Date: March 21, 2002

Presenter: Scott McCool

Affiliation: Network Services for Technology, Inc

The speaker for this meeting was Scott McCool, President of Network Services for Technology, Inc., a networking architecture and solutions provider. Mr. McCool discussed "Thin Client Architecture - Common Issues in Strategic Applications."

The technology referred to as thin client (simple terminal or user on a server basednetwork) is rreminiscentof the technology of yore - mainframe computing. Back in those days... there was a simple RGB, text only, type screen (usually green) and a very heavy metal keyboard remotely wired the mainframe room (aaccessorizedin shades of Blue). The updated topography includes a graphics capable color screen with a keyboard and cable connector. The cables now go to a server with gig drives.

The thin client architecture was a technology with a fast rising sun, in the late '90s - then the hype faded and the "best practices applications" emerged. The lessons learned by enterprise CIOs through small business owners proved the concept of a reliable, secure, and a simple management architecture. Iterations later - with improvements in software, hardware and management practices - thin client is once again rising in popularity as solutions based architecture for enterprise, education / training, small business and vertical solutions applications (remote office, business continuity, etc.).

Mr. McCool will also be making a presentation on this technology at infotec2002 (www.infotec.org). The region's largest IT trade show will be April 22-23 at the Holiday Inn Central. Several members of the infotec committee will be at the meeting to discuss new developments.

With permission of the the presenter, the NSTi presentation has been provided for the ITC as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. To read this file, you will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.