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Desktop Virtualization Summit Recap
By Brian Warkoczeski
On December 7, Merit hosted its second Desktop Virtualization Summit at the Kellogg
Center in East Lansing. IT professionals from across Michigan attended the event
to learn about the latest techniques for implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and to
gain insight from organizations that have implemented virtual desktops. The following are some highlights from
the event:
Desktop Virtualization 101
Brian Barnes, Coretek Services
Brian Barnes of Coretek Services discussed the basics of VDI during "Desktop Virtualization 101."
He stated that a standard desktop environment that includes a large number of computers can be difficult to manage, but
through virtualization an IT department can gain better control over its desktops. By virtualizing applications, IT staff can utilize their datacenter environment for software distribution and decrease the time it takes to implement software changes or updates. Software patches and anti-virus updates are easier to implement using VDI, and it also simplifies user access to software, giving IT support staff granular control over the desktop environment.
"Any time you pull your application control into your datacenter, you have a controlled environment—a better implementation—and are better able to manage changes," Barnes said.
He described how health care organizations have experienced a difficult transition to Windows 7 because of legacy issues and
how application virtualization has been implemented to assist with the transition. Over the last eight months, Barnes has been working with 12 hospitals in Michigan and in the Southwest United States to roll out virtualization.
"Most of the places moving to desktop virtualization are doing so because of user requirements," Barnes said. In health care, there is a 2-4 year return on investment (ROI) for desktop virtualization. While at community colleges, there are tighter budgets, which is causing them to consider a move to VDI regardless of the return on investment.
By implementing desktop virtualization, the computer's hardware becomes less important since the virtualization software and datacenter host the desktop environment.
"You can extend the lifecycle of personal computers because they are less dependent on the CPU and the physical machine to run applications."
IT support staff can decide whether they want a user's desktop environment to be refreshed on each login or to be persistent.
When a desktop environment is refreshed, a user starts with a new desktop environment during each session and no user preferences or saved changes remain on the desktop once the user logs out. When a VDI setup is persistent, users can keep the same software preferences and changes from session to session, giving the user a dedicated virtual desktop environment.
Concepts in Deploying Scalable and Secure VDI Environments
John Washburn, Cisco Sytems, and Bill Heilman, Eastern Michigan University
"Consumerization will force more IT change over the next 10 years than any other trend," John Washburn said.
The proliferation of wireless devices and other technologies has made it easier for people to get what they need, and
young students are now expecting the immediate delivery of information. Washburn stated that he recently attended a conference in Washington D.C. where a speaker said that today's 7th and 8th grade students will never walk into a library when they attend college. Computing devices, such as iPads and smart phones, have extended the desktop, and the average person uses three different computer devices on a daily basis.
"Follow-me desktops, where desktops are in the cloud, are coming," Washburn said. "It's only a matter of time."
Virtual desktops can be a selling tool for college admissions since kids are using VDI in high school and may
look for the same type of thing in the college that they are choosing. VDI can allow students to do use school-provided software in
multiple locations, rather than just a dedicated computer lab.
"By incorporating VDI, you are able to extend software and lab services to students on campus,"
Bill Heilman said.
Speed and performance are the most important factors when gaining student acceptance on campus. If the VDI implementation does not perform as well as standard desktops, users will reject virtual desktops.
Desktop Virtualization @ University of Michigan: Ongoing Operation and Development
Ryan Henyard, University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M) has a decentralized IT structure on campus, and the academic units have their own IT staff. Information and Technology Services (ITS) serves as the central IT department on campus.
The incentives for providing virtual desktops through ITS at U-M are reduced redundancy and cost savings.
The other goals of the virtual desktops are increased security, greater efficiency in managing desktops, and improved access to applications for remote users.
U-M's central IT department provides the virtual desktops service to the academic units for a fee, charging the users each month for their desktop pools. The standard virtual desktop provided to students has 225 applications. Henyard stated that 65% of incoming students are buying Macintosh computers, and the VDI service gives Mac users access to Windows software.
To streamline the process of rolling out the VDI service to academic units, ITS created a trial VDI pool and network that allows interested academic units to try out their custom VDI implementation. Users submit a request form, inputting the requirements for their desktops, and then are able to quickly see what the environment looks like. "VDI is awesome for testing," Henyard said.
Henyard provided details on several VDI implementations on campus, such as the U-M School of Social Work, ITS Desktop Support,
and LSA Instructional Services Support.
Desktop Virtualization for Public Computing Centers
Stanley Pope and Paul Dunn, Central Michigan University
During a session after lunch, Paul Dunn of CMU demonstrated how to modify a VMware View 4.5 desktop implementation. Dunn downloaded a new web browser application on the master VMware View image and then showed how the master image is then used to rebuild the images for a pool of machines. He said that it takes approximately 45 minutes to rebuild the desktop image for a pool of 100 machines.
Stanley Pope said that CMU's College of Business Administration picked VMware View for desktop virtualization because of their familiarity with the software and how fast desktops can be deployed. Currently, they are using VDI for three instructional labs, an open computer lab, a mobile computer lab, and a library. CMU is also doing a VDI pilot for all students.
They have used a multi-tiered approach for managing applications. Virtual desktops are used to run traditional applications, while
physical desktops are used to run browser applications. On average, students use the virtual desktops for 45 minutes per day.
VDI Under the Covers: Operating and Managing a Production Service
Kurt DeMaagd, Michigan State University and Derek Harkness, Merit Network
In 2009, Michigan State University was awarded a federal grant to help expand broadband access by creating more public computer centers in Michigan. The grant project will provide workstations in libraries, public housing centers, community centers and community colleges.
As part of the project, a virtual desktop infrastructure pilot developed by Merit in collaboration with MSU and Chippewa River District Library (CRDL) to deliver a common desktop to the public computing centers. The initial deployment used 400 machines with desktop images supplied by VMware View. The machines were deployed at five locations, including the main branch of the Chippewa River District Library in Mt. Pleasant.
The basic setup for the machines included Windows 7, a web browser, and access to the statwide library databases. The desktops are not persistent and no user data is retained, but users may store data on a USB stick. The main branch was connected to Merit's network by fiber, and the other locations were connected by either a T1 or wireless connection.
Once the virtual desktops were in place, library patrons began using them immediately, and there was no detectable difference between a regular desktop and the virtual desktops.
Future plans for the virtual desktops project include expansion to other CRDL sites and standardization of the virtual desktop images.
Panel Discussion
Bill Heilman, Eastern Michigan University; Ryan Henyard, University of Michigan; Randy Schapel, Mott Community College
To close the summit, three speakers from previous sessions, Bill Heilmanm Ryan Henyard and Randy Schapel, participated in a
panel discussion regarding the end user experience with virtual desktops, the total cost of ownership, and software license challenges.
For an archive of presentations during the event, visit
http://www.merit.edu/virtualization2011/
January 2012 - Merit Connections Newsletter
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