Citrix XenDesktop

Desktop and laptop fleets are generally one of ITs biggest headaches. They are difficult to manage and maintain, costly to purchase, and need replacing every few years. Desktop virtualisation allows you to separate the user desktop and applications away from the hardware, managing them from the datacentre. Piandi offer a range of consultancy services and solutions utilising Citrix XenDesktop.

Unlike other desktop virtualisation platforms, XenDesktop does not just provide a solution for VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure – virtual desktops hosted on servers) but is a complete desktop virtualisation suite. This means desktops and applications can be delivered and managed in a way to suit the end user:

Desktop delivery methods:

• Hosted VDI – Traditional virtual desktop running on a server.
• Streamed VHD – A physical desktop or laptop can boot from a virtual desktop disk that is streamed across the network. XenDesktop only streams the data that is required at that moment, meaning boot times and application load times are very quick. As the streamed desktop runs locally it utilises the full power of the device it is running on.
• Hosted Shared – This is a shared server desktop similar to that provided by Windows Server Terminal Services.
• Local VM – This is a VDI that runs on the server when a network connection is present but runs on the local device when no network connection is present.

Application delivery methods:

• Hosted – Applications are virtualised and run on a server.
• Streamed – Applications are streamed from a server and run locally.

Desktop and application delivery methods can also be combined so you may have a Hosted VDI in which there are several hosted virtual applications and streamed applications.

Citrix Receiver completes the puzzle and is the application that the end user generally uses to access their desktops and applications. Receiver can be a dedicated application (for Windows, Apple Mac, iPhone, Android and more) or a simple web page making desktops and applications available on virtually any internet connected device.

Piandi can provide services to help you plan, implement, and migrate to Citrix XenDesktop successfully.