Simplifying IT
Rural IT
Features of Thinux for Rural Tele-centre Operators
Aug 27th
Thinvent provides a specially customised version of Thinux for Rural Telecentre Operators. This version of Thinux comes bundled with the following features:
-
An operating system that extends upon the legendary stability and security of Linux. Thinux has an inbuilt recovery mode and “read-only” base, that ensures that no matter what goes wrong on the field, the system can be recovered on-site.
-
Preconfigured drivers for all the hardware devices that one is expected to attach to the computer.
-
Pre-installed applications that enable common computing tasks such as browsing and document preparation. These applications also cover the syllabi of common computer courses that the telecentre operator may wish to deliver.
-
Compatibility with most popular Windows software.
-
Localisation. One can access Hindi and other Indian language websites and create documents in Devanagari under Thinux. Moreover, Thinux itself can display most software menus and help in Hindi, Tamil, etc. This is a boon for rural students and users.
-
Support for connectivity through dial-up, DSL, CDMA, GPRS, Wi-Fi and VSAT. Built-in VPN connectivity.
-
Remote Management: Thinux gives you the ability to remotely configure, upgrade, control, inventory, view and reboot your computers, from anywhere in your network, through a simple browser-based interface. This greatly simplifies the task of managing a heterogeneously connected network of thousands of computers.
-
Remote Monitoring: To help run the project successfully, Thinux provides you with details like uptime, connectivity issues, resource utilisation (such as number of printouts). These statistics are collated and made available at the central monitoring location.
-
Unified Communication: Thinux has built in support for all modern forms of communication – email, chat, VoIP and video-conferencing. The centres can use these services to communicate with you and each other, and also offer these as services to the village folk.
-
UI Customisations: When a computer centre is set-up by a new entrepreneur, the user will face a number of teething problems. This leads to frequent support calls. We minimise these in two ways.
First, the entire UI is customised to be very user-friendly. All the software and tools that they commonly require, are placed in a handy and organised manner. On-line help and tutorials (localised to Hindi) guide them through common tasks like taking their first printouts.
Secondly, we provide on the screen, a number of status icons. When the user calls up for support, the personnel can ask for the state or colour of each icon, and quickly determine the cause of commonly occurring problems. This is very helpful in debugging problems with printing or Internet connectivity.
The above software consumes a disk space of less than 512MB.
Solution for IT in India
Jul 31st
The Indian IT Scenario
In a country like India, hardware in the field must face all kinds of extremities. From the vagaries of Indian weather, which can range from sub-zero temperatures to fifty degrees centigrade, to erratic power supply, which, when it does get supplied, is rarely at the correct voltage or frequency. These problems are often compounded by the hostility of the users to the device. IT is usually used to monitor the people who use it, which does not auger well with them.
The other major problem is the lack of connectivity. While the world is moving to a web based, centralised computing model, India still does not have reliable Internet or WAN connectivity in most parts of the country.
Our Hardware Solution
It is these precise problems that Thinvent addresses. We work on hardware such as thin clients, hand-helds and ruggedised servers, which can withstand the environments our customers work in. We address the power, heat and dust problem, by making our devices consume very low power. This enhances battery life. Lower power consumption leads to lower heat dissipation, leading to heat resistant and compact devices. Dust proofing is also achieved because heat dissipation eliminates the need for cooling fans that suck dust.
Our devices have no moving parts. All the storage is done on solid state media. This greatly enhances the life of the product, and leads to lower downtime and less servicing. Since the deployment area of these devices is diverse, higher MTBFs mean significantly reduced travelling times for service personnel.
A reduction in moving parts and size has a very advantageous affect- a reduction in cost of the product.
Our Software Solution
We create Linux based operating environments under the brand name of Thinux. Thinux is designed to derive maximum processing from the low power components used in our hardware. The OS provides 24x7x365 uptimes, remote management and monitoring, remote application upgrades, support for various peripherals, Indian language localisation, small footprint, etc.
The freedom of open source gives us the power to customise the operating environment to unique needs of the customer. Often projects don’t demand general purpose computers. They require single-purpose devices focussed on achieving the business goals of the project.
Connectivity
A major problem in deploying dispersed IT systems is the lack of guaranteed bandwidth. Thinvent works around this problem by providing multi-modal transport of data between the client and the server. Our systems support DSL, Ethernet, VSAT, WiFi, packet radio, leased line, cable, dial-up, GPRS/EDGE/3G, CDMA, and other forms of data connectivity. We even provide limited connectivity over SMS.
Connected-Disconnected Operation
Thinvent provides its customers, the ability to run “on-line” applications in a connected-disconnected environment, by replicating the entire server side database and application stack on the client device. The local and central databases are kept in sync through the intermittent connectivity available. This mode has been favoured by many government agencies, such as the Indian Railways.
