For the uninitiated, it seems like such a strange concept that we talk about thin clients and fat clients in terms of computer operations. For the average computer user, these terms are almost like speaking a foreign language, and indeed for most people they mean nothing and don’t have any reference to what they do on their computer hardware on a day to day basis.
It is important though, that if you operate a computer for business purposes, that you develop an understanding of computer terminology and concepts so that you can take advantage of functionality that will improve your operational efficiency where ever possible. Thin clients can do exactly that.
Let us try and make this as simple and as straightforward as possible for you. Thin clients (also referred to as lean clients or slim clients sometimes) are a single, user computer in a more complex web of computer architecture. This architecture may comprise of one or more user computers as well as one or more servers.
The one or more servers act as the traffic wardens in a sense – they process all of the information that passes in and out of the one or more thin clients – taking a lot of the operational responsibility in terms of housing applications and devices. In contrast, thin clients typically only have things like web browsers or remote software loaded onto them, so that they are in effect as thin and light as possible.
Fat or thick clients are almost the exact opposite of the thin clients – as the name suggests – they house application themselves and process most data themselves, really only using the resources of the server to facilitate email and other communications and for storage and back up purposes.
Thin clients are particularly useful for large call centers and other customer service type environments, where there is no need for users to have software loaded onto their machines. This would prove costly in term of needing to buy individual licenses for each machine, rather than buying a volume network license, but would also be very time consuming in terms of IT personnel needing to load and then maintain the applications on each machine individually.
Instead, by taking a thin client approach, companies are able to give their staff access to the necessary applications through a layered IT network that has various levels of permissions built in. The only applications installed on these machines in this kind of environment include frequently used applications, a web browser, a user interface and an operating system. Everything else, including the high end applications, are run at the server end.
Furthermore, in this kind of high volume environment, using a thin client network also allows for IT personnel to make updates and changes to operating systems and software again without needing to move from machine to machine to effect the changes. All functionality is maintained at the server level making it fast, efficient and pretty much in real time. |
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