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Setting up a Windows/Linux Hybrid "Thin" Client

Written by Mark Cockrell

The Honey Grove I.S.D. Has been using thin-client computers (primarily old, ready-for-the-scrap-heap desktop systems that have been repurposed as thin clients) throughout our district for a few years now, and we've pretty well run the gamut of pitfalls and pinnacles. After using K12LTSP for a few years in various lab, classroom and library situations we found that there are just too many times when we still need a Windows environment to use the Linux platform exclusively. So, we set out to explore the world of Windows thin-client computing only to discover that there really is no such thing as a Windows thin client.

The Microsoft Remote Desktop application can be used in conjunction with a server running Microsoft Terminal Services to bring a remote Windows desktop to a local client, but the process is far from thin. Remote Desktop needs an operating system under it. It only serves as a hook into the pre-existing sound, video, and other device drivers on the local client and is not a stand-alone operating system pulled over the network as is the Linux Terminal Service Project system. So, the problem exists of what operating system to put on the machines that one wishes to use as “thin” clients.

There are a number of vendors such as Citrix that offer customized “thin-client” systems for a fee, but they are all essentially pared down operating systems running Remote Desktop on top of them. They're lean, but not truly thin. We could have bought sleek, new systems specially designed for use as thin clients, but for us the whole point of using thin clients was to expand the number of multimedia desktop systems available without stressing our already paper-thin budget. Spending $400 on a specialized piece of hardware just didn't make sense for us.

We could have loaded an outdated, licensed copy of Windows 98 on each of our aging hardware platforms and used Remote Desktop to access the server. This would have given the look, feel, and performance of a modern, high-speed workstation while still using our old hardware to do it. While that may seem like an enticing proposition at first blush, it loses a bit of luster when you realize that most of these computers originally ran Windows 98 and were only decommissioned because they became too unstable to be used on a daily basis. In order to make this option viable I would have had to get the machine up to Windows 98 standards, load the operating system, patch it, maintain it, provide virus protection for it, and more. I would do all of this only to run one application on it- Remote Desktop.

Thinking there had to be a better solution I began to seek out some sort of hybrid Windows/Linux solution that would allow me to use older, not-entirely-healthy hardware, and still connect to our Windows Server 2003 machine running Terminal Services to provide a sleek, fast, modern computing platform. The underlying operating system would need to have enough muscle to provide multimedia audio and real-time video capabilities while being small enough and robust enough to be virtually maintenance-free. Local CD-ROM and floppy drive access were a bonus, but not mission-critical.

Enter Puppy Linux. In Puppy I found a small, light-weight, fast, dependable operating system that would run well on older machines with limited resources that would connect the user seamlessly to the Window desktop provided by the server. Using Rdesktop, the Linux-based copy of the Windows Remote Desktop application that was already built in to Puppy, I was able to provide full-screen video, multimedia sound, and limited local CD-ROM drive support- all in a package that is highly stable and easy to deploy.

I've distilled months of experimentation down to one ISO file and less than one page of instructions in the hope that some of you reading this might benefit from my efforts. Below you'll find a step-by-step guide to building your own Puppy-based hybrid Microsoft Terminal Services client. (Note: The client will need a minimum of 128MB RAM to function efficiently, and since we'll be doing the installation from a CD, you'll need a functioning CD-ROM drive and the ability to boot from it.)

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