Open Virtual Desktop 3.0 as an alternative to VDI

Nested

Conclusions

Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop has evolved in the past five years from a virtual OpenOffice to a full-fledged desktop. Without much ado, OVD has become a workable alternative to classic server-based computing that combines modern web applications with the advantages of the thin-client approach, thus eliminating workload on the client side. A recent browser with a Java Plugin is all you need.

Strictly speaking, this solution has nothing to do with desktop virtualization, but users are typically uninterested in whether their desktops are served up by a traditional terminal server as virtual machines, or as Open Virtual Desktops. From the viewpoints of consolidation, cost, performance, security, and manageability, there are significant differences, of course.

Ulteo's approach is useful for most small businesses. Every application server that publishes applications must be installed and maintained. They can theoretically be virtual machines, which you would need to manage in the scope of a virtualization management platform anyway; in that case, you might just as well consider a genuine VDI solution.

Ulteo's approach is always interesting, offering a generous feature scope, sufficient performance, and even benefits compared with genuine desktop virtualization, particularly in terms of collaboration. Whether a solution based on physical servers has a future is questionable, however, and a genuine alternative to expensive desktop virtualization would involve server virtualization with Ulteo's approach.

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