tions (Santa Clara, CA) that lets you fire up Windows applications remotely. The @workStation provides excellent browsing and Java applet speed because these operations run locally on an Intel i960 embedded RISC machine.
We tested the @workStation Prima, the 25-MHz model. The basic unit ($749) comes with 8 MB of RAM, no hard disk, and a 17-inch grayscale monitor. A system with a 15-inch color monitor costs $1199, while 17-inch color costs $1499. Our test unit -- with 36 MB of RAM (128 MB is tops) and a 15-inch color display -- priced out at $1899.
The browser firmware, licensed from Spyglass (Champaign, IL), loads documents directly from the Web if you let the @workStation have its own IP address (which can be statically or dynamically assign
ed). To use Windows applications, however, you must run them remotely on an NT server that's running NTRIGUE ($1995 for five-user license, $195 per additional user). Computation is done on the server machine, but drawing takes place on the @workStation. Sending the drawing information over the network is relatively slow, but not prohibitively so.
We hooked our test unit through its built-in 10Base-T Ethernet connection to an AST Bravo 200-MHz Pentium Pro system running NTRIGUE. Windows performance on the @workStation was respectable, but the user interface could not duplicate the snappy response of the big machine. For example, when I typed in the NT MS-DOS editor (an old 16-bit application), screen output lagged one or two characters behind. Clearly the network limits the ability for the low-end box to compare with a dedicated PC.
If you're building a network of computers for people who occasionally use Windows applications that are not graphics-heavy, then an array of @workStations could save you mo
ney. Hooking up a dozen or so terminals to a good high-end server running NT can cut the cost of hardware and dramatically reduce system upkeep because you have to upgrade only the software on the central NT server. In terms of performance, the @workStation is comparable to that of a PC when using basic applications like word processing. It falls short when running graphics applications like games. But who plays games at work anyway?
Product Information
@workStation Prima........................$1899
(as tested, with 25-MHz i960 processor, 36 MB of RAM,
15-inch color display)
HDS Network Systems
King of Prussia, PA
Phone: (800) 437-1551 or (610) 277-8300
Fax: (610) 275-5739
E-mail:
info@hds.com
Internet:
http://www.hds.com
Circle 1059 on Inquiry Card.
X Terminal + Browser + Java = Web PC
