100 desktops. 1 OS on disk.
The Desktop Scale is a complete desktop and application delivery platform. It combines virtual desktop infrastructure with application management, golden images, and a capability no legacy platform offers: converting desktop applications into SaaS-style web apps without licensing the original OS.
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Desktop Infrastructure | Full graphical desktops delivered via SPICE. Responsive enough for daily use. | Planned |
| Golden Images | One master image per desktop type. All desktops boot from it. Changes layer on top. | Planned |
| Deduplication | 100 desktops from the same golden image store the OS exactly once on disk and largely once in RAM. | Planned |
| Check-In / Check-Out | Users check out a desktop, use it, check it back in. Persistent state or wipe-on-return — your choice. | Planned |
| Cloud Sync | User profiles, documents, and settings sync to central storage. Desktop is disposable, data is not. | Planned |
| Fleet Management | Patch the golden image, reboot the fleet. Every desktop is updated simultaneously with zero drift. | Planned |
| Virtual Applications | Deliver individual applications without a full desktop. App runs on the server, renders in the browser. | Planned |
| SaaS Conversion | Legacy desktop applications run via Wine on the server and are delivered as web apps. No Windows licensing required. | Planned |
| Immutable Desktops | Base desktop image is read-only. User changes layer on top. Reboot strips the layer if configured. | Planned |
| GPU Sharing | Multiple desktops share a single GPU for accelerated rendering. vGPU and SR-IOV support. | Planned |
This is the feature that changes the economics of desktop management entirely.
Legacy applications that require a specific OS can be installed once into a Wine-based application layer on the Tophan server. Users access the application through their browser — it looks and behaves like a SaaS web app, but it’s actually running locally in your infrastructure.
No per-seat OS licenses. No terminal server licensing. No CALs. The application runs on Linux under Wine, rendered to the browser via SPICE. Users don’t know or care how it works — they click a bookmark and use their app.
This approach works for the vast majority of business applications that don’t require bleeding-edge OS integration. For applications that genuinely need a specific OS, the Desktop Scale can still deliver traditional VDI with full GPU passthrough.
Traditional VDI platforms provision a full OS image per desktop. 100 desktops = 100 copies of the OS on disk, 100 copies in RAM.
Tophan’s layer system, combined with KSM memory deduplication from the Hypervisor Scale, means:
Full desktop experience delivered from the datacenter
One master image, hundreds of desktops, zero drift
Take your desktop offline, bring it back when you're ready
Seamless file sync with any cloud or self-hosted storage
Manage hundreds of desktops from a single pane of glass
Publish individual applications without delivering full desktops
Turn any legacy desktop app into browser-accessible internal SaaS
Why viruses don't matter when the base image can't be changed