Field Guide · hardware

Also known as: Thin client, Zero client

A thin client is a minimal computer that does little processing on its own, instead connecting over a network to a server or virtual desktop that runs the applications and holds the data.1

thin client thin client thin client network server / VDI runs the apps · holds the data screen ← · keys →
A thin client is little more than a screen on the network: many of them share one central server that runs the actual applications and stores the data, streaming each user a picture back while sending keystrokes and clicks the other way.

Overview

A thin client is essentially a screen, keyboard, and mouse bolted to just enough hardware to draw a remote session — a low-power CPU, a little RAM, and a network port, with no spinning disk and often no local storage at all. The real computing happens centrally, frequently on a virtualized desktop infrastructure (VDI), and the thin client simply streams the picture back and forth.

A zero client takes this further, with firmware fixed to a single remote protocol and essentially nothing to configure. The appeal in both cases is that the valuable state lives on the server, not the device on the desk.

How it compares

Where the computing and the data actually live is the whole distinction:

Machine Runs apps Stores data Works standalone
Thin client On the server On the server No
Chromebook Browser + cloud Mostly cloud Partly
Full PC Locally Locally Yes

Where it fits

Thin clients suit large organizations — call centers, hospitals, schools — where central management, security, and low per-seat cost matter more than local flexibility. Because nothing important lives on the device, a failed unit is swapped in minutes and stolen hardware leaks no data. A Chromebook is a consumer cousin of the idea. The limits are the same: take away the network or the server and a thin client can do almost nothing, so it is a poor fit for standalone or offline compute like local SDR processing.

Sources

  1. Thin client — Wikipedia, on minimal client computers that rely on central servers. ↩

See also