Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client
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Since we're talking about VDI and thin clients...
I just now got around to hooking up a Raspberry Pi 4 to a 4K monitor. I've had it since July but only been running it headless.
Now I'm running RDP on Remmina and it actually pretty decent. It also works as a semi-fat client running light stuff such as office, watching youtube, news sites etc. Not as fast as an i3 or something with more horsepower but reasonably good.
Right now I have two Firefox windows with a couple of tabs open in each and running a RDP session with 2560x1440 resolution and have a couple of terminal windows open as well, a gimp file and looking at HD video with VLC over the network. Using about 1.5GB of RAM now. I'm running Raspian OS, which is Debian 10 with some tweaks.
It's the 4GB RAM version I have. But looking at the memory usage I think the 2GB RAM version would do fine in most cases as well.
2GB RAM version is $55 if you buy the bulk version. Add a suitable case $10, power supply $8, 8GB memory card $10.
Total cost around $85.
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The RP4 is a very good DYI thin client device. But keep in mind that it doesn't keep cost down very much as using a non-Windows device as a thin client increases your VDI licensing costs elsewhere.
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@scottalanmiller Does your comment on licensing apply to all VDI or specific to one provider? We're windows / citrix and this is the first time I've heard of additional licensing costs for a non-windows endpoint.
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@notverypunny said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@scottalanmiller Does your comment on licensing apply to all VDI or specific to one provider? We're windows / citrix and this is the first time I've heard of additional licensing costs for a non-windows endpoint.
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@Pete-S
That one looks like a dead link, managed to find what I think is the same doc here: https://thinclientbenefits.com/uploads/resources/Guide-to-Microsoft-Windows-Virtual-Client-Licensing.pdfIt makes the argument for something like thin OS or stratodesk that much less interesting if it's ~$100 US per year per device.
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@notverypunny said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@scottalanmiller Does your comment on licensing apply to all VDI or specific to one provider? We're windows / citrix and this is the first time I've heard of additional licensing costs for a non-windows endpoint.
All Windows VDI, which I know is his goal. If you are doing VDI of Linux like us, it does not apply.
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@notverypunny said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@Pete-S
That one looks like a dead link, managed to find what I think is the same doc here: https://thinclientbenefits.com/uploads/resources/Guide-to-Microsoft-Windows-Virtual-Client-Licensing.pdfIt makes the argument for something like thin OS or stratodesk that much less interesting if it's ~$100 US per year per device.
Yes, Microsoft licensing makes VDI for Windows devices impractical because you can't escape the end point costs by doing it. If you are doing VDI like NTG does, you can use a Chomebook or a Raspberry Pi for < $100 as your thin client and have no other software costs. But nearly all people intend to use Windows as their OS for VDI, and this has so many costs associated with it that the primary benefit most people pursue it for doesn't exist.
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@Pete-S
Hey if your business can use LibreOffice Or Google Docs, and don't need MS Windows, you're free at last.
basically, if you can do your job via terminal and web browser you have a lot of options and freedom
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@Emad-R said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@Pete-S
Hey if your bussiness can use LibreOffice, you dont need MS Windows. Or google Docs, basically if you can do your job via terminal and web browser you have alot of options and freedom
Thanks Emad but I'm not the one looking for VDI solutions. I just wanted to share my test with the raspberry pi 4 is it might be interesting to use as a thin client.
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@Pete-S said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@Emad-R said in Raspberry Pi 4 as thin/fat client:
@Pete-S
Hey if your bussiness can use LibreOffice, you dont need MS Windows. Or google Docs, basically if you can do your job via terminal and web browser you have alot of options and freedom
Thanks Emad but I'm not the one looking for VDI solutions. I just wanted to share my test with the raspberry pi 4 is it might be interesting to use as a thin client.
Something extra nice about an RP4 as a thin client is that it has the power to run things locally too. I know lots of people who use them as a fat clients. Being that cheap and dual purpose is great.
