Think of a Thin Client as a glorified modem. It allows you to access applications that reside on another computer called a 'server'. This means that if the server has an application, your Thin Client will also have that application. If the server does NOT have an application, then you will NOT have it either (with only two exceptions that will be described later).
Why do we use Thin Clients?
Cost (of course). One of the biggest downfalls of a standard computer is that they become outdated within just a few years. Since the Thin Client uses applications that are stored on a server, you never have to replace the Thin Client; you just replace the applications from the server. A benefit of all this is that users are working with the same programs; and this alleviates a lot of the problems encountered in transfering documents from person to person. Lastly, Thin Clients help keep support costs down. For instance, if an application has a problem that many users encounter, we don't have to replace the program on all of their machines - we just replace it on the server; meaning we can fix everything from one central location.
VAX and the Internet
There are two applications that the Thin Client does not have to use the server for: 1) your VAX connection known as 'Cluster'; and 2) Internet Explorer. This is designed so that if your network goes down, you will still be able to access your necessary VAX screens and the Internet (so you can check your email using Outlook Web Access).
