XenDesktop says goodbye to vSphere? (update 2)
In a lot of VDI deployments VMware vSphere is used as the hosting platform. There a couple of reasons that you can think of about why this is:
- The company uses VMware vSphere as a platform for virtualizing their servers. They don’t want to manage other types of hypervisors for the VDI environment, so they want vSphere for their VDI as well.
- VMware vSphere has multiple memory management technologies (TPS, ballooning, Memory compression) which work extremely well in an environment where the VM’s are very similar.
- In case of VMware View, there is no choice of hypervisor, vSphere is the only option.
In case of Xendesktop deployments (or Quest vWorkspace or other VDI vendors that supports vSphere), VMware vSphere is often used because of the first two reasons. This may change this year, unless VMware takes action.
UPDATE: I’ve just learned that VMware will release a Desktop edition of vSphere 5. This is very good news!
“A vSphere Desktop edition – This was quietly added on the partner SKU list for non-View VDI implementations. This provides a low cost hypervisor for XenDesktop implementations (a fairly common occurance).” (source: Knudt Blog)
VDI Smackdown updated!
The VDI Smackdown whitepaper is updated with the lastest versions of the VDI-solutions.
The “Smackdown” is focused on solutions that are anticipated to have an important role in VDI deployments. An complete overview of available features is created to better understand each solution’s capability.
The solutions included in the feature matrix are: Citrix XenDesktop 5, Microsoft VDI with RemoteFX, Quest vWorkspace 7.2 and VMware View 4.6;
Compared to the previous VDI Smackdown more than 100 new- and updated features are included in this new release!
VDI comparison chart
When you enter “VDI comparison” in google, the first hit you get is actually one of my first blogpost I published 2 years ago. The blogpost is about a VDI-broker feature comparison created by Quest. Although it was a useful document (to see which features Quest vWorkspace has), it wasn’t created by (an) independent person(s).
It’s quit amazing to see that Virtualfuture.info is still number 1 hit for “VDI comparison”. First of all because we didn’t create the comparison chart and second of all, since then, no one else created one. Until now!
Ruben Spruijt from PQR, with the help of a number of colleagues (including me), created something more than just a feature comparison: the VDI smackdown whitepaper!
If you are looking for an independent overview of the Server Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI) solutions and curious about the different features- and functions each Desktop Virtualization vendor is offering!? This is the whitepaper you definitely must read!
In the current market there is an increasing demand for unbiased information about Desktop Virtualization solutions. This white paper is focused on solutions that are anticipated to have an important role in VDI deployments. An overview of available features of each solution is created to better understand each solutions capability.
Also read Ruben’s post at brianmadden.com. Comment or mail Ruben for feedback!
XenDesktop on VMware VI/vSphere
As I was playing around with XenDesktop 4, I had some trouble connecting the Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller to the vCenter server. And as 95% of Xendesktop deployments are on VMware VI or vSphere, I thought this tip could be useful for you as wel. … Continue Reading
Bloggers-battle: Citrix Xendesktop vs VMware View
My blogging activities were very low last month (close to none actually) and I apologize for that. It must have been because I spend most of the time crying because my co-blogger Matthijs left the company I work for and he decided to work for the competition. Being competitors at the moment, I thought it was a good idea to do a bloggers-battle on VirtualFuture.info. What does that mean? … Continue Reading
