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Three Different Takes on Desktop Virtualization

What are people in the blogosphere saying these days about desktop virtualization? Actually, before we ask that, we should ask if there is really such a thing as the blogosphere anymore. In any case, there are people who write blogs and they have been writing about VDI and desktop virtualization, and here are three of the more interesting posts we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks.

There’s an piece by Dan Kusnetzky on ZDnet that discusses Intel’s approach to what it calls “Intelligent Desktop Virtualization” based on a conversation with Lisa Watts, Director of Business Client Solutions at Intel (Intel’s concept for intelligent desktop virtualization). The article notes that Intel’s concept of intelligent desktop virtualization is “using virtualization technology to create an environment that has the following characteristics:”

• Centralized management, but local execution
• Layered images delivered intelligently (layered images are virtual environments constructed on the fly that include system software, application software, application data, user preferences and user data)
• Intelligent device management that uses the capabilities available on the machine in the most intelligent way (graphs would be processed locally, for example, if a system has a high-performance graphics system)

Companies that offer products that are examples of Intelligent Desktop Virtualization: RES Software, Virtual Computer, Wanova, MokaFive and Scense.

Here’s a real interesting post from Spankmeister at Spiceworks (Virtualization: What’s next for the enterprise? VDI, that’s what). This one was just posted yesterday and already has 50 replies. Spankmeister wrote about his own experience using VDI. He started by researching a couple of vendors that support VDI; made sure it worked with his existing infrastructure; got a couple of test devices, and tested on both LAN and remote locations. Here are some of his conclusions, based on what’s he’s done so far:

• Performance is actually INCREASED using VDI
• Scalability is “frickin AWESOME – I can roll out 20 new machines if needed in minutes using templates”
• “You can save some serious $$$ in hardware and administrative costs”
• Don’t expect these (zero client solutions) to work well over a connection that has a lot of latency
• Don’t expect a user that has really high computing needs (like video editors of heavy graphic artists) to get any improvement from VDI
• Don’t expect cost savings if you are implementing seven virtual workstations – the more you deploy the bigger the savings “and the break-even point can be substantial”

If you’re thinking about deploying VDI, or if you’re in the process of evaluating, it will be well worth taking a look at this post and also looking at the various comments.

Ken Hess, also of ZDnet, expresses why he’s had a change of heart about VDI, from being strongly against to being a fan of certain types of desktop infrastructure implementations (Is VDI Really an Option?). Why the change of heart, he asks himself: Timing and technology, he answers. “VDI really was not an option before,” he says, “But it is now,” nothing that it’s time to look at VDI again in a serious and more practical way. Hess suggests that you convert a few dozen desktops as a test. “The test will provide feedback about how well your employees work with virtual desktops in each area of your business,” he suggests. “Some departments will prove easy to convert, others will be difficult due to user issues, a few will have correctible technical difficulties and a very small percentage will not be able to make the switch.”

Hess has an interesting take on the future, particularly for someone who was not an advocate of VDI for a while. “Is it the future of desktop computing,” he asks himself again. His reply: “For 90 percent of us, yes. For the other 10 percent, it’s a little further into the future.”

What do you think? Is VDI, or some form of Intelligent Desktop Virtualization, as Intel describes it, the future of client computing? If you have an opinion, feel free to comment on the site. Even if you don’t have an opinion you can comment on the site anyway.