Android In The Cloud

The Forecast

    It is evident that computing platforms are currently undergoing a period of upheaval. The wide adoption of mobile platforms, the decline of the previously dominant PC systems, and the recent rise in the use of ChromeOS platforms have been widely reported. It is expected that the enterprise application mix will change over the next few years. There will be a shift from the current Windows mono-culture to a mix of Windows, Android, IOS and HTML5. This change necessitates a strategic reassessment of current capabilities and approaches.

The Problem

    How to virtualize the over one million Android apps remotely by Cloud? There is much experience in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) for Windows but no comparable infrastructure for the Android system. The Android graphics subsystem is graphic intensive with a high frame rate that presents a challenge to provide native performance with low network bandwidth.

The Configuration

  Cloud An unmodified Android app is installed in the Android virtual image running in the cloud. The state of this system is persistent. Thus for example apps can be installed which will persist between sessions.

  Remote The remote client can be from a wide range of systems: Windows, Chrome OS, OS X, Android, IOS, etc. No state information is preserved on the client between remote sessions resulting in strong data security and allowing for the use of stateless clients such as Chrome OS.

The Solution

Other Use Cases

  Potential applications are numerous:

    ◦ Wearable devices

    ◦ Mobile devices - BYOD

    ◦ Cloud gaming

    ◦ App Library / Subscription Model

    ◦ Set-Top Boxes

    ◦ Automated Testing

    ◦ WebGL Browser Based Implementations