Desktop Virtualization:

Desktop virtualization (sometimes called client virtualization), is a concept that separates a personal computer desktop environment from a physical machine using a client–server model of computing. The model stores the resulting "virtualized" desktop on a remote central server, instead of on the local storage of a remote client; thus, when users work from their remote desktop client, all of the programs, applications, processes, and data used are kept and run centrally. This scenario allows users to access their desktops on any capable device, such as a traditional personal computer, notebook computer, smartphone, or thin client.
Virtual desktop infrastructure, sometimes referred to as virtual desktop interface (VDI) is the server computing model enabling desktop virtualization, encompassing the hardware and software systems required to support the virtualized environment.
Advantages & Disadvantages:
The shared resources model inherent in desktop virtualization offers advantages over the traditional model, in which every computer operates as a completely self-contained unit with its own operating system, peripherals, and application programs. Overall hardware expenses may diminish as users can share resources allocated to them on an as-needed basis. Virtualization potentially improves the data integrity of user information because all data can be maintained and backed-up in the data center. Other potential advantages include:
• simpler provisioning of new desktops
• reduced downtime in the event of server or client hardware-failures
• lower cost of deploying new applications
• desktop image-management capabilities
• longer refresh cycle for client desktop infrastructure
• secure remote access to an enterprise desktop environment
Limitations of desktop virtualization include:
• potential security risks if the network is not properly managed
• some loss of user autonomy and privacy
• challenges in setting up and maintaining drivers for printers and other peripherals
• difficulty in running certain complex applications (such as multimedia)
• increased downtime in the event of network failures
• complexity and high costs of VDI deployment and management