There are many reasons you may decide to convert an existing PC or Laptop into an IGEL thin client and indeed probably an equal number of ways on how to achieve this. For me we frequently look to re-purpose existing PCs that customers are utilizing during a VDI PoC or an initial rollout where there has been an investment in PCs recently or simply where there isn’t sufficient budget to replace legacy PCs with dedicated thin clients.
Simply installing the Horizon or Citrix client on the users existing PCs is not the best solution as existing performance problems or application / OS issues will remain and could potentially effect the VDI experience. We have rebuilt PCs from the ground up and then used group policies to apply a lockedown OS with only the VDI client available however this can be time consuming. By installing a thin client operating system to the legacy PC you are able to gain the management and security benefits of a thin client with a lot simpler conversion process. Obviously you will still be missing the power saving benefits of a true thin client model.
In this video I demonstrate how to repurpose a 8+ year old laptop into a secure, centrally managed IGEL Thin Client utilizing their Universal Desktop Converter 3 software. From beginning to end the process takes approximately 5 minutes and when complete you get the vast majority of benefits and centralized administration that you would expect from an IGEL thin client.
If you are interested in trailing the IGEL Universal Desktop Convter or the UD Pocket covered in the last video please get in touch.
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