MultiSeat Desktop Virtualization is a method by which a common desktop PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, with extra keyboard

Keyboard (computing)

In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

s, mice, and video screens directly attached to it, can be used to install, load, and concurrently run multiple operating systems. These operating systems can be the same across all "seats" or they can be different. It is similar to server based computing only in the fact that one "mainframe" is supporting multiple users. On the other hand, it is different because the "terminals" (or seats, as they are known in multiseat jargon) are composed of nothing more than the regular keyboard, monitor and mouse, and these devices are plugged directly into the PC. USB hubs can be used for cable management of the keyboards and mice, and extra video cards (typically dual or quad output) may need to be installed.

Introduction

It is commonly known that modern day PC's are extremely powerful and have substantial excess CPU processing power. In fact, most desktop applications do not use the multi-core capabilities of today's CPUs. When an application is launched it runs on the first core, and when a second application is launched, it continues to run on the 1st core. That process continues (with the second and subsequent cores basically idling) until the original core gets very busy. At that point, the operating system tells the new applications to run on the 2nd and subsequent cores.

Server based computing

Server Based Computing has been around for a long time specifically to take advantage of this excess CPU power and allow multiple users to share it. It started in the 50's and 60's with batch processing and has taken its current day form with Citrix and Terminal Services. nComputing and Microsoft Multipoint are current iterations of the same thin client technology. The typical problem with this type of system is that it is dependent upon one operating system and one set of applications and there are many software titles that are not allowed to be shared among multiple users. That means that the first user of a program will get access but subsequent users will not. Another problem is that the video is not delivered via native means. It is usually delivered via network traffic and must rely upon the "packetizing" methods employed using TCP-IP. This means that video does not run very well especially if the network traffic is busy.

Server Virtualization

Virtualization can solve some of these problems. Virtualization is a method by which the "guest" operating system runs on top of, while being separated from the "bare metal" hardware. This means that multiple "guest" operating systems can be run, solving the problem of single user applications not being able to be launched for multiple, concurrent users. Xen used in conjunction with Citrix or VMWare used in conjunction with Microsoft Terminal Services are examples of this technology. Although it is still server based computing and relies upon a "thin" or a "fat" client to display the video output of the session, it allows multiple users to launch the same application because they are launching totally different instances of the same application, in different "guest" operating systems. But the issue still remains that video does not run very well because it still relies upon the network to delivery video. It is also extremely complicated to install and maintain, require extra training and knowledge.

MultiSeat Desktop Virtulization differences

Multiseat Desktop Virtualization is an entirely new methodology which combines the cost saving benefits and ease of maintenance of server based computing, the time savings of hardware agnostic cloning, and the capabilities of desktop virtualization

Desktop virtualization

Desktop virtualization , as a concept, separates a personal computer desktop environment from a physical machine using the client–server model of computing....

, with the performance capabilities of real PC functionality. It takes advantage of this fact to enable ordinary users to install a multiseat PC giving 2 "seats" with a dual-core CPU or 4 "seats" with a quad-core CPU. The operating system of this PC is initially installed just like a regular PC. Regular PC users can install and use this type of product without having to install servers, or know how to manage complicated, server based computing or server based virtualization products. It has the combined benefits of a Type 1 hypervisor and a Type 2 hypervisor virtual machine

Virtual machine

A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...

. It does this with the efficiency of a Type 1 hypervisor while maintaining the portability of a Type II hypervisor.

Type	Standard server/TCP-IP based computing	Virtualized server/TCP-IP based computing	MultiSeat Desktop Virtualization
Examples	nComputing NComputing NComputing is a desktop virtualization company that manufactures hardware and software to create virtual desktops which enable multiple users to simultaneously share a single operating system instance.... , Thin clients (HP, Neoware Neoware Neoware was a company that manufactured and marketed a type of computer hardware called thin clients.It also developed and marketed enterprise software, thin client appliances, and related services aimed at reducing the TCO of IT infrastructure.... , Wyse Wyse Wyse Technology is an American company that is a leading manufacturer in Cloud Client Computing. Products include thin client hardware and software as well as desktop virtualization. Other products include cloud software-supporting desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices... , Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...  MultiPoint Multipoint Multipoint may refer to:* Multi-point fuel injection, an injection scheme for metering fuel into an internal combustion engine* Multipoint ground, a type of electrical installation which involves the creation of many alternate paths for electrical energy to find its way back to ground* Multipoint...	VMware View VMware View In computing, VMware View is a commercial desktop-virtualization product developed by VMware, Inc. Its first two releases sold under the name VMware VDM, but with the 3.0.0 release in 2008VMware Inc. changed the name to "VMware View".... , Citrix XenDesktop	Multiseat configuration, Userful Userful Userful is a desktop virtualization company that develops software to create Linux-based remotely managed virtual desktops that enable up to 10 users to simultaneously share one computer... , Black Box VirtuaCore, SoftXpand SoftXpand SoftXpand is a commercial Multiseat desktop virtualization software primarily focused towards Education, Government, Call Centers, and Businesses....
Can run all single user applications	No	Yes	Yes
Can run multimedia without buffering	No	No	Yes
Easy to install	No	No	Yes
Each "seat" has their own IP and MAC address	No	Yes	Yes
Each "seat" cloned image is hardware agnostic across different sets of hardware	No	Yes	Yes