Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

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What Does Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Mean?

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a virtualization technique enabling access to a virtualized desktop, which is hosted on a remote service over the Internet. It refers to the software, hardware and other resources required for the virtualization of a standard desktop system.

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VDI is also known as a virtual desktop interface.

Techopedia Explains Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VDI is a shadow copy of the desktop including its OS, installed applications and documents, which are stored and executed entirely from the server hosting it. VDI provides users the ability to access their desktop remotely, often even from a handheld device because the entire process of executing the interface is done at the central server.

VDI operates by storing OS preferences, software applications, document and other customized data on a server in the cloud. In theory, or ideally, the user experience is the same as on a physical desktop.

Virtual desktop interfaces were primarily design to provide global access to desktop systems. They are also used in designing disaster recovery and backup solutions. This is done by routinely updating the desktop’s data on a remote server and enabling the interface for users in case of a system disruption.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.