computer science

Workspace virtualization

Workspace virtualization is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Workspace virtualization rather than just read about it. In short: Workspace virtualization is a way of distributing applications to client computers using application virtualization; however, it also bundles several applications together into one complete workspace. Overview Workspace virtualization is an approach that encapsulates and isolates an entire computing workspace.

Key takeaways

Workspace virtualization belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Workspace virtualization to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Workspace virtualization from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Overview Workspace virtualization is an approach that encapsulates and isolates an entire computing workspace. At a minimum, the workspace consists of everything above the operating system kernel – applications, data, settings, and any non-privileged operating system subsystems required to provide a functional desktop computing environment. By doing this, applications within the workspace can interact with each other, enabling them to do some of the things users are accustomed to and which are missing in application virtualization such as embedding a Microsoft Excel worksheet into a Microsoft Word document. Further, the workspace contains applications settings and user data enabling the user to move to a different operating system or to a different computer and still preserve applications, settings and data in one complete working unit. For deeper workspace virtualization, the virtualization engine implementation virtualizes privileged code modules and full operating system subsystems through a kernel-mode Workspace Virtualization Engine (WVE).

Advantages and disadvantages Workspace Virtualization vs Application Virtualization Workspace virtualization enables individual applications to interact with each other and also enables user settings/configuration and user data to stay within the workspace. Application virtualization does not. Application Virtualization shields independent applications from each other better should one of them prove to be hostile (i.e. contains a virus of some sort).

Workspace Virtualization vs Desktop Virtualization Workspace Virtualization runs directly on the client computer hardware whereas Desktop Virtualization in many cases runs on a remote computer somewhere over a corporate LAN/WAN or over the Internet (called Hosted Desktop Virtualization). In other cases Desktop Virtualization can be run on the client directly through a virtual machine environment such as VMware Workstation, VirtualBox or Thincast Workstation. Because the applications in a Desktop Virtualization environment run at a different location, on a remote machine or in a local virtual machine, and technology simply offers a way to present the graphics interface locally using technologies such as Remote Desktop. As a result, the graphics system is much slower and access to local data services such as USB or FireWire-connected cameras, scanners, & hard drives is much slower. Workspace virtualization, on the other hand, offers the advantage that the amount of time required to move from one client computer to another is small because applications, settings and data are stored locally on the client. When it comes to system resources, Workspace Virtualization requires fewer resources than Desktop Virtualization because it doesn't contain a complete copy of the operating system running in a virtualization environment.

See also Application virtualization Desktop virtualization Platform virtualization

References

External links Shared Office Spaces

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Workspace virtualization

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Workspace virtualization claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Workspace virtualization before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Workspace virtualization ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Workspace virtualization

In research: Workspace virtualization appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Workspace virtualization in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Workspace virtualization is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Centralized computing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Workspace virtualization outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Workspace virtualization in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Workspace virtualization means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Workspace virtualization out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Workspace virtualization in simple terms?

Workspace virtualization is a way of distributing applications to client computers using application virtualization; however, it also bundles several applications together into one complete workspace. Overview Workspace virtualization is an approach that encapsulates and isolates an entire computin…

Why does Workspace virtualization matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Workspace virtualization?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Workspace virtualization.