SIMATIC Industrial Thin Clients offer a wide range of possible applications, whether as additional operator stations for plant visualization on a Multi Panel or Comfort Panel, or as classical "client" which communicates with a server (e.g. SIMATIC IPC) using standard protocols such as RDP or VNC. The web browser functionality permits simple and fast access to any available web server in the network (e.g. S7 controller, intranet).

Very cost-effective client-server architectures can be implemented with SIMATIC ITCs. A further advantage of SIMATIC ITCs: They communicate exclusively via Ethernet, thus permitting extremely simple and cost-effective coverage of even large distances to the server.

The possibility of using SCADA and Office functionalities (e.g. WinCC, SAP, MS Excel) directly on-site on the machine supports the vertical integration of the data flow from higher-level systems all the way down to the machine level (e.g. warehouse utilization).

With Multisession is it possible to switch between several servers connected to a SIMATIC ITC any time. On the other hand, of course, it is possible to connect several thin clients to a server to implement multi-user solutions. The SIMATIC ITC itself requires no installations, licenses, and additional software.

The following communication options are supported

• Sm@rtServer for plant visualization with SIMATIC WinCC / SIMATIC WinCC flexible
• RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) for SCADA and Office functionalities
• VNC (Virtual Network Computing) for remote operation of a PC
• Web browser functionality for operator control and monitoring of web-based applications
• As a Thin Client Unit on a SINUMERIK PCU/NCU