VDI: Not a One Size Fits AllSpeakers:

Russel Thompson + Dustin Pittman

Meet the VDI Team

• Russel Thompson– Sr. Technology Support Specialist

• Dustin Pittman– System Engineer

• Joseph Warner– Sr. System Administrator– VDI Project lead– Served on A&M VDI council

Session Takeaways

• What is VDI?• How it is being used• How to analyze your environment for VDI

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

“the practice of hosting a desktop operating system within a virtual machine (VM) running on a centralized server. VDI is a variation on the client/server computing model, sometimes referred to as server-based computing. The term was coined by VMware Inc.”

http://www.kelsercorp.com

How People Use the Term VDI• Buzz Word

– Broad all encompassing• Don’t know exactly what it means

www.soobsessedwith.com

Common Pain Points• Supporting a broad base

– Offices, Labs, Libraries, Dorms, Classrooms, Personal Computers

• Low resources for support– Central Management option

• Security– Lost/ stolen secure laptops

• Provide consistent user experience– Improving the user’s IT experience

What is needed to succeed

• Hardware– Servers– End user device– Storage

• Networking– FAST

• Software– Licensing

• People– Support http://www.uk.insight.com/en-gb/shop/vdi/vmware/features

Our VDI Journey

• Asked to research and implement a VDI solution– Broad request

http://imgur.com/IlJq1c9

About Tarleton’s Environment

• 12,000 + students• ~4,000 Tarleton owned machines• 80 virtual servers• 77 physical• 4 Satellite Campuses

Companies We Researched

What Problem were we trying to solve

Who are you trying to help?• Students• Faculty• Staff• Departments• Labs, Kiosks, work areas• Remote users• Remote Locations

http://www.bisok.com/companies-with-a-desktop-virtualization-solution-experience-a-wealth-of-benefits/

• Security(broad term)• Consistent user experience• Less down time• Ease of access• Faster launch time

What would they gain?

Security Consistency Less down time

ease of access

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What We Did

• Talked to system schools– Traveling visits

• A&M VDI council formed– Assessed who was using what and why

• Researched Vendors– Short in house trial deployments

• Dell Lab visit

What We Found Out (in 2014)• If you wanted an affordable rollout, you had to

go big• Getting a vendor to talk to you about a small

deployment was near impossible

https://www.tumblr.com/search/scott%20pilgrim%20vs.%20the%20world%20gif

Our VDI Project Hurdles• VDI Company Service Offerings vs Our Wants • Budget

– Solution Cost vs Solution Benefit• Dealing with multiple vendors

Decision TimeVendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3

Virtualized Apps

Introducing…

Application JukeboxApplication Jukebox provides a mechanism to deliver, manage and virtualize applications to a client machine

from a centrally administered server

Key Features

• Deploy any Windows application to any device on and off campus, at any time

• Reduce the reliance on dedicated lab environments

• Quick and easy application packaging:• Small server footprint (serve 20,000 users with

10 servers)• Report on license usage to management

Advantages of App Jukebox

• Full License Management• Flexibility of Deployment• Improved PC Performance• Secure Application access• Simple Application Management

App Jukebox Requirements

• 3-8 Servers• Can be virtual• All have low recommended specs• Set up one server; build rest from clone

• Installation/ Set up of App Jukebox server• Assistance included in Price• Training

• On site, multiple day training• Set up app delivery Storefront• Install the agent piece on desired machines

VDI

• What is VDI?• How it is being used?• How to analyze your environment for VDI?