# Offload operations with AWS CloudHSM Client SDKs
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Use a Client SDK to offload cryptographic operations from platform or language-based applications to hardware security modules (HSMs). 

AWS CloudHSM offers two major versions, and Client SDK 5 is the latest. It offers a variety of advantages over Client SDK 3 (the previous series). For more information, see [ Benefits of Client SDK 5](client-sdk-5-benefits.md). For information about platform support, see [AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5 supported platforms](client-supported-platforms.md). 

The following topics describe how to work with AWS CloudHSM Client SDKs.

AWS CloudHSM supports the following components:

**[PKCS \$111 library for AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5](pkcs11-library.md)**  
 PKCS \$111 is a standard for performing cryptographic operations on hardware security modules (HSMs). AWS CloudHSM offers implementations of the PKCS \$111 library that are compliant with PKCS \$111 version 2.40.

**[OpenSSL Dynamic Engine for AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5](openssl-library.md)**  
The AWS CloudHSM OpenSSL Dynamic Engine allows you to offload cryptographic operations to your CloudHSM cluster through the OpenSSL API.

**[OpenSSL Provider for AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5](openssl-provider-library.md)**  
The AWS CloudHSM OpenSSL Dynamic Engine Provider allows you to offload cryptographic operations to your CloudHSM cluster through the OpenSSL Provider API.

**[JCE provider for AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5](java-library.md)**  
The AWS CloudHSM JCE provider is compliant with the Java Cryptographic Architecture (JCA). The provider allows you to perform cryptographic operations on the HSM.

**[Key storage provider (KSP) for AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 5](ksp-library.md)**  
The AWS CloudHSM client for Windows includes CNG and KSP providers.

**Topics**
+ [Check your AWS CloudHSM Client SDK version](check-client_version.md)
+ [Compare AWS CloudHSM Client SDK component support](sdk3-compare.md)
+ [Migrating from AWS CloudHSM Client SDK 3 to Client SDK 5](client-sdk-migration.md)
+ [Using Client SDK 5 to work with AWS CloudHSM](client-sdk5.md)
+ [Using previous SDK version to work with AWS CloudHSM](choose-client-sdk.md)