Desktop virtualization can be achieved in a variety of ways, but the two most important types are based on whether the operating system instance is local or remote.
Local desktop virtualization means the operating system runs on a client device using hardware virtualization, and all processing and workloads occur on local hardware. This type of desktop virtualization works well when users do not need a continuous network connection and can meet application computing requirements with local system resources. However, because this requires processing to be done locally you cannot use local desktop virtualization to share virtual machines (VMs) or resources across a network to thin clients or mobile devices.
Remote desktop virtualization is a common use of virtualization that operates in a server computing environment. This allows users to run operating systems and applications from a server inside a data center while all user interactions take place on a client device such as a laptop, thin client, or smartphone. This type of virtualization gives IT more centralized control over applications and desktops, and can maximize an organization’s investment in hardware through remote access to shared computing resources.
