What a hassle it must be. You install a firewall. You add an intrusion-detection appliance. Then you switch to intrusion prevention because simply detecting network attacks is not sufficient. You spend countless hours installing new security patches. You provide internal controls through policy and access management. You optimize, you sniff, you take the trash out.

And yet, the battle goes on. A virus finds its way into your network. Your Web site is hacked. A disgruntled employee walks off with supposedly secure data. Is there no end?

Certainly, as evidenced by the number of vendors in the security space (and by the numerous companies represented in this month's special focus on Network Security), there are plenty of choices for you. So how do you decide?

Perhaps, just perhaps, you really don't have to choose. Maybe it is time to explore less-revolutionary solutions for the security nightmare. Maybe network computers (aka thin clients and blade PCs) are the answer for a good many of you.

Organizations are increasingly opting for thin clients as replacements for the ubiquitous PC. Not every desktop user is a candidate for such conversions but market share for such "dumb" devices is expected to double in the next few years. While the motivation for such a switch in the past has been primarily cost-related, today's IT managers are seeing a different benefit-improved security with less hassle.

By moving security measures from client devices to central servers, much of the security work is eliminated. You still must provide protection for your servers but your endpoints cannot be threatened. Your staff no longer has to "visit" each PC for patch detail or software updates. You gain in productivity and reduce costs-while strengthening your networks security profile.

Previous product generations, however, did not always perform well in enterprise environments. There were problems with delivering line-of-business applications to thin clients and they often lacked support for peripherals. Those problems have largely been dealt with in today's models. Still, a Forrester Research analyst has suggested that only 8-9% of all the desktops in the market are candidates for replacement with thin clients.

The alternative may be blade PCs, which consist of a server blade in the datacenter running a desktop operating system with a thin-client device on the user's desktop.

In either case--blade PCs or thin clients--the savings can be significant. Upfront costs for clients is much lower, thin clients have triple the lifespan of PCs, client management costs are far lower and network security is strengthened. You're still going to need security solutions for your server farm, and you will probably need more servers, but providing protection for a few servers is far easier than protecting and maintaining all those PCs on your network.

Ken Anderberg

kanderberg@comnews.com