There has been a LOT of activity on the VMware blog since someone took the initiative to ask the VMware community which is the best VDI solution on ESX, View or XenDesktop. I have been fascinated with this discussion! The opinions are coming in from every direction and I thought it was time to put in my own 2 cents, from a my perspective as Citrix employee. I figured the the easiest way to respond was to separate the facts from conjecture.  

Conjecture 1: You can only use Provisioning Server with XenServer.   
Fact 1: Provisioning Server is totally independent of Hypervisor. In fact, it is also independent of Storage type/manufacturer and doesn't even care what operating system is being delivered to the Virtual Machine (or endpoint or server). 

Conjecture 2: XenDesktop is more complex to install and manage than VMware View. 

Fact 2: Make sure you are comparing apples to apples when it comes to the install experience. They are more similar than the folklore seems to represent. XenDesktop is a complete package including hypervisor, single image provisioning, app virtualization, user profile management, delivery controller, etc. However, XenDesktop is totally modular so you only install what you need. If you want to create a little proof of concept just showing user experience - usually the first step for customers - then you could set up View and XenDesktop with the Desktop Delivery Controller very easily in a short amount of time. But if you plan to scale this environment to say a couple hundred users or more, sooner or later you will need the advantages of single image management, application delivery, profile management etc. Obviously it will take more time to implement these features of the product. It will take about the same amount of time to purchase and/or build out an equivalent View environment based on our experiences in our labs. When you look at all the components of View, you find 5+ different install points (see red arrows below) and the same number of management consoles with a lot fewer features overall.

   Fact Con

Conjecture 3: XenDesktop Virtual Desktop uses more RAM than View-based Virtual Desktop

Fact 3: Desktop VMs on ESX will use the same amount RAM whether delivered by XenDesktop or View. When a desktop is configured on a VM, it is assigned a certain amount of RAM. This would be the same whether you are accessing desktop from XD or View. Given the same OS, applications, and users, the RAM usage on the ESX VM will be exactly the same. OS Streaming may actually reduce RAM footprint but, at worst, it would not impact RAM usage. 

Conjecture 4: XenDesktop is more expensive than VMware View.

Fact 4: When it comes to pricing, remember you have to compare APPLES to APPLES and meet the needs of an enterprise deployment. I won't break out the spreadsheet right now but if you add in the price of the ESX licenses and 3^rd party products to make View an equivalent solution with app delivery, profile management, etc., perceived price differences in fact will reverse in our favor quite dramatically. And as always, you get real WAN usability and low LAN bandwidth utilization with XenDesktop - not something you can easily go out and buy as an add-on for View. 

I saw some other comments that were essentially comparing XenServer with ESX. Since the discussion was related to ESX, I won't get into the hypervisor wars (not this time anyway!) Let's be real frank about this: Many of our installs are on ESX and they work great! Some of the guys that posted to this subject can back me up on this. But we've also seen a stunning change in some of the market research - the number of cases where XenServer is being considered for desktops has grown significantly in the last few months, and the number of "ESX only" shops is declining fast. 

Lastly, while I differ with most of what one VMware Community member, Rkelly, posted re View vs. XenDesktop, I have to say I agree with his final point for the IT team in any VMware shop:  "Download the trial versions of both products and see for yourself" .

If you would like to see the discussion in its entirety (including my response), here it is: 

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/206485;jsessionid=AEA74E768250EACA071B6476BB003137?start=0&tstart=0

Many of you know that Citrix and Microsoft has a rich 20 year history built on XenApp/Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) which has grown to over a billion dollar business for both companies.  Now our partnership extends to desktop virtualization as their preferred and recommended VDI partner for desktop delivery.  For the past year, Microsoft and Citrix has been working together to deliver the best VDI solution based on price and value to our customers and partners. 

At Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft introduced two licenses for VDI-- the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Standard Suite and the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Premium Suite. 

Before the introduction of these licenses, VDI license from Microsoft consisted of multiple SKUs from multiple products that ranged from annual and perpetual licenses.  At only $21 per year per device, the VDI Standard Suite is about one-third the cost of a corresponding VMware View edition http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/solutions/virtualization/improve-flexibility.aspx

This recent announcement raised several questions from partner and customer.

What is the cost comparison between Citrix/Microsoft versus VMware?

Many people assume that a partner based solution (1+1) has to cost more that VMware.  In fact, VMware's offering costs 25% more than our joint VDI offering with Microsoft that consists of XenDesktop and the VDI suite (Hyper-V Server, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Operations Manager, Remote Desktop Services (CAL) and MDOP). 

When does Microsoft recommend Citrix?

Microsoft recently posted a blog from Manlio Vecchiet and recommends Citrix for those customers who need an enterprise-ready solution at a cost competitive to VMware.

What are the advantages of our joint solution with Microsoft compared to VMware?

That is a difficult question since comparing the two VDI solutions are like comparing apples (VMware) to fruit baskets (Citrix/Microsoft).  Without getting into the weeds of features and functionality our joint VDI solution offers the following:

-          Industry leading Desktop Delivery Solution with XenDesktop

-          Industry leading Application Delivery Solution with App-V and Remote Desktop Services (RDS)

-          Fastest growing hypervisor platform in the Industry with Hyper-V

-          The only integrated management solution with SystemCenter to manage physical and virtual desktops

-          Lowest VDI TCO with XenDesktop and Microsoft VDI Suite

How can partners benefit from the Microsoft and Citrix partnership?

AT WPC, Citrix and Microsoft launched a new campaign to turbocharge their joint channel with Citrix-Microsoft virtualization solutions. The Citrix-Microsoft Virtualization Partner Campaign (CMVP) provides free and discounted partner program registration, virtualization training, and sales and marketing support to partners looking to drive the broad set of solutions supported by Citrix and Microsoft virtualization products, including presentation, application, desktop and server virtualization. As an added bonus, partners who opt for an additional level of hands-on training will become eligible for Citrix-Microsoft proof-of-concept funding, to support partners' efforts to get these solutions tested in front of customers ASAP.

We recently had a very successful VDI Expert Series Webinar on July 16 with both analyst firm EMA and storage provider Netapp titled "Storage Best Practices for High Def VDI." Not only did the live event draw close to 400 attendees, over 3/4 of you stayed on through the end of the webinar.  For those of you who might have missed the webinar, do not despair.   You can watch the archived webinar On Demand Here.  As promised, we have listed the FAQs as well as the unanswered questions from the webinar below: 
 
FAQ:  We are interested in implementing VDI but are concerned about the upfront Capital Expenditure.  How can I roll this out cost effectively, given a limited budget?
Answer:  While a complete cutover from distributed desktops to hosted VDI entails significant capital expenditure, it is possible to implement VDI using a phased approach.  You can use your older legacy (> 3 years old) desktops with hosted virtual desktops, thereby extending your desktop refresh cycle.  For desktops which are already up for refresh, consider using your desktop refresh budget to replace your desktops and laptops with thin clients in a complete hosted VDI approach.  Then when your older legacy desktops must be replaced, you can subsequently replace them with thin clients and/or laptops.   
 
FAQ: Is there any kind of guideline (CPU, memory, etc.) for deciding between productivity, knowledge, and power worker/user? Miscategorizing someone could be a painful mistake.
Answer:  This is certainly a "your mileage may vary" area, but we have published some discussions about designing desktops for a variety of use cases in a design paper on our website.  Typically pilots start with similar allocations of CPU and RAM as the physical device they are currently using.  The nice thing is that in a VM you certainly have the ability to adjust the virtual resources without a screwdriver
 
FAQ:   What differentiates the Citrix + Netapp VDI solution from the one from VMware?
Answer:  As outlined in the detailed competitive comparison on our website,  the Citrix + Netapp VDI solution differs from the one from VMware in four key areas: 
1.       User Experience:  Citrix's HDX Technologies optimizes the user experience by leveraging integrated client/endpoint-, server-, or network side technologies to allow users an optimal high definition user experience to a broad range of applications - streaming media, Flash, audio, 3D graphics, etc - over both the Local Area Network and the Wide Area Network.  This is in stark contrast to VMware View, which will work for LAN use cases, but not for the WAN.
2.       Application Management:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution includes integrated XenApp, Citrix's proven application virtualization solution, which works with 1000's of Windows applications, in either a Hosted or Streamed mode.  VMware View integrates with VMware's ThinApp application virtualization technology.  However,  the VMware View solution requires bundling all delivered applications into the VM, which makes application delivery much more cumbersome and difficult to manage.
3.       Flexibility:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution offers IT organizations the flexibility to use a variety of VM Infrastructure - Microsoft's Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, or VMware ESX.  By contrast, VMware View ties an IT organization to only VMware ESX.  This gives the customers the flexibility to choose the most powerful cost-effective best-of-breed VDI solution.
4.       Policy-based access control:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution leverages a familiar Microsoft and/or Citrix management user interface for managing granular -  by user groups or individuals - access to data and applications. 

Question:  When backing up and restoring a user's virtual desktop, is it possible to only backup/restore a user's MyDocuments or data folders?
Answer:  Yes, it is possible to use Netapp technology to back up entire VM's or just specific sets of user data.
 
Question:  Today we obtain OEM licenses for Windows OS via the HW vendor. If we use VDI - do we have to buy expensive Microsoft OS licenses? Doesn't that increase our costs?
Answer:  While VDI requires purchasing Microsoft Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop OS licenses, the net costs can be approximately equivalent to what one pays today for local desktop OS licenses.  You need one Microsoft Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) license per device, which allows the licensed device to access up to four virtual desktops  concurrently. More desktop instances could be centrally stored, but not accessed at the same time by the same device, without purchasing an additional VECD license. 
 
Question:  What kind of servers (RAM, CPU) would i need to host let's say about 200 PC's, for basic Microsoft Word, Outlook and printing?
Answer:  You may find this Citrix VDI design paper useful, because it provides technical guidelines for many different scenarios.
 
Question:  What about  support for USB devices? Special keyboard (like Bloomberg), video cameras, multi-button mice, etc...
Answer:  Citrix XenDesktop supports many USB devices via its HDX Technologies.  Many USB devices such as SmartPhones, mice, keyboard, scanners, printers, smart cards, graphics tablets work right out of the gate.  There are a couple keys on the Bloomberg keyboard that require some more devleopment work to claim complete support.  Support for isochronous devices - like webcams - is under development and planned for an upcoming release.  Please see the following support article for details. 
 
Question:  Is there a subscription model of VDI services that a SMB market segment can subscribe to?
Answer:  The SMB market segment may possibly leverage a subscription or hosted model of VDI.  Citrix partners are working on making this available.  Please visit http://www.citrix.com/xendesktop for updates.
 
Question:  What is the best way to handle Outlook OST files inside a Thin Provisioned virtual machine? We have a client that must have cached mode on in Outlook, and using Standard Image Mode, we would have to flex that giant file with the user's profile.
Answer:  Yes, a best practice for handling Outlook OST files is to store the OST files on a network-shared and accessible drive so the user Outlook data follows the users, wherever he or she may be.  It is therefore necessary to store the user OST files with the user's profile accordingly. 
 
For more detailed storage and image management best practices, please take a look at the Optimizing Storage and Image Management blog posts part 1 and part 2.  For more detailed information about Citrix XenDesktop, please visit the XenDesktop product page.   

We always make a pretty big deal of XenDesktop being an open desktop virtualization solution.  Particularly on the subject of hypervisor support, XenDesktop treats the 3 big vendors equally (Microsoft, VMware, plus our own XenServer).  But, just like in life, some are more equal than others!  Just using your existing production server virtualization infrastructure can unnecessarily drive up the cost and complexity of your XenDesktop deployment. The point is that Citrix has made a commitment to leverage XenServer and Citrix Essentials to the n^th degree to make it the best platform for XenDesktop.  That is besides the obvious fact that Citrix Essentials for XenServer is built into XenDesktop (so that makes it free, as in free beer). See more on XenDesktop editions at: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1685000 

So it is pretty important that XenDesktop users consider the benefits of Citrix Essentials 5.5 and XenServer 5.5 which are now available for download. XenDesktop 3 has been tested on XenServer 5.5 and is fully compatible and supported by Citrix.  And if you are already using XenServer 5, just click on the "check for updates" link.  A download is available on http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/lp/lp_1688615.asp. 

Here are some key benefits of XenServer which establishes it as the obvious choice for a XenDesktop deployment:

The StorageLink™ technology in Citrix Essentials ensures that XenServer is certified to work seamlessly with virtually every third-party storage infrastructure, array and backup system on the market today. The 5.5 release also adds the ability to fast clone and provision virtual machines, simplifying volume virtual desktop deployment. Watch a video covering these and other technologies on our blog: http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=71237761

For more details, please refer to http://www.citrix.com/essentialsxenserver 

When using XenDesktop on XenServer, Citrix is there to support the entire solution.  In a mixed XenDesktop + VMware solution, troubleshooting and support will often be more costly and complex. 

XenServer is better integrated into XenDesktop than ESX, making for a better overall management experience for IT.  ESX introduces unneeded complexity to a desktop virtualization solution. XenServer will require less patching and maintenance due to a simpler and more elegant design.  For example, in the past 2 years since its release, XenServer 4.0 has required just 5 patches (link).  By comparison, in the 18 months since its release, VMware has issued 200+ patches (link) and updates for ESX 3.5.  Many VMware users were also bitten by the high-profile Update 2 bug last August (link). 

And, just to remind you once again, Citrix Essentials for XenServer is included in every XenDesktop license.  

Now that I have convinced you to give XenServer 5.5 a try, I should mention how easy it is to move your desktop VMs over.  XenServer's Enhanced Conversion Tools make it a breeze to convert virtual machines created in the VMDK format (commonly used by VMware) into the VHD format. The new XenConvert tools also make it easy to seamlessly convert between any of the common open virtualization format packages, including OVF (open virtualization format), OVA (open virtual appliance) and XVA (XenServer virtual appliance). For more details, have a look at: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/richcr/2009/06/23/Citrix+XenConvert+2.0.1+Released%21 

The bottom line is that there is really no reason not to give XenServer a try for virtual desktops.  It has always been provided as part of XenDesktop and, now, the new features of XenServer 5.5 and Citrix Essentials 5.5 are compelling reasons to choose it for any virtual desktop deployment.

We recently went through another successful round of XenDesktop Tech Talk webinars.  From May 18 through 20, we conducted a series of well-attended 3-day technically-oriented webinars specifically around virtual desktops.  I know sitting in an hour long webinar might not be the most exciting experience for everyone, but its amazing to see the turnout on anything related to virtual desktops these days!  Not only did the webinars draw 200+ live attendees each, we've received numerous archived views already.  It's pretty exciting to see that webinar stats continue to rise from day to day.  So, for all those that might have missed the live versions of the show, here are the topics and links to the archived sections:
 
May 18th: Effectively planning a technical migration from physical PCs to Citrix XenDesktop.  Watch on Demand
May 19th: Citrix XenDesktop 3 Architecture and HDX User Experience: A Comparison Versus VMware. Watch on Demand
May 20th: Citrix and Intel: Manage Once and Stream to Many Local Desktops. Watch On Demand. Watch on Demand
 
And as a teaser, I've chosen the top 3 Q/A topics from each of the webinars:

Effectively planning a technical migration from physical PCs to Citrix XenDesktop.

Q: Migrating from physical desktops to virtual desktops, how do you calculate how many users you can get on a server?
You should assess the following:
•    Target virtual desktop OS type - Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
•    Desktop hardware requirements (CPU, memory, network) to apply the right configuration to virtual machines
•    Storage space
This information, along with server hardware details, will allow you a better sizing estimate. It is best to run a scalability test on at least a single server.

Q: If the master image gets updated on Saturday after all users have logout, will there be any delay in OS delivery when the users come in next Monday?
If the master image has been updated on Saturday and you know how many logons you have simultaneously on Monday, you can adjust the setting "Idle Pool" of a Desktop Group. This Desktop Group setting allows you to configure how many idle desktops (booted and waiting at the Windows logon screen) you want in your pool at certain times of the day. You can also configure a peak period to cover the time at which most users will be logging on to their desktops. This period starts at the beginning of your business day.

Q: How is a dual monitor connected?
There is no requirement for any specific configuration on the endpoint device to support dual or multiple monitors for a virtual desktop. Multiple monitors are detected on endpoint device and virtual desktop is displayed across all monitors. A single virtual desktop can span up to 8 monitors in a rectangular shape (e.g. 1x8, 2x4), where each monitor must have the same resolution.

Citrix XenDesktop 3 Architecture and HDX User Experience: A Comparison Versus VMware.

Q: if VMware ESX is the VM hosting infrastrucure for XenDesktop, can XenDesktop still be able to deliver similar user experience ?
A: Absolutely.  XenDesktop is built on an open architecture platform and will work with VMware ESX and HyperV, the inherent HDX technologies will continue to deliver the superior user experience across these platforms.

Q: VMWare claims that its new PC-over-IP protocol will be superior to ICA. Is this really a valid claim?

A: No, this is not a valid claim.  PC-over-IP is still being tested as a technology and has not been tested in real customer scenarios.  While there are vendor claims for features like Local Keyboard & Mouse Echo, these capabilities are exist already in XenDesktop.  In addition, per Citrix's internal and 3rd party testing, XenDesktop, which leverages ICA, still uses only a fraction of the bandwidth required for PC-over-IP.  For more related information on the superiority of HDX, visit: User Experience Blog Article and HDX Flash Support Article.

Q: How do I solve the road warrior without internet ?  Is there a checkout feature now or being planned? (like VMware?)
A: Citrix's announcement of XenClient will specifically to address the needs of the road warrior.  XenClient is a Type 1 hypervisor-based local client solution and will allow both corporate and personal OS environments to fully leverage local computing resources and graphics processors to ensure the highest performance and multimedia experience for all offline users.  Read more here.

Citrix and Intel: Manage Once and Stream to Many Local Desktops.

Q: How do you use one image for several different models of workstations (different video, network card)?
A: You will need to manage one image for each distinct model of a workstation.  In other words, a separate OS image for one workstation with a particular video or network card, and a different OS image for another with a different video or network card hardware set.

Q: How many endpoint devices can be streamed from a single vdisk?
A: From a vDisk... infinite to the IO limits of the storage where the vDisk is stored.  Now a PVS server can easily handle booting 500 devices whether doing one image or multiple standard images.  The scalability depends on storage, network and the server itself.

Q: How long does the whole process take (from the user turning on the machine to actually using the machine)?  
A:  With virtual machines (running different OS's like XP, Vista, etc) provisioned and ready for access inside the data center, the whole process - from the time the user logs onto his or her virtual desktop until he or she is able to use it - is nearly instantaneous.  This, of course, does not take into account the network latency and lag effects.
 
By the way, if you're interested in learning more and seeing some independent reviews of XenDesktop versus other virtual desktop solutions, visit this page.
 

Citrix has been holding a series of webinars called the "VDI Expert Series".

At the beginning of June we hosted a VDI Expert Series Webinar featuring two XenDesktop Customers: Todd Ericson of First Flight Financial Credit Union and Michael Love of Borland-Groover Clinic. You can view a recording of the webinar on-demand here. During the webinar we had many more questions than we could answer. Todd and Michael generously offered to answer as many of these questions as they could offline. Here are the results:

Questions & Answers:

Q: What kind of hardware are you running your XenDesktop VDI's on and how many instances are you running on that hardware?

FFFCU: We are running Sunfire x2200's (AMD) and Supermicro (Intel). All our machines are dual-socket and quad-core.

BGC: Our Hypervisors are utilizing dual quad core AMD CPUs with 64 GB of RAM; scalable to 128 GB of RAM. WE run 30-35 VMs per Hypervisor.

Q: Have you found thin clients a viable option for Desktop Steaming?

FFFCU: Yes, Thin Clients are viable for use as a streamed desktop.

Q: How many XP VMs are you running per host?

FFFCU: 25-50 Virtual Desktops per host

BGC: We have two XenServer pools. One pool hosts virtualized servers. The second pool hosts virtualized desktops only.

Q: Can XenApp streaming app support high resolution on VDI at (1900X1200)?

FFFCU: Yes, and it can do multiple monitors as well.

Citrix Note: Our HDX technologies continue to include many enhancements to ensure a high-definition user experience - screen resolutions and multiple monitor support are just some of the areas we continue to develop.

Q: Please talk about Storage optimization and how it optimizes the use of storage for individual desktops?

FFFCU: Provisioned Desktops only use one disk worth of space per type of image, no matter how many machines run from it.

Q: Do you allow your VM's to run for the user continuously or force an idle timeout?

FFFCU: Both methods work. We do not use idle timers but we reboot all workstations at least once per week.

BGC: We force reboots of VMs on a weekly basis. This is to ensure users receive the most up-to-date image.

Q: Do you need separate desktop pools for images that differ only by RAM size?

FFFCU: Yes and no - Yes you need different provisioning pools but they can both use the same disk image.

Q: Do you shutdown VM's when user logs off, and if so, how long does a connection request take if spinning up the VM. Also, do you use unique SID in AD for each VM?

FFFCU: The DDC handles all of the AD SID issues.

BGC: We do force shutdowns when a user logs off. Depending upon the idle pool count requirements another VM may spin up in its place. The idle pool count determines how many VMs you have waiting for a connection. If no idle VMs are available then the connection attempt will take substantially longer as the VM must boot up from a cold state (POST). VMs are created through Provisioning Server, which takes care of creating unique SIDs.

Q: Does any one have experience with the performance while running PACS in a medical environment?

BGC: Not yet, though we do run PACS software, which we'll be utilizing shortly in XenDesktop.

Citrix Note: We have many customers running PACS on XenApp with excellent results and early POCs with XenDesktop have shown exemplary results for a variety of users across various networks.

Q: For credit unions using Symitar, hostnames of the PC's dictate what resources should be available to that PC - how has Todd Erickson been able to cater to that for his credit union?

FFFCU: This is Symitar specific - VDI works as long as the hostnames stay the same.

Q: For Borland-Groover, if you don't have Anti-Virus running on the virtual desktop how do you secure the gold image used to stream the virtual desktops?

BGC: We currently utilize AV on the virtual desktops. It has taken some tweaking as you don't want the AV performing full system scans. Prior to deploying AV on the VMs we ran a scan of the gold image before deploying.

Q: How do you patch the "thick" dedicated VM? Do you leave them running all the time?

FFFCU: Thick VM's are managed exactly like real PC's. If you leave them on you can push updates to them, if you turn them off you probably want them to pull the updates in. Both methods work.

Q: How effective do the virtual desktops work across a WAN? Can you centralize the XenDesktop servers to central datacenters?

FFFCU: Virtual desktops work best when centralized. The bandwidth requirements are exactly the same as for XenApp (so 5-10 users per 128K of bandwidth, depends on many factors).

BGC: Extremely effective. We provide XenDesktop access to over a dozen remote locations from North to South Florida. Our entire XenDesktop infrastructure (Delivery Controllers, Provisioning Servers, XenServers) are housed in a central datacenter. This is the benefit of using Provisioning Server to stream to XenServer.

Citrix Note: Citrix HDX includes a broad set of technologies designed to enable a high-definition user experience for virtual desktops and applications. HDX Broadcast optimizes the reliability and performance of hosted virtual desktops and applications in a VDI environment over any network, enabling high definition user experience when accessed on the corporate network or from outside the corporate network for remote desktop access.

Q: I am a bit confused about the "Master Image" portion, as well as "streaming". How does this take place so that machines have different names, making them recognizable by AD?

BGC: The master image is a single .vhd file stored on local or network storage. Provisioning Server is leveraged to create multiple AD accounts at a single time, each with unique names and SIDs. Provisioning Server is then able to stream each of those accounts to the hypervisor utilizing the master image.

Q: Mike, Can you comment on your experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking in your XenDesktop environment?

BGC: Dragon works well for the most part. We've had one issue that we're still working on. Dragon requires two methods of training: user audio and mic audio. The user audio files are unique to the user and can be stored in the user's home drive, so the user only has to go through training once. The mic training, however, is unique to a combination of the microphone, user and computer. We are working through several possible solutions at the moment, including assigning particular VMs to physicians.

Q: To both, Are you running the AMD or the Intel processors, and for the Citrix group, what was the technical name or requirement for the processor to have?

FFFCU: We use both.

BGC: Our XenServers utilize AMD processors.

Q: What solutions do you have to use when you are managing remote users peripheral hardware and printers on customer's site?

FFFCU: Citrix Profile manager works well, but there are many other solutions. Look for XenApp printing solutions and they will work with XenDesktop.

Q: Using this virtualization with laptops, how is the users experience when not connected to the network? Is the user able to maintain their desktop and re-sync when returned to the network?

FFFCU: There is no way currently to check out a desktop. I hear this is coming but we have not seen it or been able to test it.

BGC: You can stream an operating system from Provisioning Server to a client using PXE, though the client is not able to disconnect from the network while continuing to work.               

Citrix Note: With the release of Citrix XenClient, a Type 1 hypervisor, you will be able to allow users to roam offline and still retain their corporate -based desktop image. This will allow them to re-sync when re-connected to their network.

Q: What EMR software was Borland-Groover using and did you notice that there were any issues with the EMR software or with any others using XenApp or any other Citrix solution?

BGC: We are utilizing Nextgen for EMR and EPM. It has worked well under XenApp and XenDesktop. The only issue we've had is the result of using 32 bit hardware and operating system for XenApp.

Q: What extra administration tools are required to leverage VMware instead of XenServer for pushing out your images? We currently use VMware for imaging and will probably keep that environment moving forward.

FFFCU: No extra tools are needed. XenDesktop supports both platforms with no issue.

Q: What is bandwidth requirement for XenDesktop VDI solution to work on WAN?

FFFCU: My experience is 5-10 users per 128K of bandwidth - many factors can impact that number.

Q: What is the maximum resolution supported?

FFFCU: I am using 1680x1050 dual monitors with no issue.

Q: What pros does XenDesktop have over VMware View; both are very similar.

FFFCU: Supports physical machines as well as a bunch of other features.

Citrix Note: Citrix XenDesktop excels versus VMware View in key categories:

-         Best end user experience (over both WAN and LAN),

-         Offers a complete enterprise-class solution without 3^rd party bolt-on requirements,

-         Field-proven single-image management,

-         An open architecture platform that doesn't lock you into a single VM infrastructure.

 For more details, please visit -->this webpage.

Q: What type of WAN connections are in place? Is latency a problem?

FFFCU: Wan speeds of 256K - T1 speeds - We do bandwidth shape our sites to insure a good user end experience.

BGC: Our remote offices have MPLS links ranging from 3Mbps to 4.5Mbps. Latency is not an issue for us.

Q: What version of CSG and WI do they use?

FFFCU: We use CSG 2000 and WI 5.

Q: With the non-volatile images is it possible to not use Ant-Virus software?

FFFCU: Yes - and this is probably going to end up being best practice.

BGC: It is possible and we weren't up until recently. We are currently testing Symantec Endpoint Protection concern being that it is still possible for a VM to become infected with malware, such as a self-propagating worm, that will remain resident until the user logs off.

Q: Is anybody running something like Cisco IP Communicator or softphone through their VDI or XenApp?

FFFCU: Yes - IP Communicator does work. Sometimes a bit tricky on the microphone

Q: How do you replicate images periodically to your DRP site? Any tool to automate this?

FFFCU: Depending on your back end storage solution, there are many options. There are also independent replication solutions that can be used. We do replicate all of the data offsite.

BGC: We aren't yet doing this, though the images are flat .vhd files, so even a basic Robocopy task would work.

Q: What are the best practice guidelines for apps/users VDI is NOT adequate for, e.g. apps which require a lot of (RAM/CPU) resources?

FFFCU: We use XenApp for all high demand apps. I imagine that there is always the option to use a local desktop

BGC: You can scale VMs, so giving a particular desktop group more RAM over another is possible. If you want to shy away from VDI completely yet still offer remote access you can install the XenDesktop Agent directly on the user's workstation.

Q: What version of Secure Gateway and Web Interface are you running with XenApp?

BGC: We are using Web Interface 5.1 with Citrix Access Gateways.

Q: How did you handle bloat in the user profiles?

FFFCU: Roaming profiles work OK and the new Citrix Profiles work well. Best thing you can do is redirect all of the main items to the users' home share; this usually solves the profile issue.

BGC: We use a combination of profile redirection and Citrix's Profile Manager. With profile redirection we can point Desktop items, Internet Favorites, My Documents and Application data to the user's home drive. With Profile Manager we can better control what folders within a user's profile are propagated to the network upon logoff.

Q: Are you using Provisioning Server and virtual disks?

FFFCU: Yes

BGC: We are using Provisioning Server to stream VMs from a single .vhd file.

Just a quick note for anyone who may still not be convinced of the lead XenDesktop has on the competition re user experience.

As one reviewer noted, you will not be able to tell that you are looking at a virtual desktop even when running Windows Media Player. Check out the YouTube video below demonstrating Windows Media Player and PowerPoint side by side on XenDesktop and VMware View.

User experience comparison - YouTube

Q.E.D.

Government, healthcare and financial organizations are heavily evaluating virtual desktops, and due to the nature of these industries, one of the big requirements is for secure authentication via smart cards. Frankly, when XenDesktop first came out, it didn't have the goods in the smart card + VDI department, but no one else did, either. There was no integration to speak of, from either Citrix or VMware, and this meant these industries could only deploy VDI in limited use cases.

Citrix quickly addressed this in product updates, and the newly released Feature Pack 1 for XenDesktop 3 includes even more functionality. VMware has been kinda quiet on the smart card integration front - so I was curious, how are the two products faring in head-to-head evaluations in customer accounts? So I went and polled several of our SEs, some partners and some customers and learned a few interesting tidbits in some key categories:

-          Seamless integration of authentication: With XenDesktop, you get the typical black "carbon fiber" log in screen on boot-up, then you insert the Smart Card and are prompted to enter your PIN. Just like a normal desktop. We've heard reports that for some reason View is requiring PIN entries for the broker, then the desktop - and for every desktop subsequently. Seems complicated for end users.

-          Active Directory object clean up: With XenDesktop, when virtual desktops are opened and closed, the AD objects are created and removed cleanly. We've seen customers struggle with how View creates the objects for each virtual desktop, but then fails to clean them up and leaves them orphaned. So in a typical enterprise, this can result in thousands of AD objects being created every day and clogging up the works.

-          Coffee breaks: If a user leaves for a coffee break and takes their card with them (as proper policy would mandate), the desktop should lock. When the user returns and enters the PIN, it should unlock with the and return the user to their desktop as they left it. XenDesktop handles this, but it seems that customers have reported View "loses" the Smart Card when it is withdrawn during a session. Re-inserting the card does nothing, and the desktop has to be fully shut down and the user has to start from square one to get back into the desktop.

-          Multi-card reader roaming: A lot of organizations don't have identical readers at each endpoint, but the user needs the same desktop. Feature Pack 1 adds the ability to roam between different devices even when different readers are attached.

-          Endpoint device support: With Feature Pack 1, XenDesktop offers both Windows and Linux endpoint support for Smart Card readers. At this time, View's ability to support Smart Cards (with the above integration challenges) is limited to Windows endpoints.

Obviously, with these considerations taken into account, XenDesktop is winning these bake-offs. But I don't think it's just about smart card integration. It's a fundamental understanding of the virtual desktop experience that is burned into the Citrix DNA - the smart card functionality is just a manifestation of that know-how.

I talk to a lot of potential customers about virtual desktops.  Frankly, I don't see financial types at these meetings.  The guys I meet are there to solve a problem or, in most cases, multiple problems.  This runs the gamut: from managing outsourced workers or handling a merger efficiently to locking down desktop data.  They want to know how virtual desktops will integrate into existing environment, whether their users will accept the technology, and how to the architect the solution.  We're the ones that mention TCO savings first. Of course there is a lot of discussion about licensing costs, server requirements, Microsoft licensing and the like.  But, really, I'm talking to a bunch of people who are prepared to spend money for a strategic enterprise solution, not bet their careers on a bean-counter's spreadsheet.

When do they start talking about TCO?  Last year, it was only when the CFO had to sign off on the PO.  Recently, it's when the IT dept sees their budget starting to fade away.  Scenario 2 is obviously on the upswing as IT budgets get slashed due to huge gaping holes in 2009 revenues.  Of course, the Finance folks still don't come to the meetings. The guys that do come are still primarily concerned with meeting their strategic goals; it's just that they need to learn how to spell ROI and TCO. So what about Return on Investment and Total Cost of Ownership?  (See, I spelled it out for those folks who really are finance-challenged.  Don't be embarrassed.  It's a badge of honor!)  ROI is the net present value (NPV), ie. put into today's dollars, of the cost savings divided by the cost of buying the solution.  Of course, something greater than zero is what we want - better than 50% is good.  TCO is the cumulative cost of purchasing and maintaining your infrastructure including power costs, training, etc.
   
I have netted out these costs based on analyst estimates of PC and virtual desktop OS/app support and power/cooling costs.  If Bottom line is that you can save 50% on Desktop Administration costs and about the same on power and cooling by running Desktop Virtualization to thin clients.  you are really serious, you can start selling carbon credits if you deploy enough of these devices. For 1000 desktops, all this represents over $1M in savings over 3 years. Add in around 60% savings in app admin using built-in application virtualization and it's another $400K or so.  For those of you that have figured out ROI, this is a ROI of more than 75%, given list prices for the technology, servers, storage, and clients. When you re-purpose your old PC's, overall ROI is a lot higher but you lose the green benefits. Desktop Streaming can cut TCO by another $500K or so for 1000 users.     

What actually generates these desktop management savings?  I like to think of it as how you managed desktops before (the old way) and how you manage them now that they are virtual (the XenDesktop way).  The old way, configuring/upgrading/repairing hardware required a long turnaround and site visit. You actually had to get to the box and do config changes or, worse, take the machine back to your desk to re-image. With XenDesktop, you can send a thin client to the site with minimal or no configuration and let the new user login to their VM. Or an existing user with bad hardware can grab a new box (Repurposed PC or thin client), plug it in and log on.  Patching OS, reimaging systems, resolving corruptions, the old way, were done per user, per incident. Now using XenDesktop single image management (OS Streaming) you simply update one OS image to roll out a patch or update automatically to thousands of users.  The old way, moves, adds, changes, and deletions took hours.

The XenDesktop way requires a few seconds to add/delete new users and VMs from the safety and comfort of your own workstation.  Data recovery, archiving, and backup is difficult on distributed PCs. You have no control on whether the user leaves their PC on for an automated backup.  In a lot of cases, you depend on the user to do backup procedures, which, let's be honest, hardly anyone actually does.  The XenDesktop way, we just have to backup data files and user settings. And we can do that any time we want since the data is in the data center. So a full backup or restore is quick and easy and the user may never know it happened. I have summarized savings estimates here below:   

The same thing goes for application management.  The old way, you might now even know what endpoint you were dealing with, what OS, what other scary apps were installed when you were asked to rollout a new app to 2000 users.  With Citrix, apps are isolated from OS/Hardware and other apps, giving you absolute certainty that an app will appear on your virtual desktop and run fast and reliably.  Just like the OS, apps are installed once on the server farm and can be delivered to thousands of users in a few seconds.

 So, for those of you who are getting hit by the bean counters when building their strategic virtual desktop solution, try trotting out some of the numbers I mentioned.  That should keep them quiet long enough for you to push your project through.  And, now, you can amaze them with your knowledge of ROI and NPV.  And by the way, don't wimp out with a small pilot; centralize the whole PC population with a quarter of the upfront cost that VMware would quote.   

Folks, drop a post describing your experience with TCO/ROI and desktop virtualization.  Has anyone done cost studies on existing desktop deployments?  What do you think can be saved by moving to virtual desktops?       |

We have this great cost savings (TCO) story on desktop virtualization. I've got the PPT, the PDFs, analyst quotes, the whole package.  But I am finding that before I ever get to talking to customers about cost savings, some genius in the room brings up the obvious question:  What's the point of getting the TCO pitch if there is no budget for virtualization servers, thin clients, and Microsoft licensing? It's a good point: this stuff is pretty expensive to set up in the data center.   My answer is to look no further than their existing PC replacement budget.  I bet all of you have a corner of the office building that looks like this photo below. People are throwing out these things on a 3 or 4 year cycle which, for you math-challenged, is 25%-33% per year.  They have to be replaced by something; generally it's with another PC that looks pretty much the same as the old boat anchor to the tune of $600-800 each! 

For me that's money that should be spent on desktop virtualization. For most vendors, desktop virtualization solutions end up costing more than $800 a person when you add up the cost of licensing, thin clients, virtualization servers and Data Center upgrades. So, even if you spent the entire desktop replacement budget, you will only be updating 20-25% of the end users, leaving the majority of users missing out on TCO benefits. Kind of a bad deal when you think about it.   

Some of the bright guys at Citrix came up with an idea to centralize ALL of the desktops while staying within the current year's PC replacement budget.

First, you delay replacement of the endpoint by using the processing power of the endpoints to reduce the number of hypervisor servers required in the datacenter. XenDesktop streams the OS from the data center directly to more current PCs that were not slated for replacement. The "walking wounded" PC's get repurposed to receive hosted desktops and the ones that are really, truly hosed get replaced by a few thin clients. Here's the 5-step program guaranteed to free up those skids full of old PCs:

1.       Examine existing PC inventory to determine capabilities to support streamed or hosted desktops.

2.       Relatively new PCs (less than 3 years old) can run centralized, streamed desktops. Users will experience similar performance to existing environment but will benefit from faster boot times and better overall reliability. In most enterprises, this will cover up to 80% of the existing endpoints.

3.       Older PCs (more than 3 years old) will be repurposed to support hosted desktops. Users will experience much better performance than before since the endpoint will only be used for display, keyboard, mouse, and network connection. The actual desktop will run on hypervisor servers in the datacenter. In most enterprises, this will cover up to 20% of the existing endpoints.

4.       Non-functional or obsolete PCs will be replaced by thin clients running hosted desktops. In most situations, this would represent less than 5% of the existing endpoints.

5.       As the PC's receiving streamed desktops age, they will be migrated to hosted desktops, effectively doubling their lifespan. As these PC's fail or become obsolete, they will be replaced by thin clients displaying hosted desktops.

Using this methodology, PC's are slowly replaced over a 5-8 year timeframe and hypervisor servers are gradually added  into the data center to support thin clients. This approach has the benefits of minimizing and spreading out acquisition costs, immediately reducing TCO, and gradually reducing power and cooling costs by introducing thin client endpoints over time.  

Here's a quick budget spend bar chart for 1000 desktops ($800 replacement cost), assuming existing 3-year replacement cycle, full use of PC repurposing along with a generous licensing discount on XenDesktop from your friends at Citrix.   

This works for me. I've got the entire PC population centralized and I haven't spent the entire IT budget to get there. In fact, I got there using one year's desktop refresh budget item. More importantly, my TCO arguments apply to 3-4X as many user endpoints than they did before.   

The lesson is: don't wimp out with a small pilot; centralize the whole PC population with a quarter of the upfront cost that VMware would quote. 

So, folks, what do you think of this idea of moving the entire desktop population to a centralized model?  It's sure to take a bit of rethinking around support strategy. On my next blog, I will take the next step and spend some time describing the cost savings story behind XenDesktop.    

Welcome to Desktop 2020!   This is a blog to discuss where the desktop is going over the next 3-5 years.  Whether you are a tree-huggin' Mac-head, a Gates groupie, or a "just give me a Terminal Window" Linux lover, this is your place to pontificate, elucidate, or proselytize (or just read and shake your head in disbelief). 

Seeing as this is a Citrix blog, it's going to be no surprise that I will be taking the DaaS/SaaS position but that still leaves a lot of latitude for user experience/OS/TCO discussions. Well, the discussion has to start somewhere so here's where I'm coming from...

I gotta start from my own experience, that being with my Lenovo laptop. You know the old Amex tagline "Don't leave home without it"?  Well that's me with my ultraportable.  It's light enough to come with me everywhere; I can type on it in coach and it has enough guts to run all my apps.  Here's the thing about it though:  I actually had zero choice in laptops when I joined Citrix; it was this PC or nothing.  I just got lucky this time around.  I used to worry that if the screen started getting pixel cancer, I would end up with the boat anchor discarded by my VP when he got his MacBook Air (wait for a later post on "Laptop Bling").  Salvation has come in the form of a BYOPC program that Citrix announced last year. This means that, if my personal (oops I meant corporate asset) laptop dies, I can go buy something similar and get reimbursed. I won't be allowed go to IT for hardware support but, frankly, I have never done that anyway.  So, making the big assumption that the program doesn't get turfed by the Bush-economy, I am good to go. I think that this is a growing trend.  Why put a bunch of expensive, super-depreciating assets on the company books if you don't have to? 

What will make BYOPC work properly for those who are not keen on re-imaging hard drives?  You need to deliver a centralized corporate desktop to the employee-owned laptops.  Hard thing to do when you are in an airplane a lot like some folks. What works for me is this idea of dropping a client-side hypervisor on my laptop, allowing me to swing between corporate image and personal OS installation on the fly (on the net or off).  (I'll save the Type 1/Type 2 debate for some other time.)  I figure this is the best of both worlds.  I can download a movie to watch in Coach Class and pause it to update a PowerPoint in the corporate image (I put this in for the boss!).  The method to deliver the corporate image and the OS type is kind of up to the IT department.  Frankly I wouldn't care much as long as the corporate desktop isn't a real pig. When you look at this from a dollars and cents perspective, it probably works for the company too since besides not having the assets on the books, you don't have to maintain dozens of different OS's and apps on dozens of different hardware configs.   I've seen some numbers from analysts and IT departments and it represents some serious dinero.  

Personally, I am going to stick to the ulta-portable with whatever Windows version I am keen on at the time.  Citrix has a tech preview of the Citrix Receiver for the iPhone.  No question it's cool but, as much as I like mine, I figure I can take a minute to boot up my laptop to edit PPTs. I am thumb-typing well enough to answer emails with "OK", "Yes", or even, "Can it wait until next week?" but I am probably using my laptop for most emails too. 

Bottom line is that choice is a good thing. Give me endpoint independence.  I probably spend more time with my laptop than my family; don't make my laptop an arranged marriage. The technology is here to support employee-owned laptops; the ROI looks pretty good and ALL THE COOL COMPANIES are doing it!