Making sense of client virtualization

Not long ago server virtualization was IT's New World, inhabited by a relatively few courageous souls who dared to break the framework of one server per application and one application to server. The others stood faithfully by rooms filled to capacity with servers, cabling, cooling equipment and hotspots.

Today, studies show that most businesses have moved to server virtualization at some level. CDW's Server Virtualization Life Cycle Report, released earlier this year, found that over 90% of respondents are implementing server virtualization, with the typical business reporting that 34% of their server infrastructure is virtual.

Now that IT appears to have visited that particular New World, more and more stouthearted explorers are itching to move on again -- and client virtualization appears to be a logical destination. Quite a few are already there, telling the rest of us that virtualizing the client environment can and does boost user productivity, provide for a secure network and work environment, and reduce management and support costs.

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Not long ago server virtualization was IT's New World, inhabited by a relatively few courageous souls who dared to break the framework of one server per application and one application to server. The others stood faithfully by rooms filled to capacity with servers, cabling, cooling equipment and hotspots.

Today, studies show that most businesses have moved to server virtualization at some level. CDW's Server Virtualization Life Cycle Report, released earlier this year, found that over 90% of respondents are implementing server virtualization, with the typical business reporting that 34% of their server infrastructure is virtual.

Now that IT appears to have visited that particular New World, more and more stouthearted explorers are itching to move on again -- and client virtualization appears to be a logical destination. Quite a few are already there, telling the rest of us that virtualizing the client environment can and does boost user productivity, provide for a secure network and work environment, and reduce management and support costs.

If you're thinking of heading out on that trail, here are some tips from the pioneers.

Just as server virtualization reduced the number of servers in the data center to improve performance, client virtualization reduces users' need to have their own dedicated software or hardware. Client virtualization deployments are often classified into three approaches:

* Presentation virtualization: Nearly 15 years old, presentation viartualization began as a security measure with virtual private networks. Today, organizations are rethinking the use as a means to virtualize client environments and bring all the user applications into the data center. Presentation virtualization provides a Web-based portal for users to log in and interact with approved applications. The benefits include security, because it separates the user's device and potential threats from the network, greater manageability of the organizations applications and a consistent version of each throughout the organization and greater productivity for users, who can work remotely as their schedules permit or from whatever access device they choose.

* Application virtualization: While it is sometimes confused with presentation virtualization, application virtualization marries an application and data within a self-executing file that can reside on a user's device. The computer sees a solitary file, rather than an entire application, which removes the application's dependency on the operating system (OS) so if an application is not compatible with the OS, it still works. This form of virtualization also benefits users who want to move from PC to Mac, or even Windows XP to Windows 7, as otherwise incompatible applications become platform neutral when virtualized.

* Desktop virtualization: Though this takes more planning than presentation or application virtualization, because it brings the desktop OS and applications into the data center, there are many benefits to consider. First, all the processing power comes from the data center; as long as a user can access the Internet, he has access to the business's applications. Second, IT can customize software images for departments rather than individuals, boosting a group's productivity and reducing management costs. Third, desktop virtualization also makes that weekly (or even daily) security patch obsolete, or at least less burdensome. The final and perhaps biggest benefit to desktop virtualization is a reduction in operating and maintenance costs. With the processing power hosted in the data center, organizations can provide users with more cost-effective devices, such as thin clients and/or extend desktop/laptop refresh cycles.