Virtual Desktop

Introduction

This document gives an idea of how cloud computing provides virtualization and how virtualization is being used in numerous technologies enabling the businesses and organizations having more data security, data integrity and portability.

Virtualization

Virtualization is creating a virtual version of something such as any hardware platform, operating system, network resource etc. When providing virtualization, these resources does not exist actually but they provide the functionality just like the actual ones do.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to the provision of computational resources like data, software etc via computer network such as the Internet rather than from a local computer. Users or clients can actually process the data and perform their tasks without having the hardware or the software on their PCs.

Cloud Computing is defined as a pool of virtualized computer resources. Based on this Virtualization the Cloud Computing paradigm allows workloads to be deployed and scaled-out quickly through the rapid provisioning of virtual machines or physical machines. A Cloud Computing platform supports redundant, self-recovering, highly scalable programming models that allow workloads to recover from many inevitable hardware/software failures.

Virtual Desktop

A VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) provides such an environment in which a user (or a client) can have access to more than one virtual desktops at a time from their traditional PC, thin client or re purposed computer using a remote display protocol.

These virtualized desktops are stored on remote server rather than locally. Here is where we get the concept of cloud computing in which no operation or processing takes place on your local PC or network.

Advantages

·         Cost saving – since the resources are shared.

·         Use of resources and energy in an efficient way.

·         Fewer or no compatibility issues.

·         Since the backup is centralized therefore there exists improved data integrity.

Business Plan

We have previously seen that two or more desktops can be simultaneously viewed on a single platform. Their software applications can be shared and they have many advantages over single-desktop use. Considering the advantages like efficiency and cost-saving, we can think of more options being introduced in this virtual system.

Virtual Desktops sharing hard-disk

We can also have a system through which one user is able to share the hard disk of the other user (desktop) present in the VDI. Let’s consider a scenario where a user (or a client) is using two desktops at a time and is currently out of storage space in his remote desktop. Whilst using the other one, he can process the data in one desktop and save it in the hard disk of the other desktop.

Virtual Desktops sharing hardware devices

Other than that the hardware devices such as a printer can also be used while having a VDI. You can share the hardware devices of one desktop onto another.

 Conclusion

As the time is passing there could be more applications of this technology since it has been proved to be very useful, feasible, cost-cutting and reliable wherever it has been used or tested.