks to the thin clients’ one hundred percent remote administration. And even when there is a failure, we don’t have to do any active on-site work. The employees themselves merely have to connect a replacement device. After powering up the IGEL Thin Clients automatically get their specific settings from the server.”

Continuous expansion
On the basis of the thoroughly satisfying experiences with the server-based computing solution and IGEL thin clients, the Oberhavel Opting Local Authority now intends to expand the solution to the majority of the district’s administrative activities. The infrastructure is to be extended during running operation to almost 500 thin clients by 2009. “The sound balance between technical requirements and cost efficiency that IGEL offers, has more than convinced us”, explains a clearly satisfied Mr. Ohde. “In the long-term we will probably be able to achieve a thin client quota of 70 percent. IGEL’s beneficial and open development culture, which keeps so many technical options open for us for the future, has certainly provided us with optimum support here.”