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'THIN SERVERS' WITH BIG CONNECTIONSTHE COMPUTER INDUSTRY has been buzzing for the past two years about ''thin clients''--stripped-down, inexpensive desktop computers that forgo much of the memory and storage typical in personal computers and rely instead on resources in a central ''server'' computer. Now, the server is going on a diet, too. A new wave of proposed devices, called ''thin servers,'' could perform many of the same jobs as full-fledged machines using simpler and less-expensive designs. For example, NetEngine from Mylex Corp. in Fremont, Calif., is a ''server-on-a-card.'' Due out this summer, the card can be built directly into printers, hard drives, or other peripherals to give them the brains of the bigger machines. At the same time, Axis Communications of Lund, Sweden, is promoting its ThinServer technology that lets digital cameras, printers, and CD-ROMs attach directly to a network--bypassing expensive PC servers. The company's $999 NetEye camera, for instance, includes a network connector and software needed to communicate with PCs, Macs, and other devices on the network. Slim-server, anyone?
By Andy Reinhardt
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Updated June 15, 1997 by bwwebmaster
Copyright 1997, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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