Resource Requirements

The LTC will run on nearly any PC-compatible system, and the minimum requirements are much lower than the requirements of a usable Win95/98/NT system. This means that there are 2 different paths one can take in designing an LTC:
  1. Low cost, high-performance systems using new hardware
  2. Very low cost, adequate performance systems utilizing "retired" hardware
There are several drawbacks to the second option, including: The only drawback of the first option is that budget constraints may delay the implementation.

Obviously,  a combination of the 2 may also be used, selecting the best of the retired hardware to lower costs somewhat during implementation.

The "theoretical" minimum system would be a 386SX with 16 MB of RAM, but I would not recommend using anything less than a 486DX with 32 MB of RAM. Nearly all testing to date has been done on Pentium-class systems.

Current PC hardware pricing presents a great opportunity to obtain high performance hardware for about $400 (not including a monitor). This compares favorably with commercial thin client systems that range in price between $500 and $1200 per unit (not including servers).