Editing Client–server model (section)

==Centralized computing==
{{Further|History of personal computers|Decentralized computing|Computer cluster}}

The client-server model does not dictate that server-hosts must have more resources than client-hosts. Rather, it enables any general-purpose computer to extend its capabilities by using the shared resources of other hosts. [[Centralized computing]], however, specifically allocates a large number of resources to a small number of computers. The more computation is offloaded from client-hosts to the central computers, the simpler the client-hosts can be.<ref name="Columbia">{{cite journal |last1=Nieh |first1=Jason |last2=Yang |first2=S. Jae |last3=Novik |first3=Naomi |title=A Comparison of Thin-Client Computing Architectures |journal=Academic Commons |date=2000 |doi=10.7916/D8Z329VF |url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8Z329VF |access-date=28 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> It relies heavily on network resources (servers and infrastructure) for computation and storage. A [[diskless node]] loads even its [[operating system]] from the network, and a [[computer terminal]] has no operating system at all; it is only an input/output interface to the server. In contrast, a [[rich client]], such as a [[personal computer]], has many resources and does not rely on a server for essential functions.

As [[microcomputer]]s decreased in price and increased in power from the 1980s to the late 1990s, many organizations transitioned computation from centralized servers, such as [[Mainframe computer|mainframe]]s and [[minicomputer]]s, to rich clients.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = d'Amore | first1 = M. J. | last2 = Oberst | first2 = D. J. | doi = 10.1145/800041.801417 | chapter = Microcomputers and mainframes | title = Proceedings of the 11th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services - SIGUCCS '83 | pages = 7 | year = 1983 | isbn = 978-0897911160 | s2cid = 14248076 }}</ref> This afforded greater, more individualized dominion over computer resources, but complicated [[information technology management]].<ref name="Columbia"/><ref name="tolia">{{Cite journal |last1 = Tolia |first1 = Niraj |last2 = Andersen |first2 = David G. |last3 = Satyanarayanan |first3 = M. |title = Quantifying Interactive User Experience on Thin Clients |journal = [[Computer (magazine)|Computer]] |volume = 39 |pages = 46–52 |number = 3 |date = March 2006 |publisher = [[IEEE Computer Society]] |url = https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dga/papers/tolia06-ieee.pdf |doi = 10.1109/mc.2006.101 |s2cid = 8399655 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sqlmag.com/cloud/cloud-really-just-return-mainframe-computing |title=Is the Cloud Really Just the Return of Mainframe Computing? |last=Otey |first=Michael |date=22 March 2011 |website=SQL Server Pro |publisher=[[Penton Media]] |access-date=1 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011958/http://sqlmag.com/cloud/cloud-really-just-return-mainframe-computing |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the 2000s, [[web application]]s matured enough to rival [[application software]] developed for a specific [[microarchitecture]]. This maturation, more affordable [[mass storage]], and the advent of [[service-oriented architecture]] were among the factors that gave rise to the [[cloud computing]] trend of the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Barros | first1 = A. P. | last2 = Dumas | first2 = M. | doi = 10.1109/MITP.2006.123 | title = The Rise of Web Service Ecosystems | journal = IT Professional | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = 31 | year = 2006 | s2cid = 206469224 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2024}}