An iterative approach to Desktop Virtualization By Mike Cave, Acting Chief Information Officer CA Department of Toxic Substances Control

 Desktop virtualization is the concept of separating a personal computer desktop environment from the physical machine through a client-server computing model. The resulting "virtualized" desktop is stored on a remote central server, instead of on the local storage of remote client; this way, when users work from their remote desktop client, all of the programs, applications, processes, and data used are kept and run centrally, allowing users to access their desktops on any capable device, such as a traditional personal computer, notebook computer, smartphone, or thin client.personal computerdesktop environmentclient-serverpersonal computer notebook computersmartphonethin client

Servers (Headquarters and Regional Offices) A toe  Application Development Servers  Non-critical Function Servers  Test Lab – PCs and Servers A foot  Production Web Applications and Web Servers  Antivirus server farm  Blackberry/Network Monitoring All the way up to the waist  File/Print/  Patch and Workstation Configuration Management

 My work desktop + HP thin client laptop  Standard DTSC image virtualized  Programmer test PCs (our experienced end- users)

 Simpler provisioning of new desktops  Reduced downtime in the event of server or client hardware failures  Lower cost of new application deployment  Desktop image management capabilities  Longer refresh cycle for client desktop infrastructure  Secure remote access to the enterprise desktop environment

Limitations of desktop virtualization include:  potential security risks if the network is not properly managed  some loss of user autonomy and privacy  challenges in setting up and maintaining drivers for printers and other peripherals  difficulty in running certain complex applications such as multimedia (GIS, Video).

 Network Drives (File Services)  Access to Intranet Resources and the Internet   COTS applications installed on their desktop (MS Project, Adobe Acrobat, etc.)

 Staff dispersed at offices in LA, Diamond Bar  Broadband access acquired  Staff assigned thin client laptops  VPN (Virtual Private Networking) accounts  Remote Desktop (RDP) access back to their Chatsworth PCs

 Logmein  GoToMyPC

 VMWare VDI  Citrix XenDesktop  Sun Microsystems

 Wide Area Network Considerations – Overall Performance  Patch Management  Software Deployment  Disaster Recovery  Costs of Implementing Infrastructure  Current PC/Laptop Hardware Refresh Methodology  ***What other state agencies are doing***

 According to a report by Gartner, hosted services accounted for more than 500,000 desktop units as of March 2009, but will grow to 49 million desktop units by 2013, and may make up as much as 40% of the worldwide professional personal computer market by revenue

Questions?