Reboot-to-restore tools like Faronics Deep Freeze protect one machine at a time. A diskless cloud desktop protects the whole lab from one master image — push an app once, restore any PC in 30 seconds, and switch a room into exam mode from a single console.
Freezing the disk still works — until the lab grows past a few dozen machines.
To install one new application you "thaw" every machine, patch, re-freeze and reboot — often after hours, machine by machine.
You are maintaining 200 independent OS installs that happen to look the same today and drift apart tomorrow.
Disk protection guards a machine; it does not give you one console to push an image, see who is online, or switch a whole room into exam mode in seconds.
Build a single Windows or Linux image on the server. Every workstation network-boots from it. Install an app once, on the master, and all machines get it on the next boot — no per-machine thaw/refreeze.
Each PC writes changes to a temporary differential layer, not the master. Reboot and that layer is discarded — the machine is back to a clean state in about 30 seconds. The same "non-persistent" idea as Deep Freeze, but driven centrally.
Unlike server-side VDI, IDV/VOI streams the image but runs it on the local PC's own CPU and GPU, caching locally. You get central management and full local performance — labs keep working even if the network blips. vDisk supports VDI, IDV and VOI so you are not locked in.
| What you need | Reboot-to-restore (Deep Freeze) | Diskless cloud desktop (vDisk IDV/VOI) |
|---|---|---|
| Restore a machine to a clean state | Yes, on reboot | Yes, on reboot (~30 s) |
| Push a new app to 200 PCs | Thaw → patch → refreeze each machine | Update one master image |
| Local OS / disk per machine | Required | Optional / diskless |
| Central console & live status | Limited | Yes |
| Lock a room into exam mode | Not built in | Yes |
| Survives a network blip | Yes (local) | Yes with IDV/VOI (local execution) |
| Teaching / classroom control | Separate product | Bundled (cc-class, comparable to Veyon / NetSupport School) |
Push one image to mixed hardware — no per-machine maintenance windows.
Non-persistent sessions that wipe on reboot, driven from the console.
Lock a room down for a test, then release it, from one console.
More labs run Linux every year — one platform should cover both, including Ubuntu.
Local execution (IDV/VOI) means a switch failure doesn't freeze the whole room.
See machine status and trigger restores or updates without walking the room — vDisk even does this from a phone.
If you run one small lab of 15–20 identical PCs, rarely change software, and don't need central provisioning, a reboot-to-restore tool is simple and cheap — stick with it. The cloud-desktop model pays off when you manage many machines, multiple rooms, frequent image changes, exams, or mixed Windows/Linux hardware and want one console instead of a USB stick and a maintenance window.
The lowest-risk way to evaluate any Deep Freeze alternative is to convert a single lab: build one master image, network-boot the room, and time how long a full re-image and a restore actually take. vDisk offers a free trial and one-on-one setup help, and the same platform scales from one classroom to a whole campus.