Little Box Shifts PC's Job to Far-Off Network Server
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Pano Logic Says the Use Of Virtualization Will Ease Expenses for Companies
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By DON CLARK August 27, 2007; Page B2
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A technology called virtualization is helping save money in computer rooms. Now a Silicon Valley start-up hopes to exploit that technology to replace personal computers.
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Pano Logic Inc., a closely held company in Menlo Park, Calif., has developed a small device that connects to a display and keyboard, and to a computer network. The hardware, which has no microprocessor chip or hard drive, transfers commands to a server that runs users' PC programs.
Pano Logic Inc., a closely held company in Menlo Park, Calif., has developed a small device that connects to a display and keyboard, and to a computer network. The hardware, which has no microprocessor chip or hard drive, transfers commands to a server that runs users' PC programs.
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Removing software from the desktop eliminates the need for visits to employees' desks, slashing maintenance costs, argues Nick Gault, the company's chief executive.
Removing software from the desktop eliminates the need for visits to employees' desks, slashing maintenance costs, argues Nick Gault, the company's chief executive.
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Pano Logic's small device connects to a monitor and keyboard, but it transfers commands to a network server that runs users' PC programs. That goal may sound familiar. Companies have been pushing a variety of PC alternatives, sometimes known as "thin clients," for more than a decade. Citrix Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp., for example, also offer software that help users with simple terminals tap into PC software running on servers.
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Pano Logic's small device connects to a monitor and keyboard, but it transfers commands to a network server that runs users' PC programs. That goal may sound familiar. Companies have been pushing a variety of PC alternatives, sometimes known as "thin clients," for more than a decade. Citrix Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp., for example, also offer software that help users with simple terminals tap into PC software running on servers.
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Those approaches can still require some desktop software, including programs called drivers to manage devices such as printers. Thin-client performance sometimes also lags behind that of desktop PCs. Partly as a result, thin clients have tended to be deployed mainly to workers with a small set of simple chores.
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Another approach, pioneered by ClearCube Technology Inc., an Austin, Texas, start-up, gives each desktop user a computer called a PC blade that resides in a server room. But such devices don't offer much in hardware savings over PCs.
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So Pano Logic decided to exploit virtualization. The technology, which began with International Business Machines Corp. mainframe systems, was pioneered on low-end servers by VMware Inc. Its software is now mainly used to address low utilization rates on such servers; virtualization software helps run multiple operating systems and their associated applications on one system.
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Besides the desktop device, Pano Logic developed software for managing those gadgets that works with VMware software and versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system. Mr. Gault -- a former chief executive of virtualization specialist XenSource Inc., which recently agreed to be purchased by Citrix -- estimates that Pano Logic's technology allows each microprocessor on chips inside servers to manage four to 20 users.
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Another selling point is a button on Pano Logic's devices that can roll back a user's computing session to an earlier state of activity in the event of a technical problem.
Pano Logic plans to begin offering its technology next month. It plans to charge $20 a month for using its hardware and software, or a one-time payment of $300 per user. Many companies have begun considering ways to use virtualization software to run desktop programs on servers.
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Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
