What is virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)? - Definition from Whatis.com

Definition

virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is the practice of hosting a desktop operating system within a virtual machine (VM) running on a centralized server. VDI is a variation on the client/server computing model, sometimes referred to as server-based computing (SBC). The term was coined by VMware Inc. In the past couple of years, some large organizations have turned to VDI as an alternative to the server-based computing model used by Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Services.

Contributor(s): Alex Barrett
This was last updated in April 2007

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