Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI) is a term used to describe users accessing a full desktop Operating System(OS) environment remotely. The desktop could be a normal PC, a Blade PC or a Virtual Machine. The ability to access a full desktop remotely has been available for many years via Terminal Server(TS). VDI is different from TS because in a TS environment multiple users would access a single environment, which could be customised on a per user basis but resources were not dedicated to a particular user. In a VDI environment each user either accesses their own centrally hosted physical PC/Blade or VM or they can access a shared VM. In a TS environment a number of applications had issues working on TS and also resources are not dedicated per user. VDI enables applications to be run as if they are on a local PC, removing any issues caused when running in a TS environment. In a VDI environment physical CPU, Memory and Disk capacity can be allocated to particular users which stops one users actions affecting other users.

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