Here at ACP, we have been working tirelessly to discuss and promote the important distinctions between ThinManager and the competition. The most prevalent of those distinctions is that while other centralized management solutions manage the server, ThinManager manages the clients as well as their connections to the server. A prime example of this is the Shadowing feature, which is perhaps the most used ThinManager function by customers as well as integrators.
Shadowing is a function that allows an authorized user to view what is running on a remote client from anywhere using a number of methods with just one simple mouse click or keystroke. For most system engineers, using Shadowing from their Control Room is the most common usage, as well as being simple and convenient to deploy. This useful feature greatly reduces the time between an operator reporting a problem and an administrator being able to review the current session. Now an engineer or administrator can simply view the individual session currently running at any client in the facility without having to leave the Control Room. With Shadowing, it now takes minutes to review a problem client or session instead of hours.
That is, however, just one example of the versatility of the Shadowing feature. For those who do not inhabit a control room, or spend most of their time patrolling the floor of their facility, there is Terminal to Terminal Shadowing. This provides the same ability to quickly react to an issue as well as the same ease of use as the standard Shadowing function, but from any network-connected client in your facility…even those connected from a remote location or in a hazardous environment area.
We recently sat down and talked about ThinManager with Mike Sommars from the Barry Wehmiller Design Group who has used Shadowing at multiple site deployments. “Using the basic connectivity between the clients and the ThinServer with Shadowing allowed us to check the health of the network and troubleshoot the install remotely. The Shadowing feature is an amazing time saver from a troubleshooting standpoint. ThinManager’s ease of configuration and deployment made it very simple to copy the terminals and replicate the install going forward.”
For anyone tasked with keeping a manufacturing facility running with as little mean time as possible, Shadowing allows you the ability to monitor sessions even when you are nowhere near the facility. By using a service like Xmanage from Screentronix, an administrator can connect to ThinManager to find and diagnose any issue, from simple client hardware failure to a complete facility shut down. By being able to monitor issues from anywhere, ThinManager removes the need to go to the facility every time there might be an issue. Now those issues can be reviewed remotely before taking a specific course of action.
Simply put, Shadowing brings all the screens to you instead of you having to go to each individual screen. While there are many products and management systems in the market today, there is only one that is designed to provide full management of each individual machine on a network regardless of the manufacturer or its designation in your facility.
That product is ThinManager.
