fjärrvärddatorns

Fjärrvärddatorn, often translated as a remote terminal or dumb terminal, refers to a class of computer terminals that lack significant processing power of their own. Instead, they rely entirely on a host computer for data processing. The terminal's primary function is to send input from a user to the host and display output received from the host. This design was prevalent in the early days of computing before personal computers became widespread.

These terminals typically consist of a keyboard for input and a display screen, often a cathode ray tube (CRT), for output. They communicate with the host computer over a network connection, which could be a serial cable, a local area network, or even a more extensive network. The host computer performs all the calculations, runs applications, and stores data, while the fjärrvärddatorn simply acts as an interface.

The advantage of this architecture was cost-effectiveness. A single powerful host computer could support many inexpensive terminals, allowing multiple users to access computing resources simultaneously. This model was fundamental to the time-sharing systems of the 1960s and 1970s. As computing technology evolved, with the advent of microprocessors and personal computers, the standalone capabilities of individual machines diminished the dominance of the fjärrvärddatorn. However, the concept of thin clients, which share some similarities in relying on a central server, can be seen as a modern descendant of the fjärrvärddatorn.