Ubiquitous desktops with multi-factor authentication

There is no single desktop which meets the growing user requirement for diverse services and solutions. Desktop services such as operating system specific productivity tools, laboratory teaching environments, product testing and program compilation typically require substantially different desktop environments. While virtualization addresses the consolidation of multiple operating system environments onto a single piece of hardware, the issue of consolidating these multiple services into a single desktop for users must also be addressed. The need has arisen for a secure, mobile and integrated desktop which provides simple access to multiple desktop services. This paper proposes a ubiquitous desktop solution addressing these issues through a combination of virtualization, multi-factor authentication, single sign-on and thin client technology.