Desktop Virtualization

Desktop Virtualization creates a separate OS environment on the desktop, allowing non-compatible legacy or line of business applications to operate within a more current desktop operating system. Desktop virtualization is designed for scenarios in which you need to support multiple operating systems, whether in tech support, legacy application support, training, or just for consolidating physical computers. Employing the same approach as server virtualization, desktop virtualization lets you create separate virtual machines on your Windows desktop, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer.

Desktop virtualization may sound like terminal services, where servers run the applications and give users remote access. Desktop virtualization can be used to securely deliver corporate applications and data to employee home PCs or contractor laptops, eliminating the need to buy thousands of new laptops. Enterprise Desktop Virtualization takes this one step further, by putting ultra-small, completely secure thin clients on the desktop, and linking the thin clients to their own virtual desktop machines residing on servers. With desktop environments consolidated within the data center, organizations can deliver secure, isolated desktops that are always on. In its simplest form, servers host an entire desktop environment specific to each user.

With desktop virtualization, organizations can manage enterprise clients from the data center, rather than at each user’s desk, reducing onsite support and enhancing application management. In order to realize its full benefits, IT managers need to understand the impact of desktop virtualization on their organizations, as well as the requirements for ensuring integration and management of Virtual Desktop Integration within the complexity of their current enterprise IT infrastructure. Where server virtualization is concerned with consolidation and saving money, desktop virtualization is about isolation and the ability to do different things on the same machine. Most importantly, for end users, desktop virtualization solutions deliver a familiar desktop experience that does not require application sharing, software modifications or user training.