At some point, terminal emulation becomes a vital service for every company using Linux. With a terminal emulator, a computer can essentially take on the abilities of another. Usually, this means having a terminal revert back to an earlier version or a prior operating system so that the user can access programs that wouldn’t work on a current machine. Even if it’s not a necessity now, your organization will eventually get old enough that terminal emulation becomes essential for using old systems. It may not be something you use on a regular basis, but when it does become something you need, you’ll be glad you have it. If you’re not convinced yet, consider the following benefits terminal emulators bring to the table.
Use Multiple Platforms at Once
Many terminal emulators these days make it possible to use more than one platform at the same time. You load the emulator into your computer and then you can split your screen into multiple terminals. This way, you can access as many old Linux platforms as you need, whether it’s for cross-referencing or some other purpose. It’s far more convenient to work with platforms this way as opposed to opening one screen at a time or using several machines at once.
Create Shortcuts
Some Linux terminal emulators will also allow you to create shortcuts in old systems, even though they didn’t exist earlier. This makes it much easier to use these Linux systems. A lot of times, these platforms are only being accessed for one specific purpose anyways, so it makes sense to create shortcuts for reaching that objective as fast as possible.
Customize Old Titles
Along the same lines, certain terminal emulation platforms allow you a great deal of customization. You can alter backgrounds, colors, fonts, character sizes and much more. While this obviously won’t have a huge effect on functionality, it can often make a big difference when it comes to seeing the information you need in an outdated platform.
Accessibility
Some people imagine that terminal emulation must take a lot of work, even with software to help. They think that the programs won’t be user-friendly and will demand a lot of resources from one’s machine. The truth, though, is that these applications are made with the user in mind. Amongst other things, this means that you can run many terminal emulators at all times and simply leave them on in the background. At a moment’s notice, then, you can hit the dropdown button and there’s your emulator. It can also be dismissed just as easily.
Many also come with tabbed interfaces, so you can manage your workflow however you see fit, while working with multiple screens at the same time.
Emulation doesn’t need to be headache. Modern manufacturers believe you should be able to have it on demand and use it without needing a giant manual by your side.
Implementation
Along the same lines, emulators wouldn’t be much use if they were difficult to install and implement. In a lot of cases, you’d be better off setting up an older machine for your Linux emulation needs.
That’s why implementation is a huge focus of the best emulators. Manufacturers understand your business can’t afford a time-consuming process. Instead, you want emulation now, so you can access the platforms you need to reach your business goals.
Savings
Another huge benefit that come with efficient emulation is savings. Like we touched on in the last section, some companies may seriously consider using old machines with outdated Linux platforms to access their outmoded systems. This is just one of many ways you could reach your emulation goals while spending a lot of money unnecessarily in the process. You could also be overspending simply by wasting time your company needs to pay people for.
Whatever the case, strong emulators for Linux are all about cutting down on costs, sometimes by as much as 50% or even 80%! Don’t overspend on accessing information. If this is a current problem, it could even be affecting your ability to get the data you need.
Scalability
Your business’ needs are going to change over time when it comes to emulation. At the beginning we brought up how the age of your company affects how often you need to emulate prior systems. Obviously, this means that, in the future, you’ll also have more systems to emulate too as more and more become obsolete.
For this reason, your Linux emulator better be able to scale effortlessly. Without a quality application, you’ll have to handle this kind of requirement manually, something which will cost you in terms of time and money (to say nothing of all the problems you could run into).
Support
Though your company may have a top-notch IT department, that doesn’t mean Linux emulation won’t be challenging at times. When it does, you’ll be glad you went with a title that comes with support from the manufacturer. Just reach out and get the help you need to continue the emulation process uninterrupted.
Security
It goes without saying that security is always a priority when it comes to digital assets. This is one of the problem areas you could run into if you try to emulate prior Linux systems manually. Simply put, it isn’t worth the risk though.
Most of the top emulation applications out there proudly display their focus on security. You can share information outside of your firewall without worrying that prying eyes are going to get their hands on it. Whether it’s from your PC or website to your host, you can rest assured you’re working in a safe environment.
Even if terminal emulation isn’t a priority now, you can trust that it will definitely become a priority someday. For most businesses, though, it already is. Hopefully, the above list of benefits that come from using terminal emulation applications for Linux has resonated with you and proven why you don’t need to fear the process. Thanks to these applications, retrieving data from yesteryear can be as simple as point and click.
Mike Miranda writes about enterprise software and covers products offered by software companies like Rocket Software.
