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In 480 BC, the Persian army (under the command of King Xerxes) had built up an enormous force, with the goal of world domination. Among this massive army was a select group of fighting men known as the Immortals, a name derived from the fact that there were always 10,000 in number. The moment one member was wounded or killed in battle, he was instantly replaced with a similarly trained warrior. To armies facing this force, they unit as a whole appeared unchanged. The new soldier operated exactly as the previous one, and the army did not loose step.
ACP Thin Client technology allows similar "immortality" among the hardware platform used to run factory software. The reason for this is that the software does not actually run on the Thin Client itself, but instead on the Windows Server. This makes the Thin Clients little more than Windows terminals, with special features added by ACP ThinManager software.
ACP is not the only company providing Thin Client terminals, but ACP is the only company that provides for complete continuity among any of their Thin Clients. This is made possible because all ACP Enabled Thin Clients start with the same blank RAM each time they are powered up. It is only during boot that the clients receive the operating system that enables them to become a Thin Client, assuring that every model receives the exact same core software.
Once the Thin Client is up and running, it connects back to the Windows Terminal Server and has access to all of the applications loaded on the network. ACP ThinManager then adds features required by industrial customers, providing for such industry specific specialization as instantaneous switching among servers, high-speed serial communication, industrial I/O support, automatic login and application security, to name a few.
What this means in practice is that an ACP Thin Client that was purchased 5 years ago can be replaced with the latest model with no changes required to any of the application software. But this also means a benefit in the other direction as well - if you have ACP Enabled Thin Clients that you purchased as spares several years ago, you can be assured that they can be taken out of storage and immediately function as a replacement for any ACP Enabled Thin Client now running in the plant.
ACP offers by far the largest selection of interchangeable Thin Client hardware for a Terminal Server system, all working under one management software, ThinManager. Because of the fact that ACP Enabled Thin Clients keep their configuration on the server (rather than in each client) all of these clients from a variety of manufacturers are interchangeable. If a system is running on ACP Enabled Thin Clients supplied by Advantech for instance, any of the clients can be replaced with an ACP Enabled client from another manufacturer. The only consideration is the possible limitation of the hardware - a client with I/O on 6 local serial ports cannot be replaced with another unit that only supports 4 unless there is some other way to reach the two extra devices.
Since the 1900's, ACP has been the only company that recognizes and addresses the special needs of the industrial Thin Client customer. Interchangeability of Thin Client hardware is just one of the things that sets us apart.
Editor's Note: The story of the Persian army's attempt to invade Greece is one of the great stories of all time. To buy the cities of southern Greece time to prepare to face the onslaught of Xerxes' 150,000 troops, the City of Sparta sent 300 elite fighting men (under the command of King Leonidas) to hold the army as long as they could. This they did, and while every man died in the attempt, they slowed the advancing army long enough for the Greeks to organize an effective resistance. The battle, known as the Battle of Thermopylae, set the standard for bravery and loyalty throughout all of recorded history. You can read a brief summary of the battle at the following website: While the complete story is told in very readable form in the excellent book, "Gates of Fire", by Steven Pressfield: |
For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
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