Networks, host OSes strained by VMware VDI deployments

The impact of virtualization on network architecture and design--both server virtualization and desktop virtualization--is a big topic. I'll cover these topics in depth in future tips. So far, in my series on VDI on VI3, I've offered advice on a number of topics, such as using the three main components of VDI and VirtualCenter and the connection broker in VDI.

VDI and the network

VDI will impact network infrastructure in at least three ways:

VDI and hosted OS instances

We've seen how a VDI design and implementation should take the network into consideration. Now let's turn our attention to the hosted desktop instances. Note that in this article I'll use the phrase "traditional OS installation" when referring

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Although we are simply virtualizing a desktop OS instead of a server OS in a VDI implementation, there should be differences in a hosted OS installation compared to a traditional OS installation. There are two things in particular that stand out:

As I've described over the past few articles, there are a number of different components and architectures that need to be considered in a VDI project. Understanding the complex relationships between the virtualization infrastructure, the connection broker, VirtualCenter, back-end directory services such as Active Directory, the network, and the hosted OS instances will help you properly design, deploy, and debug your VDI implementation.

About the author: Scott Lowe is a senior engineer for ePlus Technology, Inc. He has a broad range of experience, specializing in enterprise technologies such as storage area networks, server virtualization, directory services, and interoperability. Previously he was President and CTO of Mercurion Systems, an IT consulting firm, and CTO of iO Systems.

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