Setup 10ZiG PeakOS to work as a digital status display (Kiosk mode)

Thin Clients are typically used to connect to VDI/Session hosted environments using though Microsoft/Citrix/VMWare technologies but they do have their other uses…

In this post I am going to show you how to setup a 10ZiG thin client (in my case the 5872v) running their custom made Linux PeakOS that will

• Display status maps from my PRTG network monitor server
• Run two displays
• Automatically display a different webpage on each display on boot up
• Automatically power off at 5pm (after the end of the day)

So all of that is great but why would I want to use a thin client instead of a full PC to power such a display?

• Upfront hardware cost is much cheaper and you get dual DVI as a standard (something you won’t find on most desktop PCs)
• The software required to use the thin client in this manner is built right in – no fiddling around with scheduled tasks/group policies
• Power consumption is lower – a thin client such as this one can draw little more than 12W when running such a display (a full desktop could be many times higher)

Want to go one step further? Higher end Windows powered thin clients like the 10ZiG 6818v and 6817v can be upgraded (at the factory) to run 4 displays off the same client, thus saving you from going with a power hungry graphics card in a full desktop PC.