special feature
virtualisation & cloud computing
For large business, the role cloud computing plays in enabling anywhere working, anywhere computing, speed of deployment and the availability of new business architectures represent crucial strategic advantages.
There is arguably an inextricable link between virtualisation and cloud computing. While most people only associate server virtualisation with cloud computing, desktop virtualisation has an important role to play. For example, India has been one of the most prolific adopters of desktop virtualisation and is home to some of the world’s largest and, arguably innovative, cloud computing projects.
While most people only associate server virtualisation with cloud
computing, desktop virtualisation has an important role to play.
Services software. In some SBC installations, a slimmed down version of a PC with a low end processor and flash storage, called a ‘thin client’ is used. With the thin client approach, most, if not all, applications are run on the server. SBC was intended to provide the same advantages as mainframe computing while mitigating the cost and environmental factors, but it created a completely different set of disadvantages. These disadvantages include: Constrained user experience with limited desktop interface performance, especially when graphical applications are used.
Expensive thin clients that are fundamentally still PCs and commonly require special customisations. Expensive, high end server components. Complex setup and administration requiring network administrators with specialised skills.
John Barco has worked in technology since the 1990s as a product manager, product marketing manager and evangelist. At NComputing he is senior director of product management, responsible for product strategy and planning. Prior to NComputing, he was the senior director of product management and marketing at Sun Microsystems, responsible for security infrastructure software.
28 Multiple benefits
So how can you get the benefits of SBC without its disadvantages? The answer is the fast emerging model of desktop virtualisation which enables a single PC to simultaneously support two or more users – each running their own independent set of applications. The key to making this solution deliver a true PC like experience is when the three core components of the technology are optimised to work together: the software that virtualises resources on the PC, the protocol that extends the user interface, and the client or access device. It is this high degree of optimisation that allows desktop virtualisation solutions to run on PC hardware (not just server hardware) and deliver all of the benefits of SBC without the drawbacks. This model has demonstrated its ability to extend computing access to a whole new set of users in schools and the developing world – thus creating a ‘new inch’ rather than a last inch; while slashing computing costs for small, medium and large businesses worldwide. It also has a role in cloud
computing as a sort of ‘last inch’. Cloud computing’s promise of lower costs, operational efficiencies and business agility are critical adoption factors for business of all sizes. For the small business, cloud computing offers a ‘level playing field’ with access to the type of applications and compute power that previously only the largest of Fortune 500 companies had access to.
Attractive proposition Companies constantly look for paths to reduce IT costs and increase productivity and agility. Desktop virtualisation is an increasingly attractive path for organisations of all sizes to consider with its promise of a cheaper, greener and more flexible solution for desktop computing access. The combination of low cost, energy efficient access devices along with software that lets IT centrally manage virtual user sessions is a powerful package that transforms the way companies deploy client computing services. It also represents an ideal fit for end user client strategy for cloud computing environments.
The size and scale of opportunity for desktop virtualisation is highlighted by a recent re-forecast by Gartner of the move toward hosted virtual desktops. It projected hosted virtual desktops to reach 74 million users by 2014 which represents 15 per cent of the business desktop market. This is the tip of the iceberg. This number alone does not fully reflect the potential of business deployments because it only considers deployments for user groups of 250 or more as economically viable for virtualised desktops.
Moreover, the truly disruptive economics of virtual desktops when naturally priced – reducing all client related costs by 50 per cent or more compared to traditional PCs – bodes well for mature corporate markets going through PC replacement cycles as well as emerging markets that do not have legacy models. In short, it will have an increasingly important ‘last inch’ role in the fast emerging transformational computing environments such as cloud, SaaS and web based utility computing.
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