Figure 19 - Blade client-type system architecture mockup.
One method of avoiding this high per seat cost would be to build custom thin clients, very similar to the blades of a blade server. The team estimates that even paying market prices, a hand-built thin client could be built for around $100, compared to the nearly $300 for third-party thin client.
The pros are the same as that of the thin client, with the added benefit of being cheaper and being made totally of Lenovo hardware. The key drawback though is the packaging. Since these “thin clients” are just a motherboard, they would need to be put into a proper case, first. This would add to the cost and could cause lifecycle issues (a poor case would lead to high failure rates of the motherboard).
