By: Deborah Johnson Wood
While virtualization is not a new concept in the world of computers, a second level of virtualization, called desktop virtualization, is new and starting to take hold. The concept saves companies money, uses fewer environmental resources, and prolongs the life of individual desktop computers.
"You take all data that resides on a user's desktop machine, and move it all into the data center," says Gregg DeWitt, president of Data Strategy, a West Michigan technology firm. "Workers can access their desktop's files from any computer connected to the network, for example, doctors and nurses in hospitals."
Warren Ponder, a leading technologist specializing in desktop virtualization, was the guest speaker at a conference yesterday sponsored by Data Strategy. The purpose of the conference was to help area corporations learn how desktop virtualization can save them money and help workers become more productive.
"Virtualizing the desktop has just become commercially viable this year," DeWitt says. "There are 550 million personal computers in the world, most of them in corporations. If we can virtualize them for companies, we can prolong the life of the PCs because everything will be loaded on a high powered server and the user won't continually need a newer, faster computer."
DeWitt goes on to say that recent studies show that most data servers work at 10 percent capacity. Virtualization allows companies to use servers at full capacity, which means companies need fewer servers, less electricity to run them and cool them, and less floor space to house them.
Source: Gregg DeWitt, Data Strategy
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.