Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on April 17, 2005 10:17 AM
A thin client needs not to be cheaper than a normal PC.
I'd even say thin clients are bound to be more expensive, because PCs are sold (and made) in greater numbers.
Thin clients' real advantage comes from reduced support cost:
- less hardware maintenance -- they're simpler with no moving parts; - less installation -- they get only a barebones OS, all apps run on the servers; - less thin client upgrades -- same reason; - less software maintenance -- their OSes can be specialized (like Linux), so they don't get viruses; - easier global upgrades/updates -- you change the servers not the client; - less energy consumption -- thin clients are economic...
But you only get these kind of advantages if you have to get support for the machines, or upgrade them or keep them protected against viruses. Ther larger the number, the greater the benefit...
Old machines as thin clients are ok, but they'd require more effort to maintain (since usually they are different, cause they were acquired at different occasions).
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Re:Client? Cost?
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on April 17, 2005 10:17 AMI'd even say thin clients are bound to be more expensive, because PCs are sold (and made) in greater numbers.
Thin clients' real advantage comes from reduced support cost:
- less hardware maintenance -- they're simpler with no moving parts;
- less installation -- they get only a barebones OS, all apps run on the servers;
- less thin client upgrades -- same reason;
- less software maintenance -- their OSes can be specialized (like Linux), so they don't get viruses;
- easier global upgrades/updates -- you change the servers not the client;
- less energy consumption -- thin clients are economic...
But you only get these kind of advantages if you have to get support for the machines, or upgrade them or keep them protected against viruses. Ther larger the number, the greater the benefit...
Old machines as thin clients are ok, but they'd require more effort to maintain (since usually they are different, cause they were acquired at different occasions).
HTH.
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