<a href="http://egroup.jasonmangone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/images.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8502" alt="Thin client" src="http://egroup.jasonmangone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/images.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a>

Brace yourself for what you're about to read.

With the recent surge of growth in the VDI environment, it is no surprise that we are also seeing a similar surge in the Thin Client market. Yes, you read that right. <strong>Not only are Thin Clients back but they’re cool too</strong>. These are definitely not your Grandfather’s “Green Screen” dummies we are talking about. These bad boys can put some full-on desktops to shame and they tend to be cheaper, last longer, and use less space and power.

So now that Thin Is In, the purpose of my post is to arm you with enough knowledge to help you make informed decisions down the road.

Back in the day, your choice of thin clients was limited to one item from a handful of vendors <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02d/12454-12454-321959.html?dnr=1&amp;jumpid=in_r2515_us/en/smb/psg/psc404redir-ot-xx-xx-/chev/">HP </a>and <a href="http://www.wyse.com/products/cloud-clients/thin-clients">Wyse</a>.

Further, you can easily see that from just two vendors there are tens of options, in some cases that is the number of options per model. What’s up with all that? It’s pretty simple once you break it all down. Hardware configurations are relatively similar between models. CPUs are typically of the low voltage family, leaving the only real difference being amount RAM and local storage. It’s the OS and software that sets these guys apart.

Here are the three basic types of OSes available for Thin Clients:

Zero – There is no local storage. The device just initializes the network and receives everything straight from the cloud.

Linux – Typically a hardened version of Debian skinned for the vendor.

Windows – A lightweight version of the Windows desktop OS. Often referred to as “Windows Embedded.”

Pretty straightforward stuff. But that still leaves the all important question: “How do I know which one to choose?”

Believe it or not that is also a fairly easy question to answer. While price is often the sticking point, I like to look at what each option features. Here are some of the primary categories of features I look for in devices:

Security – Zero clients are by far the best choice here. No local storage. Runs on RAM and networking. I frequently see these units in banks and healthcare facilities.

Ease of administration – Linux based thin clients are one of the bigger winners here. The management software that comes with them allow you to remotely install and update applications, configure settings, and remotely control the units. These pop up a lot in internet kiosks, classrooms, and SMBs.

High flexibility – Would you believe that this is where Windows takes the prize? While these units often carry a heavier price tag (licensing), they offer a lot of customization. You can install SOME windows application directly onto the thin client. RSA SecureID and Cisco VPN client are a couple of good examples. You can also update most of the client connection applications like View and Citrix as soon as a new version is out. Even though you are still subject to the security issues of the desktop OS, you have the added benefit of being able to join the unit to a domain and apply GPOs to it, especially security policies. Large enterprises love that feature.

To sum up, virtualization is forcing us to rethink how we consume our desktops as much as it does our data center. Thin clients are back and they are providing a low cost means to providing high end security to our data. There are a dizzying amount of choices out there so do your homework! I hope that this has left you with more questions than answers. Because you shouldn’t take my word for it. Do some research. Prove me wrong. That way we all learn something new.