1. A virtual desktop management server computing system comprising: a memory; a computer processor; an API handler stored in the memory and configured, when executed on the computer processor, to receive and respond to a client application request from a client device for user data that has been stored as on a virtual disk as part of a virtual machine associated with an identified user, the virtual disk stored remote from the client device in a centralized datastore communicatively coupled to the server computing system; and a content abstraction layer component comprising logic instructions stored in the memory that are configured, when executed in response to a request from the API handler, to cause a connection to a control virtual machine that has access to the virtual disk associated with the requested user data and to cause the control virtual machine to mount the virtual disk when the virtual disk is not already accessible to the identified user through a running virtual desktop, thereby enabling the content abstraction layer to obtain the requested data from the virtual disk storage and return the requested data to the API handler to respond to the client application request.