Enhance customer choice and flexibility with HP thin clients and Amazon WorkSpaces

Today, AWS End User Computing (EUC) announced a collaboration with HP Inc., an industry leading provider of reliable, high performance, thin client devices designed for cloud computing.

The HP ThinPro and Windows 10 IoT thin clients are currently shipping and are qualified for use with Amazon WorkSpaces. HP is the first Thin Client OEM to be qualified with Amazon WorkSpaces and listed on the AWS Partner Device Catalog.

“Over the past several months, the AWS EUC team has been working closely with HP, rigorously testing and validating this joint solution”, said Muneer Mirza, GM, AWS EUC. “Providing global access to a curated library of virtual desktop configurations, from a cost-effective end-point device, provides our joint customers with the choice and flexibility they need to maximize worker productivity, regardless of their work location. I love that HP is a preferred partner for thin client device types with Amazon WorkSpaces.”

Faster on-boarding

The way we work has changed drastically over the past few years as organizations shift into a hybrid work environment. Organizations are providing their employees with flexibility to work from any location, without compromising security, productivity, and manageability. Thin clients can simplify IT administration for remote workers. The devices are easy to remotely deploy, update, and manage with highly scalable software. Combining HP thin clients with WorkSpaces connectivity allows workers to on-board from any location, in a few steps.

Cost-efficient desktop spending

Different workers require different types of workstations to be productive. Some workers need devices that support compute intensive workloads, while others need basic levels of compute, storage, and memory. HP’s broad portfolio of qualified WorkSpaces thin clients are the perfect solution for customers looking for durable and highly versatile devices that support multiple use cases. Together, HP thin clients and Amazon WorkSpaces allow customers to standardize on cost-efficient endpoint hardware while still providing the flexibility to match the workload type with the best virtual desktop configuration. WorkSpaces supports Windows and Linux operating systems with compute options ranging from basic to high-performance desktops. Monthly billing options include always-on or hourly metering, and no upfront costs. With WorkSpaces, you only pay for what you use, reducing overall desktop spending across the organization.

Improved security

Supporting a globally distributed workforce increases the attack surface, extending security requirements across the public cloud. HP’s secure-by-design hardware with WorkSpaces provides comprehensive protection. Organizations can improve remote worker security by moving all sensitive corporate data off the endpoint device. WorkSpaces is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) service. With VDI, all application data is stored on the AWS Cloud. Only the presentation layer, or pixels that appear on the screen, are sent to the endpoint.

“More than ever, companies of all sizes need secure and versatile computing solutions that can be quickly deployed anywhere for hybrid workforces.” said Alex Thatcher, head of HP Cloud Clients. “The powerfully simple combination of Amazon Workspaces and HP’s secure Thin Client endpoints delivers a silicon-to-cloud solution with an experience users love and security and resilience organizations need.”

How it works

WorkSpaces enables you to provision virtual, cloud-based Microsoft Windows, Amazon Linux, or Ubuntu Linux desktops. Each WorkSpace is associated with a virtual private cloud (VPC) and an active directory (AD) to store and manage information for your WorkSpaces and users. WorkSpaces uses your Simple AD, AD Connector, or AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory for user authentication. Users access their WorkSpaces with a client application from a supported device or, for Windows WorkSpaces, a web browser, and they log in using their directory credentials. Client applications use HTTPS over port 443 for all authentication and session-related information, with a choice of the HP PC-over-IP (PCoIP) and Amazon WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP) protocols. Each WorkSpace has two elastic network interfaces: 1/ a network interface for management and streaming (eth0) and 2/ a primary network interface (eth1). The primary network interface has an IP address provided by your VPC and access to resources in the VPC is controlled by the security groups assigned to the primary network interface.

The following diagram shows a typical WorkSpaces architecture.

Conclusion

HP thin clients, qualified for WorkSpaces, provides customers with choice and flexibility to provision modern, secure, and manageable desktops solutions designed for cloud computing. Strengthen security by storing data on AWS instead of vulnerable endpoint devices. Pay only for what you use and scale quickly to thousands of desktops across the globe.

Learn more about HP thin clients and WorkSpaces:

• HP thin client portfolio
• Provision an Amazon WorkSpaces desktop
• Best practices for deploying Amazon WorkSpaces
• HP thin client AWS Partner Device Catalog

Shweta Jain Shweta Jain is Partner Development Lead at Amazon Web Services. She is focused on helping partners build and scale their cloud solutions for end customers using AWS services and AWS Marketplace. She leads strategic alliances for high performance compute and end user Computing. She enjoys working on scaling partnerships, building and executing GTM strategy with partners, while innovating on behalf of AWS and Partner customers. Outside of work, she loves travel with family and yoga.

Brian Kreitzer Brian Kreitzer is a Partner Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He works with partners to define business requirements, provide architectural guidance, and design solutions for the Amazon Marketplace.