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Desktop operating sys-tems inside virtual machines are also referred to as virtual desktops. Users access the virtual desktops and applications from a desktop PC client or thin client using a remote display protocol and get almost the full features as if the applications were loaded on their local systems, with the difference being that the applications are centrally managed.
Similar to server virtualization, VDI offers many benefits. Specifically, desktop administrative and management tasks are significantly reduced; applica-tions can quickly be added, deleted, upgraded, and patched; security is centralized; and data is easier to safeguard and back up.
Corporate Challenges Related to Managing Desktops
Managing desktop PCs has always been a time-con-suming and challenging task. And recently, it has become ever more so as companies have had to deal with new security risks and support increasing numbers of remote and mobile users. Companies also have to support an increasing use of employee owned resources. For example, because many people already use their company computer at home for personal business, Gartner predicts that by 2008, 10 percent of all companies will ask employees to pur-chase their own notebook computers.
Typically in a desktop environment, the IT staff member must go to the PC to troubleshoot and fix problems when they occur. If the problem is with a computer used by a worker in a remote site or who works on the road, the user might have to wait for someone to come to the site or they might be asked to send the computer to the main office for repair.
In any of these scenarios, IT staff loses time getting to the PC and workers lose productivity sitting in front of a malfunctioning PC or waiting for their PC to be fixed. If a PC is on site, it can take an IT staffer any-where from a couple of hours to a day to correct a problem. If the PC is in a small office with no IT staff or is used by a remote user who works from home, the user often needs to bring in or ship the PC to the office, which causes that user to be down (and unpro-ductive) for an extended period of time.
Complicating matters further, applications on today’s desktops must constantly be updated and new patch-es must frequently be installed on a regular basis to protect systems from new exploits.
In many cases, software updates and patch installations can be automated. But frequently, the patch in-stallations occur during non-work hours when users turn their PCs off. Users may also need help with the process, again taking up IT staff time.
Worse, some users may ignore instructions and not install the updates or patches. This can result in a desktop PC being infected with malicious software.
And this can lead to additional problems for other systems on a company’s network. For example, a 2006 Baseline article noted that there has been a marked increase in hackers using exploits to install malicious remote control software that turns the infected PC into what is known as a bot. (On any given day, there are 3 to 3.5 million active bots operating around the world, according to the article.)
Hackers communicate with their bots using Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and can use the bots to launch denial of service attacks or send spam from the infected PC’s e-mail account. The Baseline article noted: “Once a bot is created behind a corporate firewall, the person who controls it can mess with company applications by, for example, installing a keystroke logger on the PC to capture passwords as they are typed.”
Beyond dealing with security updates and patches, the job of managing desktops is made harder as us-ers increasingly download and install personal soft-ware such as instant messaging, peer-to-peer (P2P), and file sharing programs. Having these programs on distributed physical desktops can cause a number of problems, ranging from malware applications that interfere with other applications required to conduct business to IT not knowing that these programs are installed on a PC in a remote location and thus complicating any troubleshooting efforts.
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