Because we are a Citrix partner, we get to sit in on pre-release conference calls for all of the latest technology coming out. Today’s conference call was about the new release of Citrix’s VDI solution: XenDesktop 3 with HDX.

You could tell that the gentleman hosting the seminar was really excited about this release just by the tone of his voice. Here’s what I gathered as the most important things that you’ll see in XenDesktop 3:

Greatly Reduced Server Requirements

Citrix claims that 1000 concurrent users can be hosted from just 25 highly-equiped servers. This is a 50% reduction in server hardware to host the same number of users. I’m sure that this is because the base platform has moved over to the XenServer 5 codebase, which significantly improved the performance of XenApp servers when virtualized.  If you are currently running XenDesktop, moving to the latest edition will really make the green folks in your organization happy.

The Best User Experience

High Definition User Experience (HDX) is the buzzword/acronym that Citrix is using to convey that they are the dominate force for delivering desktops over any type of connection to any type of device. Citrix XenDesktop is currently able to stream multimedia to low-bandwidth clients with connections “just above a standard modem”.  Next on their roadmap is to be able to deliver 3D rendering and fully-functional CAD.

Also, with XenDesktop 3, is the ability to use a wide range of plug-and-play USB devices like iPods, smart cards and PDAs. While they said that some web cams and will work, they don’t officially support it, yet.

Profile Management was added to XenDesktop 3. They never mentioned it in the conference, but my guess is that this is what they are doing with the Citrix User Profile Manager technology that they aquired from Sepago.

Fully-functioning multimedia across WAN links + plug-and-play USB devices + centralized profile management makes XenDesktop WAY better than any other VDI solution on the market. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, VMware.

An Application Delivery System - not just VDI

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is getting more attention than server virtualization. In fact, according to Google Trends, people search for “VDI” more often than “server virtualization” by a factor of 100. However, Citrix’s solution is much more than justVDI; it’s an end-to-end application delivery platform.  Citrix’s solution encompasses application packaging and delivery, profile management, desktop virtualization and delivery, desktop streaming to standard PCs, application performance monitoring and WAN acceleration.  

One other thing to note is that a single operating system base image can be used for both the VDI-based server delivered desktops as well as the standard PCs that have their operating system streamed to them across the LAN.

Is it Time to Deploy in your Environment?

There are many reasons to deploy Citrix XenDesktop in your environment. The most important one is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

On-going support costs will be reduced. I guarantee it. When there is a single base operating system image, a single application image, real-time profile assembly and it is controlled and delivered centrally, high-level support tickets to your senior team will stop. Most support calls will be resolved by saying “have you rebooted, yet?”

There will be little need to refresh your workstations every two to three years, because much of the horsepower will come from the data center. And, when a PC does need to be replaced, it can be replaced with thin client, which in-turn, has its own very compelling TCO story to tell.

If you are considering a large-scale workstation refresh in the near future, you are a perfect candidate for this solution.

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