Thin client computing has been around for a long time in the UNIX world. Although the implementation has evolved quite a bit the concept has remained the same:

Because the thin clients have a limited number of tasks to manage, the hardware for the thin client can be small and cheap. The thin clients themselves are basically maintenance free. They last longer because they have no storage with moving parts like hard disks. If they break no data is lost since nothing is stored on the client itself. Simply swap the client with another one and go back to work. If your thin client gets stolen or put at the trash, no data ends up in the hands of unauthorized people.

The terminal server runs all applications and contains all the data. All the regular maintenance (software updates, administration) takes place on the terminal server. The number of thin clients that a terminal server can support is proportional the the power of the server. Because GNU/Linux in general, and Edubuntu in particular, make efficient use of resources, you can support a surprising number of thin clients from a machine which might only be considered a powerful single user system running other operating systems. Please see the Server Sizing section for more details.

In a thin client computing environment, the stability of the server is important. It's important to make sure that your server has good power management, like installing a UPS, and depending on how much availability is required, redundant power supplies may be called for. As well, users who have the resources may decide to invest in multiple disks for RAID support, and other options which may be needed in a High Availability environment. However, you certainly don't need them in all environments, and Edubuntu's high quality means that in all but the most demanding environments, this won't be needed.