An iterative approach to Desktop Virtualization
By Mike Cave, Acting Chief Information Officer
CA Department of Toxic Substances Control
Desktop virtualization is the concept of separating a personal computer desktop environment from the physical machine through a client-server computing model. The resulting "virtualized" desktop is stored on a remote central server, instead of on the local storage of remote client; this way, when users work from their remote desktop client, all of the programs, applications, processes, and data used are kept and run centrally, allowing users to access their desktops on any capable device, such as a traditional personal computer, notebook computer, smartphone, or thin client.
Servers (Headquarters and Regional Offices)A toe Application Development Servers Non-critical Function Servers Test Lab – PCs and ServersA foot Production Web Applications and Web Servers Antivirus server farm Blackberry/Network Monitoring
All the way up to the waist File/Print/E-mail Patch and Workstation Configuration Management
My work desktop + HP thin client laptop Standard DTSC image virtualized Programmer test PCs (our experienced
end-users)
Simpler provisioning of new desktops Reduced downtime in the event of server
or client hardware failures Lower cost of new application
deployment Desktop image management capabilities Longer refresh cycle for client desktop
infrastructure Secure remote access to the enterprise
desktop environment
Limitations of desktop virtualization include: potential security risks if the network is
not properly managed some loss of user autonomy and privacy challenges in setting up and maintaining
drivers for printers and other peripherals difficulty in running certain complex
applications such as multimedia (GIS, Video).
Network Drives (File Services) Access to Intranet Resources and the
Internet E-mail COTS applications installed on their
desktop (MS Project, Adobe Acrobat, etc.)
Staff dispersed at offices in LA, Diamond Bar
Broadband access acquired Staff assigned thin client laptops VPN (Virtual Private Networking)
accounts Remote Desktop (RDP) access back to
their Chatsworth PCs
Logmein GoToMyPC
VMWare VDI Citrix XenDesktop Sun Microsystems
Wide Area Network Considerations – Overall Performance
Patch Management Software Deployment Disaster Recovery Costs of Implementing Infrastructure Current PC/Laptop Hardware Refresh
Methodology ***What other state agencies are
doing***
According to a report by Gartner, hosted services accounted for more than 500,000 desktop units as of March 2009, but will grow to 49 million desktop units by 2013, and may make up as much as 40% of the worldwide professional personal computer market by revenue
http://www.cio.com/article/487109/Hosted_Virtual_Desktop_Market_to_Cross_65_Billion_in_2013/
Questions?
Top Related