How do you implement VDI?

There are a number of components that you need to put in place before you can create and roll-out your Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Each of these components can be relatively easy depending on your current IT infrastructure.

The diagram below shows the desired end state, the Centralised Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. There are three layers to this solution that you need to consider.

• Access Layer/Devices
• Virtual Desktop Manager/Broker
• Hosts & Storage (virtual infrastructure)


Access Layer/Devices
Starting from the bottom of the diagram, you can see various ways of “viewing” your Virtual Desktop (VD) using Client Machines. Using dumb terminals is relatively cost effective compared to the traditional desktop. However, during a transition period, you can continue to use your current desktops and replace them as and when necessary.

It should be noted that in the above diagram the VDI solution is dependent on the access device being connected to the data centre. In such cases where you have remote users that do not have 100% connectivity to the data centre, this does not present VDI, but a local approach (see previous newsletter) is required.

Virtual Desktop Manager/Broker
The next level to consider is the Broker, a small but vital element of this system. This is the part of the solution that manages the connection between the Client Machine and the final destination, the Virtual Desktop. When a user logs on to the VDI solution, the Broker will determine which virtual desktop the user should be given according to their credentials.

Finally, at the top of the diagram, you can see there are several hosts (labelled DataCentre). This part of the solution consists of physical host servers and central storage. The storage is where the VDs reside as files. The hosts essentially pool their processor and memory resources and allocate the set amount for each Desktop. The hosts and the storage combined form the Virtual Infrastructure.

Once the virtual infrastructure is prepared according to your requirements, you will be able to host your Virtual Desktops.

You are now ready to use your Virtual Desktops.