Desktop Virtualization Services

What is Desktop Virtualization?

The term desktop virtualization is often misused and may have many meanings along with applications. DirectPointe defines desktop virtualization as dedicating one physical server computer to host multiple "virtual" desktops - giving each the appearance and capabilities of running on its own dedicated machine. Desktop virtualization provides the capability of running multiple applications and operating systems from a single server device. So, why use virtualization services for your computing environment?

Virtualization has many benefits, one of the key items being resource optimization. By utilizing a single, virtual unit, a company can eliminate the majority of the costs associated with desktop hardware acquisition and maintenance costs.

Is my Company a Fit?

To determine if your company is a fit for desktop virtualization services, our certified IT professionals will address all aspects of your computing environment to ensure you are getting the right IT solution to meet the demands of your business. Hosted virtualization services may be a perfect solution for your company if you run applications meant for small-to-medium bandwidth usage. If your company is running high-performance applications where one or more servers need to be clustered together to meet performance requirements of a single application, we would typically recommend using a virtualization model that is kept at the client's premise in order to avoid latency of applications. With larger performance applications, using a hosted virtualization model could cause added complexity to your IT environment and will decrease the overall performance.

DirectPointe’s technical assessment analysis can help you determine the right mix of IT virtualization services to meet your current and future IT needs.

What are my Options?

DirectPointe provides two options in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Both options have many advantages, and we will consult with you and your team to determine which virtualization option is the best fit. Within our server-based desktop virtualization infrastructure, users are added in large increments, whereas a virtualized blade PC infrastructure provides a more linear approach allowing you to add new enclosures and blade PCs as your company grows.

• Blade PC’s: Access your computer anytime, anywhere in the world.

  By definition, a blade PC is a form of client or personal computer (PC). The blade PC is typically housed in a rack enclosure in a data center and is accessed by a device such as a “thin client” that sits on the user’s desk. Since all your applications and data are stored on the blade PC, this form of virtualization allows you to access your personal computer from anywhere in the world at any time as long as you have a secure, internet connection.

  A blade PC provides flexibility in how a virtual desktop is served up. When a user logs into a blade, they have 1-to-1 relationship – giving the user full hardware resources of that blade. If one blade goes down, you can automatically roll-over your session to the next blade on the rack since they each have their own hard drive, CPU, memory and graphics adaptor.

  Benefits of Blade PCs:

  • Blades are always running giving the user faster boot-up times
  • Software licenses are pre-loaded to each blade for reduced licensing costs
  • Crashing or infecting one blade only takes down one desktop – not the entire virtual infrastructure
  • Blades offer built-in, disaster recovery without the expense of a shared storage device
  • Each blade has its own graphics processor that can be leveraged to give desktop-like video performance
  • Thin clients are used to access a blade PC which means a reduction of energy use, less heat, and less noise.

• Server-based Computing: Consolidate your server and desktop environment.

  Sever-based computing is a form of virtualization in which applications are placed on, managed, supported, and executed from the server instead of the desktop. Server-based computing environments simplify hardware and software upgrades, application deployment, technical support, and data storage and backups; this is because only the server has to be managed instead of multiple desktops and servers. So, all data and applications are housed on a few servers instead of hundreds of desktops, and the applications are accessed by less expensive equipment that is easier to manage such as a “thin client” desktop.

  Benefits of Server-based Computing:

  • Total Cost of Ownership can be reduced by as much as 50 percent
  • Users can access their desktop and applications from any type of client device from anywhere in the world
  • All your data is kept on a secure server instead of being “spread out” on less secure client computers
  • Quick migration of a running virtual machine from one physical host system to another with minimal downtime
  • Administrators can deploy, manage, and support applications more easily since everything is centralized from a single point

Hosted Virtualization vs. Customer Premise Virtualization

Many of our customers ask about the benefits of a fully-hosted desktop virtualization platform at the DirectPointe data center versus maintaining the hardware on premise. In the initial discovery and consultation phase, we will help you determine the best solution for your business needs, and the key is that we keep the end-user in mind. Typically, the virtualization solution location is determined by the types of users and applications. Applications using a lot of processing power are usually kept on a virtual machine at the customer site to avoid internet latency. Task-based users running 1-3 applications at a time that are more text based – as opposed to graphics-based applications – can have a fully-functional virtual environment hosted at the DirectPointe data center. Some cases allow for a hybrid solution combining the best of both worlds.

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