Many PCs in one

NComputing, a tech startup, develops a technology called shared computing to split PCs.

A new desktop computer is today ten times more powerful than a model from about three years ago. Yet, most of us use personal computers (PCs) just like we did in the past.

It is also estimated that 90 per cent of the users need to buy only a tenth of the computer's power.

With this in mind, the firm has developed a technology called NComputing technology using which a desktop PC is divided into something resembling a thin client server where, instead of a full PC, individual users get a small box called an access terminal.

The box connects with monitors, keyboards and mouse, with optional audio, microphone, and USB ports. Multiple access terminals connect to a single central processing unit (CPU), presenting each user with a personal Windows (or Linux) desktop.

Dubbed as shared computing, the technology allows organisations to harness the processing power in every computer "" at all times "" and to combine it for computing tasks that otherwise require expensive computer systems.

"We let companies, researchers, schools and government bodies shift computing power to where it's needed. That cuts costs and increases computing productivity," says Raj Shah, chief marketing officer, Ncomputing.

"An access terminal costs as less as Rs 8,000 and can connect up to seven monitors, lending the user the benefit of seven machines at less than half the price," says Shah.

Users who only need Word processing and Web browsing will see better results than those who want to be on Second Life or demand Vista's eye-candy software. NComputing claims that a modern PC can support up to 30 simultaneous desktops thanks to its virtual clients.

The promise of cheap computing has helped NComputing win clients, with the Macedonian government already using its technology to give every school child access to a computer. The company also has sold more than 200,000 terminals to the US schools and expects to reach profitability without any more funding. It initially raised $8 million from Scale Venture Partners.

Will the company be able to sell to the business world? "Education accounts for 90 per cent of our sales," says Shah. He adds that the virtual desktop is fundamentally an enterprise technology.

It predicts that as the number of processor cores in a CPU grows exponentially, so will be the case for putting some of that unused power to work in both small businesses and large corporations.

Infact, companies like Maruti have already deployed their solutions, where the cost of providing the necessary computing power to an individual comes to as low as Rs 2,800.

Research firm Gartner estimates that there are a billion people worldwide who currently do not have access to a PC but would use one if it were more affordable. NComputing is expected to gain traction in under-resourced markets like India.

Also, NComputing's product draws less than five watts of power for each added user as against 115 watts for a typical new PC. This reduction in energy consumption is critical in India where electricity supply is limited.

The only drawback in NComputing's business plan may its assumption that computer technology would make PCs more powerful, instead of smaller or cheaper.

Today, laptops outsell desktops by a growing margin and then there is the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child consortium, which still plans to make laptops for under $100, even if its initial prices will be closer to twice that.

Business customers, too, will have to deal with the thorny issue of software licensing as only one instance of the operating system and application would be running on several machines. But this loophole should not last long if the technology takes off.