Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a technology that helps businesses to alleviate management issues with the corporate desktop fleet, security vigilance, and end user help desk satisfaction.
Virtualization has become common place in many data centers because of the advantages, like saving rack space, environmental and energy reductions, and easier management. Just like server virtualization, when using virtual desktop infrastructure, IT management has full control of end users desktops, applications, and data as they are run from the data center, yet still allowing users to experience their own individual desktop.
Desktop Images
One of the biggest tasks for IT support departments is to keep the desktop systems updated with the correct applications, versions, virus clients, and other desktop settings. Normally, support personal will create an image containing the operating system, programs, program updates, drivers, and security policies and deploy it through the organization. Creating these images can be time consuming, and if errors occur during the deployment, extra labor hours may be needed to determine the failure point. Couple this issue with computer systems located in remote areas, home offices, around the country or globe and the time and labor can become very costly.
Management Advantages
With Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, the creation, management and maintenance is easily achieved. For instance, in the event of an application desktop issue or update, instead of manually creating a new image and deploying on thousands of system, VDI images are created with the fix and swiftly deployed to the end users, before your help desk becomes inundated with end user reports of miscellaneous errors and operating issues.
For most organizations, the number of applications, operating systems, and configurations for numerous company departments and projects can be a daunting assignment. With virtual desktops, your IT can spend less time managing the desktops and more time on cost cutting initiatives or new product rollouts.
Having your desktops hosted and served from the corporate data center has other intrinsic benefits. Primarily, servers contain large memory, storage and processors, and many support two or more. This power is then used to increase operating speeds of and response times of applications. Having a central location that houses computing power eliminates the need to run expensive desktops, helping to save on capital expenditures. Although the end users are actually seeing and utilizing the desktop from the server, their experience is seamless.
Even for desktop configurations that require legacy hardware or external USB devices, desktop virtualization permits access and utilization without barriers.
One of the most valuable features is the security provided. With Virtual Desktop Integration, your desktop data is safely protected by firewalls, and within corporate servers. A stolen piece of hardware becomes useless, as the operating system, applications and data are all housed separate from the PC.
For the data center that embraces a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, the benefits are endless. Faster deployment of corporate solutions, better time management for IT staffers, and end user satisfaction, along with reduced errors and faster operations, make VDI a must have for expanding businesses.
