Internet of Things & You
The Internet of Things (IoT) is characterized by interconnected smart devices, including ones that you may already have in your home – such as smart speakers, thermostats, and even doorbells. However, IoT Applications range far beyond the smart home. From the office to the factory and everywhere in-between, companies are beginning to harness the power of these embedded systems to drive business outcomes.
The true source of the Internet of Thing’s power is data. By giving us real-time insights into machine metrics and human behavior, we’re able to optimize processes, reduce tedium, and find new avenues to grow and cut costs. For instance, by using IoT data as input for a machine learning (ML) algorithm, we can enable predictive maintenance that reduces downtime by fixing mission-critical devices before they break.
One traditional problem, however, is a lack of integration. If your phone is full of Apps to control smart home devices – one for the lights, one for the thermostat, one for the doorbell, etc .– then you know what we mean. Simply put, it can become so hard to manage that often time, it’s hardly worth it. Trying to scale that across a company or even a department is even more complicated.
Internet of Things & Thin Clients
By using a Thin Client for IoT, we can solve this problem, and more. Thin Clients are perfect for displaying IoT dashboards that employees can quickly reference or use to issue commands. They make great IoT gateways for connecting sensors and other edge devices to the organization’s centralized cloud or server infrastructure. Some other Thin Client IoT use cases include:
- Digital signage
- Smart building
- IoT gateway
- Human machine interface (HMI)
- Smart home
- Industrial control
- Retail point of service (POS)
- Kiosk
- ATM
- Medical devices
- Manufacturing devices
Essentially, Thin Clients are the ideal point of contact for users to interact with the IoT because they’re small, lightweight, energy efficient, and low cost. For this article, we’re going to focus on Window IoT OS. Let’s dive in…
Thin Clients & Windows IoT
Microsoft’s Windows 10 IoT comes in two varieties. Win10 IoT Core is the smallest Windows Operating System, and it’s designed to run a single application in the foreground at a time. So, for instance, if all we need is a dashboard that shows different values (temperature, status, etc.) or allows us to make adjustments or issue commands, IoT Core is a great solution.
The other variety is Win10 IoT Enterprise. This Operating System gives us a full version of Windows 10, alongside specialized features that are optimized for integrating with the IoT ecosystem, such as locking down specific sets of applications and peripherals. A common use case for this is providing a workstation for a Technician who has to manage IoT devices alongside other computing tasks.
Without a doubt, the best reason to choose a Win10 IoT Thin Client is if your organization already operates within Microsoft’s ecosystem. If you host virtual desktops and other infrastructure on the Azure cloud, for instance, Win10 IoT is an easy choice. For example, being able to use an existing Active Directory for authorization and authentication streamlines that whole process and makes life easier for the IT Department. The same goes for other Microsoft applications, especially if they’re going to make use of the data streaming from the IoT devices.
10ZiG Endpoint Devices & IoT
For 17+ years, 10ZiG Technology has been an industry-leading Thin & Zero Client Endpoint provider for VDI & Cloud supporting Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, and more. Where 10ZiG differs from other providers is that we are solely focused on Thin & Zero Client Endpoints, which makes us Specialists at what we do. Our promise is that we make our product fit into the customer’s computing environment and not the other way around.
The 10ZiG range of x86 hardware covers task-user to power-user, dual to quad screen, is TAA compliant, and comes equipped with quality-performing Intel and AMD processors. DisplayPorts, HDMI, Gigabit ethernet, Fiber (SFP ready), and Dual Band Wireless are just a few of the options that come with devices that are readily available, U.S.-based, and guaranteed. 10ZiG performance hardware is designed from the ground up for ever-changing user experience demands for IoT-based Operating Systems and more.
Check out our 6000q Series Thin Client for Microsoft, and more. Test drive our devices with our FREE DEMO program.
