Desktop Virtualization and Evolving Strategies For IT Service

Desktop
Virtualization and
Evolving Strategies
for IT Service
Delivery
Jaime Halscott
sponsored by
DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery
JaimeHalscott
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JaimeHalscott
IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers.................................................................................................................i
Chapter1:UnderstandingtheChallengesofBuildingVDINowforFutureEndUserService
Delivery.........................................................................................................................................................................1
DesktopVirtualization:MeansorEnd?.....................................................................................................1
Planning..............................................................................................................................................................3
Licensing........................................................................................................................................................3
TheGoalsofDesktopVirtualization.......................................................................................................4
IdentifyingHowUsersInteractwithDesktopsIsCritical.............................................................5
LessonLearned................................................................................................................................................5
Reliability...........................................................................................................................................................6
Speed...............................................................................................................................................................6
SupportingOfflineUsers.............................................................................................................................7
UnderstandingInternalConnectivityNeeds...................................................................................10
TacklingExternalConnectivityProblems.........................................................................................10
MetricsforEnsuringNetworkEffectiveness...................................................................................11
WhereDoPhysicalDesktopsFit?.........................................................................................................14
Summary..............................................................................................................................................................15
Chapter2:SmartApproachesforMergingDesktopVirtualizationTodayandTomorrow..16
Lesson1:HowLegacySolutionsIntegrateIntoServiceDelivery...............................................17
TakeInventory..............................................................................................................................................17
AnalyzeSupportingComponentsandProcesses...........................................................................18
AdaptingServerSolutionstoDesktopVirtualization..................................................................20
HowManagementSolutionsFit............................................................................................................21
Lesson2:HowtheCloudAffectsServiceDeliverytoUsers...........................................................21
Lesson3:TechnologiesWeNeverSawComing..................................................................................23
Lesson4:FindingaHomeforTraditionalVDI.....................................................................................25
Lesson5:WhenItDoesntFit,CutItOut................................................................................................27
WhatsNext.........................................................................................................................................................28
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JaimeHalscott
Chapter3:IntegratingLegacyandEmergingTechnologiesintoITServiceDelivery.............29
Lesson1:FindingtheRightIngredientstoMakeItWork..............................................................30
Option1:DualDutyDesktops................................................................................................................31
Option2:ReplacementwithThinClients.........................................................................................31
Option3:DesktopsasThinClients......................................................................................................31
ChoosingtheRightOptionforPhysicalDesktopsinaVirtualEnvironment.....................32
WhatAboutSupportingInfrastructureComponents?................................................................33
ApplicationVirtualizationandSupportingTechnologies..........................................................33
Lesson2:IntegratingtheOldandtheNewintoSomethingCoherent......................................33
SharedStorageNeeds................................................................................................................................34
NetworksandSupportingTechnologies...........................................................................................34
ChallengestoIntegration.........................................................................................................................34
Lesson3:TheTechnologiesWeAreWaitingFor...............................................................................35
ImprovementstoConnectivityRequiredforHostedVDI..........................................................35
TheRequiredEvolutionofMobileDataNetworksandDevices.............................................36
ThinClientLimitations..............................................................................................................................36
IncreasedStorageDemands....................................................................................................................36
EnhancedNetworkManagementSolutions.....................................................................................37
ExpandingVDIAdoption..........................................................................................................................38
Lesson4:HowtoDetermineYouGotItRight......................................................................................38
GatheringIntelligencefromUsers.......................................................................................................38
ReviewPreVDISupportMetrics..........................................................................................................39
WhatAboutNewSupportChallenges?...............................................................................................40
Lesson5:WhattheFutureHolds..............................................................................................................40
ProblemsforWidespreadVDIUse.......................................................................................................41
FocusingonServiceDelivery..................................................................................................................42
ImplementingVDINowwithaFutureMindset..................................................................................42
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JaimeHalscott
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iv
JaimeHalscott
Chapter1:UnderstandingtheChallenges
ofBuildingVDINowforFutureEndUser
ServiceDelivery
Ourindustrystrendtowardsvirtualizationquicklyevolvedfromabuzzphrasetoastorm.
Servervirtualizationhasbeenagreatfitforavastmajorityofcompanies,butcanthesame
besaidfordesktopvirtualization?Thereisnodoubtthatdesktopvirtualizationandvirtual
desktopinfrastructure(VDI)areemergingindustrytrends,butaretheyrightforyourexact
businessgoals?
Thatisthequestionthisguideintendstoanswer.AlthoughbuildingVDIisagoalofmany
ITorganizations,doestheexcitementsurroundingVDItechnologyobfuscatethebusiness
problemsitintendstoresolve?Thisbookwillserveasaguideposttowardeffectively
determiningthebestalignmentbetweentechnologyandbusinessneed.Thatguidepostcan
serveasbothadirectionalmarkerandawarningandtheintentionistoaccomplishboth.
TheaimistohelptheITarchitectdeterminewhatbusinessrequirementsdrivethemove
towarddesktopvirtualizationaswellaschoosetherightpathindesktopvirtualization.
DesktopVirtualization:MeansorEnd?
TheITindustryfindsitselfinaquandarybetweentechnologyandbusinessrequirements.
TechnologyexiststhatdramaticallyimprovestheefficiencyoftheITorganization,butdoes
theimplementationofthattechnologyinfactburdenitsusers?CouldanITreturnon
operationalefficiencyactuallyhinderthebusinessinotherways?Determiningwhether
desktopvirtualizationrepresentsasolutionorameanstothatsolutionrequiresaskingkey
questions:
Howdoesdesktopvirtualizationalignwithenduserservicedelivery?
Whatadditionalbenefitsorenhancementstoenduserservicedeliverywillcome
fromtheVDIproject?
Arethosebenefitscostjustified?
Dothedesktopvirtualizationstepstakennowalignandintegratewithfuture
growthandotheremergingtechnologies?
JaimeHalscott
Timingthetransitionfromlegacydesktopinfrastructuretoamethodforanytime,
anywhereuserworkspacedeliveryiscritical.AsITbudgetscontinuetotighten,noIT
architectcanorshouldrealisticallyaskexecutivestoapprovereplacementof
infrastructurethatisntbroken.Thus,itisnecessarytoframetheentireendeavoraround
thetruegoalofenduserservicedelivery.However,legacydesktopsmaybemeetingthe
goalofenduserservicedeliveryquitewell.
Sothebigquestionis,Whyreplacethem?Desktopvirtualizationisntanendinitself.Itis
partofapathtowardtheevolvingdeliveryofservicestoendusers.Thisjourneyis
transformativeandwonthappenovernight.Thereisntgoingtobeatechnicalsolutionto
alloftheproblemsthatwillbeencountered.Desktopvirtualizationdoesntaddressthem
allatthispointandasatechnologyset,mayneverdoso.Vendorshavemadegreatstrides
towardsbuildingtechnicalsolutionsthatwewilladdressindetail;however,understanding
wheretoleveragedesktopvirtualizationandwherenottoisoftheutmostimportance.
Desktopvirtualizersfaceawholenewsetofchallengesfromtheirservercounterparts.
EvenseasonedITarchitectsfamiliarwiththeaspectsofasuccessfulservervirtualization
projectcanbecaughtoffguardbythedifferencesbetweenserveranddesktop
virtualization.Understandingthesecriticaldifferencesiscrucialtoasuccessfulproject.
Reference
Laterchapterswillanalyzethedifferencesbetweenserveranddesktop
virtualizationwiththegoalofbetterunderstandingwhichtechnologiesfit
whichfuturegoals.
Inaddition,technologistsmustidentifythereasonsfortheprojectinthefirstplaceand
answerkeyquestions:Whyvirtualizedesktops?WhatisdrivingtheVDIinitiative?Ifthe
reasonsandchallengesarentthoughtthroughandaddressedattheonset,theprojectwill
quicklyfallshortofthebusinessgoals.Technicalchallengesarejustpartoftheproblem.
Endusertraining,awareness,andexpectationsarevitalelementstoaddressthroughout
theprocess.Letsstartwithaseriesoflessonsdesignedtohelpyouunderstandhow
desktopvirtualizationdiffersfromservervirtualization.
Atthecore,therearealotofsimilarities.However,theimplementationofdesktop
virtualizationintroduceschallenges.Wewillanalyzethosechallengesandcometoan
overalldeterminationofwhetherdesktopvirtualizationshouldevenbeapartofyour
overallITplan.Wewillthenlookathowtodeterminehowmuchofafititreallyisand
wheretoleverageitmosteffectively.Thefirststepintheprocessistoanalyzetheserver
virtualizationmodelwiththegoalofunderstandingwhyitdoesntworkfordesktop
virtualization.
JaimeHalscott
Lesson1:WhytheServerVirtualizationModelDoesntWorkforVDI
VirtualizationisatopicthatjustabouteveryITprofessionalhashadatleastsomebasic
exposuretoatthispoint.Manybusinesseshaveadoptedsomeformofvirtual
infrastructure,butthisadoptionis,atthistime,mostlylimitedtoserverbased
virtualization.Thatisnttosaythatdesktopvirtualizationisforeign,butitisemerging,and
assuchyoumayhaveverylimitedexposuretoit.
Servervirtualizationbroughtwithitahostofjustificationsforprojects,includingserver
consolidation,decreasedoverallhardwarecosts,decreasedsupportcosts,simplified
backup,andmanyothers.Dotheseholdtruefordesktopvirtualization?Wellexplorethat
answeraswecompareserveranddesktopvirtualization.Letsstartwiththeplanning
phase.
Planning
Iveseenalotofservervirtualizationprojectssucceedevenwiththeworstplanningup
front.ThelastservervirtualizationprojectIsawrunintoseriousproblemswastheresult
ofacompletelackofplanning.Eventhatonewassalvagedandshowedanimmediate
returnoninvestment.Mypersonalexperiencehasshownthatdesktopvirtualizationisless
toleranttoplanningmissteps.Thisisntabadthingperse.
EveryITprojectshouldbeplannedfromthestart,anddesktopvirtualizationisno
different.Buildingaplanthattakesintoaccountasmanyvariables,goals,andmetricsas
possiblemakestheprojectthatmuchmorelikelytosucceed.
Desktopvirtualizationrequirescarefulplanning,testing,andpilotingbecauseitisso
closelytiedtoenduserexperience.Userswillnottolerateslowdownsorperipheralsthat
dontwork.Rememberthatyouarentdeliveringjustadesktopindesktopvirtualization.You
aredeliveringawholeuserexperience.
Servervirtualizationgivesmorewiggleroom,ifyouwill,intheproject.Takingasingle
physicalserverandrepurposingittosupportmultiplevirtualserversdoesntrequirea
completerestructuringofthenetworkoradditionalhardware.Existingmetricsfor
processor,memory,diskI/O,andsuchshouldalreadybeinplaceonthephysicalserver.
Theseperformancecountersdoagoodjobofshowingapproximateworkloadsforvirtual
serversovertime.Thisdatamakesitrelativelyeasytopilotvirtualserverworkloads.
Desktopsaredifferent.Someusersaremoreresourceintensivethanothersandhaveless
toleranceforslowdowns.Ingeneral,thetaskoffindingoutthisinformationisnteasy.
Licensing
Licensingisalsodifferent.Inmanycases,servervirtualizationdoesntrequireany
additionaloperatingsystem(OS)licensing.MostITstaffcanratherquicklyarticulatewhat
theWindowsServervirtualizationlicensingrightsarefortheStandard,Enterprise,and
Datacenterversions.Thematurityoftheservervirtualizationlandscapehasmadethis
informationwidelyknowninthecourseofafewyears.
JaimeHalscott
Thatsaid,Imwillingtobetthathardlyasmanyreaderswillbeabletoexplainwithout
extensiveresearchhowmanyinstancesofWindows7,forexample,canbeinstalledona
particularVDIplatformandhowmanycanlegallyberunconcurrently.Thereare
alternativelicensingschemesdesignedspecificallyforvirtualdesktops.Findingouthow
muchavirtuallicensecostsandthelegalrightsassociatedwiththatlicenseremainsa
difficulttask.Thisispartofanormalgrowingpainprocesswithanytechnology.Vendors
likeMicrosofthavecomeupwithseveralplansfordesktopvirtualizationlicensing,which
aremeanttosimplifyandkeepcostsdownhowever,theseplansstillarentfullyfleshed
out.
Butbeforeyoucanjumpintolicensingneedsorevendeterminingthekeydifferences
betweenendusersneeds,youneedtogetbacktothegoalsoftheproject.Letsstartby
analyzingthegoalsofdesktopvirtualization.
TheGoalsofDesktopVirtualization
YouveprobablystarteddownthisVDIpathwiththebeliefthatthegoalsofdesktop
virtualizationarethesameasthoseforservervirtualization.Tryingtostartwithafamiliar
knowledgebaseinservervirtualizationshouldnthurtadesktopvirtualizationproject,
shouldit?Ithinkitmight.Althoughsomeoftheservervirtualizationgoalsapplydirectlyto
desktopvirtualization,formostpart,theydontsharethemainbusinessdrivers.
Understandingthedifferencesiscritical.
Servervirtualizationislargelyfocusedondrivingupefficiencyanddrivingdowncosts.It
tendstoachievethesegoalswell.ITarchitectsthattakeonservervirtualizationcandraw
modelsthatshowcostsavingsinavarietyofways:
Greaterutilizationofexistingserverhardware
Spacesavingsinthedatacenter
Reducedservermaintenancecosts
Reducedpowerandcoolingcosts
Softwarelicensingsavings
Reducedserverdeploymenttime
Applicationisolation
Multipleplatformsonthesamehardware
Desktopvirtualizationprovidessomeofthesebenefitsbutnotnearlyasdirectlyorina
mannerthatisaseasytoquantifyasservervirtualizationdoes.Adesktopvirtualization
solutionachievesahostofsoftcostsavingsthatrequiresadifferentanalysis.Thesecost
savingsaregoingtobemoredifficulttoquantifyattheonsetoftheprojectthantheyare
withservervirtualization.Itdoesntmeantheyarentjustasbeneficial,butratherthatthey
arentgoingtobeimmediatelyobvious.
JaimeHalscott
Inparticular,desktopvirtualizationreducessupportcostsassociatedwithdeploymentand
managementofthePCinfrastructurebystreamliningtheprocessofprovisioningnew
desktops,deployingnewapplications,simplifyingimagingbecauseofuniformvirtual
hardware,andofferingalongerrefreshcyclefortheexistingphysicaldesktop
infrastructure.
IdentifyingHowUsersInteractwithDesktopsIsCritical
Serversarebackofficeproductswithwhichusersdonttypicallyinteract.Suchisnotthe
casefordesktops.UserexperienceiscriticaltothesuccessorfailureofaVDIproject.And
thegoalsofadesktopvirtualizationimplementationshouldaccountforuserexpectations
forperformanceandseamlessaccess.
Dousersperformseparateroleswhenrunningonaphysicaldesktopthanonavirtual
desktop?Theanswerisobviouslyno.Usersarentallofthesuddenusingdifferent
applicationsorworkingwithdifferentdataafteradesktopvirtualizationimplementation.
Usersaresimplytradingoneformofservicedeliveryforanotherformofservicedelivery.
Theapplicationsanddatathatauseraccesseswillbenodifferentwhetherinteractedwith
directlyonaphysicalpieceofhardware(atraditionaldesktop)ordeliveredfromadata
center(avirtualdesktop).
Thisuserworkspaceconceptwillbeimportantgoingforwardbecausewearegoingto
frametheuseofVDIandotherdesktopandapplicationvirtualizationeffortsinthis
context.Theconceptoftheuserworkspaceisalmostcompletelyforeigntotheserver
virtualizationmodel.Why?Theanswerisasimpleone:endusersdontinteractwitha
serverfromanexperiencestandpoint.Theserverisservingapplicationsanddatatothe
desktop,laptop,tablet,mobiledevice,orsomeotherpresentationmethod.
Themostoftencitedreasonforvirtualizingdesktopscentersonthechallengesandcostsof
managingPCs.ManagingphysicalPCsisexpensiveandtimeconsuming.Theenduser
workspaceenvironmentcanincludetenstohundredsofvariousapplications,allofwhich
havetheirownsupportingfiles,necessarydependencies,fileconflicts,andsoon.This
resultsinconflictandalackofstandardizationbetweendesktops.
LessonLearned
Soratherthanattempttobuildadesktopvirtualizationmodelwithconceptsborrowed
fromservervirtualization,abetterplanistostartwithanewmodelfromscratch.Doingso
reducesthetemptationtopullcostsavingjustifications,planningstrategies,and
benefit/goalanalysesfromservervirtualizationmodels.Thefollowinglisthighlights
factorsthatshouldbetakenintoaccountforadesktopvirtualizationcostmodel:
Basicinfrastructureupgradecosts(thatis,more/fasterservers)
OSandapplicationlicensing
Migrationfromphysicaltovirtualdesktops
Endusertraining
Physicalandvirtualdesktopmanagementcosts
JaimeHalscott
Youwillfindthatthesefactorsaredifficulttoquantify.Howcanyoudeterminecostsbefore
youbuildapilotandtest?Thetrickistostartconstructionofacostmodelthattakesinto
accountallofthefactorsyoureasonablybelievearegoingtoaffecttheoverallexpense,
buildaproofofconcept,thendevelopapilotthatissmallenoughtorepresentthedesired
goal.Theresultsoftheproofofconceptandthefollowingpilotwilltesttheaccuracyofthe
costmodelandexposeanyweaknessesthatcanbecorrectedinthemodelbefore
proceedingwithafullscaleproject.
Lesson2:HowtoOvercomeDifficultiesSupportingDistantandOffline
Users
Distantandofflineuserspresentoneofthegreatesttechnicalchallengestothedeliveryof
userworkspacesusingVDI.Muchlikeservervirtualization,desktopvirtualizationrelieson
abackendandappropriateconnectivitytothatbackendtoserveorpresentthe
workspace.Thissetupisfineaslongasthereisanappropriatelyrobustmechanismfor
deliveryoftheuserworkspaceendtoend.Anyleveloflatency,droppedconnections,or
generalinstabilitywillseriouslyhampertheproductivityoftheenduser.
Wehavealreadydeterminedthatthegoalisenduserservicedelivery.Interruptionstothat
deliverywillcriticallyimpairtheoverallproductivityoftheuser.Theseinterruptionscan
resultfrommanyfactors,suchasproblemswithnetworkreliability.Tofullyunderstand
thechallengesofservicedeliverytoremoteusersandfurtherdownthespectrum,offline
users,youhavetolookatthefactorsthataffectbothreliabilityandusability.Reliability
influenceswhetheryoucandelivertheserviceinaconsistentmanner.Usabilityiswhether
youcandeliveritwithaqualitythatwontadverselyimpacttheusersproductivity.
Reliability
Letslookatnetworkreliabilityfirst.Everynetworkconnectivitytechnologyisgoingto
havevaryinglevelsofreliability.Thisdoesntcomefromthetechnologyusedasmuchas
thewayitisimplementedandhowwellitissupported.Speedalsoplaysanimportantrole.
Speed
Networkspeediscrucialforavarietyofreasons,andismorecomplexthanjustlookingat
themaximumtheoreticalspeedoftheconnection.Whenyouthinkaboutnetworkspeed,
mostoftenyouthinkaboutbandwidth.However,bandwidthisonlygoingtobepartofthe
problem.Muchmoreimportantisthelatencyintroducedbythenetwork.Inatightly
controlledLAN,thisisntgoingtobeabigproblem.
GigabitEthernetisahighbandwidthandlowlatencytechnology.Asaresult,itisidealfor
servicedeliveryandVDI.However,itisuncommontohaveendtoendGigabitEthernetto
allusersallovertheplanet.Therealityisthatwehavetolivewithsomelevelsofreduced
bandwidthandlatency.Desktopvirtualizationimplementationmustbeconsciousofthe
wayusersinteractwiththevirtualdesktopinfrastructureinsidetheLANonGigabit
EthernetorfasteraswellasoutsidetheLANwherethenetworkspeedcanbemuchless.
JaimeHalscott
SupportingOfflineUsers
Offlineuserspresentaslightlydifferentsetofchallengesthanremoteusersdo.Anoffline
userisonethatspendsalotoftimewithlittleornoconnectivity.Agoodexampleisthe
fieldsalesusersthatspendavastmajorityoftheirtimeinairportsandhotels.Theoffline
usermayberemotemostofthetimeandhaveconnectionbacktothedatacenterfor
accesstotheVDI.
Traditionally,offlineorremoteusershavemadeuseofasolutiontoaddressconnectivity
interruptionsandallowforproductivitywhiledisconnected.Technologiesadecadeold
allowforofflinefiles.Usershavealsohadtraditionalhardwareattheirlocationthatwould
keepresidentcopiesofneededapplications,associatedsettings,andpreferences.
Intheworldofthevirtualdesktop,thedesktopsessionorpublishedapplicationhasbeen
presentedremotelytotheenduser.Thechallengestoaccomplishingthiswithlimitedtono
connectivitybacktothedatacenterarewellknown.Quitesimply,ifyoucantreachyour
datacenter,youcantgetyourdesktoporapplications.Inordertoaddressthislimitedor
noconnectivityproblem,vendorshavecreatedseveraluniquesolutions.
Supportingofflineuserscantaketheformofanofflinedesktop,essentiallyalocalvirtual
copyofalltheOSandapplicationneedsoftheuser.However,westillhavetomanagethat
desktopandthecomputeronwhichitruns.Thetechnologiesfordeliveringanoffline
desktopvary,butforthemostpartinvolvesomesortofcheckoutandversioncontrol
mechanismforthevirtualdesktop.Thissetupallowstheusertoworkwithalocalcopyof
thedesktopandsynchronizethechangesbacktothedatacenterasconnectivitypermits.
Theproblemisthatinordertohaveaseamlessuserworkspace,theusermustunderstand
theprocessesassociatedwithcheckins,checkouts,versioncontrol,andsynchronization.
Eachvendorwillhaveslightlydifferentprocesssets.
Reference
Chapter2willexaminethedifferenttypesofaccesshardwarethatwill
greatlyaffecttheuserworkspacepresentation.Newtypesofdevicesmaynot
supportofflinedesktopfunctionandmightbeaclunkyfitforVDI.
VDIstechnologiesarechallengedtomeetenduserservicedeliverygoalswhenitcomesto
offlineandremoteusers.Thelimitationsimposedbyrequiredconnectivityaretoomuchto
overcomeformanybusinesses.Vendorshavemademeasuredstridestoachievingsuccess
here;however,preservingasatisfactoryuserexperienceremainsachallengewithVDIand
thisuserclass.
JaimeHalscott
Lesson3:HowtoSupportHeavyUsers
Heavyusersrepresentauniqueclassofusers.Theheavyusertypicallyismoretiedto
specializedhardwarethantheaverageknowledgeworker.Forexample,anarchitectthat
reliesonhighresolutiongraphicsandlargerormultiplemonitorswillnotbeeasily
supportedinadesktopvirtualizationscenario.Itypicallyrefertothistypeofuserasa
poweruser,butbecauseWindowshasabuiltinusergroupalsocalledPowerUsers,Ive
startedreferringtotheseusersasheavyusers.Really,thetermsareinterchangeable.
Technicalsolutionshaveevolvedtohelpmeettheincreaseddemandsthatthepoweruser
placesonaVDIsystem,butagainyoumustfocusonthereasonfordesktopvirtualizationin
thefirstplaceand,moreimportantly,theservicedeliveryaspect.Istheheavyuserclass
onethatshouldbeapartofadesktopvirtualizationscenariooristhissimplynottheway
tomeetthegoalofenduserservicedelivery?
Letsstartthisanalysisbylookingatthewaythetypicalheavyuserinteractswith
technology.Usingthisinformation,youcandeterminewhatorhowmuchofthatworkfits
withVDIandothervirtualizationefforts.
Whatdoesanexamplearchitecturalorengineeringheavyuseremployinatraditionalnon
virtualizeddesktopenvironmentforservicedelivery?ThisuserwillhaveaCADsoftware
packagethathasprocessorandmemorydemandsthataregreaterthantypicalbusiness
productivitysoftwarepackages.Thissoftwareisneededinadditiontoothermorecommon
businessapplicationssuchasofficeproductivity,timetrackingandbilling,andvarious
othersupportingpointsolutions.
Thesecondconsiderationishardware.Atthecore,theprocessor,memory,andstorage
demandsarehigherfortheheavyuserthanforthegeneralbusinessknowledgeworker
classofusers.Thesedemandsareplacedbytherequirementsofthespecializedsoftware
packagesthemselves.Theseextraresourcesareexpensive.
Thecostsperuserthatmustbesupportedonthedesktopvirtualizationplatformwillbe
higherfortheheavyuserthanfortheknowledgeworker.Desktopvirtualizationsolutions
arestartingtohelpwiththespecializedhardwareandevennowprovidesupportforUSB
deviceredirection.
Whatarethecriteriaforwhenaheavyusercanandcannotbesupportedinavirtual
desktop?Herearesomeofthefactorstoconsider:
Directlyconnectedperipherals
Specializedinputdevices
Multiplemonitorsupport
Complexapplications
JaimeHalscott
Heavyusersoftenhaverequirementsfor3Drenderingandfullmotionvideothataremet
quitewellwithphysicaldesktops.Theabilitytooffloadthesefunctionstoadedicated
graphicssysteminaphysicaldesktopisgoingtobeeasyandinexpensive,butthisisntthe
casewithavirtualdesktop.Onlyrecently,companieshavebeguntooffer3Dandfull
motionsupportaspartofthetechnologiestoimprovethevisualcapabilitiesofvirtual
desktops.Therehasbeensomelevelofsupportfor3Dinmanyvendorofferings,butthe
mostrecentgenerationhasallowedittoapproachtheexperiencethatheavyusersexpect
fromatraditionaldesktop.
MicrosoftcallsthisRemoteFX.Itisagreatstart,butithasrequirementsforWindows7
endtoend,bothontheclientandonthevirtualdesktop.Also,thegraphicsprocessingon
theserverhostingthevirtualdesktophastobeincreasedinordertosupportthemore
intensivegraphicsdisplayrequiredfromRemoteFX.Serversthathavethusfarbeenusedto
supportonlyservervirtualizationmaynotwork.Theseserverswillhavetohaveexpansion
abilitiestotakeprofessionalworkstationlevelgraphicscards.
Microsoftisnttheonlyproviderthatiskeenlyawareoftherichuserexperiencethat
virtualdesktopusersdemand.CitrixhasbuilttheHDXprotocolforusewiththeir
virtualizationsolution,whichenableswhattheytermasthehighdefinitiondesktop
virtualizationuserexperience.IfyouareunabletosupporttheendtoendWindows7
requirementsorupgradetheserverhardwaretosupportthesetechnologies,theuser
experiencewilldiminishaccordingly.
Inaddition,monitorspanningwasintroducedafewyearsagotoassistuserswithmultiple
monitorstohaveremotedesktopsessionstakeadvantageofmorethanonemonitor.It
doeshavelimitationsthattheheavyusermaynotbeabletolivewith.Maximumresolution
islimitedandnotallvirtualdesktopplatformswillsupportalloftheavailablemonitors.
Thepossibilitythatheavyuserscanbesupportedisntoutofthequestion.However,you
willhavetoaddressthefactorsmentionedtodeterminehowtobestsupportthem.In
doingso,youmightfindthattheneedsofyourorganizationsheavyusersmakevirtual
desktopsunfeasibleforthem.
Lesson4:MakingSuretheNetworkInfrastructureIsUptotheTask
ThelynchpininsuccessfulVDIdeliveryofuserworkspacesisitsnetworkinfrastructure.In
particular,networklatencyandreliabilityareparamounttosuccess.Sohowdoyou
determinetheappropriateamountofbandwidthandthresholdsforreliability?
Oneapproachinvolvesseekingthesolutionthatfitsbestalongtheaxesofgood,fast,and
cheap.Astheadagegoes,onecanonlyexpecttheabilitytoprioritizetwoofthese;however
findingthecombinationthatmeetsyourneedsisfundamentallyimportant.
JaimeHalscott
Networkandinfrastructurereliabilityareparamount,soconsiderthecategoryofgoodto
beaconstant.Goodmeansthatthenetworkconnectivityandinfrastructurearegoingto
guaranteeasmuchuptimeaspossible.Inordertoachievethisend,wearegoingtofocus
ontwoaspects,internalandexternalconnectivity.
UnderstandingInternalConnectivityNeeds
Internalconnectivitywillencompassallinterconnectsandnetworkingcomponentssuchas
switchesandrouters.CurrentLANtechnologyismaturewhenconnectinginternalhosts.
Vendorsandtheindustryingeneralalreadyhaveinexpensivesolutionsforfaulttolerance
andredundancy.Entrybarriersforprovidinghighlyreliableinternalinfrastructurearefar
fewerthantheywereeven5yearsago.ThisiswelcomenewsforanITarchitectthatmust
balancebudgetconstraintswiththebusinessgoalsofahighlyavailablevirtualization
solution.
AnysupportingnetworkinfrastructuremustsupportGigabitEthernetataminimum,and
10GigabitEthernetisquicklybecomingthenewstandard.Thisstandardhasevolveddue
toeverincreasingnetworkthroughputcreatingareasofcongestioningigabitspeed
networks.Thatcongestioniseffectivelyeliminatedwiththeupgradeto10Gigabit
Ethernet.Withgoodasaconstant,fastandcheaparethevariablesthatremain.Cheapcan
beaccomplishedwithinternalconnectivity.10GigabitEthernetpriceshavedropped
significantly,givingevenlimitedbudgetstheabilitytoinvestincoreinfrastructureatthis
speed.
Fastinternalconnectivityalsoisntmuchofanissue.Itisnearlyimpossibletofindanything
slowerthanGigabitEthernetintheserverspace.Technologiesinherenttoserversallowfor
bothloadbalancingandfailover,whichisgreatforgettingaboostinspeedandreliability,
essentiallycombiningfastandcheapinonepackage.
TacklingExternalConnectivityProblems
Wherethechallengesbecomemostevidentiswithexternalconnectivity.Choicesfor
Internetaccessarenumerous.Forthepurposeofanalysis,wearegoingtobreakdownthis
conceptintotwocategories:thosewithguaranteedservicelevelsandthosewithout.
Certaintechnologiesaremorereliableandcostmore.Itisntthatthesecondclassof
externalconnectivityisnecessarilyunreliable,butitisdesignedforspeedoverstability.
Internetconnectivitytotheremoteusersendpointrepresentsthemostlikelyhindranceto
productivity.Thisissuehasbecomemuchmorecomplicatedasusersaccesstheir
workspacesovercellularenabledmobiledevices.Aretheseusersremoteoroffline?The
answerdependsonwheretheyare,andthecapabilitiesofthedevice,amongahostof
otherfactors.
Later,thisbookwilldiscussthetypesofdevicesandtheemergenceofnewworkspace
accessapproachesthatarepushingtheselimits.Fornowthough,letsestablishthataccess
canbeonsocalled3Gand4Gnetworks,WiFi,WiMAX,orevenlegacycellularnetworks.
TheITarchitectwillhavetotakeintoaccountallofthesepossibilitiesandsetrealistic
expectationsfortheuserexperienceforeachofthesetypesofnetworksanddevices.
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MetricsforEnsuringNetworkEffectiveness
Whatarethemetricsthatneedtobemonitoredinordertoensurethatthenetwork
infrastructureisuptothetask?Internally,thereshouldbemetricsfortotalnetwork
utilizationandperhost/serverutilization.Latencyisntgoingtoplayanimportantrolein
thedeterminationofadequateresourcesonahighspeednetwork,butitwillplayahuge
roleindeterminingtheadequacyofInternetconnections.Externally,themetricsaremuch
moreimportantbecausetheysetthestageforbothdatacenterconnectivityandremote
userconnectivity.
Employarepresentativeuserduringthepilottodeterminethebandwidthrequirements
overall.Theclassofuserwontplaymuchofaroleindeterminingbandwidthrequirements
withtheobviousexceptionofvideoandmultimediaintensiveusers.Theparticular
protocolusedbythedesktopvirtualizationsolutionhandlesscreenupdatesandwillaffect
thebandwidthmorethantheclassofuser.
Forthepurposeofdeterminingbandwidthusage,letsselectasingleaccessmethodatfirst
andlookathowdifferentvendorprotocolswillaffectthetotalbandwidthconsumedper
user.Byaccessmethod,ImeandesktopvirtualizationusingprotocolssuchasRDPand
CitrixICAinsteadofapplicationvirtualization.Thesewilltakemorebandwidththan
applicationvirtualizationingeneral.Thereasonisthatthedisplayoftheentiredesktop
andthegraphicalinterfaceassociatedwithitisgoingtoconsumemorebandwidththanthe
displayofonlyavirtualapplication.
Incrementaluserexperienceoptimizationshavebeenaddedaswell,suchasprotocol
optimizationsandcompressionalgorithmsthatdecreasethebandwidthrequiredto
displayavirtualdesktop.Virtualinfrastructurevendorshavevaryinglevelsolutionsto
makethemostoutoflimitedbandwidthandtheimplicationisthatastimeprogressesthis
isgoingtoimprovetheuserexperienceswhenrunningoverlowbandwidthlinks.
Endusersexpectavirtualdesktopexperiencethatcloselyapproximatestheonetheyare
usedtowiththeirphysicaldesktops.Slowdownsindisplayofgraphicsandvideoswillnot
beacceptable.Ifbandwidthcannotbeprovidedthatwillsupporttheseusersexpectations
fordisplayofvideo,userswillcomplainaboutslowdownsandtheentireprojectcanbe
jeopardized.Theimportanceofdeterminingtherepresentativeuserbandwidth
requirementscannotbeoveremphasized.Iftheseneedsarentdeterminedupfront,the
bandwidthcostscanballoon,jeopardizingtheentireproject.
Onceyouestablishthebaselinerequirementforarepresentativeuser,youcanbuilda
formulabymultiplyingthenumberofeachthatareexpectedtobeconcurrentlyaccessing
theirworkspacesbytherequirementsforeachclassthatyouhavedetermined.Takethis
numberandaddapeakusagefactortocompensateforspikeswithoutadegradationof
service.Atthesametime,factorinanticipatedgrowth.
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Bandwidthrequirementsvarywildly,notjustbetweenclassesofusersbutalsodepending
onthewaythatyoudefineaclassofuserandtheirparticularrole.Optimizationsinthe
particularvirtualizationplatform,compressiontechnologies,andmanyotherunknowns
willaffectbandwidth.Requirementsaslowas20Kbpsandashighas180Kbpsarenot
unreasonable.
Remembertoothathowyoupresenttheuserworkspaceimpactstheoverallnetwork
requirements.Usingexistingtechnologies,thispresentationcanbeanentiredesktopora
seriesofpresentedvirtualapplications.Testingeitherscenarioiscriticaltosuccess.I
alludedtoitearlier,buttherewillbevariation,howeverslightvendorsmightclaim,inthe
differentdesktopvirtualizationsolutions.
Onceyouhavetackledthecalculationsfordatacenterbandwidthandfactoreditintoyour
costs,youneedtoturntothemoredifficultcalculationoftheminimumrequirementsfor
theclientside.Asnotedearlier,theclientcanbeaccessingtheuserworkspacefrom
anythingrangingfromamobiledevicewithlimitedbandwidthtoatraditionalthinclientor
evenafulldesktop.
Lesson5:PreparingforUnforeseenCosts
Thecostmodelsforservervirtualizationdonttranslateexactlyfordesktopvirtualization.
Wesawthisinourearlieranalysis.Thereasonsforthisaremanyaswehavelookedat
already.Eventhebestplannedprojectisgoingtobesusceptibletosomesortofcost
overrun.Ofcourse,thebestwaytoensureasuccessfulbudgetingfortheprojectisto
analyzeasmanyfactorsaspossible.Eventhen,theremaybesomethatcannotbe
calculatedwithcompletecertainty.Letsstartwiththeknownquantitiesthatareshared
betweenbothvirtualandphysicalinfrastructuredesign,thenlookatthefactorsthatare
exclusivelypartofadesktopand,inmanycases,aservervirtualizationbuildout.
Ifwestartthecostmodelanalysiswiththefactorsthatwillbemostcomparablebetween
physicalandvirtualdesktops,thefirstitemthatcomestomindisthelicensingcosts
associatedwiththeOSandapplications.Virtualdesktopandvirtualapplicationsoftware
licensinghasntyetmaturedtothelevelthatithasintheservervirtualizationarena.The
answertothequestionofhowmanycopiesofaparticulardesktopOSorapplicationcanbe
runvirtuallyisntaseasytoanswerastheserverquestion.
Hardwareneedsarecertainlygoingtofactorintotheoverallcostforthevirtualization
effort.Itgoeswithoutsayingthattherearecertainbaselineneedsforjustabouteveryform
ofvirtualizationtechnology.Theseincludeprocessorsupportfortheplatformata
minimum.Almosteveryservershippedinthepastfewyearshastherequirementsfor
basicvirtualizationsupport,sotherewillbethedrivetosavecostsbyreusingand
repurposetheseresources.Thisisagreatidea,butitcantbetakenatfacevalue.
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Theabilitytopresentuserworkspacesinaconsistentmannerwilldependonthecreation
ofabackendinfrastructurethatisseamlesstotheusersworkinginit.Existinghigh
availabilitytechnologiessuchasstorageareanetworks(SANs),RAIDarrays,redundant
powersupplies,andothertechnologiesaregoingtobereusablewhencreatingadesktop
andapplicationvirtualizationsystem.Asinglepointoffailureisgoingtointerruptthe
servicedeliveryformorethanasingledesktop,soalldesignworkhastofocusoncreating
asreliableasystemaspossiblewithintheallottedbudget.
Mostorganizationsareabletotoleratedowntimeforasinglephysicaldesktopsystem.
Desktopsareconsideredacommoditybymanybusinesses.Ifonefails,itgetsreplacedand
businesscontinues.Thingschangeupalittlebitoncewestartvirtualizing.Asingleserver
canhandleseveralvirtualdesktops.Thesameprinciplemayapplytoavirtualdesktopthat
doestoaphysicalone,meaningthatasinglevirtualdesktopcanfailwithoutmassive
businessinterruption.However,youcanthaveaserverfailbecauseitwillleadtoseveral
virtualdesktopsbeingunavailable.
Highavailabilitycomesatacost.Swappingacommoditydesktopcontaininganinexpensive
harddriveforavirtualdesktopthatuseshighendSANstorageisgoingtobeseveral
ordersofmagnitudemoreexpensive.Thisadditionalcostwillfactorintothedecisionof
reducedmanagementcostsversusincreasedinfrastructurecosts.
Perhapsthemostdifficulttaskisdeterminingthespecializedskillsrequiredtoimplement
theprojectandsupportthesolutiongoingforward.AnITarchitectisgoingtohaveto
understandthecurrenttechnicallandscapeandanticipatethefutureneedsofboththe
infrastructureasitwillstandandanyadditionalchangesthatmightoccuroverthelifeof
theinfrastructure.Thefollowinglisthighlightsfactorsthatmustbeconsidered:
TheexperienceoftheITstaffingeneral
Previousstaffexperiencewithvirtualizationtechnologies
Staffexperiencesupportingremoteusers
Implementationandsupportofferingsfromvendors
Abilityofthestafftoembraceinnovations
Coststooutsourcetheprojectandsupporttoathirdparty
Therewillbemorethanthistoconsider,butalltoooften,theITstaffisntpreparedto
undertakeaprojectofthismagnitudewithoutadditionaltraining,additionalpersonnel,or
thirdpartyassistance.Performinganinitialanalysisofthespecializedskillsrequiredfor
variousvirtualizationeffortswillgreatlyassistinprovidingacostmodelthatisaccurate.
Themostimportanttakeawayisthatchangingfromphysicaltovirtualdesktopsmay
requiremoreupfrontcoststhanyoumightexpect.Planningcarefullyforthosecostsis
crucialtoavoidingoverruns.
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Lesson6:MakingSuretheReasonsfortheProjectAreWellDefined
Thusfar,wehavelookedatcostmodelsandhowsavings,whileapartoftheoverallreason
foraVDIproject,arenotthemainbusinessdriver.Securityisalsoanimportantfactorbut
issecondaryinmanycases.Whenallfactorsareconsidered,therealreasonfordesktop
virtualizationistoobtainagreaterlevelofconsistentservicedelivery.Thatlevelofservice
deliverytiesdirectlytothestatedgoalofprovidinguserswithaworkspacethatallows
themtoperformtheirjobroleregardlessthehowtheworkspaceisaccessed.
Previousexperienceswithservervirtualizationmayleadseasonedvirtualizationveterans
toglossovertheneedtoclearlydefinegoalsandscope.EvenITarchitectswithlimited
servervirtualizationexperiencecanfallintothistrap.Thewealthofinformationthat
surroundsservervirtualizationeffortsmaytemptyoutosimplyadaptitsgoalsandhead
blindlyintoadesktopvirtualizationeffort.Thismethodwillcertainlynotaddressthe
appropriatedeliveryofuserworkspacesbecauseitsrequirementsarebeyondthosefound
intheservervirtualizationconcept.
Vendorrelationshipsareanotherpotentialpitfall.Alltoooften,avendorhasaproduct,or
evenanentiresolution,settosell.Althoughthesemightmeetgoalsandalignwithenduser
servicedelivery,everyelementoftheVDIprojectmustbecriticallyanalyzedagainstthe
welldefinedreasonsfortheproject.Alltoooftenanexecutivereadsanarticlethat
espousesthevirtuesofdesktopvirtualization.Thisleadsthemtobelievethatitalonewill
solvealloftheproblemsofPCmanagementandusherinaneweraofproductivity.
Vendorsaretrustedpartnersbutcansometimesbetemptedtopounceonthese
opportunitiesalittletooenthusiastically.Temperingvendorrelationshipswillgiveyoua
moreaccurateideaofwhatcanandcannotbedeliveredfromadesktopvirtualization
solution.
WhereDoPhysicalDesktopsFit?
Reusingandrepurposingphysicaldesktopstosupportvirtualdesktopsisacommon
approach.Thefirststeptoleveraginglegacydesktopsinaplanforfutureenduserservice
deliveryistodeterminetheremainingusablelifeforthedesktopsinuse.Ifthefocusison
creatingeffectiveuserworkspacesleveragingavirtualizationsolution,itdoesntmake
muchbusinesssensetoreplacedesktopsandthenrelegatethemtonothingmorethan
servingupadesktopsessionhostedonaserver.
Onceyouvedeterminedthatthedesktopmeetstherequirementsfordeliveryofavirtual
desktop,itcanberepurposedtodoso.However,havingtomanageaphysicaldesktopOS
andthenavirtualdesktopOSgreatlyincreasesthesupportrequirementsforthatdesktop.
Thebestsolutionistosetupthedesktopasathinclient.Doingsoreducescostsby
allowingexistinghardwaretobereused.
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Vendorsarestartingtomakegreatstridesintheabilitytorepurposephysicaldesktopsto
becomemuchmoreliketraditionalthinclients.Theconceptofthedesktopasathinclient
isntreallyanythingnew.Vendorshavebeenbuildingsolutionsforyearstotakeadvantage
ofterminalservicesbyconvertingPCsintothinclients.Recently,Microsoftannounced
MicrosoftWindowsThinPC(WinTPC).Essentiallythisisasmallerfootprint,lockeddown
versionofWindows7thatletsbusinessesreuselegacydesktopsinaVDIdeployment.It
hasalotofadvantagesinsecurityanddeploymentoverreusingthesameWindowsOS
desktopandprovidesameansforfuturetransitiontothinclients.
Thissortofapproachappearstobethetrendbecauseoftheaddedflexibilityandreduced
costs.Italsoallowsyourorganizationtorollbacktotraditionaldesktopsshouldtheneed
arise.Thissoftwaresolutionwillprovepopularoverthenextfewyearsbecauseofthe
abilitytohaveadesktoporthinclientasneeded.
Summary
Thereareatremendousnumberofdifferencesbetweenserveranddesktopvirtualization.
Thebusinessdriversaredifferentforeach.Theuserexperienceisamajorconcernin
desktopvirtualization,butalmostnotatallinservervirtualization.Thenatureoftheusers
accessingtheinfrastructureisalargedeterminantinwhethertovirtualizedesktopsand,if
so,howmuchtovirtualizedesktops.Thecostsavingscomeinthroughreducedsupportfor
desktopvirtualization,moresothanefficiencyasinservervirtualization.
Youwillneedtonavigatethecurrentphysicalinfrastructurethatyouhavesothatyoucan
buildaplanforwhattoreuseandwhattoremove.Youwillhavetounderstandthe
challengestoservicedeliveryandwheretheshortcomingsincurrenttechnologieswill
impactthosechallenges.Thisisntsomethingtotakelightlyenduserexperienceis
criticaltosuccess.
Thenextchapterwillexplorehowthelandscapeofdesktopvirtualizationisevolving
outsidethetraditionaldesktopasameansforaccessingvirtualdesktops.Wellalsoexplore
differentservicedeliverymethodsandemergingtechnologiesthatwillhavetobecomea
partoftheplanforVDI.Thecloudwillbeakeyconcern.Therearemanyapproachesto
embracingthecloudtosupportdesktopvirtualization,andwewilllookatwhatworksand
whatdoesnt.IwantyoutobeabletoanticipatehowVDIisgoingtobeapartofan
emergingstrategyforenduserservicedelivery.Chapter2willprovidecriticalinsightsin
howtoavoidpitfallsthatwilleitherrequireyoutoscrapVDIcompletelyorwontintegrate
yourVDIwellwithfuturechanges.
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Chapter2:SmartApproachesforMerging
DesktopVirtualizationTodayand
Tomorrow
Althoughthepromisesofdesktopvirtualizationbothintermsofscalabilityandcost
savingsdontalwaysworkthewaytheydowithservervirtualization,manyofthe
technologicalsimilaritiescanallowsolutionstoservedoubleduty.Thepreviouschapter
lookedatthekeydifferentiatorsbetweenserveranddesktopvirtualizationingeneral,
includingcostmodelsandprojectjustifications,problemswithsupportingdifferenttypes
ofusers,andthereasonsforadesktopvirtualizationprojectingeneral.
Thetrendtowardsdesktopvirtualization,asanaturalextensionofthetrendinserver
virtualization,showsnosignsofslowing.Eveniftherearedoubtsaboutwhetherdesktop
virtualizationisgoingtoaddressalltheneedsofabusiness,itiscertainthatbusinessesare
goingtotrytoleveragedesktopvirtualizationforatleastsomeportionofthe
infrastructure.Thechallengethenbecomesdeterminingwheretoleverageandwherenot
to,whattokeep,whattoreuse,andwhattoretire.
Thischapterlooksatwhichlegacysolutionsfitintovirtualdesktopservicedeliveryand
howtobestusethem.Wewillexplorehowthecloudisaffectingthedesktopvirtualization
trend.Inaddition,thereisawholeseriesofemergingtechnologiesthatwillmakeyou
rethinkwhereandhowtoleveragevirtualdesktops.Basedonthisinformation,youllbe
abletodeterminewheredesktopvirtualizationbestfitsintoaservicedeliverymodel.
TohaveasuccessfulITstrategy,abusinessmustlookatnotonlywhatexistscurrentlybut
alsowhatisemerging.Asmartbusinesshastounderstandwhathastakenthemarketby
stormandhowithasbecomeanembeddedpartoftheITlandscape.Desktopvirtualization
isgoingtobeaffectedbytrendsnotjustrelatedtovirtualizationbuttechnologyingeneral.
Lesson1willassistindetermininghowlegacysolutionswillfitinoverallgoalsofservice
delivery,fromhardwaretomanagementsoftwareandevensupportprocesses.
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Lesson1:HowLegacySolutionsIntegrateIntoServiceDelivery
WhenItalkaboutlegacy,IdontwanttheretobeanyconfusionastowhatImean.Inthe
realmofdesktopvirtualization,Imspeakingabouttechnologiesthataretypicallyused
eitherintheserverspaceexclusivelyorhavenottraditionallybeenapartofadesktop
servicediscussion.
ItmayseemalittleoddthatImreferringtolegacysolutionsaspartofavirtualdesktop
discussion,butthefactis,almostnooneisgoingtobeabletoripoutalloftheirexisting
infrastructurejusttostartfromscratchwithVDI.Honestly,whywouldanybusinessdecide
thatitisappropriatetoredesigneverythingjusttosupportanemergingtechnology?That
technologywouldhavetobesorevolutionaryandgivethatbusinesssuchacompetitive
edgethattherewouldbenootheroptionthantoadoptitcompletelyandsuddenly.
Desktopvirtualizationisntthattypeoftechnology.
Chapter1establishedthatVDIwasntthefinaldestinationbutmerelyapartofa
transformativejourneythatimprovestheenduserexperienceandenablesITtomorecost
effectivelysupportusersneeds.Withthatfocus,considerthefollowingquestionsforyour
business:
IfwearegoingtohaveVDIinsomeform,whatdowedoaboutallofthelegacy
desktopsthatarestillinproduction?
Whatabouttheserversandnetworkingequipmentinthedatacenterandcorporate
offices?
Whataboutthemanagementplatformsandsoftwareweusetosupportitall?What
dowedowithit?Dowereuseit?Dowerepurposeit?
Youshouldreuseandrepurposeasmuchofitaspossible.Thismakesnaturalsense,aswe
allhavetoworkwithinlimitedbudgets.Thenhowdoyoudeterminewhatyoucanreuse
andrepurpose?
TakeInventory
Letsstartbytakinganinventoryofthecurrentbusinessinfrastructure.Weneedto
determinewhichcomponentscanbereusedandwhichhavetobereplaced.Inadditionto
hardware,thisinventoryprocesswillnecessarilyincludesoftwareandevensupport
processestoo.
Hardwareisagoodplacetostartwiththeinventoryprocess.Youalreadyknowthe
requirementsforvirtualizationplatformsingeneral.Thisisoneareawherethedifferences
betweenserveranddesktopvirtualizationarentallthatvaried.Istruggletothinkofa
serverthathasshippedinthepastfewyearsthatdoesntfullysupportthetechnologies
requiredforvirtualization.
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Fromaserverhardwarestandpoint,ifyourserversarecapableofsupportingavirtual
serverinfrastructure,theyaregoingtobecapableofsupportingaVDI.Vendorsdontsell
differentserversforeachpurpose.Theseserversarejustasgoodforvirtualworkloadsas
theyareforphysicalones.Itdoesntmatterwhetherthoseworkloadsarevirtualserveror
virtualdesktopinnature.
Hardwaresupportforvirtualizationhasbeenaroundforseveralyears.Althoughthis
hardwaresupporthasmaturedandbroughtspeedandscalabilitygains,thereisonekey
differencebetweennowandwhenservervirtualizationstartedtobecomemainstream.
WhenservervirtualizationstartedtocomeintotheforefrontofITstrategies,serversdidnt
alwayssupporthardwareacceleratedvirtualization.Virtualizationplatformsrequired
directhardwaresupportfortheirhypervisorsthatmanyserverscouldnotprovide.Asa
result,onlythemostcurrentgenerationofserversatthattimewereviablecandidatesfor
becomingvirtualhosts.
Fastforward5yearsandweseethatallserverscurrentlyshippingfeaturesomeformof
hardwarevirtualizationsupport.Thenewertheserver,thebetterthesupportwillbewith
technologiesthatallowmuchmoreefficientdirectaccesstohardwareresources.
Nonetheless,allserversinthepastfewgenerationswillhavetherequiredsupportfor
desktopvirtualizationefforts.Tomoveaphysicalserverfromaservervirtualizationroleto
adesktopvirtualizationrole,notmuchisrequired.Certainly,thehardwaredoesnothave
tobereplaced,creatingthefirstchancetoreuseinfrastructurecomponents.
Inthefirstchapter,Iidentifiedtheimportanceofcreatinganeffectivepilottodetermine
performanceneedsandensurethatanysolutionwillfittheusersexpectationsfor
usability.Beingabletoemployserversthatstillmeettherequirementsforvirtualization
butmightbeagingtothepointwheretheyaretargetedforreplacementwillbeagreatway
totestdesktopvirtualizationwithoutaddingnewservers.Tocompletethisstep,takean
inventoryofallofyourserversandindicatewhichincludehardwarevirtualizationsupport.
AnalyzeSupportingComponentsandProcesses
Letsmovefromtheserverhardwareitselftotheothersupportingcomponentsinthedata
center.Inthisarea,upgradesthatwereperformedtosupportservervirtualizationprojects
willtranslateintorealworldusewithdesktopvirtualization.Therearenospecial
requirementsfornetworkinghardwareorstoragesystemstosupportdesktop
virtualization.Youcanleveragealltheswitches,routers,powerdistribution,andsuchthat
youvealreadyputinplacewithoutadditionalcost.
Withthatbeingsaid,thereisacaveattoreusingallofthesupportingcomponentswithout
planningforanyupgrades.ImplementingVDIcanbeamassivetaxontheexistingnetwork
infrastructure.Beingabletoreuseagoodportionofthenetworkinginfrastructuredoesnt
meanthatnetworkinginfrastructureupgradesandoptimizationwontneedtooccur.An
entireindustryofspecializednetworkingequipmentdesignedjustfordesktop
virtualizationscenarioshasemerged.
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Letsturnourattentiontosupport.Atthispoint,youwillhavesupportingsoftwarethatis
usedfordesktopandserversupport.Youalsohavemanagementandsupportprocesses
andmethodologiesthatwillhavetobeanalyzed.Becausethedesktopoperatingsystems
(OSs)arethesameregardlessofwhethertheyareonaphysicaldesktoporpresented
virtually,youcanleverageallyourexistinginvestmentsinyourmanagementsoftware
platforms.
Youwouldthinkthatsupportprocessesandmethodologieswouldntchangeappreciably
either;however,supportchangesareoneoftheprimarydriversingoingtodesktop
virtualization.Thesupportteamwillstillhavetorespondtohardwareproblemsoccurring
withavirtualdesktop,suchasfailureswiththedesktopsorthinclientsthatareaccessing
thevirtualdesktops.Theteamrespondingtothatwillhaveadifferentsetofdiagnosticand
repairstepstoperformthantheywouldwithlegacysolutionsupport.
Lookingathowmuchcanbereused,itseemsthatthisVDItransitionisprettymuchaslam
dunk,right?Notsofast!Therearesomeproblems.Inordertounderstandwhatthese
problemsare,letsstepbackaminuteandlookattraditionaldesktophardware.Business
desktopsarentdesignedwithhighavailabilityinmind.Theytypicallydonthave
redundantharddrives.Theydonthaveredundantpowersuppliesanddatacenterclass
components.Theyaredesignedtobecosteffectiveandborderonbeingcommodities.
Itmaybefinethatthesebusinessdesktopsdonttypicallyincluderedundancyfeatures.
WhenanewPCcanbeimagedandputinplacewhenacriticalcomponentfails,that
downtimeaffectsonlyasingleuser.Itisntacceptablewhenthatcriticalcomponentfailson
aserverthatmustsupport10,20,50,ormorevirtualdesktops.Thattypeofoutagewould
criticallyaffectabusinessandillustratestheproblem:VDItakesallofourresourcesfor
multipledesktopsandputsthemintoasinglepointoffailure.
OneofthetricksIvefoundincreatingsuccessfulVDIprojectsistodeterminehowmuch
exposurethefailureofasinglecomponentwillcauseintermsofdowntimeandlost
productivitytoallthevirtualdesktopsthatrelyonthatcomponent.Itsoundssimple
enough,butitreallyisnt.Tobetterillustratethispoint,letsuseanexamplewhereyou
decidethatyouwanttoputyourcompanysaccountingdepartmentof20usersonto
virtualdesktops.Hereishowitlooksinthephysicaldesktopworldintermsofcostand
supportability:
EachusergetsaPC.ThecostofeachoftheseaccountingPCsis$1000andthereare
twosparesofthesametypeandcost.Thetotalcostofthisphysicaldesktop
infrastructureis$22,000.WhenauserPCfails,theITsupportteamimagesaspare
withallthestandardapplicationsandcustomizationsthattheuserneedsand
replacesthePCfortheuser.Thisimage,deployment,andsetupprocesstakesabout
1.5hours.Afailureaffectsoneuseronly.Thefailureofasingleuserisntcritical
becausethereismorethanoneofeachtypeofuserandthedepartmentcontinuesto
operatewhilethissingleuserisdown.
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NowletstakealookatthisscenariothroughapostVDIimplementationlens:
TomakeyouraccountingVDIrolloutascosteffectiveaspossiblewhilesupporting
all20users,youputalltheaccountingusersonasingleserverusingsharedstorage.
Thisserverhassomeredundantcomponentssuchaspowersuppliesandhard
drivessothatitcancontinuetooperatewiththelossofonecomponenthereand
there.Thecostofthebaseserveris$6000withthememoryandprocessorrequired
tosupporttheworkloadofall20users.Thecostofthesharedstorage,almost
certainlyfromaSAN,isthewildcardhere,butcanbe$50,000ormore.
Iunderstandthatthesenumbersaresomewhatdifficulttoquantifyexactly.Thecostsof
servercomponentsaregenerallygoingtobemoreexpensivethanthoseofadesktopeven
beforeanykindofredundancyisaddedtotheequation.
Thisroughapproximationofthetwotechnologyapproachesrevealsthatyouwillget
roughlythesameresults;however,VDI,becauseofrelianceonhighavailabilityhardware
andSANstorage,isgoingtobemuchmoreexpensive.Thenatureofthesharedresources
inthevirtualizationroutemeansthatthefailureofacriticalcomponentwillhinder
productivityforeveryone,notjustasingleuser.Inapilot,thismaybeacceptable,butit
certainlywontbeinaproductionenvironment.
AdaptingServerSolutionstoDesktopVirtualization
Oneofthemostcommonwaystoimprovethereliabilityofavirtualinfrastructureisto
implementhighavailabilityintheformofaSANandclustering.Neitherofthesehigh
availabilitysolutionsisnew,buttheiruseinsupportingadesktopinfrastructureis.
ClusteringandSANsarecommonforservers;anaturalextensionofthatisforusewith
servervirtualization.However,itisaslightlydifferentparadigmforVDI.These
technologieswillbringtheneededreliabilityandscalabilitytodesktopvirtualizationbut
notwithoutcosts.
SANstorageisconsiderablymoreexpensivethandirectattachedstorage(DAS)primarily
becauseoftheredundancyandscalabilitythatispartoftheSANpackage.ThemovetoVDI
meansyouaretradinginexpensivediskspaceonasinglephysicaldesktopforexpensive
virtualdesktopspaceonaSANsimplybecausesomanyvirtualdesktopsrelyontheshared
storage.
Technologieslikethinprovisioningallowyoutosaveaconsiderableamountofdiskspace
upfrontbyallowingthevirtualdesktopdiskusagetostartwithonlytheminimum
requirementsandgrowasneeded(aswithservervirtualization).However,theconcern
stillexiststhatthenatureofavirtualdesktopwillconsumeafairamountofspaceonthe
SAN.
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Rememberthatthegoalisenduserservicedelivery.Youarecreatingauserworkspaceso
thattheusercanperformtheirparticularjobrole.Virtualdesktopsarenttheonlymeans
todoso.Therearealternativessuchasapplicationvirtualizationwheretheapplicationis
encapsulatedandisolatedfromtheOS.Thesevirtualapplicationscanbedeployedtousers
withouttheextrasupportrequirementsofanentirevirtualdesktop.
Wouldntitbemuchmorecosteffectivetouseapplicationvirtualizationinsteadofsimply
givingusersacompletedesktop?Certainlytherewouldstillneedtobetheinvestmentin
redundancy,butthestoragecostswouldbefarless.Lettingtheusershavetheirown
physicaldesktopbutgivingthemondemandaccesstoapplicationshasotheradvantages
thatareoutsidethescopeofthisguide.Itisimportanttonotethatapplication
virtualizationisatechnologythatcanfitbetterthanVDIformanyuses.Inaddition,
applicationvirtualizationworkswellinaVDI,sothesetwovirtualizationtechnologiescan
happilycoexist.
HowManagementSolutionsFit
Yourbusinessisgoingtohaveanarrayofsoftwarethatisusedtomanageandmaintain
yourphysicaldesktopinfrastructure,includingsecuritysoftware,patchmanagement
solutions,andtroubleshootinganddiagnostictoolsamongotherpointsolutions.Mostof
thisisgoingtobereusablewithonecaveat.ThenatureofVDIasasharedinfrastructure
meansthatyouaregoingtowanttominimizetheimpactonusersfromactionslikevirus
scansandpatchdeployments.Thesecanrobperformancefromindividualdesktopsand
thateffectisgoingtobemagnifiedonasharedVDI.Therearevendorrecommendations
thatantivirussolutionsnotevenberunontopofVDIinstances.Likewise,abestpracticeis
topatchonlyVDIvirtualmachineparentimagesratherthantheindividualinstances.
Manyvendorsincludesomeformofmanagementtoolsetfortheirvirtualdesktop
managementplatformpartlytoeasethecostburdensofbuyingadditionalthirdparty
componentsforpatchmanagement.Youmightchoosetoleveragethevendorsupplied
managementframework,butIrecommendthatyoutestyourexistingmanagement
solutionstoassessimpact.Ifthereisnoimpactortheimpactisnegligible,youcanre
evaluatetheROIofyourmanagementsolutionatsubscriptionorsupportrenewaltime.
Lesson2:HowtheCloudAffectsServiceDeliverytoUsers
WejustlookedatwhatitwouldtaketobuildaVDIinaprivatedatacenter,butwhatabout
thebuzzabouttheemergenceofthecloudasahomeforVDI?Candesktopsbehostedin
thecloudandstillbeapartofaVDIrollout?Howdoesthisfitwithservicedelivery?
Thereisanaturaltemptationtoleverageacloudserviceforhosteddesktops,ascloud
basedsolutionsarematuringrapidlyandvendorshaveputalotofeffortintofiguringout
howtosupportVDIchallengessuchasscalabilityondemand.Thus,thecloudcomputing
serviceproviderhasputtheinvestmentintodesigningandtestingthesolution;aprivate
companywithbudgetconstraintsmightnotbeabletoaffordtodevelopaVDIfromscratch.
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InvestinginaVDIhasbeenabarriertoadoptionformanybusinesses.Asdiscussedin
Chapter1,thereareseveralcoststhatmightnotbeobviousfromtheonsetrangingfrom
infrastructureupgradestosoftwarelicensing.Usinghosteddesktopsinthecloudwill
replacetheinhousebackendserverandinfrastructureneedsofaVDIbutwontaddress
theclient,oraccessside,oftheequation.Therewillstillhavetobesomesortofmeansof
accessingthevirtualdesktops,whetherviaaphysicaldesktop,thinclient,orsomeother
devicelikeatablet.TurningtothecloudforahostedVDIsolutionwillonlyaffectthe
hardwarecapitalexpendituresforthedatacentersideoftheequation.Therewillstillbe
thecostsforthedesktopsorthinclientsthatwillbeusedtoaccessthehostedVDI.
Inahosteddesktopsetup,bandwidthandlatencyarestillgoingtobeimportantfactorsin
theoverallenduserexperience.Ideally,aproviderthatoffersacloudbasedsolutionfor
hostedvirtualdesktopswillhaveawelldevelopedmeansforanalyzingandallocating
bandwidthforaccesstoensurethatthepresentationwillbeasindistinguishableas
possiblefromalocalVDI.Theprovidershouldalsohaveameansforsupportinguserswith
lowlatencyaccessatmultiplelocationsaroundtheglobe.Theproblemisthatnosuch
serviceexists.Supportinggeographicallydistributeduserswillrequireplanningtomake
surethatbandwidthandlatencyproblemsdontadverselyaffectusers.NohostedVDI
vendorcanaccommodatetheseneedsforseamlessness.
PerhapsthemostdifficultchallengetoovercomewithacloudhostedVDIsolutionisaccess
toserverbasedresources.Theearlierdiscussionassumedthatthedatacenterthatwas
goingtobehostingthevirtualdesktopswasalsothesameonethathadthefileservers,
emailservers,applicationservers,andsoon.Inthatscenario,theaccesstoserver
resourceswouldbeveryfastandtheproblemswithbandwidthandlatencyvirtually
disappear.
GoingtoacloudhostedVDIintroducesabigproblem:YourusersworkingontheLAN
leavethenetworktogoouttothecloudtoaccessvirtualdesktopswhichinturncomeback
totheLANtoaccessserverresources.Thisinandoutnetworktrafficisgoingtoseriously
impacttheuserexperiencebecauseoftheincreasedlatencyandreducedbandwidth.It
couldpossiblyexposeyournetworktosecurityproblemsinherentwithopeninginbound
andoutboundaccesstotheseresources.Additionally,itplacesincreaseddemandonthe
speedandreliabilityofInternetaccess.Onecanappreciatetheironyofhavingperfectly
gooddesktopsontheLANandperfectlygoodserversontheLAN,neitherofwhichcan
talkbecausethereisnoInternetaccesstothevirtualdesktopshostedinthecloud.
WherethecloudbasedVDIsolutionmakessenseisinthelimiteddemandsofaparticular
classofuser.Letsuseanexampletoseewherethisworks:Yourcompanyhasalargesales
teamthataccessesasingleapplicationforcustomermanagementandorderentry.This
desktopimageisstandardizedandhighlylockeddown.Theapplicationdoesnotaccessany
dataonyournetworkbutinsteadaccessesathirdparty,Internetbasedprovidersuchas
SalesForce.com.
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ThisscenariobestillustratesafitforcloudhostedVDI.Keepinmindthatthemorebasic
thefunctionsthatneedtobeperformedandthelessthevolumeofdatathatmustbe
transferred,thebetterthecloudVDIsolutionworks.Sothisbegsthequestion,Howisthis
betterthanaphysicaldesktopwithalockeddownconfiguration?Formanybusinesses,the
answeristhatitsnotreallybetter.Whereafitexistsisforfieldbasedpersonnelthatare
outsideofthetypicalmanagementreachofthebusinessorareaccessingthevirtual
desktopfrompersonalsystemsbutstillneedsalockeddowndesktopfortheirrole.
Onceagainwerunintolimitationswithwhereresourcesarelocatedbasedonhowmuch
networkspeedisavailableandhowreliableitis.CostsforInternetaccesshavebeen
decreasing,butnotasquicklyasVDItechnologyadoptionhasbeenincreasing.Thisis
perhapswhysomuchefforthasgoneintothedevelopmentofprotocoloptimizationsby
virtualizationvendors.Thesmallestincreasesarestillcriticaltoprovidingacceptableuser
experiences.Virtuallyallmajorvendorshavemadegreatstridesinreducingprotocol
overhead,butthisisntgoingtobeapanaceatotheproblemsassociatedwithaccessing
remoteresourcesoversloworhighlatencylinks.
TheclouddoeshavearoleinVDI,butformanybusinesses,thatroleislimitedatbest.Until
cloudserviceproviderscaneffectivelytackletheresponsivenessissuesthataregoingtobe
criticaltoservicedelivery,theroleofthecloudwillbeforveryspecificworkersandroles.
Lesson3:TechnologiesWeNeverSawComing
ThusfarwehavebeenlookingexclusivelyataWindowsdesktopservedvirtuallytoa
physicaldesktop.ThisisalmostcertainlygoingtobealargeportionoftheenterpriseVDI
adoption.Whatwasunexpectedistheemergenceofawholehostofdifferentformfactor
devicesthatusershavegravitatedto.Thiswasntaconcernwithservervirtualization
becausethepresentationofresourcestousersdidntreallycomeintoplay.However,ina
VDI,thewaytheuserinteractsiscriticaltoservicedelivery.
Twoyearsago,servervirtualizationwasalreadymatureanddesktopvirtualizationwas
comingintoitsown.However,noonewasquitesurehowtheformsofaccesstovirtual
desktopswerereallygoingtotakeshape.Atthattime,Androidwasjustaglimmerinthe
eyeofaGoogledeveloper.TheiPaddidntexist.TheiPhone,Blackberry,andWindows
Mobilephoneswereprimarilycollaborativedevices.Thingshaverapidlychanged.Apples
iOStooktheworldbystormaspartofasuccessfultabletandphonefamilyofproducts
withawidearrayofapplications.Androidcametopoweravarietyofdevicesincluding
phonesandtablets.MicrosoftintroducedawholenewmobileOSandannouncedmajor
plansfortabletfunctionalityinthenextmajorreleaseofWindows.Howdoesthisallfit
togetherinthecontextofdesktopvirtualizationandservicedelivery?
Oneofthefirsttechnologiestoemergeinthebusinessworldthatwasntdesignedforthe
businessworldwastheiPhoneandtheresultingiPhoneOSandlateriOS.Usersthathad
thesephonesforpersonalusealmostimmediatelydemandedthatbusinessessupport
them.Applerespondedbybuildinginmorebusinessorientedsupport,includingsupport
forMicrosoftExchangeServer.TheresultingexplosionofiPhoneadoptionleadvendorsto
developadditionalapplicationsforbusinessneeds.
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TabletsfloodedontothescenewiththeintroductionoftheiPad.Althoughtabletform
factorPCshavebeenonthemarketforalmostadecade,theiPadpropelledthetruetablet
formfactorintothemainstream.TheiPadwasabletocapitalizeonthesuccessofthe
iPhoneandtheinroadsthathadbeenmadewithapplicationdevelopmentfortheiPhone.
Theresultisaunifiedecosystemandadesireforservicedeliveryonthesenewplatforms.
NotlongafterthesuccessoftheiPhone,GoogleintroducedacompetitiveOSinAndroid.
Androidsimilarlyservesastheplatformforawholehostofdevicesincludingsmartphones
andtablets.Androidusesasimilarapplicationpurchaseandinstallationmethodtotheone
thatAppleuseswiththeiPhoneandiPadsunderlyingiOS.Likewise,rumorhasitthat
MicrosofthasspentconsiderableenergyindevelopingaunifiedtabletandsmartphoneOS.
BoththeGoogleandMicrosoftofferingshavefurtherpushedthedesireforuserstobeable
toworkanywhereatanytimewiththesameaccesstodataandapplicationsthattheyhave
insidetheircorporatenetworks.
ThisdiscussionwilltreattheseOSsthesameandthesedevicesasasingleclassofdevices.
Wearentconcernedwithwhocreatedthemsomuchaswiththeimpacttheyhavehadasa
wholeontheabilityforuserstoworkoutsideofatraditionalWindowsPCenvironment.
Withregardtodesktopvirtualization,thewidespreadadoptionofthesedeviceswasnt
predictedsimplybecausetheywerethefirsttimewesawmobiledevicesthatwerentPCs
thatbroughthighresolutionscreenswithalwaysonInternetaccessovercellular
networks,supportforLANconnectivityviaWiFi,andapplicationsupportforaccessto
virtualdesktops.Thefunctionsthatthesedevicescanperformwerepreviouslythe
exclusivedomainoflaptopsandnotjustlaptopsbutratherlaptopswithsomesortof
alwaysonnetworkaccess.Laptopswithalwaysonnetworkingarenotascommonasthese
newsmartphoneandtabletdevicesthatshipwithWiFiand3GorfasterInternetaccess.
Additionally,thesesmartphonesandtabletshaveconsiderablylongerbatterylifethan
theirlaptopequivalents.
Havingalwaysonnetworkaccessiscriticaltovirtualdesktopdeliveryinthetraditional
VDIsense.Oncethesedevicesemergedwiththiscapability,itwasonlyamatteroftime
beforesomeonesawthepotentialforservicedelivery.Themajordesktopvirtualization
vendorsimmediatelybeganmakingversionsofapplicationstoaccessboththeirdesktop
andapplicationvirtualizationsolutions.
Thisisgreatnewsforthemostpart,butthereisacatch:nowthereisawholeclassof
devicesthathastobesupportedandsecured.ITdepartmentsbeganhavingproblems
immediatelywithjustprovidingsupportforsecureemailandcontactmanagement.
Providingsecureaccesstocorporatenetworksfordesktopaccessbecamearealconcern.
Thesedevicesstartedoutasconsumerdevicesandwerentdesignedtobesecurelyor
centrallymanagedlikedesktopsorthinclients.Mobiledevicemanagementtoolshave
alwaysbeenbehindthecurvecomparedwithdesktopandservermanagementsolutions.
Regardless,therealityisthatthesedevicesarebecomingpartoftheVDIecosystem.
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Theproblemthattheuserneedstohaveuninterruptedserviceiftheyarerealistically
goingtobeabletoaccessavirtualdesktopwithasmartphoneortablet.Unlessthe
smartphonesandtabletsareconnectedtotheLANatyourcorporateoffice,therecanbeno
guaranteethattheuserexperiencewillbeacceptable,muchlesspreferred.Butusersare
endearedtothesedevicesbecauseoftheirtravelability,whichmeansvirtualdesktop
accessisgoingtobeoveracellularnetworkorexternalWiFinetwork.Thislevelof
reliabilityandspeedwontconsistentlymeetservicedeliverygoals.
Apotentiallybettersolutionistohaveamechanismforsecureapplicationdeliveryinstead
ofdeliveryofanentirevirtualdesktop.Regardlessofwhetherthisapplicationdelivery
takestraditionalorvirtualapplicationforms,thissetupwillallowtheuserabettermeans
ofworkingoutsidethecorporateLAN.TraditionalVDIsimplyisntthebestfitforthistype
ofdeviceandusecase.SothenwheredoesatraditionalVDIfit?
Lesson4:FindingaHomeforTraditionalVDI
Letstakeasmallstepbackandlookatdesktopvirtualizationinthemostbasicformand
seewhereitbestfits.WepreviouslyexaminedtherequirementsforasuccessfulVDI.The
biggestchallengeisoftenprovidingendtoendconnectivitythatissuitableforthe
experiencethattheenduserisexpecting.Wealsosawthatprovidingvirtualdesktops
becomesmoredifficultwithremoteandofflineusersbecauseofthenatureofhowa
desktopisaccessed.
Theendtoendconnectivityisaffectedbyspeed,intheformoftotalbandwidth/latency
andreliability.ToprovideaVDI,thisproblemmustbeaddressed.Sowherearebothspeed
andreliabilitythehighest?Earlier,weisolatedthistotheLAN,butitismorecomplexthan
that.HerewearelookingfortheidealconditionstousetraditionalVDIyoudontwant
anykindofconnectivityissuestoimpacthowyoudeliveravirtualdesktop.Toensureideal
conditions,youmustalsoconsiderthedevicebeingusedtoaccessthevirtualdesktopand
whatsortofLANconnectivityitshoulduse.
LeveragingexistingdesktopsforthepurposeofaccessingyourVDIisgoingtobethemost
commonmeansforseveralreasons,includingreducinghardwarereplacementcosts.Being
abletotakeexistingphysicaldesktopsandeitherconvertthemintosomeformofthin
clientorusingthemastheyarewithRDP,ICA,orsomeotherprotocolwillkeepcostsdown
onthehardwarefront.However,thisdoubledesktopscenarioincreasescostsin
management.Whichoneofthesemethodsforaccessingvirtualdesktopsisgoingtobethe
bestfit?
Manycompaniesaregoingtobesensitivetoreducingthecostofsupportingaphysical
desktop.Evenifitisconvertedtoactlikeathinclient,therewillbesomesortofsupport
neededtokeepitrunning.Thiscouldbeintheformofhardwaresupportormanagement
oftheunderlyingsoftwareused.Thelevelofsupportdependsonthewaythephysical
desktopisconverted.Thereareseveralsolutionsouttherethatwillaccomplishthethin
clientconversiongoal.Eachhasasetofbenefitsthatwillmakeitattractive.
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TheproductsthatsitontopofWindowswillstillrequirepatchmanagementandsecurity
software.Thiswillhavetofactorintotheongoingmanagementcosts.Oneverybigpositive
isthattherewontbeproblemswithdriversandperipheralsupportfortheexisting
hardware.ProductsthatreplaceWindowswilltendtoreducethesecurityvulnerabilities
becausetheseareusuallystrippeddown,havingasmallfootprintandreducedattack
surface.ThissmallfootprintevenallowssomeofthethinclientOSstobeloadedfreshat
eachbootandcanevenrundiskless.
Existingmanagementtoolsandmethodologiesaregoingtomakethephysicaldesktopas
anaccessmethodforavirtualdesktopthequickesttogetupandrunning.Oftenthis
requiresnothingmorethanaclientconnection.Conversely,securityandeaseofongoing
supportmaymakethereinstallationofphysicaldesktopsasthinclientsthemostattractive
meanstoprovidevirtualdesktops.Thereneedstobeathoroughanalysisoftheneedsof
theorganizationinordertodeterminewhetherusingthedesktopasanaccessmethodor
asathinclientwillworkbest.
Notallcustomerswillchoosetoleveragetheexistingdesktopsinathinclientmanner.
Manywillchoosetocontinuetousephysicaldesktopsfortheircurrentpurposeandretire
themastheyfail.Retireddesktopswillthenbereplacedbyrealthinclients.These
vendorsupportedthinclientswillrequireupfrontcapitalexpensetopurchaseanddeploy,
butofferbenefitsinsecurityandsupportabilityfromthevendorsthemselves.
Thecurrentgenerationofthinclientsalsooffersupportfortherichmultimedia
presentationtechnologiesprovidedbythelatestdesktopvirtualizationplatformsand
provideoffloadingofsomeofthetasksthatwouldotherwisebeintensiveontheservers
hostingthevirtualdesktops.Someofthesethinclientsareevenreferredtoaszeroclients
wherethereisnosetupaheadofdeployment.Allyouneedtodoisunbox,connectcables,
poweron,andgo.Thethinclientdetectsthevirtualdesktopserverandgetseverythingit
needstoallowtheusertologinandstartbeingproductive.
Goingthethinclientroutewilleliminatealargeportionofthesupportcostsrelatedto
desktophardwaresupport.Abusinessjustneedstokeepenoughsparethinclientssothat
afailedthinclientcanbereplacedinthefieldwithaminimalamountofdowntime.Thin
clientsforusewithVDIoffersanumberofbenefits:Theappliancelikereliabilityofthin
clienthardwaremakestheminexpensivetosupportandmaintain.Theproprietary,
strippeddownOSmakesthemverysecure,andthecapitalexpenditureistypicallylessup
frontthanatraditionaldesktop,althoughthesavingsarerealizedinthereducedtotalcost
ofownership.
Thethinclientingeneralhasalsoprovenitselftobeatriedandtruetechnologyforuse
withterminalservicesandCitrixoverthepastdecadeplus.Usingathinclientsolutionfor
VDIisanaturalextension.Becauseofthestaticnatureofathinclient,meaningitisjust
goingtositinafixedlocationlikeadesk,itisgoingtohavefast,alwaysonLAN
connectivity.Thus,itaddressesthekeyconcernsforenduserservicedeliverywitha
virtualdesktop.Also,themodernthinclientand,moreimportant,thetransportprotocol
used,hassupportforperipheralsoverUSB.
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Althoughrepurposingdesktopsasthinclientsisanattractivemechanismtosaveonsome
ofthecapitalexpendituresoftransitioningtoaVDI,thereisstillaphasedpathtomigration
awayfromthoselegacydesktopsinthelongruntotruethinclients.ThistypeofLAN
connected,fastandhighlyreliableconnectionforbasicproductivityusersmakesitthe
idealplacefortraditionalVDI.NowletstakealookatwhatdoesntworkaswellwithVDI.
Lesson5:WhenItDoesntFit,CutItOut
Alotofthisguidehasbeendedicatedtoreusingasmuchinfrastructureaspossible.The
currenteconomicconditionshavestretchedbudgetsfartherthanjustaboutanytimein
modernIThistory,soitisgoingtobedifficulttosaythatsomethingdoesntfitandhasto
beremovedandreplaced.Thegoodnewsisthatitdoesnthavetobeallatonce.Usinga
phasedremovalprocessmayworkperfectlywellformanyinfrastructurecomponents,
particularlyexistingphysicaldesktops.
Thefirststepistodeterminethecriteriaforwhatdoesanddoesnotwork.Earlierwe
examinedhowexistingdesktopscanberepurposedtoserveeitherasthinclientsor
leveragedinahybridapproachwherethereisstillthecoreOSinusebutalsovirtual
desktopaccessfromthedesktopplatform.Withsomeexceptions,thesedesktopswillmake
aneffectivepartofatransitiontoaVDI.Theexceptionsaredesktopsthateitherdonot
meettherequirementstorunthesoftwareyouselecttoconvertthemtothinclientsorare
toooldtoremaininservice.Youmayhaveapolicyinplacethatmandatesretirementof
desktopsbasedonageorparticularspecificationsforwhichthesedesktopsnolongerfit.It
istemptingtokeepthesedesktopsaround,butthenearcommoditynatureofdesktopsand
reducedcostsofthinclientsmaynotmakethisthebestoption.
Networkinginfrastructureisthenextmainareathatmustbeexamined.Thefirstchapter
spenttimediscussingthemeritsofhighbandwidthandlowlatencytotheoveralluser
experience.Againanythingthatcanbeusedtoincreasespeedanddecreaselatencyinthe
networkconnectivityshouldbeimplementedifwithinthebudget.Ataminimum,Gigabit
Ethernetendtoendisrequired,andrealistically10GigabitEthernetisgoingtoberequired
atthecorefortheservershostingthevirtualdesktopsandcommunicatingbetweeneach
otherandbackendstorage.Peripheralssuchasprintersandspecializedinputdevicesmust
allbescrutinized.Althoughthemajorityofbusinessesaregoingtohavesharedprinting,
youdbeamazedhowmuchprintersprawlIsee.Iveencounteredmanybusinesseswhere
thereareasmanyprintersasthereareemployees.Thisisaterriblewasteofefficiencyand
costsafortunetosupportandsupply.Onceyouhavedeterminedtherouteyouwilluseto
haveusersaccesstheirvirtualdesktops,youmusttestalloftheseperipheralsandbe
preparedtoretirethosethatdontwork.Dontbeafraidtousethistimetocorrectthe
printersprawlinyourorganization.Youcanevenusethiscorrectionaspartofthecost
justificationoftransitioningtoaVDI.Theimportanttakeawaypointhereisthatyoumust
bepreparedtoremoveitemsthathavealreadybeenheavilyinvestedin.
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Nowcomesthetrickiestparttofigureout:thevirtualizationplatformitselfandthe
managementtools.Youmayhaveinvestedheavilyinaservervirtualizationplatformand
correspondingsetofmanagementtoolsonlytofindoutthatthosereallydontworkexactly
thesamewhenappliedtodesktopvirtualization.ThisisOK.Aswehavealreadyseen,the
managementchallengesaredifferentforvirtualdesktopsthantheyareforvirtualservers.
Dontfeellikeyouneedtoextendyourvirtualserverplatformandmanagementtoolsto
theVDI.Therearespecificmanagementtoolsthatwillworkbestforeachscenario.
Thereisgoodnewshereoverall.Aswehavealreadyseen,VDIisntaperfectfitforall
scenarios,sotheimpactofremovingpartsoftheinfrastructurethatdontfitisntgoingto
besomethingdoneallatonce.Usingaphasedapproachtoremovalcanbejustas
importanttosuccessoftheprojectasaphasedintroductionofnewequipment.
WhatsNext
Bytakingalookatwhatyoucankeepandwhatyoumustchange,thischapterexpanded
uponChapter1sfoundationofhowtouseVDIandwheretherewillbehiddenchallenges.
Inaddition,itisimportanttostepbackandtakealookatwheretheindustryingeneralis
trendingsothatanyinvestmentsinaVDIarereusable.
ThischapterdeterminedthatexistingdesktopscanbeapowerfulpartofaVDIusedeither
astheyareforaccesstoavirtualdesktoporrepurposedasdedicatedthinclients.Wetook
alookatthecloudtoexaminewhetheritwillbearealisticpartofyourvirtualdesktop
future.Weanalyzedtechnologiesthatwereneverexpectedtobeapartofdesktop
virtualization,focusingthediscussionaroundservicedelivery.Weeventriedtofindthe
besthomefortraditionalVDIandlearnedhowtoidentifywheretoavoidthetemptationto
keepcomponentsthatarentgoingtobeagreatfitforyourvirtualdesktopstrategy.
Thenextchapterwilltieitalltogether.Sofar,wevelookedatVDIandservicedelivery
fromahighleveloverview,whichwasmeanttohelpyoudetermineifandhowmuchVDIis
goingtobeapartofyourbusiness.Chapter3exploreswhatworkswelltogetherandhow
youcanfitwhatyouhaveintowhatyouwantandwhereyouexpecttobewithdesktop
virtualization.Thischapteralsostartstolookintothenearfutureforsolutionsthatdont
yetexistbutthatyoumightneedtocapitalizeonanyinvestmentinVDI.Mostimportantly,
wewilldeterminewhatmetricsarerequiredtodecidewhetheryoumadetheright
investmentsattherighttimestomaximizeyourreturnoninvestment.
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Chapter3:IntegratingLegacyand
EmergingTechnologiesintoITService
Delivery
Anybusinesswillhavesomeholdoverlegacytechnologytosupporteveninacompletely
revampedservicedeliverybasedvirtualinfrastructure.Integratingthelegacycomponents
inascompleteawayaspossiblewillhelplimitthecostsassociatedwiththeprojectoverall.
Businessesmustbesensitivetocarryingforwardonlytherightitemsandunderstanding
wheretheinfrastructurewillhavetobeoverhauledtosupportdesktopvirtualization.
Tryingtointegratetechnologiesandsolutionsjustforthesakeofreusecanleadtogreatly
increasedcosts,particularlyintermsofsupport,whichiswhatdesktopvirtualizationis
meanttoreduce.Embracingtheenduserservicedeliverygoalwillrequireathorough
understandingofhowtheselegacyandemergingtechnologiesfittoallowthemostcost
effectivemeansforbuildingevolvingservicedeliverymodels.
Thefirstchapterlookedatthegoalofenduserservicedeliveryandhowdesktop
virtualizationhelpedtomeetthatgoal.Todosorequiredastepbackinthinkingto
evaluatehowusersinteractwiththeirdesktopsandthenapplythisknowledgeto
effectivelyleveragedesktopvirtualization.Aspartofthatjourney,wewereableto
determinewheredesktopvirtualizationdidntfitparticularlywell.Thiscriticalrecognition
thenshapedtheconversationsurroundingdesktopvirtualization.Insteadoflookingat
desktopvirtualizationasadestinationinservicedelivery,wewereabletoseeitasapiece
ofanevolvingservicedeliverystrategy.
Thesecondchapterreviewedthelegacycomponentsthatarealreadyapartofmost
networkinfrastructuresandexploredwheretoplacetheminadesktopvirtualization
model.Thisimportantstepmadesurethatanynewinfrastructuremetthegoalswithout
unnecessarilymakingnewpurchasesorattemptingtofitcomponentsintoaVDIbuildout
thatwerentrightfortheproject.Theemergenceofthecloud,withallofthebuzz
surroundingit,asapossiblepartofthedesktopvirtualizationandservicedelivery
discussionmeantthatwehadtotakeintoaccountthisnewparadigmandthepossibilities
ofhostedVDI.
Alongtheway,wesawthatsomeofthepromisesofhostedVDIneedtechnologiesthat
dontyetexist.Thischapterwilltakeaforwardlooksothatyoucanseewheresolutions
likehostedVDIwillmakesense.Additionally,wearegoingtoseewhatcriticaltechnologies
areneededinorderfordesktopvirtualizationtobecomealargerpartofaservicedelivery
strategy.
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Thischapterwillbuilduponthelessonslearnedinthefirsttwochapterstodeterminehow
tobuildasuccessfulVDIthatmeetsthegoalsofenduserservicedeliverywithout
overreachingasasolution.Wearegoingtoapplythelessonslearnedearliertoallowusto
bestleveragedesktopvirtualizationaspartofacontinuallydevelopingseriesofservice
deliverymethods.
Oneofthekeystodesktopvirtualizationistounderstandthelimitsoftechnologynow
whileanticipatingwhatiscominginthenearfuture.Themarketisconstantlychangingas
vendorsseehowbusinesseswanttoleveragedesktopvirtualizationandthenhelpadapt
thetechnologiestoworkwheretheyhaventquitebeenagoodfityet.Thischapterwill
explorewherenaturalprogressionsintechnologieswillenablegreateruseofdesktop
virtualization.
Thischapterwillconcludewithasolidexplanationofwhatcanbedonenowtomaximize
aninvestmentindesktopvirtualizationandwhattoexpectinthenearfuture.This
understandingwillprovideameanstodeterminewhetherdesktopvirtualizationisthe
rightservicedeliverytechnologyforyourorganizationorwillbeasthetechnologies
underpinningitmature.
Lesson1:FindingtheRightIngredientstoMakeItWork
Atthispoint,youhavebeenabletoreviewexistingsolutionsinbothvirtualandphysical
infrastructures.Whenwebeganthisjourney,westartedwithacomparisonofserver
virtualizationanddesktopvirtualization.Thisseemednaturalbecausethelessonslearned
withservervirtualizationwerethoughttotranslatetodesktopvirtualizationinthesame
ways.Wefoundoutquicklythatsuchwasntthecase.Theenduserexperiencethatmeans
somuchtothesuccessofdesktopvirtualizationwasthecriticaldifference.
Wenextlookedathowvirtualdesktopsandphysicaldesktopsfitintoservicedeliveryand
whatthismeantforyourorganization.Transitioningfromphysicaldesktopstovirtualones
hadatheoreticalpayoffintermsofreducedtotalcostofownershipandsupport.However,
dependingonthemeansinwhichthetransitionoccurred(thatis,virtualdesktopaccess
fromaphysicaldesktop,thinclients,andsoon),thereturnsoninvestmentandhowwellan
organizationcouldmeetthereducedsupportcostsgoalsvariedwildly.
Towardstheendofthesecondchapter,weinvestigatedhowphysicaldesktopsfitintothe
equation.Whatdoyoudowithallofthelegacydesktopsthatyouhave?Thisquestion
createsabigproblemforITarchitectswhentryingtodeterminewhatsolutionsfromthe
physicalinfrastructurecanbeusedtosupportthevirtualinfrastructure.
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Letstakealookattheoptionsforaddressingperhapsthemostprevalentlegacy
componentinthetransitiontoavirtualdesktopinfrastructure:thephysicaldesktop.There
arethreeoptionsavailablewithregardtophysicaldesktopsinavirtualenvironment:
UsetheWindowsdesktopasitistosupportdualdutyasbothaWindowsPCfor
specificneedsandameansforaccessingvirtualdesktopsforcertainneeds
Replacethephysicaldesktopswithadevicethatispurposelybuiltforaccessto
virtualinfrastructureaccess(thatis,athinclient)
UseasolutionthatconvertstheWindowsPCintoadeviceforaccessingvirtual
desktops;essentiallythisturnsthatPCintoathinclient
Eachoftheseoptionscarriesinherentconsequences.Thefocusistobalancethecompeting
goalsofreducedtotalcostofownership/supportwithreducedcapitalexpenditures.
Option1:DualDutyDesktops
Thefirstoptionreallyrequiresnoadditionalcapitalexpendituresfordesktopreplacement.
Hereyouonlyhavetouseasoftwaresolutiontoaccessthevirtualdesktops.Inthecaseof
RDP,thereisnothingtoinstall,juststartaccessingvirtualdesktopsimmediately.Installing
clientsforothervirtualizationtechnologiesisamatterofsecondspermachine.Thisreally
isthesimplestwaytointegratelegacytechnologyintoadesktopvirtualizationplan.
Thereisonemajordrawback,though,tothisfirstoption.Younowhaveadoubledesktop
scenario.Youhavetosupportthephysicaldesktopandthevirtualdesktop.Thissetup
clasheswiththereducedsupportcostgoalofdesktopvirtualization.Infact,thesingle
largestdriverofdesktopvirtualizationisreducingthesupportcostsforthedesktop
infrastructure,andthismethodarguablyincreasesthosecosts.Forthisreason,thedouble
desktopoptionshouldbeusedwithcaution.
Option2:ReplacementwithThinClients
Thesecondoptionrequiresthemostupfrontcapitaltobeexpendedbutessentially
reducesthecostofsupportingaphysicaldevicetonearzero.Thinclientshavebeenaround
foralongtimeandhaveproventobeagreatmechanismfordeliveryofservice.However,
theyarentfree.Althoughthinclientsdo,ingeneral,costlessthantheirdesktop
counterparts,theyareoftenasexpensiveasadesktopdependingonthefeaturesneeded.
Option3:DesktopsasThinClients
Thethirdoptionisonethathastremendousflexibilitybuthasseemedtomisswidespread
adoption.Thereareseveralvendorsthathavecreatedsolutionsthatreplacetheoperating
system(OS)onPCswithastrippeddownonedesignedtoperformthesamehardened,
maintenancefreefunctionasathinclient.Theobviousplusisthatthereisnoneedto
purchaseadditionalhardware.
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Takenotethatthissolutionisntquiteassimpleasitmayseem.Oneofthemajorbenefits
ofthinclientsorphysicaldesktopsisthattheOSisdesignedtosupportthehardwareinthe
bestpossibleormostflexiblemanner.Onphysicaldesktops,thiscomesintheformof
extensivehardwaredriversupport.Onthinclients,thiscomesintheformofspecialized
hardwareandsoftwarebuilttoworktogether.Whenyoutrytoconvertadesktopintoa
thinclient,youmightrunintoproblemswithhardwarecompatibilityandvendorsupport.
Successiscompletelydependentontestingandselectingasolutionthatsupportsyour
entiredesktopinfrastructure.
Usingdesktopsasthinclientsisameanstoembracevirtualdesktopsnowwithreduced
supportcostsfortheaccessdevicebecauseitisntservinginatraditionaldesktopsense.
Earlierchaptersexplainedhowvendorshavebuiltsolutions,suchasMicrosoftsThinPC,to
performthisfunctionwiththesamegoalofleveragingdesktopsinathinclientlikemanner
untilthinclientscanreplacethedesktops.Thissignalsaseriousacknowledgementthatthe
industryrealizesthegrowingproblemofthetransitionalperiodfromphysicaldesktopsto
thinclients.
ChoosingtheRightOptionforPhysicalDesktopsinaVirtualEnvironment
Usingdesktopsinadualdesktoprolewherethephysicalandvirtualdesktopsareboth
runningfullOSsandapplicationsetsasneededhasntalignedwellwiththereduced
supportcostsgoalofdesktopvirtualization.Althoughthisoptionmightbegreatfortesting
purposes,itisntthemostcosteffectivewaytoachieveaproductionvirtualdesktop
infrastructure.
Ialsodontrecommendawholesaleshifttothinclientsasareplacementfordesktops
unlessthedesktopsaretobereplacedalreadyandthechoicecannowbemadetoreplace
themwiththinclients.Thinclientscertainlymakesenseforreducedsupportandpower
consumption.Thisisthefinaldestinationforreplacementoflegacydesktopsthatwe
shouldstrivefor,butthecapitalexpendituremakesthishardtojustifyinthecontextof
reducedoperatingcosts.Iftheinfrastructureissetforadesktophardwarerefresh,this
optionisidealformaximumreturnoninvestment.
Beingabletoconvertdesktopsintothinclientsbuysbusinessestimetogetthemaximum
lifeoutofexistinglegacydesktopswithouthavingtoexpendmassiveamountsupfrontto
embracedesktopvirtualization.Thissolution,asnotedbefore,isntperfect.Some
hardwaremaynotworkinthisroleduetohardwareincompatibilities.Nonetheless,itdoes
fitawidevarietyofhardwarewithminimalcosts.Therearecertainlycoststotransitionto
theuseoflegacydesktopsinthismanner,includinglabortoinstallandtest,butthiscostis
farlessthanhardwarereplacement.
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WhatAboutSupportingInfrastructureComponents?
Desktopsaregoingtoarguablybethelargestsinglelegacycomponenttoconsiderwhen
figuringouthowtointegratewhatyouhaveintowhatyouneedtosupportVDI.However,
thereareawholehostofothercomponentsthatneedtobetakenintoaccount.Thefirst
twochaptersinvestigatedthenetworkingandstoragerequirementsforVDI.
Therequiredinvestmentinadditionalupgradestoyournetworkinfrastructureinorderto
meettheuserexperiencerequirementsofVDIaregoingtovarydependingonwhereyou
areinatechnologyrefreshcycle,muchlikedesktopreplacement.VDIrequiresconstant
connectionstovirtualdesktops,soinvestmentsmadeinloadbalancers,redundant
switches,andingeneralforredundantcomponentswillbereusable.Also,makingthe
upgradeto10GigabitEthernetwillsignificantlyimproveperformanceaswellasthe
efficacyinnetworkaggregation,atacticthatbecomesusefulinmanagingVDIsdense
networkingarrangements.
Storagerequirements,asdiscussedintheprecedingchapter,aregoingtochangeaswell.
VDIreliesuponfastandreliablestorage.ThisgenerallymeansSANstorage.Formany
companiesthathaveinvestedalreadyinascalableSANsolutionthatalsoprovidesfor
upgradestofasterinterconnecttechnologies,VDIsstoragerequirementsarentgoingtobe
aproblem.EarlieriSCSISANsaregoingtobetaxedheavilybytheincreasedloadthat
desktopvirtualizationplacesonthesharedstorage.
ApplicationVirtualizationandSupportingTechnologies
Applicationvirtualizationisakeysupportingtechnologysetthatcangetlostinthe
discussionofdesktopvirtualization.BeingabletoseparatetheapplicationsfromtheOSis
goingtobecriticaltotherapiddeploymentofapplicationsinacosteffectivemanner.
Later,wewillexplorethisinfurtherdetail;thekeytakeawayfromthislessonisthatmuch
oftheothertechnologieswillatleastintheneartermfindsomeuseinaVDIenvironment.
Lesson2:IntegratingtheOldandtheNewintoSomethingCoherent
Earlierlessonsworkedtobestbalancewhatandhowmuchofyourlegacysolutionsto
bringforward.Puttingthatalltogetherhereisgoingtobecritical.Aslongasthefocus
remainsonenduserservicedelivery,youaregoingtobefine.Previously,thefocuswason
whatyoushouldkeepinordertokeeptheinfrastructurebuildoutcostsaslowaspossible.
Inthislesson,wearentgoingtofocusonwhatweintegratenow,butwhatmakessenseas
apartofalongtermevolutioninservicedelivery.
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SharedStorageNeeds
Aspartofalongtermstrategy,perhapsthemostimportantcomponenttoservicedelivery
withregardtolegacysolutionsissharedstorage.Sharedstorage,particularlySANstorage,
willalwaysplayacriticalroleinthedeliveryofservice.Thiswasthecaseevenbefore
servervirtualization,whenhavingcentrallymanagedstoragewascriticaltoeffective
storageutilizationandenterprisescalability.Itcaughtonforclusteringandhigh
availabilityandmadeanaturalfitforservervirtualizationshortlythereafter.SANstorage
isthekeyenablerinascalabledesktopvirtualizationsolutionaswell.TheSANsolution
thatisusedwithdesktopvirtualizationwillhaveatremendousdemandplacedonitin
termsofbothdiskperformanceandoverallstoragerequirements.
Whenplanningforthefuturegrowthandperformancewithsharedstorage,itiscriticalto
implementasolutionthatcanbeupgradedtoallowforfasterdiskandinterface
technologies.AsthedemandsplacedontheSANincrease,therewillbeaneedtoeliminate
thoseasbottlenecks.Fasterinterconnecttechnologieswillenablemanymorevirtual
machinestousethesameSANfortheirneeds.Diskperformanceisakeyfactoraswell.
Addingmoreandfasterdiskspindlesfacilitatesthisimprovedperformance.New
technologiesthatintegrateveryhighspeedsolidstatedrivestofacilitatecachingmayalso
playarole,particularlyastheircostdiminishes.
NetworksandSupportingTechnologies
Sharedstorageisjustpartofthepuzzle.Althoughthenetworkingequipmentthatis
currentlyinplacetosupportbothphysicalandvirtualnetworkswillworkwell,the
demandsofdesktopvirtualizationwillrequireupgradesinspeed.Thegoodnewsisthata
transitioncanoccur.TheiSCSIwavebroughtwithitaneweraofinteroperabilitythat
shouldcontinuefortheforeseeablefuture.Thisgoodnewsmeansthatadditional
infrastructureequipmentcanbeaddedtoincreasespeedwithouthavingtodoacomplete
replacement.
FibreChannelhasntmadethisthemostcosteffectivepath.Avoidmakingpurchasesthat
haveproprietarytechnologiesthatmaynotbesupportedinthenext5years.Thatsaid,the
evolvingtechnologiesassociatedwithFibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)offera
transitionalmechanismtomoveoffcurrentFibreChannelSANstorage.Theyfacilitatethe
administrativeeaseassociatedwithiSCSIbutatopexistingcoppercablingandnetwork
interfacecards.
ChallengestoIntegration
Integrationhasbeenwelldiscussedandhowtobringlegacyandemergingtechnologies
intosomethingcoherentandcosteffectivehasalsobeenanimportantpartofthislesson.
However,manynewtechnologiesaregoingtoemergethatwillbringchallengesto
integrationasoftenastheywillsolvethem.Understandingwheretoinvestnowtoavoid
obsolescencewillrequireplanning.
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Lesson3:TheTechnologiesWeAreWaitingFor
Itistimetostartlookingforwardsothatyoucaneffectivelyplanforhowdesktop
virtualizationwillchangeastechnologiesadapt.Wehavewelldiscussedthatdesktop
virtualizationdoesntfitallscenarios.Itisntgoingtobeapanaceafortheproblemsofend
userservicedelivery.Thisisntbecausetheconceptofdesktopvirtualizationisflawed.Far
fromitweknowthatdesktopvirtualizationisagreatsteptowardsimprovedservice
delivery.ThisguidehasshownthatVDIfitsscenariossuchasLANbasedaccessverywell.
Thebiggestproblemisthatthetechnologiesrequiredtomakedesktopvirtualizationfita
muchlargersetofusecasesdontyetexist.
ImprovementstoConnectivityRequiredforHostedVDI
Inthepreviouschapter,ItalkedabouthostedVDI,whichprovidesagreatexampleofa
servicedeliverymodelthatiswaitingfortechnologytocatchupwiththeconcept.There
aremanyemergingvendorsolutionsthatarebeginningtocapitalizeoncreatingacloud
basedsolutionfordesktopvirtualization.Thisseemsallwellandgood,butwehavealready
determinedthatbandwidthandlatencyrequirementsarecriticaltoservicedelivery.
Failingtodeliverenoughbandwidthwithlowlevelsoflatencywillresultinauser
experiencethatisgoingtoseriouslyhinderenduserproductivity.Howdoyoucontrolthe
bandwidthandlatencyforusersfromalltypesofaccessdevices,onalltypesofnetworks,
fromvariouslocationswhoaretryingtoaccessahostedVDIwhilehavinganexperience
thatmeetstheirexpectations?Thatquestionisloadedwithvariablesthatanycloudbased
VDIsolutionisgoingtohavetoaddress.
InChapter2,ImadeitclearthatanyhostedVDIproviderisgoingtoneedtoknowwherea
userisconnectingfromandensurethattheuserisconnectedtothelowestlatency,
typicallygeographicallyclosest,cloudfacilityandbasedontheservicelevel
requirements,provideanearLANqualityexperience.Rightnow,thiscantbedonewith
certainty.ThereneedtobemassiveincreasesinInternetconnectionspeedsanda
reductioninthepriceofthatInternetconnectivityinordertorealizethisgoal.
ThischallengedoesntjustaffecthostedVDIfromvendors.Buildingyourownprivatecloud
infrastructureisgoingtohavethesamechallenges.Thelargerandmoredistributedyour
userbase,themoredifficultitwillbetoprovideconsistentexperiencesusingvirtual
desktops.Youhavetobeabletoprovidebandwidthondemandtothenearestdatacenter.
Thetechnologysetrequiredforthisundertakingissomethingwehavetowaitfor.
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TheRequiredEvolutionofMobileDataNetworksandDevices
TheincreasinguseofsmartphonesandtabletPCsasameansforaccessingvirtualdesktops
willintroducenewchallengestoconnectivitythatnetworksdontwelladdresswiththe
currenttechnologyinfrastructure.Althoughthereareemerging4GandWiMAXbroadband
networks,thematurityandreliabilityoftheseinfrastructuresandtheabilityofdevicesto
supportthemarentyettoalevelthatguaranteesservicedelivery.Withoutthese
technologiesfurtherevolvingandbecomingmuchmorerobust,theaccesstoVDIfrom
themisgoingtoremainabesteffortscenarioinwhichconsistentservicedeliveryis
highlydependentondevice,location,otherusers,andawholehostofvariablesthatcannot
becontrolled.
Thepossibilityofusingofflinevirtualdesktopsisonethathascomeabouttohelpaddress
theissueswithofflineorhighlymobileusersthathavelessthanidealconnectivity.
However,thesesolutionsdontsupportallplatforms,andvirtualdesktopsconsumealarge
amountoflocalstoragewhenusedinthisscenario.Thismightworkforamobileuserwith
alaptop,butthosewithasmartphoneortabletarenotgoingtobeabletogetthe
experiencetheyexpectduetoprocessingandstoragelimitationsonthedevices.
ThinClientLimitations
Thinclientsareafantasticmeansofaccessingvirtualdesktops,particularlyintheLAN
environment.However,theyarentgoingtofitallenduserscenarios.Inthefirstchapter,I
outlinedthechallengeswithheavyusersandVDI.Thinclientsasavirtualdesktop
presentationsolutionaregreatforstandardusers,butspecializedperipheralsupportand
multiplemonitorsupportarestilllacking.UnlikeaPCthatcanbeupgradedtosupport
newerorfasterinterconnects,likeUSB3.0oreSATA,athinclientislimitedin
upgradability.Multiplemonitorsupportissomethingthatseveralvendorsprovide,but
upgradingathinclienttosupportadditionalmonitorsisntgoingtobeaneasytask.
Supportformorethantwomonitorsisalmostimpossibletocomeby.Therearesome
quadmonitorsupportedthinclients,butthesearefarfrombeingmainstreamandhave
largepricetags.
IncreasedStorageDemands
Storageperformanceandcostsaregoingtocontinuetobeamajorfactorinlimiting
adoptionofdesktopvirtualization.Aspreviouschaptersdiscussed,thetradefromlocal
inexpensivestorageondesktopstosharedandmuchmoreexpensiveSANstorageisgoing
tobeanecessarypartofanyVDItransition.Theproblemisthatasmallercompanyisnt
necessarilygoingtohaveaSANand/orthetalenttomanageone.
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Sharedstorageisgoingtohavetocomedowninpricetoapointwherethedifferential
betweendesktopstorageandsharedstorageisfarlessthanitistoday.Acompanythat
wantstodramaticallyincreasethenumberofvirtualdesktopsthatitcanprovideisnot
goingtobeabletodosowithoutmassivecapitalexpenditures.SANvendorsrelianceon
proprietaryharddrivesinsteadofcommodityhardwaremeansthatupgradesand
interoperabilityareahugeproblem.SANsolutionswillhavetobecomefurther
standardizedandmodulartoprovidecompanieswithgreaterflexibilityinVDIstorage
options.ThisisnttosaythatthisistrueofallSANvendors.Therearesomethatoffer
modularizedsolutionstoincreaseinteroperability.
Managementsolutionsforsharedstoragearealsogoingtohavetobecomemucheasierto
workwith.Ithasonlybeenveryrecentlythatmajorstoragevendorshaverealizedthe
needtoprovidesimpletomanageentrylevelofferingsforsharedstorage.SAN
managementwillneedtogettoapointwhereanITgeneralistcaneasilyprovisionstorage
andprovideonsiteservicetothesharedstoragearray.
EnhancedNetworkManagementSolutions
AsVDIsolutionsmatureandcontinuetoachievewidespreadadoption,management
solutionsmustkeeppace.Thereareawholehostofpointsolutionsthatexisttohelpwith
management,butaunifiedtoolsetthatiscapableofmonitoringandmanagingallofthe
criticalinfrastructurecomponentsisntassimpleasanofftheshelfpurchase.
TheincreaseddemandsofVDIonanetworkinfrastructurerequirethatmanymoreaspects
ofthenetworkinfrastructurearemanagedinordertoensureeffectiveservicelevels.Inthe
previouschapters,welookedatwhatupgradesneedtobemadetothenetwork
infrastructuretosupportVDI.Letsturnourattentiontohowtodeterminewhetheryou
areabletomanagethosedemandsandunderstandthestressesplacedonthe
infrastructureaswellashowtodeterminewhetheryouhavemetthosedemands.
Imnotsayingthattheexistingmanagementsolutionscantprovidecrucialmetricsto
assistwithisolatingbottlenecksanddeterminingwhereupgradesmustbemade.Im
positingthatmanagementsolutionsaregeneralinnatureandarentdesignedspecifically
withdesktopvirtualizationandenduserservicedeliverythroughVDIinmind.Vendors
needtocreatesimplifiedmanagementsolutionsthatallownetworkteamstoadaptquickly
tothechangesindemandsthatVDIplacesonthenetworkandtoensurethatvirtual
desktopserviceexpectationsaremet.VDIvendorsoffermanyoftherequirementsfor
management,butthesearentyetmature.Thirdpartysolutionprovidersthatspecializein
thisareahavebuiltgreatmanagementsolutionsforthephysicaldesktopspaceandshould
extendandexpandthesesolutionssothatmanagementcanoccurwithinasinglepane.
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ExpandingVDIAdoption
Thesetechnologyenhancementsthatwearewaitingforaregoingtobecriticalto
expandingVDIadoption.Theareasofstorage,networkinfrastructuremanagement,
externalconnectivity,mobiledevices,andoverallusabilityofthesolutionsaregoingto
needtoseetechnologyenhancementsinordertoincreasetheadoptionofdesktop
virtualization.Withouttheseenhancements,smallerbusinessesfaceasteepsetof
challengesinimplementinganyformofVDI,andlargerbusinessesfacescalabilityand
managementchallengeswiththeirdesktopvirtualizationendeavors.Theoverallcostswill
alsoneedtocomedownasthetechnicalsolutionsevolveinordertoallowawiderarrayof
businessestojustifythecostsofbuildingaVDIversusthesavingsinsupportandongoing
management.
Lesson4:HowtoDetermineYouGotItRight
Determiningwhereyourinvestmentsindesktopvirtualizationasaservicedeliverymodel
havebeensuccessfulwillrequireaperiodofanalysis.Duringthistime,thepreVDIsupport
costswillbecomparedwiththoseinapostVDIimplementation.Thecostbenefitsof
desktopvirtualizationrelyonareductioninthetotalcostofownershipofthe
infrastructure.Thefirstchapterexaminedhowcriticalitistounderstandthebenefitsof
desktopvirtualizationandhaverealisticexpectationsofthebestusesfordesktop
virtualization.
Understandingthegoalsofadesktopvirtualizationprojectiscrucialtosuccess.Likewise,
theplanningandexecutionphasesarecriticaltosuccess.Sohowdoyoudeterminethat
youareundertakingadesktopvirtualizationprojectwiththeproperunderstandingof
whatyoucanexpecttoaccomplishandhowtoquantifythatsuccess?Howdoyou
determinethatyougotitright?
Youneedtocomparethedesktopvirtualizationsolutionthatyouhavebuiltwiththelegacy
infrastructureitisreplacing.Thereareseveralproblemsthatthreatentomakethis
comparisonimpossible.Gatheringaccurateuserfeedback,havingappropriatepreVDI
metricsonsupportincidentsandresponses,andsupportissuespreviouslyunseenpriorto
theVDIimplementationareallgoingtomakethistaskdifficult.
GatheringIntelligencefromUsers
DuringthepilotphaseandevenintoalimitedproductionVDIbuildout,usersaregoingto
beakeysourceofinformationonthesuccessoftheVDIimplementation.Creatingtheuser
workspaceinamannerthatisequaltoorgreaterthantheuserscurrentexpectationswas
partoftheoriginalgoalsweoutlined.Desktopvirtualizationisaboutenduserservice
delivery.Youmustgatherintelligencefromtheuserbasethatwillallowyoutoaccurately
measurewhethertheusersthinkthattheVDIisbetterthanwhattheyhadbefore.
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Thiswillbeaproblem.Thenatureofsurveyingusersmakestheobjectivedeterminationof
successdifficult.Atoneendofthespectrum,therewillbeuserswhomaybeuncomfortable
withthechangeandwillperceivethechangeasadiminishedexperience.Attheotherend
ofthespectrum,therewillbeusersthatareeitherexcitedtoworkwiththenewtechnology
orbelievethatthetransitiontothisnewsolutionwillfixotherunrelatedproblems.These
usersmayincorrectlyreportincreasedservicelevels.Otherusermayseeanincreaseora
decreaseinthequalityoftheirenduserexperiencebutmaynotreportthataccuratelyfora
numberofreasonssuchasunfamiliaritywiththewayVDIworksorlimiteduseofthenew
VDIthatdoesntletthemaccuratelydescribetheirexperience.
Thebiggestproblemyouaregoingtofacewithuserfeedbackisthatyouaretryingto
compareobjectivecostsforsupportbeforeandaftertheuseofdesktopvirtualizationby
relyingonsubjectiveuserinput.Therewillbeagoodcoreofuserfeedbackthatdoeshelp
indeterminingwhetheryouhavesucceededinyourVDIgoals.
ReviewPreVDISupportMetrics
EstablishingabaselineofsupportmetricsmustbedonepriortoanyVDIpilot.Icant
emphasizethisenough.Althoughgatheringandcategorizingsupportmetricsissomething
thatshouldbeapartofallbusinessITdirectives,weknowinrealitythatthisdoesnt
alwayshappenlikeitshould.Ifthereisnowaytodeterminetherootcauseofsupport
issuespriortoimplementingadesktopvirtualizationproject,therewillbenowayto
determinewhetherthesupportissuesthatdesktopvirtualizationismeanttoreducehave
actuallydecreased.
PartofgatheringthesemetricsinpreVDIandpostVDIenvironmentsisisolatingwhat
supportmetricsaremeanttobereducedbyVDI.Upuntilnow,wehavefocusedonthe
generalizedreductioninsupportcoststhroughdesktopvirtualization.Nowweneedto
lookmoregranularlyatsupportincidentsandisolatewhichtypesofsupportincidentsare
goingtobereduced,eliminated,andresolvedmorequicklythroughtheuseofdesktop
virtualization.EvenifyouaregatheringpreVDIsupportmetrics,thosemustbeofthetype
thatcanbeanalyzedinthecontextofwhatdesktopvirtualizationcanachieve.
Oneofthebestwaystoestablishappropriatemetricsistobuildcategoriesthatreflectthe
differenttypesofincidentsthatcanoccuringeneralwithsupport.Thefollowingworkwell
tostart:
OperatingSystemProblem
DriverConflict
ApplicationCrash/Problem
HardwareFailure
UserTraining
SoftwareInstallation
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Manyincidentsinthesecategoriesshouldbevirtuallyeliminatedwithdesktop
virtualization(thatis,driverconflictandhardwarefailure).Otherswilldecreaseunder
VDI,suchasOSproblemsandsoftwareinstallationandapplicationcrash/problems.Some,
astheyareoutsideofthedesktopenvironmenteitherphysicalorvirtual,willstayatthe
samerateormayevenincrease(forexample,usertraining).
ThesupportcategoriesIhaveprovidedarebynomeansexhaustive.Theseserveasan
exampleofcommonlyencounteredsupportissuetypesandhowtheyvarywildlyinthe
waythatdesktopvirtualizationaffectsthem.Determiningappropriatesupportmetrics
withthemostappropriatetypesofincidentsforyourenvironmentwillhelpensurethat
resultscanbeaccuratelymeasured.
WhatAboutNewSupportChallenges?
Whatdoyoudoaboutnewtypesofsupportthatmightbeintroducedbythetransitionto
desktopvirtualization?MostofthenewsupportincidentsthatcomefromtheVDI
environmentshouldnowbeserverrelated.Youhavemovedthedesktoptothedatacenter
andhostedthevirtualdesktopsonserversnow.Maintenanceandsupportissuesforthe
desktopsthattypicallyfelltothedesktoptechnicianlevelnowaregoingtohappenatthe
servertechnicianlevelinthedatacenter.Youhavetomakesurethatanypossibleincrease
indatacenterserversupportcostsarefactoredintothecostequation.
Anotherchallengeisdeterminingtheseverityandimpactofahardwareorinfrastructure
supportissue.Aswediscussedinpreviouschapters,thesharednatureofVDI,particularly
thesharedstorageonSAN,willmeanthatdowntimeandfailureofadatacenter
componentisgoingtoimpactamuchlargersegmentoftheuserbase.Hereagain,planning
andunderstandingtheimplicationsforsupportwithVDIwillmeanthatthismetriccanbe
estimatedupfrontalthoughitcantrulyonlybedetermineduponfailure.
Determininghowyougotitrightmeansaskingtherightquestionsaboutwhattypesof
supportyouexpecttoreduceoreliminateandunderstandingthatthemetricsyougather
maynotbeasaccurateasyouwant.Beingabletounderstandthesupportcostsforfailures
youhavenotyetexperiencedwillalsobecriticaltodeterminingwhetheryourVDI
investmentpaidthedividendsyouareexpecting.
Lesson5:WhattheFutureHolds
Determiningwhatthefutureholdsfordesktopvirtualizationisadifficultproposition.We
haveestablishedthatthepurposeofundertakingadesktopvirtualizationtransitionisto
provideservicedeliverythroughamechanismthatoffersreducedsupportcostsand
reducedtotalcostofownershipovertraditionalphysicaldesktops.
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Weknowthatdesktopvirtualizationisnotafitforallcurrentphysicaldesktopuser
scenarios.TheearlierproposedtechnologicalchangeswillexpandtheadoptionofVDI,but
isitreallygoingtobethefinalsolutiontotheproblemofenduserservicedelivery?The
firstchapterintroducedtheconceptofenduserworkspaces.Tomostendusers,the
workspaceconceptistiedtowhattheyseeontheirdesktops.Itisacollectionoficons,
applications,documents,anduserspecificcustomizationsthatenableausertoworkina
mannerthatismostconducivetotheirneeds.Forthisreason,desktopvirtualizationwill
continuetogrow;itprovidesamechanismforworkspacedeliveryasaconsistentdesktop
experience.
Thereducedsupportcostsandincreasedreliabilityofcomputinginadatacenterwillalso
makedesktopvirtualizationanattractivepropositiontobusinessesofallsizes.Thisis
particularlytrueasbusinessesgothroughthenextoneortwodesktoprefreshcycles.
Theserefreshcycleswillallowthemostcosteffectivetimesforeitherpartialorwholesale
transitiontodesktopvirtualization.DuringthesePCrefreshperiods,atminimum,we
shouldexpectthatagoodportionofLANbaseduserswillprovetobethebestcandidates
forvirtualdesktops.TheseLANbaseduserswillhavethebestchanceofseamlessvirtual
desktopexperiencesmostcloselyapproximatingtheirphysicaldesktopexperiences.The
taskworkerthatdoesnthaveanyspecializedperipheralsupportneedsorcomplex
processingandgraphicsrequirementsisgoingtobethemostcosteffectivetypetomoveto
avirtualdesktop.
Vendorsolutionsnowallowrichmultimediaand3Dsupportfordisplayofvirtualdesktops.
Thedemandforthisasapartofvirtualdesktopsisgoingtoincreaseasmoreusersclamor
foranexperiencethatissimilartothephysicaldesktoptheyareusedto.Thisidea
illustrateshow,inthenextfewyears,thewayuserworkspacesaredeliveredwillchange.
ProblemsforWidespreadVDIUse
Widespreaddesktopvirtualizationadoptionisgoingtobemostdependentonthe
availabilityofcosteffectiveandhighperformancestorageaswellasnetworkingreliability
andperformanceenhancements.Overthenext2to5years,thosetwocategorieswillneed
torampuptokeeppacewiththedemand.
StoragehasbeenthekeyproblemwitheffectivewidespreadVDIimplementation.Storage
costsarecontinuallydroppingandsharedstoragesolutionsarebecomingmuchmore
affordableforsmallandmidsizebusinesses.Still,thesubstantialpricepergigabyteof
storagedifferentialbetweenSANandtraditionaldesktopstorageisfarfromparity.Amajor
costshiftisgoingtohavetooccursimilartotheonethatdidinbackupwithregardtodisk
versustapecosts.Similarly,thewayvirtualdesktopsarestoredandthehighlevelof
duplicationthatoccursisgoingtohavetobeaddressed.
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FocusingonServiceDelivery
Desktopvirtualizationisnttheonlywaytodeliverservicestoendusers.Application
virtualizationisshowingstronggrowthasatechnologysetinandofitself.Combining
applicationvirtualizationwithdesktopvirtualizationallowsforfurtherdecreasedsupport
costs.
Whenyoubreakdowntheenduserexperiencetoitscomponentsonatraditionalphysical
desktop,youendupwiththreecategories:
ThedesktopOS
Theapplicationsthattheuserneeds
Thedata/settings/customizationsthattheuserrequires
Avirtualdesktopisgoingtohavetherequirementsofallthreecategories.Onemightsay
thisisnecessaryforthesakeofenduserexperienceandfamiliaritywithworkinginthis
way.However,beingabletoisolatethesecomponentcategorieswillallowITarchitectsto
havefutureflexibility.
ThedesktopOSisreallynothingmorethanaplatformuponwhichauserinteractswiththe
applicationsanddatatheyneedtoperformtheirspecificjobfunction.Beingabletoprovide
theuserwithaworkspacethatmarriesthedesktopOSwiththeapplicationsandwiththe
data/settingswhilebeingabletoseparatethemwillbringamuchhigherlevelof
supportabilitytothedesktopecosystem.Encapsulatingapplicationsusingvirtualizationis
acriticalsteptomakingthisvisionareality.
DeliveringapplicationsisoneofthebiggestchallengesfacedbyITpersonnel.Theuseof
applicationvirtualizationalongwithuserstoragethatisntlocaltothevirtualdesktopwill
enablethevirtualdesktoptobeageneralizedOSthatfadesintothebackground.However,
thisideaisntexactlyworkinginpracticeaswellasitdoesintheory.Thisfocuson
deliveringapplications,data,andtheuserstateinsteadofthedesktopallowsyouto
uncouplethedesktopandenablesmoreflexiblealternativedeliverymethods.
ImplementingVDINowwithaFutureMindset
WehaveexploredthebestusecasesofVDIemployingexistingtechnologies.Wehavealso
determinedthatVDIiscertainlygoingtobeapartofemergingservicedeliverymodels
becauseithelpsreducesupportcostsanddrivesdowntotalcostofownershipinthelong
term.Nonetheless,weneedtorememberthatdesktopvirtualizationisntafitforalluses
andallusers.PCrefreshcycles,requiredstorageupgrades,andthenumberofremoteand
offlineusersallfactorintowhereandhowmuchofaroleVDIplaysinservicedelivery.
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Makesurethattheinvestmentsmadetodayindesktopvirtualizationhaveclearlydefined
goalsandaremeasurable.BeingabletounderstandthelimitationsofVDIandwherethose
limitationsaregoingtolikelyberemovedinthenearfuturewillhelpyouunderstandthe
bestmeanstofutureproofyourinvestmentinVDI.VDIisgoingtoatsomepointtransition
intoaservicedeliverytechnologythataddressesvirtuallyallofthecurrentchallenges.
Whatdoesthismeantoyourbusiness?PlanforVDIanddontbeafraidtomakean
investmentindesktopvirtualization.Therearemanyareasinwhichitmakesgreat
businesssensetodoso,butdobeawarethathavingexpectationsofdesktopvirtualization
astheendall,beallofservicedeliveryisgoingtoleadtomissinggoalsduetounrealistic
expectations.AslongasthemodelsyoudevelopandthereasonsforthetransitiontoVDI
areunderstoodandforemostinalldecisions,thenVDIwillmakeapowerfulpartofa
completeenduserservicedeliverysolution.
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Desktop Virtualization and Evolving Strategies For IT Service

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