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In the last portion of this module, we

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will look at the virtual desktop and

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virtual application streaming. First of

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all, what is the virtual desktop or most

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commonly called virtual desktop

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infrastructure, or VDI. Virtual desktop

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infrastructure refers to the process of

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running a user's desktop inside of virtual

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machine that lives in a server in the

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datacenter. It enables a fully

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personalized desktop for each user with

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all of the security and simplicity of

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centralized management. A personal

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computer if we look at it has the same

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architecture as an industry standard

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server. You have the hardware, the

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operating system, and the applications.

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Similar to how a server can be

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virtualized, so can a personal computer.

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The operating system and applications

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running on it can become in sort a virtual

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machine. In the same way, a number of

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virtual servers can be hosted on a

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physical server, so can a number of

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virtual desktop PCs be hosted on a

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physical server. Virtual desktops can,

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like virtual machines, be moved from host

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server to another providing benefits in

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terms of load balancing and resilience to

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your infrastructure. And while this move

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takes in place, the virtual machine can

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continue to operate. In a desktop

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virtualization scenario, the client still

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needs to have a computer with a monitor,

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mouse, and network, but it doesn't need to

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be powerful at all. Since there are barely

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any resources used on the host computer,

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its sole job is to connect to the virtual

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desktop. For the hardware aspect, most

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users will use what we call is a thin

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client. A thin client is a stateless

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file-less desktop terminal that has no

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hard drive. All of the features typically

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found on the desktop PCs including

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applications, sensitive data, memory are

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restored back in the datacenter when using

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a thin client. Because of no moving parts

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and the fact that it's really basic, it

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has a high reliability and a low cost.

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Because it doesn't need to be powerful and

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only needs basic ports, it also has a

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really long lifetime. We can look up to 10

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years for a thin client. And even if

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something goes wrong, it's super easy to

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replace because you don't need to migrate

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any applications or any of the user's data

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when the hardware goes wrong. You simply

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put another thin client, a thin desktop,

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and the user will connect to the same

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virtual desktop where everything is at.

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And also, the maintenance and the

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electricity costs are super low because of

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the basic hardware. Desktop virtualization

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can also be used from a laptop. So users

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can work from anywhere in the world, as

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long as they have a network connection and

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a way to reach out to your VDI

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infrastructure and this can also ease the

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aspect of bringing your own device in the

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enterprise. Lastly, of course, while less

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common, VDI can also be consumed from a

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desktop, but a desktop does not need to be

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a fully blown machine. It can be an older

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desktop, which is not powerful enough to

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run today's application locally anymore.

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So the benefits of a virtual desktop

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infrastructure are the hardware cost

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savings because we don't need to buy

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powerful PCs for every user every few

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years, a better load balancing and

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resilience on the backend ensuring that

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users have a great experience every day.

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Deploying new computers is also faster

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since everything is virtualized on the

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backend. And finally, all of the desktops

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are centrally managed and backed up by IT.

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So the data is not stored on the user's

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computer. Everything is stored centrally

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in an environment controlled by IT so it

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makes it easier to back up, manage, and

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ensure that sensitive information is well

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protected. There are multiple vendors out

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there that provide products for virtual

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desktop virtualization, but the biggest

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ones, at least in my opinion, are Citrix

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XenDesktop, Microsoft remote desktop

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services, and VMware Horizon. Feel free to

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check them out, and of course, do your own

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research because those are not only

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vendors available out there. There are

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many others, those are just some three of

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the biggest names out there. Now let's

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talk a bit about our next subject, which

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is application streaming. Application

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streaming is a form of on-demand software

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distribution. Instead of virtualizing the

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whole desktop, you only virtualize the

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application or some portions of it so a

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part of it stays on the user's computer

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while a part of it is centralized or

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virtualized in the datacenter. So how

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exactly does it differ from virtual

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desktop infrastructure? So we have our

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normal desktop where everything runs

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locally from hardware to operating system

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to applications. Then we have the desktop

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virtualization that we have just covered a

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bit before where the operating systems and

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apps are all virtualized. And with

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application virtualization or application

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streaming, the client has the operating

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system installed locally and just enough

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bits of the app in order to run it, but

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the application runs, in fact, on a

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virtualized environment on a server. The

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client computer still needs to run the

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operating system, but a system doesn't

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need to be too powerful because only a

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part of the app is installed locally. All

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of the heavy lifting is done on the

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backend server that runs the virtualized

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application. And this doesn't only apply

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to desktops. It can apply to tablets and

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smartphones as well. So what are the

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benefits of application streaming? First

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of all, a lot less conflicts between

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applications and operating system because

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the application runs in a controlled

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environment on the server. It also

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centralizes and simplifies application

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patching and updating since everything is

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controlled by IT and it can reach all of

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the users instantly. It also accelerates

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application deployment for the same

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reason. An app only needs to be deployed

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on the servers and then it's available

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almost instantly to all of the users. Some

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of the major vendors include Citrix

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XenApp, Microsoft App-V, and VMware

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ThinApp. But again, there are others out

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there and it's always good to do your own

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research of what each one offers and which

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one is best either for you to learn or for

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your current project which one would server your client or company better.