Virtual Desktop Definitions

This glossary explains the meaning of key words and phrases that information technology (IT) and business professionals use when discussing virtual desktop and related software products. You can find additional definitions by visiting WhatIs.com or using the search box below.

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  • A

    app virtualization (application virtualization)

    App virtualization (application virtualization) is the separation of an installation of an application from the client computer accessing it.

  • application layering (app layering)

    Application layering (app layering) is a technology for delivering virtual applications that run in layers separate from a virtual desktop, but interact with the operating system and other apps as if they are installed natively on the base image.

  • application streaming

    Application streaming is an on-demand software delivery model that takes advantage of the fact that most applications require only a small fraction of their total program code to run.

  • C

    Citrix Cloud

    Citrix Cloud is a management and delivery platform for IT administrators to design, deliver and manage virtual desktops and applications and other services, such as file sharing, on any device.

  • Citrix DesktopPlayer

    Citrix DesktopPlayer is a desktop virtualization platform with a Type 2 hypervisor that administrators install locally on top of a Windows or Mac OS X operating system. DesktopPlayer allows users to access a separate virtual desktop when they are using wireless internet or are not connected to the company network.

  • Citrix HDX 3D Pro

    Citrix HDX 3D Pro is a group of graphics acceleration technologies that help optimize the delivery of resource-intensive virtual applications on a company's XenDesktop and XenApp platforms.

  • Citrix StoreFront

    Citrix StoreFront is an enterprise application store that provides an interface for users to access Citrix Virtual Apps -- formerly XenApp apps -- and Citrix Virtual Desktops -- formerly XenDesktop -- remotely.

  • Citrix Workspace app (Citrix Receiver)

    Citrix Receiver was renamed the Citrix Workspace app in 2018. It is software that enables client devices to connect to various desktop virtualization services from Citrix.

  • Citrix XenApp

    Citrix XenApp, now called Citrix Virtual Apps, was a product that extends Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as Terminal Services) desktop sessions and applications to users through the Citrix HDX protocol.

  • ControlUp

    ControlUp is a monitoring software company that sells tools IT professionals can use to manage, monitor and analyze virtual desktop and application performance.

  • D

    desktop as a service (DaaS)

    Desktop as a service (DaaS) is a cloud computing offering in which a third party hosts the back end of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployment.

  • desktop virtualization

    Desktop virtualization is the concept of isolating a logical operating system (OS) instance from the client used to access it.

  • device as a service (DaaS)

    The device as a service (DaaS) model offers PCs, smartphones and other mobile computing devices as a paid service.

  • E

    EG Innovations

    EG Innovations is an end-user experience and infrastructure monitoring software vendor best known for its EG Enterprise product.

  • G

    graphics processing unit (GPU)

    A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a computer chip that renders graphics and images by performing rapid mathematical calculations.

  • M

    Microsoft App-V (Microsoft Application Virtualization)

    Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) is an application virtualization client that makes an application available to end users without installing it on a personal computer (PC).

  • Microsoft UE-V (User Experience Virtualization)

    Microsoft UE-V (User Experience Virtualization) is a tool that lets users move from one Windows device to another and maintain the same operating system and applications settings.

  • P

    Parallels

    Parallels is a software company best-known for its software that allows users to run Microsoft Windows systems on Apple Macintosh computers.

  • Parallels Desktop for Mac

    Parallels Desktop for Mac is desktop virtualization software that allows Microsoft Windows, Linux and Google Chrome OSes and applications to run on an Apple Mac computer.

  • PCoIP (PC over IP)

    PC over IP (PCoIP) is a remote display protocol that Teradici developed for delivering remote desktops and applications to endpoints.

  • R

    Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)

    Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is an application-level network communication system that transfers real-time data from multimedia to an endpoint device by communicating directly with the server streaming the data.

  • remote desktop connection broker

    A remote desktop connection broker is software that allows a remote desktop client to connect to a remote desktop host or server.

  • Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)

    Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) is a free Microsoft tool that enables IT administrators to organize, group and control multiple remote desktop connections.

  • Remote Desktop Services (RDS)

    Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is an umbrella term for features of Microsoft Windows Server that allow users to remotely access graphical desktops and Windows applications.

  • Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH)

    Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) is a role in Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

  • remote display protocol

    A remote display protocol is a special set of data transfer rules that makes it possible for a desktop hosted at one place to display on a client's screen at another location.

  • T

    terminal server

    A terminal server, also known as a communication server, is a hardware device or server that provides terminals -- such as PCs, printers and other devices -- with a common connection point to a local or wide area network (WAN).

  • U

    USB redirection

    USB redirection is a technology that enables an end user to plug an external device into a USB port on their endpoint and access the device from within a remote desktop or application.

  • V

    virtual desktop

    A virtual desktop is a computer operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint hardware from which a user accesses it.

  • virtual hard disk (VHD)

    A virtual hard disk (VHD) is a disk image file format for storing the entire contents of a computer's hard drive.

  • VMware Horizon Client

    VMware Horizon Client is software that establishes a connection between endpoint devices and Horizon View virtual desktops and applications.

  • VMware View Persona Management

    VMware View Persona Management is a feature of Horizon View that stores and delivers user-specific data from a remote storage repository to virtual or physical desktops.

  • VMware Workspace ONE

    VMware Workspace ONE is a management platform that allows IT administrators to centrally control end users' mobile devices and cloud-hosted virtual desktops and applications from the cloud or from an on-premises deployment.

  • What is virtual desktop infrastructure? VDI explained

    Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a desktop virtualization technology wherein a desktop operating system, typically Microsoft Windows, runs and is managed in a data center.

  • Z

    zero client

    Zero client, also known as ultrathin client, is a server-based computing model in which the end user's computing device has no local storage.