A close look at remote desktop services on Windows Server
One of the ways in which the IT has changed in the past few years is the way in which managers are looking to bring their own devices into the office, looking to connect them to the office infrastructure. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) philosophy is set to revolutionise enterprise IT.
Such a move has traditionally caused a headache for CIOs but enterprises are increasingly turning to desktop virtualisation as a way to solve this conundrum. Desktop virtualisation is a technique whereby users log on to a desktop running remotely, so that nothing needs to be installed locally other than the remote desktop client. It has several advantages.
The first advantage is flexibility, which can also save money. Since the desktop environment is separate from the physical client, you can log on from anywhere.
Next up is control. Maintaining standard virtual desktops is easier than with physical desktops or laptops, where there are hardware differences.
Resilience is a factor too. RAID or other protection against disk failure is a rarity on desktops, but normal on servers. Backup of servers is also easier to manage.
Security is also important. Data on a device is at risk if it is physically compromised. Encryption is one solution, but keeping all the critical data off the device itself is an obvious benefit.
Setting up a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has the potential to save energy and reduce hardware costs.
Desktop virtualisation also has a role in the movement known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). While convenient, there are security concerns about corporate data on a device that gets used outside the workplace and perhaps by non-employees. Another issue is that when at work, users of, for example, an Apple iPad are unable to run corporate Windows applications. A remote desktop session solves these problems, converting the device into a thin client for a standard corporate desktop.
There are also some limitations to the virtual desktop approach. One is offline working. Another issue with VDI is performance, especially for graphics, though technology is gradually solving this.
Remote Desktop types
There are several types of VDI on Microsoft’s platform.
1. Session Virtualisation
2. Pooled Virtual Desktop
3. Personal Virtual Desktop
RemoteFX
RemoteFX is designed to give remote desktop clients access to rich graphics. It also adds USB redirection, so you can use a local USB device in your remote desktop session.
The VDI market is competitive, with strong offerings from Citrix and VMWare alongside Microsoft’s solution. In a heterogeneous environment these other solutions may be more compelling, but for businesses that have standardised on Microsoft’s platform the built-in features of Windows Server and especially Windows Server 2012 may be sufficient. Advances in Hyper-V, RemoteFX, and the management tools make Microsoft’s VDI platform easier to deploy, and using built-in features will be a cost saving presuming those features are adequate for the task.
By: Tim Anderson
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Stephan Cico, SR Director, TigerCloud
