Who is this Thin Client?

I am sure I have been here before talking about things that I nod and pretend to understand because it is easier to do that than be in a room full of strangers and say - "I'm sorry could you explain, I don’t understand". Well here we are again, who is the thin client anyway?

 According to wiseGEEK a Thin client is - either a software program or an actual computer that relies heavily on another computer to do most of its work. It operates as part of a network, with the client software or computer acting as an interface and the  server computer doing all the real work, like saving files, processing data, and controlling certain functions of the clients, like whether they can download things or not. 



So its a lazy computer who gets another computer to do all its work? So why should we all have a thin client if we can have the fat client right.



I think I will have to look at this is term of an analogy -one i have found is the server is the lawyer , the one in the back ground that stores all the information and know even the most minute details. the thin client is the person in court on the stand weather is be victim, defendant or witness it doesn’t matter the point if they are the face. They are coached what to say and how to answer the question in a certain way, what to say when. Now of course this isn’t perfect as people have feelings and there own stories and as far as I am aware computers don’t.......yet :).



But it is the basic principle of information that is being fed in and relayed back but saved, looked after and understood somewhere else. 


Now the reasons for a company to want something like this, well reports seem to point towards one key overriding factor COST.

A white paper produced by X2 suggests that companies can benefit in many ways:

Costs will be cut by up to 70%. 

Worldwide access to work files and enterprise applications - Thin client computing enables increased
productivity by allowing workers to work from anywhere in the world.

Reduced administration and end user support

Increased reliability - Thin client devices don’t have moving parts or fans, and
therefore will last for longer which is far longer than a normal PC.

Lessens the risk of data theft - Having all data stored on central servers eliminates the risk of
important company data falling into the wrong hands should a fat client  be lost or
stolen.

Disaster recovery: Data is more secure and easier to backup - If a terminal fails, important data isn’t
lost since it is stored on the server.

So the bottom line is weather we understand it or not it can help companies be more efficent and reduce costs.

So like the new year gym drive I am sure there will be lots of people that are out with the fat and in twith the thing.

Now I hear murmuings of Zero clients................................look like I am back to learining another term!!