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Client Computing Architectures: Many Choices to Solve Many Problems

Mark Margevicius

Deficiencies in Traditional PCs Introduce Opportunities and Architectures

Desktop and laptop PCs have valuable attributes; but, in many ways, have shifted from strategic to tactical for many organizations

Do PCs offer

"There has to be a better way.""Not another PC refresh.""PCs are such a pain.""PCs are waaaaay too costly."

Do these sound familiar?

2010201020102010

Virtual Everything: Operating SystemBubbles and Application Containers

HardwareHardware

Operating System (OS)

Operating System (OS)

The application is installed in a container with a copy of OS resources

Virtualization decouples each layer from the layer below

Virtualization LayerVirtualization Layer

Virtualization LayerVirtualization Layer

ApplicationApplication

The virtualization layer runs on the OS to create a standardized interface for application installation

The OS is installed in a virtual machine

A thin virtualization layer runs on the hardware to create a standardized interface for OS installation

A thin virtualization layer runs on the hardware to create a standardized interface for OS installation

Mainstream for PC deployments

2009200920092009

New Packaging Options:Separating Users, Hardware and Bubbles

Virtual Machines Hosted on Servers• Architectural equivalent of

the blade PC• Full "thick-client" image,

thin-client delivery model

Portable Personalities• Your preferred environment,

any machine, any location• Carry it with you, store it on

the network• Bubbles of various sizes:

some with OS, some without

Server Hardware

VMM

Application

PC OS PC OS

Application

PC OS

Application

code

Target Windows Machine

settings

data

Windows Application Containers

temp files

DLLs

• Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT) and AMD's AMD-V available

• Technical challenges with I/O being addressed

• New privilege levels, hardware partitioning and hardware policy enforcement

• Virtualization becomes moreefficient, more flexible and more reliable

• Requires software support

Hardware-Assisted Virtualization:Faster and More Robust

New software emerging;additional hardware improvements

Hypervisor

Different CPUPrivilegeLevels

Guest OS

Applications

Virtual Machine

Virtual Drivers

Virtual Machine Monitor

Prim

aryP

artition

The Operating System Unbundled: Embedded Complexity Begins to Recede

Mainstream for new PCs from 2010

VirtualMachineVirtual

Machine

HardwareHardware

HypervisorHypervisor

Service A

pplianceS

ervice Appliance

Service A

pplianceS

ervice Appliance

Service A

pplianceS

ervice Appliance

Service A

pplianceS

ervice Appliance

VirtualMachineVirtual

Machine

ApplicationsApplications

Load order = Standard OS component

ApplicationsApplications

Client Computing Now Has Many Homes

Applications Can Be Delivered Differently as Well

Extreme Spectrums of Client Computing Architectures

Limited Functionality

Low Cost

PC Hardware

PC OS

Preso Layer

Data

Applications

Data

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

PCs

Hardware

OS

ICA/RDP

Server

WTS/Citrix

Data

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

SBC

Applications

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

Web

Browser

OS

Hardware

Applications

Web Server

Applications

Data

Different architectures can coexist

More Complex

Higher TCO

Highly Flexible

More Secure

Lower TCO

Rigid Design

Thin Client

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

Data

VMM

Hosted VMs

VM VM VM

Thin Client

RDP

Data

Applications

Data

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

Blade PCs

PC OS

PC Hardware

PC OS

Data

Data

LAN/WAN

LAN/WAN

Streaming

PC OS

Applications

Blade-Based PCs — Niche Solutions

Dedicated 1-to-1 PC-to-user ratios

Degrees of customization avail No degradation in performance Offers failover and redundancy High capital costs (1.5x to 2.5x

more than traditional desktop PCs)

Better economics if used as a pooled resource

Better client-side manageability Tends to be fairly vertical; often

found on Wall Street, in hospitals and network operation centers

Proprietary solutions

Blade-Based PCs

Server-Based Computing — Mainstream Alternative

Server-Based Computing Applications are shared among users

50-80 users (typical) per server Applications are published to

users Lower TCO than PCs (although

capital costs are higher) Not for all apps./users Performance issues with heavy

computation or graphics-based applications

Application testing and remediation highly recommended

Large ecosystem of vendors Battle-hardened and scaleable

ICA

RD

P

Hosted Virtual Desktops — New Twist on Remote Desktops

Source: VMWare

Users connect to server using RDP

Virtual instances of Windows XP/Vista running on servers

Each server supports 10-20 users

Applications are the same as with local PCs

Provides for central management

Offers device/user independence

Interest from remote/teleworkers

Third-party tools still evolving VMWare, Citrix, Virtual Iron,

IBM, HP, Fujitsu, NEC, just to name a few!

Which Client Architectures work best?

Blades/Hosted DesktopsBlades/Hosted Desktops• Blended desktop/server

configuration• Identical PC application

functionality• Requires server/network

infrastructure build-outs• Remote access

Application StreamingApplication Streaming• Centralization• Application isolation• Rich application support• Remote access• Still maturing

Server-Based ComputingServer-Based Computing• Homogonous environments• Well-behaved applications• Rapid deployment needs• Security• Remote access• Lowest TCO• Most restrictive

Traditional PCsTraditional PCs• Performance-driven applications• Multimedia/graphics• Legacy use• Mobility (laptops)• Most flexible• Highest TCO

Loca

l-exe

cutio

nS

erve

r-ex

ecut

ion

From Niche to Default:A PC Virtualization Technology Roadmap

2007

2008

2009

2010

Viability for future deployments

Viable now

Application virtualization, hosted VMs on servers, hardware virtualization and rogue user images in VMs

Application virtualization PC hypervisors

Hardware security

Application streaming

New user images in VMs by default

OS streaming

Software appliances

Mainstream deployment of user images in VMs

Hosted VMs

VMs for technical and niche users only

VMs for everyone