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What is a cloud desktop?

Posted on May 21, 2012

Posted by Gerben Meijer in Tech-y Terms 0 Comments

Imagine never having to carry around an actual computer in order to access everything you normally store on your desktop. Instead, you just carry around a light-weight black box and a connector cord for a monitor. This is what using a cloud desktop would enable you to do. That little black box stores your information, when plugged in it operates as your own hard-drive would. Nothing new here, right?

Cloud desktop is not a new term in the world of virtualization. As you can imagine, the main basis for it is having a virtual desktop that can be accessed from most anywhere.

There are two main types we’re going to look at today: Browser desktops and hosted desktops.

Browser desktops live within the web-page of that specific host. Picture a Windows desktop, but instead of filling your actual screen it lives within you’re your Internet browser’s window. It’s a great alternative to switching back and forth between desktops on your actual computer.

A cloud desktop is a Windows desktop provided by an outside company, rather than delivered by the internal IT department.

When creating a cloud desktop you’re allowed to duplicate as many as you need, whenever you need to. Lets say you click on something that gives you some type of virus, a virus that suddenly destroys the project you’ve spent days creating, by erasing your entire hard-drive. Using a cloud desktop allows you to go back to a saved snap shot of you desktop pre-virus and operate from there.

Although you might lose a day of saved work, you’re still able to go back without having to start from scratch. A great option for organizations starting out who may not have the technical background to do this themselves.

For more information on what a cloud desktop is, check out Thoughts on Cloud to find out 10 myths about the cloud desktop!