Cloud-based desktop services for thin clients

Cloud computing and ubiquitous network availability have renewed people's interest in the thin client concept. By executing applications in virtual desktops on cloud servers, users can access any application from any location with any device. For this to be a successful alternative to traditional offline applications, however, researchers must overcome important challenges. The thin client protocol must display audiovisual output fluidly, and the server executing the virtual desktop should have sufficient resources and ideally be close to the user's current location to limit network delay. From a service provider viewpoint, cost reduction is also an important issue

Cloudifying Desktops – A Taxonomy for Desktop Virtualization

Compared to traditional desktops, the implementation of desktop virtualization can leverage cost reductions and enable desktop access via mobile devices. Consequently, researchers and practitioners increasingly focus on virtualized desktops and Desktop as a Service (DaaS). However, a consistent definition for these technologies and the related delivery models does not exist yet. Therefore, we conducted a literature analysis which revealed that optimized resource allocation and performant DaaS infrastructures are the primary topics in research. Afterward, we developed a taxonomy to categorize extant virtual desktop delivery models and propose a holistic definition as theoretical framework for DaaS

User experience of mobile cloud applications - current state and future directions

The increasing penetration rate of feature rich mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets in the global population has resulted in a large number of applications and services being created or modified to support mobile devices. Mobile cloud computing is a proposed paradigm to address the resource scarcity of mobile devices in the face of demand for more computing intensive tasks. Several approaches have been proposed to confront the challenges of mobile cloud computing, but none has used the user experience as the primary focus point. In this paper we evaluate these approaches in respect of the user experience, propose what future research directions in this area require to provide for this crucial aspect, and introduce our own solution

A User-Customized Virtual Network Platform for NaaS Cloud

Now all kinds of public cloud providers take computing and storage resources as the user's main demand, making it difficult for users to deploy complex network in the public cloud. This paper proposes a virtual cloud platform with network as the core demand of the user, which can provide the user with the capacity of free network architecture as well as all kinds of virtual resources. The network is isolated by port groups of the virtual distributed switch and the data forwarding and access control between different network segments are implemented by virtual machines loading a soft-routing system. This paper also studies the management interface of network architecture and the uniform way to connect the remote desktop of virtual resources on the web, hoping to provide some new ideas for the Network as a Service model

Closing the Gap between Web Applications and Desktop Applications by Designing a Novel Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) with Seamless Support for Desktop Applications

An increasing transformation from locally deployed applications to remote web applications has occurred for about two decades. Nevertheless, abandoning established and essential Windows or Linux desktop applications is in many scenarios impossible. This paper describes and evaluates existing Desktop-as-a-Service solutions and the components required for developing a novel DaaS. Based on the conclusions and findings of this analysis, the paper describes a novel approach for a Desktop-as-a-Service solution that enables, as a unique characteristic, the deployment of non-modified Linux and Windows applications. The interaction with these applications is done entirely through a browser which is unusual for remote interaction with Windows or Linux desktop applications but brings many benefits from the user's point of view because installing any additional client software or local virtualization solution becomes unnecessary. A solution, as described in this paper, has many advantages and offers excellent potential for use in academia, research, industry, and administration