Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
architecture.. For. example,. a. workstation. requesting.
the.contents.of.a.ile.from.a.ile.server.is.a.client.of.
the.ile.server.
Thin Client:. A. simple. client. program. or. hardware.
device.that.relies.on.most.of.the.function.of.the.
system.being.in.the.server..By.the.mid-1990s,.the.
model. of. decentralized. computing. where. each.
user.has.his.or.her.own.full-featured.and.indepen-
dent.microcomputer.seemed.to.have.displaced.a.
centralized.model.in.which.multiple.users.use.thin.
clients.(e.g.,.dumb.terminals).to.work.on.a.shared.
minicomputer. or. mainframe. server.. Networked.
PCs.typically.operate.as.
fat.clients
,.often.provid-
ing.everything.except.some.ile.storage.and.print-
ing.locally.
. . By.1996,.the.reintroduction.of.thin.clients.was.
being.proposed,.especially.for.LAN-type.environ-
ments..The.main.expected.beneit.of.this.is.ease.
of.maintenance:.With.fat.clients,.especially.those.
suffering. from. the. poor. networking. support. of.
some.operating.systems,.installing.a.new.applica-
tion.for.everyone.is.likely.to.mean.having.to.go.
physically.to.every.user's.workstation.to.install.the.
application,. or. having. to. modify. client-side. con-
iguration.options,.whereas.with.thin.clients,.the.
maintenance. tasks. are.centralized. on.the. server.
and.so.need.only.be.done.once.
Client-Server:. A. common. form. of. distributed. system. in.
which.software.is.split.between.server.tasks.and.client.
tasks..A.client.sends.requests.to.a.server,.according.to.
some.protocol,.asking.for.information.or.action,.and.
the.server.responds.
This.is.analogous.to.a.customer.(client).who.sends.an.
order.(request).on.an.order.form.to.a.supplier.(server).
who.dispatches.the.goods.and.an.invoice.(response)..
The.order.form.and.invoice.are.part.of.the.
protocol
used.to.communicate.in.this.case.
