Why I'm Losing My Excitement Over VDI
I spent some time talking with reps from Neoware about their VDI offerings. I've also spent some time at the VMware VDI forums and read Brian Madden's article on it (which I posted about here). I've gone from feeling like this is the next big thing for my organization to deciding to hold out for now. I think that this technology has its place but let me tell you why I'm no longer excited about it in a school setting.
As I understand VDI (VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, for the uninitiated), you create a virtual machine for each user (I'm unclear on whether you can use one created VM and copy it each time a user logs in, which would be a cool concept in my mind). Each PC or thin client (or laptop) has a connection broker installed which finds the proper VMware host containing the user's VM. The user is then connected to their VM and the screens, keystrokes, and mouse clicks/movements are sent between the client and the host over RDP.
So, this could replace my Terminal Services setup. To do so would require me to install enough servers to contain all the virtual machines I would need (about 250) and deal with all the network traffic. I don't think that I want to manage that. Managing 250 virtual machines sounds an awful lot like managing 250 desktop PCs. (Granted, I would have them all in the same room and not spread over the entire district, but still... I don't want to manage 250 desktops!)
I do think that I could get out of the refresh cycle for PCs and laptops by switching to thin clients and a combination of VDI and Terminal Services. I could put 90% of my users on thin clients connecting to Terminal Servers. The remaining users, administrators mainly, could have virtual machines. This means I never have to buy another PC. The refresh cycle on thin clients is five years compared to three years for PCs. This puts nearly all the maintenance costs on the server end.
Top this off with the lack of clarity in Neoware's message about VDI (they really haven't thought this completely through yet) and I am happy to wait another year to see how it shakes out before committing to the concept.
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10 comments:
You should talk to Wyse Technolgy. They have thought about it and have some of the answers you are looking for.
I have used Wyse in the past and not been enamored with their product. I specifically was unimpressed with their Rapport administration software. But, I am willing to give companies the benefit of the doubt if they seem to be changing. If you say they have a plan for VDI, I'll check them out and see if maybe they haven't fixed their other problems as well.
Thanks for the tip.
I think you can avoid managing 250 desktops if you provision your VMs with Neoware Image Manager.
You would then nearly manage only one desktop.
I recall that Neoware folks, on their booth at Citrix iForum 2006, told me this was something they could do: one VMWare ESX server hosting several VMs, all booted off the same virtual disk image (served by their Image Manager system).
Managing all the VMs "as one" in a VDI system is a must-have for me (like you, I do not want to manage 50 different desktops, whether virtual or physical...).
But there is another problem for me: I think that the scalability of VDI is really not good. 1 expensive ESX server for 25 to 26 VMs. And they cannot boot all together.
What will happen after a power failure?
I am now considering OS and app streaming instead of VDI, mostly for cost reasons.
Mr V:
I was hoping that the single-image-copied-to-users-as-they-log-in concept was possible. I hadn't been around to looking it up yet. Thanks for the info!
I think that the way around the power issue is sufficient UPS provisioning in the data center and wiring closets. If the power goes out in the user's office, they're done anyway. If the power goes out momentarily in the server room/data center, we ought to be able to ride it out with no interruption to the users.
Longer term power outages will be a problem. I don't see SMBs shelling out for generators. I think the best way to handle those is through the organization's business continuity plan.
I'm curious. What would be different between VDI and app streaming in the event of a power failure?
Wyse has a product called Wyse Streaming Manager that has been demonstrated to automatically provision VM's on the fly in 60 seconds, rather than the 30 minutes it typically takes to install the OS and the applications. The thing Wyse has over Neoware is that their product does the OS and the apps independantly, making it a lot easier to manage the images and apply patches to the OS and apps. I've seen it demonstrated at iForum and was impressed.
You know, this happens a lot. As soon as I write a tech company off as "not getting it", they go and jump ahead of the curve and I have to reevaluate them again! :)
Looks like I need to spend some time at the Wyse web site and maybe make a phone call after that!
Thanks for the tips, guys.
You should check out HP's CCI blade PC and Workstation Blade PC solutions. They blow VDI away in simplicity and quality of end user experience. The workstations can even handle full 3d streaming and CAD type apps if you need it (over the thin client running their proprietary RDP-like software).
The thing that has always scared me away from blade PCs is that I still need to maintain hundreds of PCs. I imagine that blades would be easier to maintain, but they still have hard drives to fail, fans to fail, etc.
The nice part of Terminal Services is that you have very little maintenance, don't need antivirus for your clients, and don't need to install software for every client.
The nice part about VDI is that I can create one image which is used by all clients.
Both TS and VDI can run on low-maintenance thin clients.
I'll look at HP's blade PCs but I doubt they can offer what the other two solutions offer.
You also need to check out the offering from Provision Networks. Their Virtual Access Suite allows you to use "templates" and provision VMs on the fly. They also manage with a single framework virtual desktops (VDI), terminal servers and blade PCs.
Thanks! How did I miss these guys? I see that Provision Networks has worked with at least one high school, so there is some precedence there. If it truly manages VDI, TS and blade PCs from one location then it may be the Holy Grail I'm seeking.
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