Virtual Desktops¶
Any machine, in a browser. The screen travels; the software and the data stay where they are.
A virtual desktop is a machine running in your cloud account, used through a web browser. The person working on it needs nothing installed, and their own device does not need to be capable of the work: only the screen travels.
What you get¶
| Linux and Windows | Full graphical desktops on either operating system, in the browser |
| Any machine size | From a small instance to a multi-GPU workstation, with as much disk as the software needs. There is no fixed catalogue of sizes |
| Ready on opening | The operating system, software and licences are already in the image, identical for everyone who launches it |
| Nothing to install | No VPN, RDP or SSH client, and no agent on anybody's laptop |
| The data stays put | Nothing is downloaded to work on it. The desktop can be unreachable from the internet altogether |
| The whole desktop, or one application | Give someone the full desktop, or just the application they need, opening straight into the work |
How it works¶
A virtual desktop is a Virtual Lab formation with two machines:
The proxy handles the browser connection, so any Linux or Windows image can be used through a browser. The workstation is the machine you chose, running your image.
Software: images anyone can make¶
Desktops start from an image. Any user, not only an administrator, can install what they need on a desktop, save it as a new image, and share it with a project, a group or other institutions. Everyone who launches from that image gets the same environment. See Register an image and Share an image.
Working together¶
- Session sharing: share a running desktop with a colleague, who opens the same screen in their browser. See Sessions.
- Shared data: mount the project's shared file system on the desktop, and move files with the file browser. See File Storage.
Cost: an idle desktop costs nothing¶
- Idle auto-stop: a desktop nobody is using stops itself, with its disk kept, and picks up where it left off. The gap between Friday and Monday is not billed.
- Schedules: start and stop desktops on a timetable, for example for teaching hours.
- Budgets and allowed machines: every desktop runs in an account with its own budget, and each role or project is limited to the instance types it is allowed, GPUs included. See Budgets and Enforcement.
Typical uses¶
| Use | Why a virtual desktop |
|---|---|
| Teaching labs | Every student gets the same software, on any laptop, from the first minute |
| Research workstations | GPU and large-memory machines for people who do not have one under the desk |
| Sensitive data | Work on data that must not leave, without a copy being made |
| Windows software | Run Windows applications from a Mac, a Chromebook or a tablet |