Virtual desktop infrastructure and architecture

guest virtual machine (guest VM)

A guest virtual machine (VM) is the software component of a VM, an independent instance of an operating system (OS), called a guest OS, and its associated software and information. Continue Reading

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• TechTarget Contributor

Citrix HDX 3D Pro

Citrix HDX 3D Pro is a group of graphics acceleration technologies that help optimize the delivery of resource-intensive virtual applications on a company's XenDesktop and XenApp platforms. Continue Reading

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• Carl Setterlund

virtual desktop

A virtual desktop is a computer operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint hardware from which a user accesses it. Continue Reading

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• Colin Steele
• Bridget Botelho, Editorial Director, News

VMware expands VD management tools for Microsoft Azure

VMware's latest Horizon virtual desktop management tools improve the performance of the product on Microsoft Azure. The changes appear in the Horizon Control Plane. Continue Reading

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• Mike Gleason, News Writer

How to configure Remote Desktop in Windows Server 2008 R2 step by step

Learn how to install and configure Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2008 R2 to use Terminal Services and Remote Desktop Gateway Manager. Continue Reading

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• Brandon Shell

Smartphones and laptops for business hinge on cost, use, apps

Factors like cost, usage, applications, management, longevity and security figure in the selection of company-issued smartphones, laptops and printers for digital workers. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Comparing AMD vs. Nvidia for virtual desktop GPU cards

Both AMD and Nvidia bring virtual GPUs to virtual desktop users with resource-intensive applications, but organizations should learn what each vendor's vGPU cards can offer. Continue Reading

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• Marius Sandbu, Sopra Steria

What are the differences between VPN and VDI services?

With a common denominator of 'virtual,' both VPNs and VDI are common in remote work strategies. However, the technologies differ in terms of cost, use cases and performance. Continue Reading

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• Andrew Froehlich, West Gate Networks

3 tips to prevent VDI IP address exhaustion before it happens

For those turning to VDI to support remote workers due to the COVID-19 influx, it's best to get ahead of IP address problems before people return to the office. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Quickly repurpose HCI hardware for hosting virtual desktops

Virtual desktops are tailored for remote work situations, and hyper-convergence makes a great VDI host that stands up quickly in a pinch. Consider these factors, though. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

For VDI, coronavirus pandemic could require a new approach

Organizations may need to set up VDI deployments or alter existing infrastructure to support the influx of demand for remote work support due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

HPE bolsters VDI product offerings

With an eye toward maintaining business continuity, HPE is making VDI product moves. Experts said the news comes at a critical time for companies. Continue Reading

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• Mike Gleason, News Writer

Workspot VDI key to engineering firm's pandemic planning

Southland Industries was in the process of transitioning to a virtual desktop service when COVID-19 emerged. In this Q&A, Israel Sumano discusses how the outbreak accelerated those plans. Continue Reading

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• Mike Gleason, News Writer

4 VDI automation use cases that lower IT's management burden

IT pros should understand the role of automation in VDI because automating certain tasks such as virtual desktop creation and monitoring can free up IT to focus on other issues. Continue Reading

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• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

Workspot launches Cloud Desktop Fabric

Workspot claims its new Cloud Desktop Fabric architecture will improve virtual desktop performance by connecting users to the cloud resources closest to them. Continue Reading

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• Mike Gleason, News Writer

IGEL Disrupt 2020: My initial report

Windows Virtual Desktop support is officially available; IGEL is working on Workspace ONE and Intune integration. Continue Reading

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• Jack Madden

How is HCI market fragmentation affecting buyers, vendors?

An increasingly crowded market and the technological limitations of standard HCI have led to innovative new takes on hyper-convergence to the benefit of vendors and buyers alike. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

How pay-as-you-go hyper-converged hardware pricing works

With consumption-based pricing, vendors deploy an HCI on premises, while you pay a subscription fee. It promises to lower upfront costs and reduce headaches. But is it right for you? Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

Navigate Office 365 licensing issues with VDI

Office 365 can come with some tricky licensing situations, especially for VDI admins. Explore this rundown of licensing issues and some potential solutions. Continue Reading

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• Marius Sandbu, Sopra Steria

Parallels Remote Application Server brings AI, 2FA to SMBs

Parallels added new capabilities to its Remote Application Server product, including better reporting and monitoring for management and easier access to daily applications. Continue Reading

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• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

Deploying a hyper-converged cluster with mismatched hardware

Software HCI implementations make it possible to build HCI clusters from mismatched hardware. Even so, see why matched hardware can make deployment easier to manage and maintain. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

What does IT need to know about VDI web browsers?

End users can easily access their virtual desktops and applications through any supported HTML5 web browser. Learn about the pros and cons of using VDI and web browsers together. Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

Explore options for VDI disaster recovery

Every VDI deployment should have a disaster recovery plan that doesn't break the bank. Explore some ways to implement VDI disaster recovery in an organization. Continue Reading

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• Stuart Burns

Know the risk of hyper-converged vendor lock-in, myths and facts

The risk of HCI vendor lock-in is real. The reason why is different than you might think, however. See how it often comes down to financial, not technical, limitations in this article. Continue Reading

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• Scott D. Lowe, ActualTech Media

Raspberry Pi 4: Now the ultimate cheap thin client?

It has a lot more under the hood, and it’s still inexpensive. Continue Reading

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• Kyle Johnson, Technology Editor

When you have both IDaaS and UEM, where do you build your conditional access policies?

A lot of IDaaS and UEM capabilities overlap, including authentication, third-party security integration, and contextual policy engines. Continue Reading

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• Jack Madden

HCI hardware or hyper-converged software: Which is better for me?

Appliance-based hyper-convergence integrates software with hardware, while software-only HCI enables you to use the hardware of your choice. Each type has pluses and minuses. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Cloud hosting may be the future, but on-premises hosting is the present

Citrix has laid out a path to move to cloud-hosted desktops and applications, but many organizations have to focus on their needs today and maintain on-premises hosting. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

What are the benefits of on-premises hosting for virtual desktops?

IT shouldn't overlook the benefits of on-premises desktop hosting, such as more choices for virtualization software. Cloud-hosted desktops also fall short in areas such as infrastructure control. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops gets UX, security upgrades

Citrix continues to add new capabilities to its cloud products, but getting consumers to adopt as-a-service offerings remains a hurdle. Continue Reading

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• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

Windows Virtual Desktop enters public preview

The highly anticipated release of Windows Virtual Desktop will provide a cloud-based desktop and app virtualization service, integrated with Office 365 ProPlus and built on Azure. Continue Reading

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• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

Improve VDI load balancing for Hyper-V deployments

Managing virtual machine workloads is one of the crucial aspects of VDI management on Hyper-V hosts. The preferred method is Microsoft's dynamic load balancing. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Top 4 challenges of hyper-converged infrastructure for VDI

HCI and VDI often go well together, providing simpler scalability and flexibility for virtual desktops. But what happens when a VDI deployment has requirements outside the norm? Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Secure VDI environments with these 3 tips

Virtual desktops present unique security concerns. Take these three steps to better secure VDI environments from the start. Continue Reading

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• Stuart Burns

Avoid disastrous bottlenecks, scale storage for VDI with HCI

HCI offers many benefits for VDI deployments, particularly when it comes to scaling resources. There are a few caveats to watch out for when planning storage for VDI, however. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Can hyper-converged infrastructure cut VDI costs?

Hyper-converged systems may cost more upfront, but organizations must also calculate long-term costs to determine if HCI is a fit for their virtual desktop infrastructure. Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

VDI Like a Pro team announces VDI Performance survey results

Evidently, just because your desktop is in the cloud doesn’t mean it will always perform at its best. Continue Reading

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• Jack Madden

Talking to Ericom’s new CEO about Ericom Shield and cloud security

Incoming CEO David Canellos has a background in the cloud/web/SaaS security space, which is indicative of the potential in Ericom Shield. Continue Reading

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• Jack Madden

Working with PowerShell module downloads from the gallery

Learn how to get the most out of the PowerShell Gallery with some distinctions for administrators who use Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core. Continue Reading

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• Richard Siddaway, Independent consultant

3 VDI management New Year's resolutions for 2019

IT professionals making New Year's resolutions should take a look at their VDI management approach and find ways to improve it with technology such as AIOps. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

IT reaps the benefits of HCI for virtual desktops and apps

Hyper-converged infrastructure can deliver benefits to IT on the back end, but many of those benefits can also directly affect virtual application delivery and performance. Continue Reading

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• Eddie Lockhart, Site Editor

Understand the dangers of cloud-based VDI management

Managing VDI with a cloud-based tool can become very complicated if IT hosts different aspects of its deployment through multiple cloud vendors. Continue Reading

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• Theresa Miller

Test your knowledge of VDI vs. RDS for desktop hosting

RDS and VDI each offer benefits for certain use cases. Test yourself to see if you know when RDS is a good idea and when organizations should opt for VDI. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

Learn how to best deploy VDI on HCI

IT pros considering using HCI to power their VDI deployments should listen to this advice from three IT pros on how to get buy-in throughout the organization and more. Continue Reading

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• Eddie Lockhart, Site Editor

How DaaS platforms handle cost optimization in the public cloud

When virtual desktops are running in the cloud, we need to keep a close eye on resource consumption to keep costs down. Here’s how DaaS platforms do it. Continue Reading

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• Marius Sandbu, Sopra Steria

Get to know virtual desktop image optimization tools

Desktop image optimization tools can help IT run a more efficient VDI deployment by overriding certain native OS functions and utilities. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

Microsoft breaks into DaaS with Windows Virtual Desktop

Microsoft jumps onto the desktop-as-a-service bandwagon with its Azure-hosted Windows Virtual Desktop platform, but the service faces tough competition from market leader Amazon Workspaces. Continue Reading

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• Nick Martin, Senior Director of Content Strategy and Member Engagement

How VDI provisioning can help IT effectively manage resources

VDI management requires more than simply monitoring desktops. IT must understand users' resource needs and provision its back-end infrastructure to reflect them. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

How should IT approach VDI provisioning?

Over or underprovisioning resources for virtual desktops can leave a VDI deployment in rough shape. With a few tips, IT pros can make sure they make the correct calculations. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Ready to start VDI capacity planning? Prove it

Planning VDI capacity can be challenging and confusing. See if you have what it takes to plan for factors such as remote access and future changes. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

How to select the right VDI hypervisor

IT has several decisions to make when selecting a hypervisor for VDI, including choosing between a free hypervisor or a more feature-rich, paid option. Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

Will the VFX industry start embracing the cloud with Foundry’s Athera?

A case study in highly specialized DaaS: The VFX industry lags behind others when it comes to moving to the cloud. Foundry hopes to change that with Athera. Continue Reading

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• Rachel Berry

How can IT retrieve VDI server configuration information?

IT pros may need to retrieve server configuration information to diagnose problems with their VDI. They can do so in Windows-based deployments with the right PowerShell cmdlets. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Do you understand all your VDI options?

IT has important decisions to make when choosing a VDI deployment, including whether to use persistent or nonpersistent desktops, what devices to give end users and more. Continue Reading

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• John Powers, Senior Site Editor

Remote display protocols dictate virtual desktop experience

Citrix, VMware and Microsoft all offer remote display protocols with their VDI products. Each one brings a little something different to the table. Continue Reading

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• Tom Howarth

NComputing finds spot in desktop virtualization market with SME focus

NComputing CTO Richard Sah discusses new opportunities for IT to take advantage of desktop virtualization, thanks to lower cost and the emergence of hyper-converged infrastructure. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

The definitive VDI cost savings guide

VDI cost is a key consideration in any deployment because the price affects numerous other decisions, including how to manage, maintain and repair the desktops. Continue Reading

Does deploying VDI affect other systems?

VDI can affect areas of a company network, such as internet bandwidth. IT can mitigate the effects of VDI users by allocating resources and monitoring system performance. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

VDI Like a Pro 2018 Survey sneak peek: What’s happening in VDI/SBC/DaaS market share?

There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the cloud, and the market is wide open. Continue Reading

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• Jack Madden

IT mulls multi-user Windows 10 as Server 2019 drops RDSH

Multi-user Windows 10 could replace RDSH, which isn't in the first Windows Server 2019 preview. The move has ramifications for app compatibility, XenApp and Windows licensing. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

Hyper-converged computing and VDI fit together well ... mostly

The flexibility and ease of use of hyper-convergence fit the needs of VDI, but you should also consider other benefits and drawbacks of HCI in a VDI platform. Continue Reading

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• Rodney Brown, TechTarget

Six VDI testing steps to take with any deployment

Whether IT is upgrading an existing VDI deployment or implementing VDI, there are a series of tests it should run, including making sure users can access their virtual desktops. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Liquidware user experience monitoring fills gap in DaaS migration

Moving virtual desktops to the cloud is complicated. To take some of the monitoring load off, one company adopted Liquidware software, making for an award-winning initiative. Continue Reading

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• Colin Steele

Dell EMC VDI helps university expand application access

Desktop virtualization is notoriously difficult. With a unique approach, the University of Arkansas put together an award-winning project using Dell EMC VDI hardware and software. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

Access Innovation Awards recognize desktop transformation

The Access Innovation Awards highlight two creative and successful end-user computing projects. One of these IT initiatives dove headfirst into cloud with a migration of physical and virtual desktops to desktop as a service, all while monitoring users and resources with a variety of tools. The other formulated a unique combination of products to deliver scalable, flexible and graphics-rich virtual desktops to diverse sites. Both of them enabled desktop transformation in their organizations to help end users do their work more efficiently and effectively.

The results were two strong end-user computing implementations that together represent this year's Access Innovation Awards winners. Read the stories of each of these desktop transformation initiatives in this special issue of the e-zine.

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Dell EMC VDI helps university expand application access

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Meltdown and Spectre patches hit XenApp performance especially hard

Organizations with VDI and RDSH will likely take a performance hit after patching Meltdown and Spectre, according to test results from Lakeside Software. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

How to pick out the right VDI use cases

VDI can help organizations, but only if IT applies it to the right use cases. Identifying those virtual desktop use cases starts with understanding the user type and location. Continue Reading

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• Tom Howarth

Citrix enables Nvidia vGPU live migration

Virtual desktop users are averse to downtime. A new capability from Citrix and Nvidia allows for live migration of vGPUs so VDI shops can keep graphics processing up and running. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

Citrix, VMware, thin clients, printing, DaaS, and Windows 10: Six things I'm watching in 2018

Predictions are overrated! Here are the expectations I have of Citrix, VMware, thin client vendors, printing vendors, DaaS, and Windows 10 migrations as we begin 2018. Continue Reading

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• Gabe Knuth, Principal Analyst

What are the open source remote display protocol options?

Fluctuating VDI costs can catch any organization by surprise. Consider open source remote display protocols to keep the price tag low and user experience high. Continue Reading

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• Tom Howarth

How to handle increasing VDI graphics processing needs

With more applications, including seemingly straightforward ones, such as Microsoft Word, going graphics-intensive, VDI shops must know how to deliver a quality user experience. Continue Reading

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• Eddie Lockhart, Site Editor

Compare XtremIO vs. Unity all-flash storage system for VDI

Dell EMC offers two all-flash storage options geared toward VDI shops. One suits companies with fewer than 500 persistent machines, and the other is for larger deployments. Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

Consider key factors in the physical vs. virtual desktop debate

When deciding between physical or virtual desktops, IT admins must evaluate the costs, look at their application requirements and understand their users' needs. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Harder

Rounding up and diving into some of the top VDI monitoring tools

Buyers have a wide range of VDI monitoring tools to select from to effectively manage, monitor and troubleshoot VDI deployments and desktop user experiences. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

The Best of Citrix Synergy 2017 Awards winners

Find out who won at the Best of Citrix Synergy 2017 Awards in categories such as New Technology and Desktop and Application Delivery, as well as who took home the Best of Show award. Continue Reading

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• Staff

How does Office 365 VDI licensing work in nonpersistent deployments?

Setting up Office 365 generally involves multiple devices. With nonpersistent VDI, the rules of the game change for IT admins. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Use the VMware Host Client to manage single ESXi hosts

The VMware Host Client is faster and more secure than the vSphere Flash-based client, but it has yet to reach maturity. Here are some other tools you can use to manage ESXi hosts. Continue Reading

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• Vladan Seget

How to decide to deliver apps through VDI vs. installing them locally

Admins have a tough choice in how they deliver new apps to their users. In some situations it's better to do it through VDI while in others its best to install them locally. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

How to bake up Raspberry Pi thin clients for VDI

Raspberry Pis are one of the lowest-cost computing options out there, so it's only natural for IT to wonder whether they're suitable as thin clients for some enterprise use cases. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Four questions to ask before using Chromebook thin client devices

Using Google Chromebooks as VDI clients can save organizations money and simplify IT management, but they're not the perfect fit for every company. Continue Reading

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• Eddie Lockhart, Site Editor

Three benefits of using hyper-converged infrastructure systems for VDI

Hyper-converged infrastructure systems bring all the necessary back-end hardware and software to support a VDI deployment into a tightly-integrated chassis. Discover three ways HCI helps VDI shops, plus a few concerns to keep in mind. Continue Reading

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• Eddie Lockhart, Site Editor

When single sign-on technology is a good fit for VDI

As more VDI shops deliver virtual desktops separately from applications, single sign-on provides a way for IT to reduce users' burdens when it comes to multiple logins and remembering passwords. Continue Reading

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• Brien Posey

Compare Citrix, VMware and Microsoft remote display protocol options

As desktop and app virtualization technologies advance, the top vendors' remote display protocols are keeping pace. Citrix HDX, Microsoft RemoteFX, VMware Blast and Teradici PCoIP protocol can all support modern end-user computing. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Should businesses use HTML5 remote desktop clients?

HTML5 clients can serve as a widely accessible, mobile friendly way for users to access virtual desktops, but there are still a few security kinks to work out. Continue Reading

By

• Jim O'Reilly

How does virtual desktop performance compare to PCs?

Virtual desktops need to perform similar to physical desktops, or else users become frustrated. Most companies now have enough back-end resources to support speedy VDI connections. Continue Reading

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• Jim O'Reilly

Pros and cons of using an HTML5 browser as a VDI client

Although HTML5 clients don't provide enough security for some organizations, they're one of the easiest and most widely available options for delivering remote desktops to employees. Continue Reading

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• Alastair Cooke

Citrix XenClient is going away, but what will replace it?

Citrix's announcement that it will stop selling XenClient didn't include any plans to replace its Type 1 hypervisor. VDI shops are left wondering what's next. Continue Reading

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• Gabe Knuth, Principal Analyst

Do I really need Citrix NetScaler?

NetScaler or not, you need an application delivery controller. But XenApp and XenDesktop shops that use a non-Citrix gateway run the risk of losing Citrix's support. Continue Reading

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• Margaret Jones, Executive Editor

Guide to choosing and managing VDI thin clients

First, decide whether thin clients are right for your environment. Then learn what to look for in VDI hardware and what kind of management capabilities you need. Continue Reading

Comparing three options for VDI endpoints

There are a few ways admins can provide users with the hardware that makes it possible to access their virtual desktops. Get to know the three major options. Continue Reading

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• Robert Sheldon

Tablets and smartphones can be thin clients, too

The experience of using a mobile device as a thin client has improved and it's no longer out of the question, but some pain points remain, such as connectivity and text entry. Continue Reading

By

• Alastair Cooke

What is Docker and what does it mean for virtualization?

Docker uses Linux containers to make virtualization deployments easier to manage and scale. The concept isn’t new or revolutionary, but it has implications for the future of virtualization. Continue Reading

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• Gabe Knuth, Principal Analyst

VDI vs. RDSH doesn't matter if users don't need full Windows desktops

Most companies don't need to publish full Windows desktops anymore -- users mostly just need their applications. That means there's no reason to discount RDSH in favor of VDI. Continue Reading

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• Brian Madden

What is the difference between VDI vs. Terminal Services?

The VDI vs. Terminal Services (or RDS) debate is based on the differences between the two methods for delivering remote desktops. One uses sessions and the other connects users to full client OS desktops. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Top tools for user profile management

You can manage profiles with Active Directory or the tools built into your VDI software, but third-party options from AppSense, RES software and Liquidware Labs offer more features and can reduce storage needs. Continue Reading

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• Kim Lindros and Ed Tittel

Zero client buying guide

There are lots of client options to choose from for VDI. Get the details on four of the most popular zero clients and how they can meet your needs in this buying guide. Continue Reading

By

• Kim Lindros and Ed Tittel

Microsoft Office on a tablet is 'just as good' as traditional desktop

Getting a good user experience from Microsoft Office on a tablet doesn't require virtual desktop or applications. One user who's gone tablet-only gets a great desktop experience on her Surface 2. Continue Reading

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• Alyssa Provazza, Editorial Director

Differences between desktop and server virtualization

Desktop and server virtualization are different beasts, and not knowing the difference can put your VDI deployment in hot water. Continue Reading

By

• Ryan McLaughlin

RDSH vs. VDI comparison proves use case is everything

In a RDSH vs. VDI comparison, it's not a matter of which is better. The most important thing is which one best fits your use case. VDI is good if users need multiple applications, but RDSH is a more lightweight model. Continue Reading

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• Brad Maltz, Lumenate