<s>
A	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
product	O
set	O
within	O
the	O
larger	O
cloud-computing	B-Architecture
sphere	O
generally	O
delivered	O
using	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
technologies	O
including	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
virtualization	I-General_Concept
and	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
remote	O
connection	O
software	O
,	O
Citrix	B-General_Concept
XenApp	I-General_Concept
or	O
Microsoft	O
Remote	B-Protocol
Desktop	I-Protocol
Services	I-Protocol
being	O
two	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
commonly	O
involves	O
a	O
browser-based	B-Application
connection	O
to	O
a	O
desktop	O
environment	O
which	O
includes	O
an	O
office	O
productivity	O
suite	O
alongside	O
other	O
desktop	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connecting	O
clients	O
run	O
pre-installed	O
or	O
downloaded	O
viewer	O
applications	O
via	O
one	O
of	O
many	O
remote	B-Protocol
desktop	I-Protocol
protocols	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
move	O
towards	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktops	I-General_Concept
,	O
of	O
which	O
virtual	B-Protocol
desktop	I-Protocol
infrastructure	I-Protocol
(	O
VDI	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
subset	O
,	O
is	O
predicted	O
by	O
Gartner	O
to	O
account	O
for	O
49	O
million	O
business	O
desktops	O
by	O
2013	O
equal	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
40	O
percent	O
of	O
the	O
worldwide	O
professional	O
PC	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
applications	O
by	O
service	O
providers	O
such	O
as	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
Microsoft	O
have	O
accelerated	O
this	O
process	O
,	O
as	O
has	O
the	O
evolution	O
of	O
new	O
licensing	O
schemes	O
which	O
allow	O
fee-paying	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
subscription	O
rather	O
than	O
on	O
purchase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
centralized	O
nature	O
of	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktops	I-General_Concept
can	O
overcome	O
common	O
issues	O
with	O
mobile	O
working	O
,	O
delivery	O
of	O
a	O
common	O
infrastructure	O
across	O
physical	O
sites	O
,	O
disaster	O
recovery	O
,	O
cost	O
control	O
and	O
scaling	O
up/down	O
in	O
timely	O
fashion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
services	O
can	O
be	O
a	O
comparatively	O
simple	O
method	O
for	O
applying	O
outsourcing	O
principles	O
within	O
a	O
business	O
although	O
care	O
is	O
warranted	O
in	O
ensuring	O
service	O
provider	O
quality	O
to	O
ensure	O
compliance	O
,	O
data	O
security	O
and	O
data	O
protection	O
standards	O
meet	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
based	O
environment	O
will	O
generally	O
migrate	O
user	O
authentication	O
,	O
file	O
&	O
print	O
services	O
and	O
application	O
delivery	O
and	O
data	O
storage	O
to	O
the	O
cloud	O
making	O
it	O
accessible	O
via	O
secure	O
connections	O
from	O
any	O
internet	O
enabled	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
relatively	O
small	O
bandwidth	O
requirements	O
for	O
a	O
Hosted	B-General_Concept
Desktop	I-General_Concept
means	O
that	O
between	O
5	O
&	O
10	O
people	O
can	O
connect	O
and	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
standard	O
xDSL	O
broadband	O
,	O
whilst	O
a	O
single	O
user	O
can	O
operate	O
quite	O
effectively	O
on	O
a	O
3G	O
mobile	O
data	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hosted	B-General_Concept
desktops	I-General_Concept
are	O
most	O
often	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
Windows	O
Server	O
2008	O
utilising	O
Remote	B-Protocol
Desktop	I-Protocol
Services	I-Protocol
,	O
often	O
with	O
an	O
additional	O
management	O
layer	O
from	O
vendors	O
like	O
Citrix	B-Application
Systems	I-Application
or	O
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
to	O
make	O
personalisation	O
easier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Licensing	O
for	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
is	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
Service	O
Provider	O
License	O
Agreement	O
(	O
SPLA	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
special	O
type	O
of	O
end-user	O
license	O
agreement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Backup	O
and	O
disaster	O
recovery	O
will	O
be	O
handled	O
by	O
the	O
Hosted	B-General_Concept
Desktop	I-General_Concept
vendor	O
;	O
with	O
the	O
best	O
solutions	O
also	O
providing	O
failover	O
to	O
alternate	O
datacentres	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
vendors	O
utilising	O
VMware	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
technology	O
,	O
charges	O
are	O
normally	O
monthly	O
with	O
a	O
basic	O
charge	O
applied	O
for	O
each	O
user	O
of	O
a	O
hosted	B-General_Concept
desktop	I-General_Concept
and	O
then	O
additional	O
charges	O
for	O
an	O
office	O
productivity	O
suite	O
,	O
additional	O
data	O
storage	O
and	O
extra	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
