PCoIP - magic from Leadtek?

This article will be about virtualization, which is slightly surprising in light of the fact that the hardware in the writing was manufactured by Leadtek. Of course, as usual, we won't run very far now, since virtualization itself is an interesting topic, so we need to say a few words about it.

Let’s start with what we mean by virtualization. In the classical sense, the solutions we also use are subject to platform virtualization. This means that we use an software environment to create an emulated hardware environment, hiding the real components of the machine.

It may come as a surprise, but the dream of a pseudo machine is not as new as we might think. IBM has been experimenting with such platforms since the XNUMXs. Nowadays, the development of hardware and the increase of resources allow us to operate even more virtual machines on our physical machine, not only in a laboratory setting, but even on our home machine. These pseudo-machines can be considered as essentially full-fledged computers, as they have full access to peripherals and networks, so we can access the printer, mouse, keyboard and, in other words, all the devices needed for operation.

However, a virtual machine, like its physical counterpart, is worth nothing without software. With today’s resources, we no longer need to conserve computing capacity and install a Linux system without a graphical interface. Feel free to use even Windows and not just XP but also Vista (the fanatics) or Windows 7.

The question is what virtualization is good for us. Well, at home, virtual machines can be used to create stand-alone environments that can be used for work or play, at least when we don’t need to run serious 3D applications. These systems work completely independently of the physical machine, so you can try different operating systems or test antivirus, because if the virus cheater doesn’t work and become infected, we simply load a saved image file that contains the infection-free system and keep experimenting.

It is no coincidence, then, that virtualization is not widespread in homes, although as we will see from our article, this will soon be unthinkable.

The real habitats of virtual machines are jobs. They are those where adequate server capacity is available, where a virtual machine located on the central server (s) is enough for the employees to work, so it is enough to install a cheap client machine. Consider, for example, banks where the software used cannot be installed on a client computer for security reasons, it must run on a server, and employees connect to central resources through some terminal server solution. It can be said that as the computing capacity of hardware increases, virtualization will become an increasingly acceptable alternative to physical machines, as setting up a client machine involves far fewer procedures, and it is also cheaper to obtain licenses and operate. The cost of entry is not mentioned directly, as it can rival the price of a cheap complete machine, but the benefits will definitely show up later on the cost side.

After a lengthy introduction, you are also suspected of wondering what Leadtek has come up with. Let's see!