Hosted Desktop is a product set within the
larger Cloud Computing sphere. It is commonly a
browser based connection to a Microsoft Windows Desktop which includes an
office productivity suite such as Microsoft Office alongside other
desktop applications. The desktop is hosted, run, delivered and
supported from a central location, usually a secure data centre
with high-quality and resilient connections to the
Internet/Cloud.
Connecting clients run a pre-installed or downloaded viewer
application and can include thin clients, PC's, workstations,
mobile & handheld devices running a variety of operating
systems such as Windows, OS X, Linux and others.
The move towards Hosted Desktops, of which Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI) is a subset, is predicted by Gartner to
account for 49million business desktops by 2013 [1] equal
to more than 40 percent of the worldwide professional PC
market.
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A number different technologies are available to deliver hosted
desktop services and there are fundamental differences in their
deployments.
Current solutions available are typically built using products
from Citrix (XenApp, XenDesktop), VMWare
(VMware View), Microsoft
(RDS, VECD) or Parallels (Virtuozzo).
Citrix have released Xen Desktop[2] to focus on this market.
Microsoft HyperV[3] supports VDI.
Ericom has released PowerTerm WebConnect[4] to focus on this market.
Some companies, such as EntrustIT[5] and
Nasstar[6] have
chosen to deliver a full desktop as an application using the XenApp
platform and/or Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services.
Other companies, like ThinkGrid [7] use Parallels Virtuozzo Containers in a combination with a connection broker and other tools to provide a Desktop-like experience.
The centralised nature of Hosted Desktops can overcome common issues with mobile working, delivery of a common infrastructure across physical sites, disaster recovery, cost control and scaling up/down in timely fashion.
Hosted Desktop services can be a comparatively simple method for applying outsourcing principles within a business although care is warranted in ensuring service provider quality to ensure compliance, data security and data protection standards meet requirements.
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