Cloud Clients

Cloud Client:

Clients are the devices that the end users interact with to manage their information on the cloud. A Cloud client consists of computer hardware and or computer software that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or that is specifically designed for delivery of cloud service.. Examples include certain computers, phones and other devices, operating systems and browsers. Client generally fall into the following category

• Mobile: mobile devices include PDA’s or smart phones such as Blackberry, windows mobile smart phone or iPhone
• Thin:  Clients are computers that do not have internal hard drives, but rather let the servers do all the work, but then display the information
• Thick:  This type of client is a regular computer, using a web browser like explorer or firebox..

  Image source: Internet

 Thin clients are becoming increasingly popular due to their low cost, feature richness and effect on the environment. Certain benefits due to using thin client are

• Lower hardware cost:  Thin clients are cheaper than thick clients because they don’t contain as much hardware. They also have longer usage life and upgrading cycle.
• Lower IT investment: Thin clients are managed at the server and there are fewer points of failure
• Security: Since the processing happens on the server and there is no hard drive, there is less chance of a virus/malware invading the device. In addition, since thin client don’t work without a server, there is less chance of them being physically stolen
• Data security: Since the data is stored on the server, there is less chance for data to be lost if the client malfunctions/crashes or is stolen
• Less power consumption: Thin clients are economical in their power consumption. This translates into paying less for power or air-conditioning. ( a contribution towards green computing)
• Ease of repair or replacement: If a think client fails or dies, it is easy to replace. The device is simply swapped out and the user’s desktop returns exactly as it was before the crash
• Less noise:  Since thin client donot have a hard disk, there won’t be any spinning of hard drive, less heat is generated and quieter fans can be used on thin client.