Follow Us.
Become a Fan! 
Although the term Thin Client wasn't around in 1970, the original method of running multiple applications on a computer functioned exactly as a Thin Client system. I am referring to the mainframe computers that existed in the early days of computing. This is exactly the Thin Client model, and so I want to take just a moment and point out the benefits of those systems.
The original computers were almost always locked away inside a protected environment, and maintained by a few specially trained people. These operators not only took care of the hardware (making enhancements or repairs as needed) but they also handled all of the software. They loaded and maintained applications, were responsible for system backups, and added and removed user accounts. The end user almost never actually went into the computer room, because there was no need to. He could access any application from any one of hundreds of terminals located throughout the building. If it was a system where individual users could customize their sessions, then each time that the user logged on, no matter what terminal he used, he got back his exact session.
From a system maintenance aspect, the only complex piece of equipment was the mainframe itself - it was the only place where any software was stored. The terminals were simply commodity items, and if one of them ever failed, all that was required is for someone to swap it out with a new one. There was never any application setup required, because all of the configuration and settings for the programs resided on the Mainframe with the applications and data.
It is only within the past few years that we have been able to go back to the original, centralized model of computing. What happened in between the mainframe and today is the era of the Personal Computer. While it is without question a marvelous product, it is not without its faults. Chief among them is the maintenance issue inherent in the distributed computing model.
That is why so many system administrators are excited to see the original centralized computing model coming back in the form of Thin Clients. A Thin Client system is simply one where the mainframe has been replaced by a Windows Server, and the terminals have been replaced with Thin Clients. All of the software is stored, updated and executed on the Server, and the Thin Clients simply act as displays for the Windows applications. Any input from the user (keyboard, mouse) is transmitted back through the Thin Client and to the Server, where it is processed by the application just as if it had taken place on the server itself.
System administrators can now keep a carefully managed Server in a protected environment and give users access to the Server's applications and data through the use of inexpensive commodity interfaces. In most cases, the user cannot tell the difference between the Thin Client and his old PC, but the people charged with making sure that all of the users have a working system certainly can. They are now responsible for only a few servers, as opposed to having to watch and support computers scattered throughout the facility.
One of the biggest factors now driving the expansion of Thin Clients is the support given by Microsoft in their Windows 2000 software. Up until the release of this product early this year, the only way to run a Thin Client system was to use a little known version of Windows called Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition. While it worked very well (and many Thin Client systems are running with it today), it was a version of NT that was never bought unless the end user had the intention of running Thin Clients.
But now, with the release of Windows 2000, anyone who has installed a Windows 2000 Server can try out Thin Clients. Not only has this made it easer for end users to see the operation of Thin Clients at their facility, it has moved the support departments of the larger software companies to train their people in the operation of Thin Client systems. Users can now call the company that provided their software and actually find someone who is willing to talk with them about the software package and the way it runs on a Thin Client system.
Several market research firms are expecting that Thin Client sales will surpass PC sales in the commercial marketplace within just a few years. And, if you stop to think about how exactly most of the PCs now installed are being used, it makes sense. Faster and faster hardware simply means that there is more time for the CPU to sit idle while it is waiting for the user to give it something challenging. Most of the applications that are run in an office or a factory (word processing, spreadsheets, internet access, data display) hardly cause the computer to even break a sweat. Why not move to a central computer, and eliminate the headaches in the support department?
But Thin Clients will not be truly accepted until they are able to function as complete drop-in replacements for PCs, and, especially in a factory, this means that they have to be able to handle more complicated I/O than keyboard and mouse input. And it means that some of the clients installed will have to be able to access a floppy, or automatically connect to a server over standard phone lines. That is why ACP is constantly improving our Thin Clients. We believe that separating the application processing layer from the user interface is the way that software will be run in the future, and we are giving users whatever they need to allow them to replace their increasingly unused PCs with useful Thin Clients.
The logic behind Thin Clients is unbeatable. We believe that in the not too distant future most of the applications run will be on the Thin Client model. Whether or not the clients will be identical to the ones in use today, we will continue to provide state of the art technology and products to further the acceptance of centralized computing.
For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
To sign up for the E-mail newsletter go here: ACP newsletter signup
For an archive of past newsletter articles go to: ACP Newsletter Archive
Copyright © Automation Control Products, Inc. All rights reserved.
