User guide

© 2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Cisco Validated Design Page 50
4.0 Architecture and Design of Citrix XenDesktops on Cisco
Unified Computing System and NetApp Storage
4.1 Design Fundamentals
There are many reasons for considering a virtual desktop solution such as; an ever growing and diverse base of
user devices, complexity in management of traditional desktops, security, and even Bring Your Own Computer
(BYOC) to work programs. The first step in designing a virtual desktop solution is to understand the user
community and the type of tasks that are required to successfully execute their role.
The following are the user classifications:
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Knowledge Workers today do not just work in their offices all day–they attend meetings, visit branch offices,
work from home and even coffee shops. These workers expect access to all of their applications and data
wherever they are.
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External Contractors are increasingly part of your everyday business. They need access to all of your
applications and data, yet administrators still have little control over the devices they use and the locations
they work from. Consequently, IT needs to adjust the cost of providing these workers a device vs. the
security risk of allowing them access from their own devices.
●
Task Workers perform a set of well-defined tasks. These workers access a small set of applications and
have limited requirements from their PCs. However, since these workers are interacting with your
customers, partners, and employees, they have access to your most critical data.
●
Road Warriors need access to their virtual desktops from everywhere, regardless of their ability to connect
to a network. In addition, these workers expect the ability to personalize their PCs, by installing their own
applications and storing their own data, such as photos and music, on these devices.
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Shared Workstation users are often found in state-of-the-art University and business computer labs,
conference rooms or training centers. Shared workstation environments have the constant requirement to
re-provision desktops with the latest operating systems and applications as the needs of the organization
change.
After the user classifications are identified and the business requirements for each user classification are defined,
it becomes essential to evaluate the types of virtual desktops that are available based on user requirements. The
following are the potential desktops environments for each user:
●
Traditional PC: A traditional PC is what ―typically‖ constituted a desktop environment: physical device with a
locally installed operating system.
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Hosted, server-based desktop: A hosted, server-based desktop is a desktop where the user interacts
through a delivery protocol. With hosted, server-based desktops, a single installed instance of a server
operating system, such as Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, is shared by multiple users simultaneously.
Each user receives a desktop "session" and works in an isolated memory space. Changes made by one
user could impact the other users.
●
Hosted Virtual Desktop: A hosted virtual desktop is a virtual desktop running either on virtualization layer
(XenServer, Hyper-V or ESX) or on bare metal hardware. The user does not work with and sit in front of the
desktop, but instead the user interacts through a delivery protocol.
●
Streamed Desktop: A streamed desktop is a desktop running entirely on the user‘s local client device. The
user interacts with the desktop directly but is only available while they are connected to the network.
●
Local Virtual Desktop: A local virtual desktop is a desktop running entirely on the user‘s local device and
continues to operate when disconnected from the network.