<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
a	O
client	O
is	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
computer	B-Architecture
hardware	I-Architecture
or	O
software	O
that	O
accesses	O
a	O
service	O
made	O
available	O
by	O
a	O
server	B-Application
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
model	I-Operating_System
of	O
computer	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
server	B-Application
is	O
often	O
(	O
but	O
not	O
always	O
)	O
on	O
another	O
computer	O
system	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
case	O
the	O
client	O
accesses	O
the	O
service	O
by	O
way	O
of	O
a	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
client	O
is	O
a	O
computer	O
or	O
a	O
program	B-Application
that	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
its	O
operation	O
,	O
relies	O
on	O
sending	O
a	O
request	O
to	O
another	O
program	B-Application
or	O
a	O
computer	B-Architecture
hardware	I-Architecture
or	O
software	O
that	O
accesses	O
a	O
service	O
made	O
available	O
by	O
a	O
server	B-Application
(	O
which	O
may	O
or	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
located	O
on	O
another	O
computer	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
are	O
clients	O
that	O
connect	O
to	O
web	B-Application
servers	I-Application
and	O
retrieve	O
web	O
pages	O
for	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Email	B-Protocol
clients	I-Protocol
retrieve	O
email	O
from	O
mail	B-Protocol
servers	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Online	B-Protocol
chat	I-Protocol
uses	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
clients	O
,	O
which	O
vary	O
on	O
the	O
chat	B-Protocol
protocol	O
being	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiplayer	O
video	O
games	O
or	O
online	B-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
may	O
run	O
as	O
a	O
client	O
on	O
each	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
client	O
"	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
applied	O
to	O
computers	O
or	O
devices	O
that	O
run	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
or	O
users	O
that	O
use	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
client	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
model	I-Operating_System
,	O
which	O
is	O
still	O
used	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clients	O
and	O
servers	O
may	O
be	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
run	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
machine	O
and	O
connect	O
via	O
inter-process	O
communication	O
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combined	O
with	O
Internet	B-Protocol
sockets	I-Protocol
,	O
programs	O
may	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
service	O
operating	O
on	O
a	O
possibly	O
remote	O
system	O
through	O
the	O
Internet	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
suite	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
were	O
clients	O
of	O
the	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
one	O
classification	O
,	O
client	B-Protocol
computers	I-Protocol
and	O
devices	O
are	O
either	O
thick	B-Protocol
clients	I-Protocol
,	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
,	O
or	O
diskless	B-Device
nodes	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
thick	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
rich	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
or	O
fat	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
,	O
is	O
a	O
client	O
that	O
performs	O
the	O
bulk	O
of	O
any	O
data	O
processing	O
operations	O
itself	O
,	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
necessarily	O
rely	O
on	O
the	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
is	O
a	O
common	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
fat	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
,	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
relatively	O
large	O
set	O
of	O
features	O
and	O
capabilities	O
and	O
its	O
light	O
reliance	O
upon	O
a	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
an	O
art	B-Application
program	I-Application
(	O
such	O
as	O
Krita	B-Application
or	O
Sketchup	B-Application
)	O
that	O
ultimately	O
shares	O
the	O
result	O
of	O
its	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
network	O
is	O
a	O
thick	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
computer	O
that	O
runs	O
almost	O
entirely	O
as	O
a	O
standalone	O
machine	O
save	O
to	O
send	O
or	O
receive	O
files	O
via	O
a	O
network	O
is	O
by	O
a	O
standard	O
called	O
a	O
workstation	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
is	O
a	O
minimal	O
sort	O
of	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
use	O
the	O
resources	O
of	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
generally	O
only	O
presents	O
processed	O
data	O
provided	O
by	O
an	O
application	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
which	O
performs	O
the	O
bulk	O
of	O
any	O
required	O
data	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
device	B-Device
using	O
web	B-Application
application	I-Application
(	O
such	O
as	O
Office	O
Web	B-Application
Apps	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
diskless	B-Device
node	I-Device
is	O
a	O
mixture	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
two	O
client	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
a	O
fat	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
,	O
it	O
processes	O
locally	O
,	O
but	O
relies	O
on	O
the	O
server	B-Application
for	O
storing	O
persistent	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
approach	O
offers	O
features	O
from	O
both	O
the	O
fat	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
(	O
multimedia	O
support	O
,	O
high	O
performance	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
(	O
high	O
manageability	O
,	O
flexibility	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
device	B-Device
running	O
an	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
Diablo	B-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
diskless	B-Device
node	I-Device
.	O
</s>
