Sun Ray Thin Client Information

What's a Sun Ray?

It is a unit that only processes input and output. They have no hard drive, memory or operating system. The Sun Ray thin client is a product from Sun Microsystems and was chosen for: low cost, zero maintenance, central management, and easy access to Linux, Solaris, and Windows operating systems.

Sun Ray thin clients are available in the following computer labs:

• Anderson Computer Lab
• B-C Infill Lounge
• Engineering Research Center (ERC) Electronic Classroom
• Internet Café
• LM Orion Design Studios
• LM Titan TLN Studio Classroom
• LM Viking Electronic Classroom
• Sun Microsystems Electronic Classroom

ID Cards and Smart Chips Work with Sun Rays

With your CSU ID card you can keep your login session active and take it with you to any Sun Ray on campus. Instead of logging in and out out with your login name and password, you would simply insert your CSU ID card in any Sun Ray terminal and have your session back just the way you left it! You can purchase additional smart cards from the ENS offices or from the IEEE student organization for $8.

Engineering Software Available

Each Sun Ray thin client is connected to one of several Sun Ray servers. These servers are running Solaris 10, and have some Engineering software installed.

Logging In

When you first log in to a Sun Ray thin client, you are actually logging in to the main server. Once logged in, you will find yourself in Sun's Solaris UNIX desktop known as IceWM.

You are also able to use a Sun Ray thin client to log in to a remote compute server within the College of Engineering. This increases the ability of your access to programs and other abilities attributed to the server you are connecting to.

Windows Desktop

On the UNIX desktop, you will find a program that allows us to display a Windows desktop through the Sun Ray server to your Sun Ray thin client. This program is called Citrix.

When you start up the Citrix client on the Sun Ray thin client, the Citrix software takes care of load balancing in the farm, so you will always be logged into the least busy Windows server. Once logged in on Citrix, you will have a Windows desktop, the same as if you logged into a regular PC workstation. The only difference is that there are no IO devices on the Sun Ray thin client (i.e. floppy drive or CD-rom).