thin client

thin client, computer terminal or software application providing access over a network to a dedicated server. Unlike a personal computer (PC), which hosts applications, performs processing tasks, and stores files locally, a thin client does little more than transmit keyboard and mouse input to the server and display the resulting output on the local screen.

Thin clients typically consist of a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse, with no hard disk and a minimal amount of memory. A thin client may also be a software application running on a standard PC, providing access to remotely hosted applications. Applications may be shared among all users on the network, or a server may be partitioned to provide each user with a personalized “virtual desktop.”

Thin clients are often used by businesses and schools as an efficiency measure. Because terminal hardware is minimal, thin clients are less costly and consume less energy than PCs, and, because almost all of the computer programs are on a dedicated server, only a single copy of each software application is needed (though a license for multiple users is generally required). In addition, thin clients do not process or store data, so malfunctioning units can be seamlessly replaced. The centralized control makes the system relatively secure and the data easy to back up.

Networked dumb terminals have been in use since the 1970s. The name thin client was introduced in the 1990s by manufacturers to emphasize the efficiency and cost savings of the technology. (Thick [or fat] clients is the term for computers that rely on their own resources.) The use of Web browsers to remotely access e-mail and other applications brought a form of thin-client computing into wide use in the late 1990s; the following decade saw movement toward cloud computing, which allowed scaled-back PCs, such as netbooks, with some independent storage and processing capacity to access applications over the Internet.