Thinking about desktop virtualization, but still trying to figure out the best approach for your project? Join Kidaro Founder and Vice President Ran Kohavi for a discussion of today’s different models for delivering virtual desktops.

Q) Desktop virtualization has become a hot topic. How does it fit into the overall virtualization landscape, and what are the key drivers for enterprises?
A) Virtualization, defined as the decoupling of computer resources from the underlying hardware, has been a recurring theme in IT for decades. Virtualization’s first major impact was seen in mainframes, where a single system could be configured to look like multiple independent mainframes to support different applications and users. Over the years, almost every major component of the IT infrastructure has been virtualized to increase functionality and reduce costs, including networks, storage, and servers. Desktop operations management stayed static for the last couple of years, but enterprises are using virtualization to address some of their toughest desktop computing challenges, including security, manageability, and mobility. Gartner Research predicted that virtualization will be the most important technology in IT infrastructures and operations through 2010, with desktop virtualization as one of the highest-value segments.

Q) Can you give some specific examples of benefits enterprises are seeing from desktop virtualization?
A) Desktop virtualization can be used to securely deliver corporate applications and data to employee home PCs or contractor laptops, eliminating the need to buy thousands of new laptops. Virtualization can also dramatically reduce the costs associated with managing and supporting desktop operations. One component of savings comes from consolidating a large number of different corporate desktop builds into a few standard builds that runs on any hardware. We’re also using “smart revertible” VMs to provide another way to increase uptime, stability and standardization of desktops, enabling what we call a self-cleaning virtual desktop. Desktop virtualization can also be used to seamlessly transition between OS versions, for example, facilitating Vista rollouts by allowing legacy enterprise applications to run on an invisible XP virtual machine inside a Vista desktop. Another popular application is to use desktop virtualization as a rapid recovery mechanism, within an overall corporate disaster recovery program.

Q) Can you describe some of the technology approaches for delivering virtual desktops?
A) There are multiple flavors of desktop virtualization, but most of the approaches break down into two architectures:

Server-based desktop virtualization: In this approach, computation is performed in centralized server farms, and endpoint machines are used primarily for display and input of data. This approach is primarily useful for LAN-attached PCs or thin clients, since it requires constant high-bandwidth connectivity to the centralized systems. This approach is sometimes used for remote delivery of targeted applications, but not all applications are suited to this method. Server-based models require build out and management of server farms to handle peak load, which can be cost-prohibitive.

Client-hosted desktop virtualization: Client-hosted models run all computation locally on the desktop or laptop computer, often with added security and centralized management. This has the advantage of supporting mobile and partially connected users, and policies for corporate applications and files can be enforced even when the computer is disconnected from the network. Notably, this approach does not require construction of large server farms. Client-hosted virtualization is ideal for companies that need to support laptop users, secure remote access, contractors, M&A scenarios, or distributed branch offices.

Q) Can client-hosted virtualization be used for LAN-connected desktops?
A) Absolutely. There are a number of use cases where thin terminals and other server-based models are a good choice for LAN-based desktop users, but often these users already have fast desktop machines that can handle virtualization locally.  Client-hosted virtualization can enable many of the same management and security capabilities, without requiring large hardware expenditures on desktop or server machines.

Q) Is mobility a major consideration for enterprises?
A) Most customers we talk to believe that knowledge workers will become increasingly mobile. U.S. retail shipments of laptop computers surpassed desktop computers starting in 2005 (Source: Current Analysis), and IDC predicts that by 2011 laptop computers will outnumber desktop computers worldwide. Also, our customers tell us that laptops are a much larger management challenge than traditional desktop PCs, since laptops get lost, connect to the open Internet, and often support a wider variety of end-user applications.

Q) Are there any security advantages to using machine virtualization versus application virtualization for running a virtual desktop?
A) Application virtualization has a number of benefits for minimizing conflicts between applications. This approach makes perfect sense for managed corporate PCs, or consumer desktop-on-a-USB applications. But if you’re planning to run a corporate virtual desktop on third-party machines, such as employee home PCs or contractor laptops, you really need to control the entire OS stack. This is the only way to really control the security of a virtual desktop, because applications and data are constantly exposed to the low-level components of the underlying OS. Machine virtualization combined with encryption, centralized patch management, and leak prevention techniques enables you to isolate the VM from vulnerabilities in the underlying OS.

For more information about Kidaro's virtualization solutions, please contact Nazli Ekim at SS PR, (646) 278 6014 -office (917) 355 9650 -cell nekim@sspr.com.