Because the enterprise data and applications are local to each other on the server, many times the user will find that the thin client environment appears faster than having the data local. The thin client is primarily a high-end display device with a keyboard and mouse. The thin client computing architecture is similar to computing configurations from the 1960s and 1970s. The host computer is larger and more expensive than the client computer, which is mostly intended for display and data input. Computing shifted away from that architecture in the 1980s because of low server reliability and high maintenance costs.
Servers are now very reliable, and are often taken for granted.
They are presumed to be always available. The modern thin client user experience is configured to be similar or identical to the experience a typical user would have with a full-featured desktop computer running Windows 2000 or something similar. The speed and workload of the host server determine the actual user experience. For most users, an acceptable ratio is about 30 to 60 thin clients to one host server. When a software or hardware upgrade is required, only the server needs to be upgraded.