Desktop virtualization

What is desktop virtualization ?

Desktop virtualization is a relatively new term, introduced in the 1990s that describes the process of separating a personal computer desktop (its applications, files and data) from the physical machine. The 'virtualized' desktop is stored on a remote central server instead of on the hard-drive of the local personal computer. This means that when users work from their desktops, all of the programs, applications, processes and data used by the desktop are kept and run centrally, allowing users to remotely access their desktops on any device which is capable of displaying the desktop, such as a PC, laptop, smartphone or thin client .

Technical Definition of Desktop Virtualization - Desktop virtualization is encapsulating and delivering either access to an entire information system environment or the environment itself to a remote device. This device may be based upon an entirely different hardware architecture than that used by the projected desktop environment. It may also be based upon an entirely different operating system as well.

Desktop virtualization is the use of virtual machines to let multiple network subscribers maintain individualized desktops on a single, centrally located computer or server. The central machine may be at a residence, business or data center. Users may be geographically scattered but are all connected to the central machine by a proprietary local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) or the Internet.

Advantages and disadvantages of desktop virtualization

Desktop virtualization offers advantages over the traditional model, in which every computer operates as a completely self-contained unit with its own operating system, peripherals and application programs. Overall expenses are reduced because resources can be shared and allocated to users on an as-needed basis. The integrity of user information is improved because all data is maintained and backed up in the data center. Conflicts in software are minimized by reducing the total number of programs stored on any given machine.

Despite the sharing of resources, all users can customize and modify their desktops to meet their specific needs. In this way, desktop virtualization offers improved flexibility compared with the simpler client/server paradigm.

Limitations of desktop virtualization include potential security risks if the network is not properly managed, some loss of user autonomy and privacy, challenges in setting up and maintaining drivers for printers and other peripherals, difficulty in running certain complex applications such as multimedia and problems keeping IP addresses on users' virtual machines matched with those at the data center. As desktop virtualization technlogy evolves and is driven by hundreds of commercial organizations, we would expect to see these limitations overcome in the next 12-18 months.

Desktop virtualization technology has already been adopted by organisations at enterprise level and the technology is shortly about to enter its mainstream phase where it is embraced by small to medium sized enterprises who often embrace cost-cutting technologies before the rest of us.

The key benefits of desktop virtualization technology include:

Secure your user desktops and lower your support costs

Organizations have unlimited problems when they grant users administrative access on Windows PCs, yet it is very difficult to lock down an entire environment and continue to provide end users, especially travelling users, with the functionality they need to do their job. Desktop virtualization enables a centralized server to deliver and manage individualized desktops remotely. This gives users a full desktop experience, but lets IT staff provision, manage, upgrade and patch them virtually, instead of physically. There are lower support costs because you don't have users tinkering around with their operating systems, which tend to cause a lot of the desktop problems that organisations experience.

Reduce Overall Hardware Costs

Desktop virtualization means that you don't have to have cutting edge PC hardware because all of the applications from the desktop are processed centrally on a remote server, which means that the computers that the users are using to connect to the server can be used for a lot longer than they could if you are upgrading operating systems every couple of years. Hardware costs can be reduced further by using thin clients to connect to the virtual desktop, which are typically a lot less expensive than a traditional PC.

Ensure Business Continuity

A recent study indicates that the vast majority of organisations have no business continuity plans in place. The study is based on a poll of 100 IT managers at mid-sized UK firms (30-500 employees) on behalf of Cable & Wireless and carried out by ICM Research. The survey suggests that, in the face of a major public transport disruption or workplace disaster, many companies would be unable to stay open for business whereas companies using desktop virtualization would be able to provide their key staff with access to their work desktops from any location.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Traditional PC desktops certainly represent a far less environmentally friendly alternative to virtual desktops stored centrally in the datacenter. A 2008 study from The Climate Group approximates that PCs consume around three times as much power as the data center. One of the greatest benefits of server virtualization is the energy saved when many servers running multiple application loads at low utilization can be combined on one physical piece of hardware.

Improve data security

Desktop virtualization means that all of the desktop users (and therefore the organisations) data is stored centrally with absolutely nothing kept locally, so if a user were to lose a laptop or the computer were to be stolen, no data is lost and no data falls into the wrong hands.

Desktop virtualization industry outlook

The worldwide hosted virtual desktop (HVD) market will accelerate through 2013 to reach 49 million units, up from more than 500,000 units in 2009, according to Gartner Inc. Worldwide HVD revenue will grow from about $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in 2009, which is less than 1 percent of the worldwide professional PC market, to $65.7 billion in 2013, which will be equal to more than 40 percent of the worldwide professional PC market.

The Gartner report, "Emerging Technology Analysis: Hosted Virtual Desktops, also stated while PC hardware expenditures would fall, enterprises would require more servers, network bandwidth and software to support new architectures.

Gartner estimated that approximately 15 percent of current worldwide traditional professional desktop PCs would migrate to HVDs by 2014, equal to about 66 million connected devices. The U.S. would reach double that of the worldwide average with over 18 million connected devices. After an initial slow start, the HVD market would rally in 2010 and 2011.

"Despite the further improvements in performance and manageability that are expected of HVDs in 2009, the current economic downturn is expected to inhibit the adoption of HVDs in the short term because HVD deployments require large upfront investments in server and network infrastructure," Jump said. "Because of IT budget cuts, we expect many planned HVD implementations to be delayed from 2009 into 2010 and 2011."

Vendor-specific implementations

• Citrix Xendesktop
• Sun xVM
• VMware View
• Ericom PowerTerm WebConnect
• Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

External links

• "Virtualization.info - News digest and insights about virtualization technologies, markets and trends."
• "Desktop Virtualization Forum - The internets first public, community-driven forum dedicated to the field of desktop virtualization."
• "Virtual Strategy Magazine - Virtualization technology news magazine aimed at desktop virtualization professionals."