As such, the thin client does not actually process data locally but rather acts merely as a user interface, while running programs and accessing data from the datacenter (conversely, the traditional “fat client” computer fulfills all roles by itself).
The best analogy for this process would be residential satellite or cable TV service: A signal is sent from a centralized location, and the television set acts as a simple receiving device.
The term thin is derived from the small or ‘thin’ amount of processing done on the client and this is opposed to a ‘fat’ client where most of the processing is carried out on the client machine.
Many thin client devices run only web browsers or remote desktop software, meaning that all significant processing occurs on the server. The concept of running all user applications on a central server is considered server based computing. This allows all applications to be deployed, managed, supported, and executed from a central location. This is extremely advantageous to any IT staff in contrast to the traditional desktop architecture model of managing applications on multiple PCs.
Thin Client / Server Architecture, nowadays, becomes a powerful, secure and cost-efficient solution for Health, Finance, Education and other industrial sectors (Energy Calculator for PC Equipment). For instance, several public/private companies/institutions have tendency for cloud computing, virtualization, etc. to keep up with the speed of hardware/software technology development, and this improves the preference of thin client /server architecture.
Thin client system
