N-series HDX Ready SoC Thin Clients

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS N-series HDX Ready SoC Thin Clients User experience and performance analysis versus Dell Wyse SoC thin clients for the Citrix virtual desktop ecosystem Executive summary Selecting the right thin client device for Citrix desktop virtualization environments can be challenging given the array of available offerings, one that is the most cost effective, easy to use and to manage, future-proofed, reliable and energy efficient. We understand that challenge and have taken the time to conduct real-world testing with meaningful results in side-by-side comparisons of NComputing HDX Ready SoC thin clients against thin clients from other vendors such as Dell Wyse to help save time and provide confidence when deciding on the right thin client solution for your environment. In this report, the NComputing N-series was evaluated for user experience and performance against the Dell Wyse T50, T10 and clients. All of the devices were evaluated for system efficiency, CPU consumption, memory consumption, performance, and Quality of Experience (QoE) for three types of expected workloads: Real-world, everyday desktop tasks using MS Office tools (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) Start-up, restart and shut-down tasks Streaming Flash video and MP4 playback of video clips stored locally and on a network drive Tests were designed to conduct a fair, repeatable comparison between Citrix virtual desktop solutions, using both XenDesktop and XenApp environments. While the N-series and Dell Wyse solutions delivered what might be considered comparable results on everyday desktop tasks, there are significant notable differences that factor into overall price/ performance and long-term invest protection. As a rule, the N-series had lower CPU and memory utilization in all tests and without the need to buy additional software to provide an optimized multimedia experience - the Dell Wyse solutions require the purchase of Wyse TCX Suite to boost video performance to acceptable levels for multimedia applications and is an additional investment that must be considered in cost analysis. Key findings for N-series Lower CPU usage & higher available resources for future enhancements: In MS Office productivity tests, had lower CPU utilization. For NComputing, the average CPU utilization was 15% and maximum CPU utilization of 25% versus Dell, which had an average CPU utilization of 22% and maximum of 36%, Dell Wyse T10 and had an average CPU utilization of 18% and maximum of 27%, during MS Excel and MS PowerPoint benchmarking. Simpler to manage: NComputing s device management software, vspace Management Center, a web-based application remotely accessible using any browser, is simpler to understand and makes maintenance of devices easier versus (WDM). WDM is a thick software application and must be installed locally on any device being used for remote management it can only be accessed through RDP and is more complicated in terms of typical device maintenance tasks. No additional software needed to enhance the multimedia performance: In subjective video quality tests comparing the playback experience of the same video clip in three different formats - full 1080p, 720p, and standard format - the can directly interact with XenDesktop/ XenApp server and utilize the HDX protocol to provide excellent, optimized video performance with lower CPU / memory resources, whereas Dell Wyse devices need additional software called WYSE TCX Suite, a paid and licensed application to enhance the video performance to acceptable levels. Device boot-up and user login: While the did have a longer average cold boot/initial power up to login screen cycle (60 sec.) than the Dell Wyse thin clients (avg. 35 sec.), the took an average of 10-15 sec. to login to establish a Citrix Desktop VM session as opposed to the Dell Wyse thin clients (approx. 15-20 sec.) a process that occurs multiple times daily for each user as opposed to the one time start up process each day. 1 of 5

Background When selecting a thin client for a Citrix virtual desktop environment, IT administrators should consider criteria that provides a comprehensive view of the total cost of ownership for virtual computing deployments. The criteria should include: Ease of use User experience Security Device Performance Device management Return on investment We applied this criteria when evaluating NComputing s HDX Ready SoC-based * versus Dell Wyse HDX Ready T50, T10 and. We conducted multiple tests from an enterprise user view, using applications such as: MS Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint Adobe PDF Reader 11 Windows Media Player 12 with K-Lite Codec pack Additionally, each platform was verified for expansion options as well as support for dual display, USB web cams, legacy connectivity options and video quality over webcast. All virtual machines connected to these thin clients were running Window 7 Professional SP1 in 1080P capable, multi-monitor configurations with playback scenarios of high-definition video in MP4 and WMV formats. The N-series includes the N400 entrylevel device, designed for productivity workers with light multimedia needs who do not need dual screen or wireless LAN options. Its list price is about 1/3 less than the, offering even greater cost savings for users who fit that profile. FEATURES & CRITERIA WYSE T50 WYSE T10 WYSE XENITH C00X EASE OF USE Installation kit included Yes Yes Yes Yes Auto discovery Yes Yes Yes Yes USER EXPERIENCE System boot time 60 ~ 70 sec. 30 ~ 35 sec. 30 ~ 35 sec. 35 ~ 40 sec. Session connect 10 ~ 15 sec. 15 ~ 20 sec. 15 ~ 20 sec. 15 ~ 20 sec. DEVICE CONFIGURATION AND COMPATIBILITY Processor Numo 3, ARM Cortex A9, 600MHz (Dual Core) Marvell Armada PXA 510, 1.0 GHz Marvell Armada PXA 510, 1.0 GHz C7 VIA EDEN Processor 1.0GHz Memory 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB 512 MB Network 10/100/1000Base-T 10/100/1000Base-T 10/100/1000Base-T 10/100/1000Base-T Power consumption (working) (idle) >5W >2W Network Wi-Fi Yes (model w) Yes (optional + cost) USB web-cams, headsets and printers. Display support DEVICE SOFTWARE Management software Yes (optional + cost) Yes Yes Yes Yes (Adapter sold vspace Management Center Yes (optional + cost) Device administration Yes Yes Yes Device firmware OS Linux (Debian) Ubuntu Linux Wyse Thin OS Wyse Zero Multimedia software Not needed $35 License for $35 License for Web-hosted Yes No No No Device profile Yes No No No management Device health monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes Asset management Yes Yes Yes Yes Easy device upgrade (firmware / config) Yes $35 License for Device Groups Yes Yes Yes Yes Server Groups Yes No No No SECURITY Secure tunnel (HTTPs) Yes Yes Yes Yes Hardware encryption Yes Yes Yes Yes Hardware security Yes Yes Yes Yes (Kingston security) SUPPORT Premium Support Included (1 year) No (purchase) No (purchase) No (purchase) Future Upgrades With premium Limited Limited Limited support Hardware Support 3 Year Warranty 3 Year Warranty 3 Year Warranty 3 Year Warranty 2 of 5

Software Performance Microsoft Office System Performance: Microsoft Office productivity testing was conducted to determine the relative performance of each thin client solution. Workloads were designed to stress screen redraw with complex images, gradients and textures. To demonstrate the performance differences between solutions evaluated, we used scrolling through slide shows and spreadsheets as the typical office worker use cases. Excel This test was performed in a dual-monitor environment and simulates a user working with Excel 2010 and performing various actions, such as opening an Excel sheet, resizing the Excel window to full screen, selecting all cells, scrolling down and up using the arrow keys and mouse wheel and closing the Excel sheet. had the lowest average CPU utilization (13%) and maximum CPU utilization (25%). The Dell had 19% average CPU utilization and 29% maximum CPU utilization. The Dell Wyse T10 and had 15% average CPU utilization and 28% maximum CPU utilization. 35% Microsoft Excel CPU Utilization PowerPoint This test simulates a user presenting high resolution imagery embedded in a slide using PowerPoint 2010 automated slide show option. This test starts with opening a PowerPoint slide show that contains photos, diagrams, animations and backgrounds with color gradients. The slide show displays each slide for 3 seconds. had the lowest average CPU utilization (18%) and maximum CPU utilization (35%). The Dell had 29% average CPU utilization and 59% maximum CPU utilization. The Dell Wyse T10 and had 28% average CPU utilization and 54% maximum CPU utilization. 6 Microsoft PowerPoint CPU Utilization Windows Media Player 11 This test was run with dual-monitor configurations. Video playback was done in various formats (WMV and MP4) over Citrix HDX protocol. The video file utilized was recorded at 720P and 30 fps from an animated movie. Duration of video was 2 minutes and 37 sec. On average, provided lower resource utilization across all media formats with an average CPU utilization of 18% and maximum of 25%, versus Dell Wyse T50, which was scaling at average CPU utilization of 56% and Max at 9. Dell and had slightly better performance with an average CPU utilization at 25% and maximum at 35%. In tests to verify the quality of the End User Video Experience, the delivered clean and smooth video where audio and video were in sync and no choppiness was observed. Dell Wyse thin clients (T50) require an additional software component, the, otherwise the video will be choppy and audio/video will lose synchronization. 10 Windows Media Player CPU Utilization 3 25% 15% 1 5% 5 4 3 1 8 6 4 Microsoft, Excel, PowerPoint and Windows Media Player are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. 3 of 5

Return on Investment Software Performance (continued) Adobe Reader This test simulates a user working with Adobe Reader 11 and taking actions such as open a PDF file with rich content, scroll down/up using the arrow keys and mouse wheel, observe any choppiness vs. a smooth scroll and finally, save and close the file, and shut down Adobe Reader. had average CPU utilization of 18% and maximum CPU utilization of 35%, while Dell had 32% average CPU utilization and 5 maximum CPU utilization. The Dell and Xenith C00X had 28% average CPU utilization and 45% maximum CPU utilization. Adobe Reader CPU Utilization Performance vs. Price We found that the thin client provides very comparable performance for productivity tools to Dell Wyse thin clients. The price point for is 20 ~ 4 less than Dell Wyse thin client and the ships with mounting accessories (VESA Kit). Users may have to purchase additional software components for Dell Wyse thin clients to obtain a multimedia experience similar to the. In addition to performance at lower price, provides a broad set of features and functions (see table on page 2). Future Proof N-series thin clients are equipped with an integrated firmware package, which means the Citrix receiver is packaged with the N-series device firmware, making it easily upgradable and robust for any future releases of the Citrix ICA receiver. For Dell Wyse thin clients, the administrator must download the appropriate firmware/image file required for the device type as Dell Wyse devices run on multiple flavors of OS (ex. Thin OS, Ubuntu, zero OS, etc), making it less uniform and more prone to potential compatibility and support issues. Energy Savings Since only consumes 5W of power, it can result in significant power savings for the organization. We calculated the energy savings by using (Time x Power x Money) formula and standard electricity rates in USA ($0.13 per unit); the results are: ENERGY WYSE T50 WYSE T10 XENITH C00X Power consumption < 5W 7.2W 7.2W 7.2W Electricity cost (per unit) $0.13 $0.13 $0.13 $0.13 Hours utilized 8 8 8 8 Idle hours 16 16 16 16 One day expense $0.18 $0.31 $0.31 $0.31 3 Year usage $19.7 $33.90 $33.90 $33.90 6 5 4 3 1 Adobe Reader is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. 4 of 5

Testing Setup and Methodology Comparison Criteria Testing was conducted on functionally-equivalent NComputing and Dell Wyse thin client s side-by-side. We determined the system performance as a subjective comparison of these systems, user experience, video quality and device manageability. In order to create a customer environment, we used a Gigabyte Ethernet Switch attached to a domain where Active Directory was used to authenticate users. The server infrastructure was running XenServer 6.0.2 on a Supermicro Blade Server, equipped with: Intel Dual Core Xeon E31220 @ 3.10 GHz 32 GB RAM 1 GB Network Interface Card (Broadcom NetXtream II 4 Port) XenDesktop 5.6 was used as main VM desktop provider, and XenApp 6.5 was used to publish the application to end users. All the virtual machines were running Windows 7 Professional SP1 as their base image connected to two 22 HD 1920x1200 displays, on which all the test where performed. Five Reasons for Choosing N-series SoC Thin Clients Compared to Dell Wyse Thin Clients 1. Best value: Compared to other venders in the market and with an average price between $186 - $205 (depending on model), NComputing offers the lowest cost HDX Ready thin clients that deliver uncompromising and optimized performance developed specifically for Citrix HDX technology. 2. Performance wins: Because of the off-loading and intelligent use of NComputing s own NUMO3 SoC components,and technology, performance is dramatically improved compared to other vendor s offerings. All the HDX features are seamlessly delivered leaving significantly more processor headroom for added multitasking capabilities and rich media applications. 3. The N-series is future proofed: Taking advantage of the additional headroom provided by the N-series NUMO 3 SoC based design and capacity, standard codecs such as H.264, MPEG- 4, and VC1 along with hardware encryption are processed directly on the NUMO chip, reducing processing time and saving server resources. The Citrix Receiver is prepackaged in the device firmware, making receiver upgrades fast and easily manageable with NComputing s web-based vspace Management Center solution for centralized, remote management. 4. Lower energy costs: With power consumption at < 5 Watt, N-series can offer drastic savings to energy bill. 5. Smaller form factor and mounting kit: Each N-series device is shipped with a VESA mounting kit that attaches to the back of the monitor, leaving a clean and clutter free work desk for end users and is not an additionally purchased item. 5 of 5 1900 S. Norfolk Street, Suite 245 San Mateo, CA 94403 1.650.409.5959 info@ncomputing.com www.ncomputing.com 5 of 5 Copyright 2016 NComputing Co., Ltd. NComputing and vspace are internationally registered trademarks by NComputing (ZeroDesktop, Inc). Copyright 2003 2016. The product could differ from the images shown. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Specific features may vary from model to model. The only support and warranties for NComputing products and services are set forth in the express support and warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. NComputing shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions. 434273_V8