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7.1.1 Reliability
The reliability of any network-based architecture can be affected by a number of factors. The wider the network and more distributed the server infrastructure, the more these
factors are out of your direct control.
Network bottlenecks and networks under peak usage can lead to poor quality of service for distributed geo-processing, regardless of whether the client is thick,
thin, or anything in between. Depending on the information security measures taken at various points along the
network topography, various forms of active code e.g., JavaScript, VB script, ActiveX, etc. will often be disallowed. Therefore, the reliability of clients
utilizing active code will not be automatic across any network.
The server infrastructure for a distributed geoprocessing solution can either be deployed and maintained for reliability, or not. If inadequate attention is paid to
the server infrastructure and when clustered, to relevant clustering technology, then reliability will be compromised.
7.1.2 Availability
Users of thick client devices enjoy a certain level of data persistence that one does not get with a browser based WMS view. When network availability fails, so does access to data.
As such, client-side caching can enable the availability of whatever data is locally available at the time of network failure. However, thick client implementations still must
operate within an OGC conformant distributed geo-processing infrastructure if others are to have access to value added data e.g., annotations, attribute updates, or
geometrytopology updates.
7.1.3 Serviceability
The servicing of various client technologyarchitecture configurations ranges widely. Thick client deployments entail configuration management which, depending on the
technology, can be centrally managed. Browser deployments also require configuration management, to ensure the proper level of browser feature support. Yet, providing
intermittent servicing and updating of clientapplication functionality can be much more frequent and simple for web-based client generators.
7.1.4 Usability
