Thick or Thin?

 Author: Chris Sutherland, CSutherland@jackhenry.com

There is an age old debate in Information Technology on how to configure the way your end users connect to the network systems.  So what are your options?  Well there are two options to explore; Traditional Thick Client or Thin Client environments; let’s take a quick look at each of them.

Let’s start with the traditional way of configuration most are familiar with, and that is known as Thick Client.  This is a setup where each end user has a personal computer (PC) at their workspace.  This has several different requirements that have to be considered as well.  In order for this setup to work correctly you must have a few things in place like local domain controllers, local file and print servers, local management of security policies and local updates on Servers and PCs. So what are the benefits to this type of setup?  Some of the things that you gain from this are usually a speed increase because you are connecting to the data on speeds of your local area network (LAN) and not relying on the bandwidth between locations, or wide area network (WAN).  One of the disadvantages of this is that it does require significant management and time for an administrator to keep up with.  Depending on your locations you might also have to consider multiple administrators located in region areas to keep up with all the data, updates and PC technical work.  This can give you an additional cost of ownership for keeping or using this traditional thick client setup.

So our other option is what is commonly referred to as a Thin Client environment.  You can break this down into two separate categories, Terminal Services or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.  Here are some of the advantages to thin client setups:

• Centralized management of your data and information.
• More control over the security policies and the ability to manage each setup centrally.
• Give you the ability, in most cases, to remove all standard PCs from your organization.

Thin Client Devices have some advantages of their own:

• No Anti-Virus needed, operating systems are locked down so little to no management is needed once they are initially configured and while space is usually limited.
• Devices are small and compact allowing you the potential for more desktop space.
• Allows administrators to be centrally located and manage all data; and keeping that data secure in the data center makes administration simpler and can usually be accomplished with fewer administrators and less overhead.

So what option is right for your FI?  What are you using now, is it time to look further at the options?  More posts on Thin Client Environments to come.  Stay tuned!