Thin Client

A thin client is a computer that relies on another computer (or server) to carry out functions that a traditional computer would normally accomplish on its own. The actual roles of a thin client server vary based on the technology, but can range from simply storing data to hosting all programs and calculations for the thin client. Many organizations have used thin clients as workstations. This is done so that a common computer infrastructure can be shared among all users, with a centralized server providing all the workstation's functions.

When Were Thin Clients First Used?

Thin clients evolved from multi-user computing systems that granted access to a central mainframe across one or many users via a command-line interface. As computers started using graphical user interfaces (GUI's), these terminals evolved to providing GUI interfaces to centrally-based computing resources. Oracle was the first company to adopt the term “thin client” in the early 1990's with the launch of Oracle 7. Since that time, the term refers to any client-server with a thin client application that relies on a central server to process logic for it. Today, thin clients have a web-based server and can handle specialized interactions or applications for client computers.

What Are the Advantages of a Thin Client?

Thin clients have gained popularity for a number of reasons. First, they allow organizations to save money by deploying cheaper computing hardware that use centrally managed resources. They also let an organization manage security from the server-level without having to worry about users making unauthorized installations. Thin clients also help organizations reduce overall electrical consumption via computers that do not consume as much electricity to cool the thin client. Finally, thin clients let organizations centrally manage the software packages deployed throughout the network and avoid unauthorized installations of unlicensed programs.

What Are the Disadvantages of a Thin Client?

Although the popularity of thin clients has increased over the past two decades, organizations relying on thin client face several known issues. These include the server being a single point of failure for all enterprise users, resilience of the thin client, compatibility issues with software that the company needs to run on the network with the thin client package, busy input/output of the central server, the need for using portable media in some organizations, and resource sharing. All of these issues can be mitigated, but do require effort at the management level in order to implement the appropriate measures for expected issues.

What Are Some Popular Thin Clients Used Today?

Some of the more popular thin clients used today include: the Moderro Xpac Web-centric Thin Client, Sun Microsystems S270 (ultra thin client), and the Gigabyte TA 7 Thin Client made by most major computer brands. Software packages that support thin client include Citrix and Open Thin Client, which is an open-source solution designed to run on the Linux operating system.

What Are the Future Uses of Thin Clients?

Google and more recently Microsoft have been investing significant effort and resources into cloud computing. This concept involves providing data storage and applications on centrally-based servers on the Internet (or the “Cloud”) and serving remotely-based client computers. Future thin clients are expected to increasingly rely on Cloud-based resources or other “Cloud-like” architectures in order to further eliminate the number of resources that require network administrators to manage centrally.