XplanaZine

Modeling the Earth on a Palm: Thin-Client Software Makes Heavy Seismic Processing Applications Possible from Any Computer, Any Platform
What do you do when you’re trying to provide access to a “heavy” application such as a geophysical data processing program?
How do you give distance students a chance to do a “virtual lab” and run complicated programs for geology, meteorology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, and other discipline-specific software programs?
One potential solution involves implementing “thin-client” software such as Citrix MetaFrame on the server that houses the application. According to the American Red Cross, Citrix MetaFrame worked very well. According to one person, “Citrix software was the only solution that would allow us to provide fast access to ECHO on any device - ranging from a PC to a Macintosh to a UNIX device - across any connection.”
Now, before you think I’m just plugging Citrix, let me explain that I’ve never actually used Citrix MetaFrame. I have to admit that the possibility intrigues me, though. Here’s why:
I’m currently administering a graduate-level university program that offers high-level training and education on seismic interpretation for the petroleum industry. Our students tend to be geologists, petroleum engineers, geophysicists, and computer scientists who are exploring for new reserves of hydrocarbons, or who are seeking to expand existing production.
Specifically, this means that students learn about how to process seismic data using proprietary software. The goal is to detect the presence of hydrocarbons, determine structural features far beneath the surface of the earth, and to understand the nature of the rocks and fluids found there.
We’re using online readings, textbooks, online demo’s. However, there are serious limitations in this approach. How can you possibly learn such a hands-on activity by reading a book or by simply e-mailing your professor questions? According to some scientists, seismic interpretation is all about running various software packages and comparing the results. That means hands-on work.
At the university, we could consider developing our own algorithms, which students could modify and run with software such as MatLab on a personal computer.
That’s all well and good, until you consider the enormity of the data sets, the challenges of data loading, and — here’s the kicker — getting the data in the first place.
Here’s where a cooperative arrangement with a software company seems to be an ideal solution. Using thin-client software such as Citrix’s MetaFrame, one could create a situation where anyone with a computer could log into the main computer and thus have access to the heavy application.
For example, Hampson-Russell has developed highly popular and easy-to-use seismic processing software. The fact that it is easy to use does not mean easy to install on one’s computer. Further, not every university would be able to afford the site license, or be able to load and administer the program. It would certainly not be possible to do so on a personal computer. Thus, if students could use Citrix to log into the Hampson-Russell MetaFrame-enabled computer, they could remotely run a software program.
For training purposes, the best approach would be to preload data sets and to ask the student to practice running data using the different software applications.
After students have been trained on the Hampson-Russell solutions for seismic interpretation, they may want to learn how to run their reservoir characterization software.
Although this means that Hampson-Russell, a private company, is allowing certain students to have access to a part of one server, there could be significant rewards in the future. A student who has been trained on their licensed and trademarked programs is likely to recommend them for purchase.
To think that Citrix MetaFrame allows a student to access across platforms is truly revolutionary. No longer are geoscientists chained to the huge computers. They can remotely log into a central computer from wherever they are — based on an offshore drilling platform in the middle of the Caspian Sea, or in a Humvee near a old field in Kuwait. One can reprocess information based on new findings, and then recommend a course of action. For example, one could suggest that one could drill a well in a certain location, etc.
Not only is the thin-client remote log-in approach sound in terms of teaching, it could also be highly cost-effective for general operations.

What an exciting “thin” world!!