Desktop Virtualization and Evolving Strategies for IT Service Delivery

Jaime Halscott
sponsored by

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers
by Don Jones, Series Editor

Forseveralyearsnow,Realtimehasproduceddozensanddozensofhighqualitybooks thatjusthappentobedeliveredinelectronicformatatnocosttoyou,thereader.Weve madethisuniquepublishingmodelworkthroughthegeneroussupportandcooperationof oursponsors,whoagreetobeareachbooksproductionexpensesforthebenefitofour readers. Althoughwevealwaysofferedourpublicationstoyouforfree,dontthinkforamoment thatqualityisanythinglessthanourtoppriority.Myjobistomakesurethatourbooksare asgoodasandinmostcasesbetterthananyprintedbookthatwouldcostyou$40or more.Ourelectronicpublishingmodeloffersseveraladvantagesoverprintedbooks:You receivechaptersliterallyasfastasourauthorsproducethem(hencetherealtimeaspect ofourmodel),andwecanupdatechapterstoreflectthelatestchangesintechnology. Iwanttopointoutthatourbooksarebynomeanspaidadvertisementsorwhitepapers. Wereanindependentpublishingcompany,andanimportantaspectofmyjobistomake surethatourauthorsarefreetovoicetheirexpertiseandopinionswithoutreservationor restriction.Wemaintaincompleteeditorialcontrolofourpublications,andImproudthat weveproducedsomanyqualitybooksoverthepastyears. Iwanttoextendaninvitationtovisitusathttp://nexus.realtimepublishers.com,especially ifyouvereceivedthispublicationfromafriendorcolleague.Wehaveawidevarietyof additionalbooksonarangeoftopics,andyouresuretofindsomethingthatsofinterestto youanditwontcostyouathing.WehopeyoullcontinuetocometoRealtimeforyour educationalneedsfarintothefuture. Untilthen,enjoy. DonJones

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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

ii

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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

iii

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

Copyright Statement
2011 Realtime Publishers. All rights reserved. This site contains materials that have been created, developed, or commissioned by, and published with the permission of, Realtime Publishers (the Materials) and this site and any such Materials are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. THE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. The Materials are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Realtime Publishers its web site sponsors. In no event shall Realtime Publishers or its web site sponsors be held liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained in the Materials, including without limitation, for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages whatsoever resulting from the use of any information contained in the Materials. The Materials (including but not limited to the text, images, audio, and/or video) may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, in whole or in part, except that one copy may be downloaded for your personal, noncommercial use on a single computer. In connection with such use, you may not modify or obscure any copyright or other proprietary notice. The Materials may contain trademarks, services marks and logos that are the property of third parties. You are not permitted to use these trademarks, services marks or logos without prior written consent of such third parties. Realtime Publishers and the Realtime Publishers logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. If you have any questions about these terms, or if you would like information about licensing materials from Realtime Publishers, please contact us via e-mail at [email protected].

iv

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

[EditorsNote:ThisbookwasdownloadedfromRealtimeNexusTheDigitalLibraryforITProfessionals. AllleadingtechnologybooksfromRealtimePublisherscanbefoundathttp://nexus.realtimepublishers.com.]

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?

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

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.

10

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

11

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

12

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

13

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

14

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

15

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

16

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

17

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

18

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

19

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

20

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

21

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

22

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

23

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

24

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

25

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

26

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

27

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

28

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

29

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

30

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

31

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

32

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

33

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

34

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

35

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

36

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

37

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

38

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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

39

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

40

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

41

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

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.

42

DesktopVirtualizationandEvolvingStrategiesforITServiceDelivery

JaimeHalscott

Makesurethattheinvestmentsmadetodayindesktopvirtualizationhaveclearlydefined goalsandaremeasurable.BeingabletounderstandthelimitationsofVDIandwherethose limitationsaregoingtolikelyberemovedinthenearfuturewillhelpyouunderstandthe bestmeanstofutureproofyourinvestmentinVDI.VDIisgoingtoatsomepointtransition intoaservicedeliverytechnologythataddressesvirtuallyallofthecurrentchallenges. Whatdoesthismeantoyourbusiness?PlanforVDIanddontbeafraidtomakean investmentindesktopvirtualization.Therearemanyareasinwhichitmakesgreat businesssensetodoso,butdobeawarethathavingexpectationsofdesktopvirtualization astheendall,beallofservicedeliveryisgoingtoleadtomissinggoalsduetounrealistic expectations.AslongasthemodelsyoudevelopandthereasonsforthetransitiontoVDI areunderstoodandforemostinalldecisions,thenVDIwillmakeapowerfulpartofa completeenduserservicedeliverysolution.

DownloadAdditionalBooksfromRealtimeNexus!
RealtimeNexusTheDigitalLibraryprovidesworldclassexpertresourcesthatIT professionalsdependontolearnaboutthenewesttechnologies.Ifyoufoundthisbookto beinformative,weencourageyoutodownloadmoreofourindustryleadingtechnology booksandvideoguidesatRealtimeNexus.Pleasevisit http://nexus.realtimepublishers.com.

43