Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/4636
ILTA White Paper Infrastructure Technologies 16 W e are still very much in the early stages of the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) lifecycle, but all signs point to VDI as being the wave of the future. Before 2008, the acronym VDI was commonly thought of as the umbrella term for VMware's desktop virtualization products. Desktop virtualization products from other vendors such as Sun Microsystems were also referred to as VDI because they too were based on VMware. In fact, a quick Google search on the phrase "VDI definition" will return a number of sites with that definition. Since that time, however, the term VDI has evolved to become much broader. A more accurate definition today might be "a centralized desktop delivery solution that enables organizations to store and execute desktop workloads on virtual machines in the datacenter and presents the UI via a remote desktop protocol to user devices." What this shows us is that VDI has become not just an isolated desktop architecture, but rather, part of an enterprise's cohesive virtualization strategy across the entire IT infrastructure. It is no surprise that VMware (View), Citrix (XenDesktop) and Microsoft (no clever marketing name yet) are the three biggest VDI vendors. Each of these behemoths has invested huge sums in VDI through acquisitions and development. There are also many more niche offerings out there from companies as large as Symantec to start-ups such as Pano Logic. There is no shortage of vendor choices out there, and more companies are jumping into the mix every day. david s. michel turner padget graham & laney p.a. It's All About VDI