Virtualization of the desktop is not as prevalent at this time as server virtualization, but many companies are investigating desktop virtualization and implementing pilots. Virtualization actually provides a layer between the hardware and software and provides a logical view of the computing resources. Therefore, each server acts like a group of servers, each disk drive functions like a pool of disks, and each desktop uses centralized computing power. Machine virtualization actually inserts a virtualization layer (hypervisor) between the operating system instances and hardware, whereas application virtualization inserts the layer between the application and the operating system. Therefore, when the user needs an application, the server software downloads the application to the machine and it runs as if it were installed. When the user is done, it is uninstalled and available for another user.
Top Tip: Desktop virtualization
"We used desktop virtualization to be able to run applications remotely during a disaster. We were able to do this during hurricane Gustav. This provided an up-time gain with minimal costs that we did not have in place for Katrina."
—Roger Champagne
Laitram
Laitram
Top Tip: Desktop virtualization savings
"We are starting a desktop virtualization program. We anticipate a minimum of 15-20% savings"
—Paul Kay
Long Term Care Group
Long Term Care Group
Desktop virtualization moves the end-user operating environment from a dedicated piece of hardware in a local PC to a virtual machine on shared hardware. You can virtualize applications by hosting, updating, and patching a single application instance and delivering the functionality over the network rather than deploying and maintaining instances on each individual PC. It is a viable option for cost reduction depending on the application and business needs. You are able to realize cost savings in virtualizing clients by decreasing support and maintenance costs, and reducing downtime due to desktop issues. One company reduced desktop total cost of ownership by an estimated 20 percent by virtualizing desktops and centralizing desktop management. With a virtualized desktop environment, you are able to access a desktop from any location using any device, which increases functionality and supports remote use.
Virtualizing desktops can be a major endeavor, and you should proceed slowly. Although the virtualized client hardware and software is significantly less expensive than a full PC, you need to consider the additional costs of the back-end infrastructure required. It has a significant impact on the network capacity. Be sure you review the network to ensure it is robust enough to carry the additional traffic, and include network and server upgrade costs in the return on investment calculation. Desktop virtualization may require a significant up-front investment, and cost savings will be long-term rather than short-term. A partial implementation of desktop virtualization may actually increase your overall costs as you have to maintain the overhead of both methods. During an interview, a CIO was not convinced of the cost savings of desktop virtualization and he commented, "You have the additional blade in the data center, and you have the additional costs of the blade in an expensive facility, which has to be less expensive than that of a PC for any benefit to be realized. You also have introduced a single point of failure."
Top Tip: Desktop virtualization and the network
"We did a pilot for desktop virtualization. The problem with desktop virtualization is that any latency on the network is very painful. Every network has some latency. As you lower the costs on the desktop, the provisioning costs on the network can go up. However, there are some places that it does make sense."
—Samuel J. Levy
University of St. Thomas
University of St. Thomas
Investigate alternative client architectures and other methods to reduce the requirements for desktops to provide a more thin-client approach, which reduces support costs, maintenance costs and delays the need for upgrades. Citrix is a common example of software that many companies have deployed to reduce desktop costs. Another example is VMWare's ACE product, which still virtualizes the desktop but runs the result using the desktop CPU and dramatically reduces the data center footprint of desktop virtualization.
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