At the forefront of Germany's widespread Linux migration movement, Schwaebisch Hall experiences a painless transition with NX.

About the Organization

The first German council to migrate to Linux, Schwaebisch Hall chose NoMachine to ease the transition for its 32 branches, 17 mobile workers and 16 Kindergartens. With an infrastructure of 400-plus workstations in dispersed departmental municipal offices, Schwaebisch Hall now deploys a combination of NX Advanced Server, NX Enterprise Server, and NX Web Companion to permit users to access Linux, Windows, and proprietary ERP/CAD applications from Linux desktops and thin clients on the LAN/WAN or directly from the Internet.

The Challenge

Schwaebisch Hall came early to the German Linux movement that would become one of the biggest ever Windows-to-Linux migrations, once it hit Munich. Known as LiMux, Munich’s migration alone aimed to switch 14, 000 of the city’s desktops from Windows to Linux. This spurred several controversies, including Microsoft’s "Get the Facts" campaign against open source software, a 123-page German software association study of the legal implications of open source and a possible lawsuit. A visit from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was also planned, who personally flew to Munich to meet with city officials and offer them discounts on Microsoft licensing which they promptly turned down in favor of Open Source.

Not long before all this happened, Schwaebisch Hall, located in the German state of Baden-Württemberg (southwest Germany), quietly launched their own Linux migration- 400-plus workstations in their dispersed departmental municipal offices switched from Windows to Linux. Flying under the radar of Microsoft and national news outlets, Schwaebisch’s Hall biggest concern was how they would ease the transition of its 32 branches from a Windows to a Linux environment. They wanted to make the transition smooth for their longtime Windows users, reduce expenditures and save time on a task that has the potential to take years.

That's not to say that all was smooth sailing for Schwaebisch. As a 2004 ZDNet article on the Schwaebisch migration pointed out,"Some users were afraid that the deployment of Linux was part of a secret plan to read everyone's email, record all their keystrokes and monitor their surfing habits."As Migration Project Leader Horst Braeuner said in the same article, "I became the most hated person in the municipality, but hey, that's usual." In addition to privacy concerns that arose concerning open source, users were also worried about ease. Braeuner knew he needed a solution that would at least put this worry to rest.

The Solution

With NX Enterprise Server and Advanced Server, Schwaebisch Hall found a solution that would not only save them time, but expenditures. A fully-featured Unix terminal server and desktop consolidation tool, NX Enterprise Server allowed Schwaebisch to host an unlimited number of virtual desktop sessions on a single server, and offered the thin client computing capabilities that enabled them to support both Windows and Linux-based applications and desktops, with no additional hardware or software costs. Because it's licensed per server, and not per user, NX Enterprise gave Schwaebisch Hall a secure remote access solution that saved tens of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over competing solutions.

In addition to the NX Enterprise Server, the NX Advanced Server offered reduced downtime and rapid provisioning. Its multi-node capablities allow administrators to add a node to the network in minutes, support balancing of the load among all available nodes and provide for centralized management and monitoring of all NX Nodes, improving overall operational efficiency.

Furthermore, Schwaebisch Hall also benefited from NX Web Companion, a tiny Java applet and plugin for any browser that automatically integrates into any corporate intranet. Giving users one-click-access to all applications on the NX Server, without the need to download the NX Client, Web Companion has allowed the council to provide their own "NX Appliance" - remote users can now log on to the council's Web server, select the desired application, and the NX session is automatically started. This easy NX connection and friendly GUI made the transition from Windows to Linux much easier for new users, creating a much less intimidating overall experience.

Results

Currently, more than 90 percent of Schwaebisch's proprietary software is served by NX Server and NX Nodes. Also, all mobile users have access to the central applications using NX Client. A central Linux Desktop combined with NX Server is provided to all 16 Kindergartens dispersed throughout the city.

In addition, Schwaebisch has consolidated their Microsoft software on two Terminal Servers; NX enables both Windows and Linux desktops to access the applications hosted there. Because NX is one of the fastest remote access solutions on the market, users are able to remotely access rich applications such as CAD at the same speed they would be accessed locally. Said Braeuner, "Adopting NX as our remote access solution has saved us time, expenditure, and most of all simplified things for our users. It’s also given us one client to access ‘all worlds.’"

About NoMachine NX Enterprise Server

A fully-featured Unix terminal server and desktop consolidation tool allowing users to create, manage and operate an unlimited number of virtual desktop sessions on a single server. Perfect for companies which need to offer a complete set of corporate services to all mobile and on-site employees.

About NoMachine Advanced Server Products

The NoMachine Advanced products create a cluster of nodes federated in a single NX server. It allows corporations to implement massive desktop consolidation strategies by automatically routing the user to the server configured by the system administrator and by balancing the computing load among all the available nodes.

About NoMachine NX Web Companion

The NX Web Companion is a tiny Java applet and a plugin for any browser that easily integrates into the corporate Intranet to give users one-click-access to applications made available on the NX server.

NX security is guaranteed at every layer involved in the communication process. NX uses SSH public-key encryption and 128 bit volatile random cookie generation.