Hosted Desktop

Definition - What does Hosted Desktop mean?

A hosted desktop is a virtualization technique that provides a local desktop instance remotely from a server through the Internet.

A hosted desktop is a virtual machine that hosts the operating system, applications, data and other system configurations of a physical desktop. A hosted desktop provides similar functionality and capabilities as a physical desktop. It can be accessed through a client-end browser or in some cases, a thin client utility.

A hosted desktop is also known as a virtual desktop. The process is known as desktop virtualization.

Techopedia explains Hosted Desktop

A hosted desktop works like a typical virtual machine hosted on a remote server but is primarily implemented as an exact instance of a physical desktop. Hosted desktops are mostly used in creating disaster recovery and backup solutions by installing a client backup application on the target desktop, which continuously backs up the content of the desktop on a remote virtual machine or a hosted desktop. This is conducted over a highly available cloud infrastructure. In case of disaster, it can easily be accessed and ported to a new physical desktop.

As with virtual machines, hosted desktops are centrally managed by a virtualization or virtual machine manager, which allocates the necessary computing, memory, storage, I/O and other virtualization-specific features.

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