IAC 2024 - IA Fast Track to Search Focused AI Solutions
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2. Desktop virtualization will redefine end-user computing Increasing user flexibility while reducing management costs Low High User flexibility Mobility and personalization IT efficiency Lower cost and more control Low High Traditional PC Microsoft Legacy virtualization VMware and Citrix Terminal services Citrix Mainframe IBM Gen 1 Gen 2
[Key point: Virtual desktop infrastructures present tremendous potential to reduce IT costs and improve user flexibility. The challenge is bringing together the right approach and mix of technology to make that happen.] IBM believes that desktop virtualization provides an ideal solution for addressing many of the key needs of midsize businesses. For context, let’s consider some of the major waves in computing. Mainframes were one of the big leaps forward in information technology, providing powerful capabilities for optimizing IT efficiency. Initially and for many years, however, they lacked flexibility and were dedicated to specific tasks. The advent of traditional PCs introduced more flexibility for how businesses could support employees and use computing power, but PCs came with high costs. There have been attempts to balance the efficiency of mainframes with the flexibility of traditional PCs through different methods, but widespread adoption has been limited by gaps in initial efforts, which can be boiled down to the following challenges. Complexity—Analysts and early adopters have pointed out that virtual desktops aren’t necessarily easier to manage, and they present new challenges related to network management and application performance. Moreover, they can actually increase costs in areas, such as storage. Coverage—Today’s users require flexibility and performance because they may be traveling or working from home or using multiple types of devices and solutions. Cost—High storage costs and the fact that virtual desktops didn’t necessarily significantly reduce management costs but rather created a new set of challenges made quantifying benefits and cost savings difficult. For the midmarket, the ability to easily install, deploy and manage new infrastructures has also been a key challenge. So clearly, there has been a need for an even greater leap forward, and that’s what IBM has been working toward, along with Virtual Bridges.
[Key point: The cost savings from Virtual Desktop for Smart Business are driven by multiple factors, highlighted on this chart—the chief factor being lower maintenance requirements.] To help you better understand how the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Virtual Desktop for Smart Business can be so much lower than standard desktops and competitive offerings, this chart breaks down the costs of acquiring and managing each solution type. As you can see, this analysis represents a mix of users, including power users, office users and casual users that you might find in an average midsize company. We account for the fact that users will use different types of devices to do their work, including desktops, thin clients, tablet devices, disconnected laptops and so on. When you factor in desktop management costs, which we break out in the purple box, you can see that when we compare a standard desktop implementation to the three virtual desktop infrastructure alternatives, the IBM solution appears to reduce costs the most. [Additional detail on the IBM solution] Starting from the blue box at the base, the costs of the various virtual desktop infrastructure solutions are all sizably lower than the standard desktop solution because you can purchase less expensive thin clients, which often cost half as much as complete desktops. You can also extend desktop refresh cycles for additional savings. All of the virtual desktop infrastructure solutions require servers, but Virtual Desktop for Smart Business can run more desktops per server, helping keep server costs flat. With respect to storage, most competitive offerings use a storage area network (SAN), which is up to three times more expensive than the network-attached storage (NAS) that Virtual Desktop for Smart Business uses (although you can directly attach the IBM solution to a SAN as well). The green box highlights the cost of the virtual desktop infrastructure software install and the orange box represents what you have to pay for Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop Access software. These costs are close across the various solutions.
The following guest operating systems are supported when installed in a Gold Image: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP1 Professional, any service pack 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions 32-bit (i386) Ubuntu 8.04 LTS ― "Hardy" Desktop Linux 32-bit (i386) Ubuntu 9.04 ― "Jaunty" Desktop Linux 32-bit (i386) Ubuntu 10.04 ― "Lucid" Desktop Linux 32-bit and 64-bit Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11, any service pack 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (x86_64) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 and 5.5 Workstation, any updates 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (x86_64) CentOS 5.4 and 5.5, any updates