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Emtec Adviser - What's in a name

Desktop virtualization or virtual desktop infrastructure: What’s the difference?
 

Desktop virtualization is transforming how organizations manage, support and protect desktop computing environments with the promise of a more modern, user-centric application and data delivery model. The architecture seeks to free users and IT from more than two decades of complex, device-centric computing and deliver a more user-friendly experience.

“Customers are intrigued by the possibility of a better desktop management model and the operational savings desktop virtualization could deliver,” said Ian Song, senior research analyst, Enterprise Virtualization Software, IDC. “In the next 12 to 24 months, desktop virtualization technologies will move beyond just managing PCs and become a solution that can provide a holistic management paradigm addressing many different facets of end-user computing.”

For all its transformative possibilities, desktop virtualization remains misunderstood. Part of the problem is that marketing hype has blurred the distinction between the overall concept of desktop virtualization and the various available models for implementing this concept. Part of the problem is that marketing hype has blurred the distinction between the overall concept of desktop virtualization and the various models for implementing this concept. There is particular confusion when it comes to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Although the terms desktop virtualization and VDI often are used interchangeably, VDI actually is just one component of a total desktop virtualization solution.

The Basics

Desktop virtualization is gaining steam because it addresses one of the most time-consuming and expensive operations supported by IT organizations — deploying and managing end-user desktops. According to industry estimates, managing a single desktop can cost more than $5,000 a year.

Desktop virtualization helps relieve these headaches by separating the desktop environment from a particular compute resource, application environment and user environment. In the VDI model, these “elements” of the desktop are virtualized in the data center so that they can be accessed via a wide range of devices from any location. A hardware virtualization layer provides numerous virtual machines (VMs) that can be used to host desktop images for multiple users. If properly architected, these elements join together to create a rich user experience indistinguishable from the traditional desktop.

The goals of desktop virtualization can also be achieved through application streaming, server-based computing and cloud services and blade-based computing. VDI is generally — but not always — the approach with the best use case.  However, application streaming and hosting technologies provide by far the best ROI and TCO, and should not be ignored as the way to deliver more resources with less overhead to a particular user base. In many cases, the various approaches should be combined with VDI to create the most flexible architecture.

A Complete Solution

The journey to desktop virtualization can be difficult for organizations that currently are not well on their way toward centralizing data and user profiles. These data centralization requirements are essential first steps in a successful move to desktop virtualization. After that, the most intricate part of the journey is how organizations manage application delivery. If applications are installed at every endpoint, even with automated tools, this model is much more difficult to manage than a centrally installed or accessed model. Application streaming and hosting technologies provide by far the best ROI and TCO over a VDI model, and they simply cannot be ignored as methods for delivering more resources with less overhead to a particular user base.

Some of the key benefits or components of a complete desktop virtualization solution are:

Virtualized and centralized desktop management. This is a PC-replacement strategy that has many benefits, but also can be an expensive move that will not show immediate ROI because of the back-end hardware and storage required to prepare such an infrastructure. Longer-term ROI is realized through more efficient managing and scaling of application and desktop resources, providing agility and flexibility for mergers, acquisitions and other day-to-day adds, moves and changes.

Application virtualization.  Application virtualization involves the use of various “sandbox” methods to present applications to end-user devices as a single, isolated package that does not typically install within the file systems and registries of the target devices. Isolation minimizes application conflicts and creates a single-instance installation of an application that can be used in a virtual desktop, traditional desktop or from a Remote Desktop service experience.

Single-instance OS management. Hosted virtual desktops, or VDI, is the foundation for a full desktop virtualization solution, but not a complete solution. The ability to create a single OS image and leverage this image for hundreds or even thousands of virtual desktops is a key to a great VDI solution. Both Citrix and VMware have methods for “provisioning” or “cloning” a single OS image to minimize the amount of storage required to support large numbers of virtual desktops.

The typical distributed desktop computing environment in which everyone in a company has his or her own PC or laptop loaded with applications and data is costly to own, complex and time-consuming to manage. Desktop virtualization can reduce some of the costs normally associated with the traditional model and increase IT efficiency. Application virtualization also plays a role in delivering what users need, regardless of end-computing device or OS platform. However, organizations must remember that while VDI is often the most appropriate way to achieve these benefits, it is not the only way.