This week's topic was about "Enterprise Computing". It included a discussion of Advanced Storage, Enterprise Storage, Virtualization, and Thin Client Computing, all of which I found really interesting. In the last topic, thin client computing, the lecture started with an explanation of a thick client, which I found very interesting as this is basically the opposite of the thin client and I have never heard this expression before. When I researched about thick clients, I found some information that they are actually increasingly used in the business environment. But let me first explain what a thick client is:
A thick client is also known as a fat client or rich client. It is a "a computer in a client server configuration that can function independent of the server". This stands in contrast to the thin client, which heavily depends on the server's applications and has to access the server anytime it wants to process or validate input data. What I now found very interesting is, that after the lecture, I thought that thin clients would be the best thing for an organization to use. However, on the two resources I cite below, it seems as if thick clients provide many potential advantages that can also be quite beneficial for companies.
- Independence -> Probably the biggest advantage of thick clients over thin ones is that they can operate independently from the central server. Hence, as the thick client is performing a lot of tasks itself and consequently reduces the processing requirements of a central server, an organization may only need to buy a cheaper central server with less capacity.
- Speed -> Furthermore, a thick client works faster than a thin one, since it is running applications and the like on the individual computer and hence is not influenced by other users processing data at the same time on the centralized server.
- Offline working -> Since the applications and the like are stored on each thick client, it is possible to work and process data without being connected to the central server at all times.
- More flexibility
- Ability to utilize existing infrastructure -> Many people nowadays already have fast local computers, so they can be used as thick clients at no extra costs.
Thick clients have many other additional advantages, that I do not list here, as I think that these are the most important ones to be mentioned. However, because of these advantages over thin clients, fat clients are being used increasingly in today's business environment. Just think about the concept of a corporate laptop. They can be disconnected from the centralized server, you can take them anywhere you want to, and you can still perform your work (assuming that you downloaded all necessary information from the centralized server BEFORE you disconnect your corporate-laptop-thick-client).
I consider this an important topic for today's business environment, as all companies nowadays have to run large servers to store data in order to successfully compete in their industries. They have to thoroughly understand the advantages and disadvantages of having a centralized server and the access methods of it. Also they have to understand what kind of clients they want their employees to use: a thick or a thin client, as this can have tremendous effects on costs, speed, reliability of the whole system and the like.
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