Desktop Computing frequently asked questions

You can connect using an existing PC or laptop, or a thin client - all you need is an internet connection. You simply browse to our web portal from wherever you are and type in your username and password.

Cloudserve offers a selection of applications included with our hosted desktop service, as well as a selection of optional applications, which are offered on a monthly subscription basis. However, if you'd like to install your own applications, you can do so, providing they're compatible with Windows XP/Windows 2003.

Cloudserve's services are not like Citrix or Terminal services, which basically let a huge number of people log in to the same machine/server/desktop. This is not a very secure solution, and you will also find that during peak periods the service will be slower because there are a number of people logged in. It is also potentially possible to see what other people are doing, and to be impacted on by other users.

Cloudserve uses full virtual machines, which means that each user is guaranteed their own individual desktop environment - no one else logs in or shares it, so it's much more secure. Your desktop environment is also guaranteed resources such as memory and processing, so whenever you log in it will be running quickly and securely and, above all, consistently.

Yes, as long as these applications can run on Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP then they'll almost certainly work. Please contact our support team to ask about specific applications.

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There are two ways you can work with a mobile device like a laptop. The first is that, rather than buying an expensive laptop system with software etc., you can purchase a thin client laptop. This is exactly the same simple hardware device, but it also has Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth, allowing you to connect anywhere. You can also work offline with the simple inbuilt software package and then re-connect when you are ready to go. Of course, the second is that you can use a normal laptop to connect and use the virtual desktop when you are online.

If you temporarily lose connection to the internet while using your hosted desktop, your session continues to run on the servers unharmed. When you re-connect you will find your session exactly as you left it.

To prevent any internet outage at your offices, you can set up a second internet connection (ADSL, SDSL, DSL or other) that will automatically be used if you main connection goes down. Or, for larger customers, we can install a local DR point, which will allow you to keep running locally and then sync with your hosted desktop online once the connection is restored.

No,you can use a standard PC, laptop, server or even an internet cafe machine to connect. A thin client is just a great alternative as it saves a lot of money compared to traditional PCs. You can purchase your own thin clients yourself, or purchase through Cloudserve.

If you're concerned about being unable to access your hosted desktop because of internet failure, a number of different options are available to mitigate against downtime. In particular, users with a large number of hosted desktops may wish to consider getting a leased line connection and/or load balanced ADSL, if they don't already have it. It's also possible to set up a second internet connection (ADSL, SDSL, DSL or other) that will automatically be used in the unlikely event that the main connection goes down.

Hosted desktops can be also accessed from a 3G USB stick, or of course from any computer elsewhere that has internet connectivity. In addition, users running their hosted desktops on PCs/laptops will be able to continue working without connectivity provided they have the required software on their machines. If connection to your hosted desktop is lost, your desktop itself will be completely unharmed and will continue to run on our servers as before, so you'll find your desktop exactly as you left it when you return.

Connectivity requirements will vary depending on the number of users you have but, in general terms, 64k per user will suffice. As such, Cloudserve recommends that an estimated 10 - 20 users can be serviced by a 1 Mbps connection. 

Cloudserve  typically finds that people's expectations of the connectivity required are higher than the reality. In this respect, it's worth bearing in mind how little data is actually being transmitted; all that travels from our data centre to the end user is simple screen scrapes, and all that is sent back is the user's keystrokes and mouse movements. No actual processing takes place over the internet

Cloudserve's  hosted desktops are backed by SLAs guaranteeing 99.99% availability. In the simplest possible terms, this means that we have to make sure they're available to you 99.99% of the time, otherwise we start to lose money.

Absolutely. For customers with an existing IT infrastructure our hosted desktops are designed to be a seamless extension of their network. So, for example, if you already run a MS Exchange server in-house, we can create a VPN in order to integrate your hosted desktops with your Exchange server and ensure email is accessible, exactly as it would be on an existing PC within your network

Additional resources and new applications (provided they are on our list of available apps) can be deployed to the desktops instantaneously, without even having to reboot. Billing for additional resources / services is equally seamless. They are simply added onto your monthly bill for the period in which you use them.

Applications not currently provided by Cloudserve would take slightly longer to deploy, as we would need to virtualise them on the grid. However, once this has been done, this application could then be seamlessly deployed to additional desktops too.

Yes, hosted desktops can be accessed from any computer that can connect to the internet, allowing you to use existing PCs and laptops. One advantage of this approach, aside from meaning you don't have to invest in additional hardware, is that it can greatly extend the life of existing hardware. Because all the processing actually takes place in our state-of-the-art data centres, hosted desktops will still run extremely quickly, even on old PCs. This said, using thin clients offers maximum efficiency in terms of low power consumption and reliability. Thin clients can either be purchased outright or leased from Cloudserve

Yes, Cloudserve allows you to install your own software on your hosted desktops or, for greater efficiency and manageability, we can install the software centrally using your existing licences and make the software available to the desktops. However, if you wish, it's possible to prevent individual users from being able to download/install software into their own desktops.

Typically, if a customer requires specific line-of-business applications within their hosted desktops, we will consult closely with them before implementing any solution. We also provide a number of applications in addition to those that come with the standard hosted desktop, all of which are available on an on-demand basis. Aside from applications delivered to hosted desktops, we can also host your applications and provide them to your existing PC desktop infrastructure should you prefer.

Yes, if the printer is already set up on your PC then it will automatically appear in your hosted desktop. Shared printers can also be set up to be accessible from the hosted desktop session of anyone within your organisation.

Cloudserve's system will work on almost any printer that is attached directly to your PC, laptop, thin client or any other connection device. You can connect and print to local, network or shared printers.

For our larger customers or partners, there is an option to white label our services, so that the control panel, access portal and other elements can be fully branded with your company's graphics and details. Just give us a call to discuss your requirements

Your applications will run faster than on a local PC (unless you have an exceptionally powerful PC) because all the processing takes place on our high performance servers rather than on local hardware. Similarly, download speeds from the internet will be far faster, because the connection being used for the download is the 10GB link into our data centres rather than your own internet connection.

Yes, but only if you want to. In terms of management, our model is based on allowing you to be as hands on or as hands off as you choose. Some customers want us to look after all of their desktop management and administration - patching, application upgrades, backups, user permissions and so on - but others use us simply to take away the daily headaches of desktop administration whilst maintaining full control of their users through their control panel. As such, we can create a separate Active Directory for customers' hosted desktops should they desire, and then integrate that into the customer's existing AD.

In short, hosted desktops offer unparalleled safety and security, though this question of security covers a number of different areas. Firstly, because all data resides in our data centres rather than on local machines, it cannot be lost or stolen, nor is it subject to individual hardware failure. Similarly, because the desktops are constantly backed up, data cannot be accidentally erased or corrupted. Secondly, the data is transmitted using industry-standard SSL encryption, as used for online banking and by the likes of Amazon and Tesco.com. This means that it's impossible for outside parties to view the data being streamed from our data centres to you. In addition, all desktops come with comprehensive protection against viruses, trojans and malware as standard.

Finally, we run multiple data centres on a highly available, fully resilient, constantly mirrored, grid computing model to ensure 99.99% availability, even in the unlikely event of a disaster at one of our data centres.

We employee multiple strategies to keep your data safe. All data is stored on our secure grid infrastructure, managed by our highly experienced team of experts. All data is kept safe, isolated and secure and is backed up to multiple sites.

All data is continuously mirrored. End users have instant access to previous versions of their files, which allows for retrieval in case files get lost, deleted or written over. Additional backups and snapshots of data can be configured according to your requirements.