Thin Client

Thin Client

1. A client/server application that is designed to minimize the amount of data (including the application itself) that needs to be transferred from the server to the client. Thin client applications are therefore small and perform most of the work on the server. cf Fat Client.

2. When applied to a computer rather than an application it refers to a client computer which is intended only to be used as a network client with no local storage and minimal processing capability. A thin client computer runs applications (such as word-processing, internet browser etc) on the server, using the thin client only as a display device. Thin client computers include network computers and X-terminals