ClearCube Announces First Raspberry Pi-Based VDI Client With VMware Blast Support

ClearCube has just released two new thin clients, the C3Pi and the C3Pi+. These are low-cost, and very small form-factor, VDI clients based on the Raspberry Pi B+ platform. ClearCube is positioning these products for use by state and local governments, hospitals, kiosk applications, and other environments where a low-cost, single monitor VDI client would be desirable.

ClearCube has just released two new thin clients, the C3Pi and the C3Pi+. These are low-cost, and very small form-factor, VDI clients based on the Raspberry Pi B+ platform. ClearCube is positioning these products for use by state and local governments, hospitals, kiosk applications, and other environments where a low-cost, single monitor VDI client would be desirable.

The Raspberry Pi platform is a small single-board computer initially developed as a low-cost general-purpose computer intended both to encourage the teaching of basic computer science in schools, and to appeal to the home hobbyist. However, over time, the Raspberry Pi has evolved into a platform for various commercial products in order to minimize the cost of these products. As such, many companies are now using ClearCube as the basis for their VDI clients.

ClearCube is the first VDI client producer to include support for the Blast protocol in its Raspberry Pi-based products. Blast is a high performance remote protocol developed by VMware, which lowers network usage by compressing the video stream between a VDI client and virtual desktop. Blast then lowers the CPU consumption on the VDI client by offloading video decompression from the client’s CPU to its native hardware, using H.264 decoding.

Here is an overview of the ClearCube C3Pi thin client’s specifications:

• Client OS: Linux-based Cloud Desktop OS
• Client management: ClearCube Cloud Desktop Management
• Supported protocols:
  • VMware Horizon Blast
  • CITRIX HDX
  • Microsoft RDP
• CPU: Quad Core 1.2GHz Broadcom BCM2837 64bit CPU
• Graphics: Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU
• Memory: 1 GB LPDDR2 RAM (900 MHz)
• Storage: 8-GB high-speed microSDHC card
• I/O:
  • One full-size HDMI 1.4 port (video only, no audio)
  • Bluetooth 4.1
  • Four USB 2.0 ports
  • One 3.5 mm audio jack
• Networking:
  • 10/100 Ethernet port
  • 2.4 GHz 802.11n wireless
• Display:
  • One 1920 × 1200 resolution display
  • Optional USB adaptor available for second display
• Dimensions: 1” (H) x 3.6” (W) x 2.75” (D)
• Weight: 86g
• MSRP: C3Pi $119 USD

With an MSRP of $139, the C3Pi+ differs from the C3Pi in that it has a quad-core 1.4 GHz Broadcom BCM2837B0 64-bit CPU, supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE), and Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0. 

Availability

The ClearCube C3Pi and C3Pi+ have been available since August 2018 in the U.S. and in select countries around the world.

ClearCube C3Pi

Discuss this story

Sign up for the StorageReview newsletter