Cost Considerations in Desktop Virtualization

Every time I share a virtual desktop with a client, I can see the excitement in the eyes of the user, and of course it will inevitably be asked by the user about the cost of the virtual desktop.

Today we're going to talk about the cost of virtual desktops------A problem you have to consider when you're on a desktop virtualization project.

With virtual desktops, each user typically has a virtual machine (which also supports floating mode and multiple shared virtual machines, but this pattern is not in the scope of our discussions this time). Therefore, the cost per user is at least equal to the cost per virtual machine + per-user cost.

Let's take a look at the cost per virtual machine, the cost of the virtual machine will include the data center of the server, storage, network equipment, backup software and so on. Other costs, such as manual management costs, server space, refrigeration, etc. can also be included in the calculation, but the cost of this piece is relatively difficult to quantify.

Virtual Desktop centralizes all of the desktop into the data center, so unlike the previous PC model, the risk of a generic PC is relatively fragmented, and the risk becomes concentrated today through a centralized solution. Therefore, a reliable and robust server platform becomes necessary. In addition, redundant backup mechanism is also a factor that must be taken into account, such as n+1 mode of server cluster, storage replication redundancy, backup software, etc. are redundant aspects of the technology can be considered.

The virtual confidential is running on the server in the data center, so the number of users per server to be able to host is very critical, the server virtualization of the underlying platform is an important test, a good virtualization platform because of the CPU, memory and other optimization technology more advantages, so the number of users will host a relatively more.

stored in the Desktop virtualization project is also a big head, storage to consider one is the storage capacity, the other is the storage performance requirements. Compared to storage performance requirements, storage capacity is relatively easy to meet, because today's single disk space can be done T-level, but disk performance is still a big problem, high-speed disk prices will be relatively high, such as EFD (Enterprise Flash disk, is actually SSD Enterprise class products). So tiered storage technology in a desktop virtualization scenario will also be a necessary function to control costs. By storing the classification technology, different types of data and traffic can be divided into different disk types, the so-called "good steel to use in the blade."

Storage-related fibre switches (if you are using FC Sans), and the cost of an HBA card can also be equally shared with each virtual machine.

Data center running desktop virtualization, a high-speed and reliable network is essential, so the Multilink aggregation technology has become very critical. Through aggregation technology, multiple physical network adapters are bound to provide network connectivity for desktop virtual machines. If conditions permit, dual-switch redundancy, multiple network card aggregation is one of the most reliable network scenarios.

The backup of virtual desktops is also possible because of the integration of data and systems, as the virtual desktop platform should provide a set of data and system backup components to escort the system and data.