VDI nuts and bolts
VDI is essentially changing the way a desktop is deployed in the workplace by moving the workload from users' hardware to the datacentre. With VDI, operating systems and applications reside on virtual machines on servers in the datacentre and then are dynamically delivered to wherever a user requires their desktop -- a desk terminal, a home PC or a thin client via a remote display protocol for example. At each place the user can access the same customised desktop.
"You can even put your kids' photos up on the background [as a desktop image]. So the user is happy and can be transient," VMware's Harapin said.
"They can go from one office to another or go home. They may have a variety of end points and still access their desktop. From a corporate perspective they're able to have all the security and flexibility they're looking for in a centralised model."
Aside from the obvious hardware cost reduction and associated efficiency gains -- IT would no longer have to waste time by physically going to every terminal to execute problem-solving solutions -- these customisation benefits are a key drawcard.
Users will be able to select which applications are useful for their role and incorporate them into their desktop without all the extras, much the same way that companies such as Google are enabling employees to individually determine their own IT set-up. But with VDI, this same desktop will then be accessible at whatever end point they choose. However, as the desktop is stored virtually in a centralised location, the IT department can maintain greater control of what transpires.
In fact, VDI backers claim this centralised control additionally enhances security as corporate data is stored in one location. As more and more reports emerge of lost laptops and other portable flash drives containing sensitive data, this should prove to be an appealing feature for security-conscious IT departments.
Virtualisation practice manager at Sydney-based integrator Technical Architecture Solutions, Damian Murdoch, also noted the greater protection provided against attacks, particularly in organisations that have public access terminals like universities and schools.
"Whether we like it or not some people are fairly malicious in how they use these things and also what sort of websites they are surfing to," he said.
But with a virtual desktop, when that user logs out, the PC reverts back to its original unadulterated state, or at least that's the theory.
"Any changes that have been made in that session are gone. All the spyware is gone. It's benefits like that which people are really being able to take advantage of," Murdoch said.
Moreover, VDI complements post-disaster business continuity strategies, especially when it comes to working out how users are going to be able to access their desktops after disasters occur, according to Murdoch.
"You take VDI now as a concept, even if you don't implement it in your production environment, the fact that you could have a virtual desktop at your disaster recovery environment means you no longer have to figure out how you are going to cater for those users," he claimed.
