ArcGIS Virtualization

Spring 2014 ArcGIS Virtualization References 34th Edition

This SDSwiki page shares reference documentation for the following ArcGIS for Desktop Virtualization article. Supporting agility, growth, and rapid deployment - ArcUser Special Section on ArcGIS for Desktop Virtualization, Spring 2014

ArcGIS Virtualization section contains a collection of reference sites that describe the current virtualization technology offerings, along with efforts to leverage this technology within the GIS community.

Virtualization readily supports business agility, growth, more rapid deployments, and a unified/standardized IT infrastructure. Provisioning, securing, and testing systems are easier with virtualization. Centralized application deployment can also save on ArcGIS licensing costs.

There are several infrastructure capacity challenges with implementing a VDI architecture. The Secret Bottleneck of VDI Gartner Blog provides an excellent overview of the key VDI deployment issues and the comments to this blog share how businesses are successfully deploying VDI within their enterprise environments.

ArcGIS for Desktop virtualization
ArcGIS for Desktop virtualization is not new.
 * Remote Desktop Services. Remote Desktop Services (RDS), known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and earlier, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to take control of a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection.
 * Session virtualization and app virtualization with Citrix XenApp. is an on-demand virtual application delivery solution that comprises application virtualization and session virtualization technologies.
 * Centralized Windows Terminal Server/Remote Desktop Services (Citrix) Architecture. The Microsoft Windows Terminal Server (name changed to Remote Desktop Server  with Windows Server 2008 R2 release) operating system establishes a multiuser environment on a Windows server host. The Citrix Xen Application Server (XenApp) enables a more efficient independent computing architecture (ICA) protocol to communicate between the terminal server and client Windows platform.

What’s new for Desktop Virtualization?
Virtualization technology is changing the way IT provisions and manages business operations.
 * Desktop virtualization. Desktop virtualization is software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device that is used to access it.
 * ArcGIS Platform: An architecture overview. The ArcGIS platform includes an integrated mix of software developed to satisfy a full range of GIS user requirements.

Microsoft desktop virtualization

 * RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics includes many significant improvements in graphics remoting to support a fast and fluid user experience in a remote session.
 * Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure provides a rich user experience across devices and simplifies management with a single console—all at a great value.

Citrix desktop virtualization

 * How does Citrix help with VDI?. Citrix offers a wide portfolio of desktop virtualization solutions.
 * Citrix Desktop virtualization for all │ White Paper. Citrix® has developed FlexCast™ delivery technology. It enables companies to deliver virtual desktops and applications tailored to meet the diverse performance, security and flexibility requirements of every worker in their organization.
 * Citrix HDX technologies │ White Paper. HDX technologies represent a set of capabilities that deliver a “high definition” experience to end users of any application, on any device and over any network.
 * Citrix Centrally deliver graphics-intensive 3D apps. XenDesktop with HDX 3D Pro is a desktop and app virtualization solution that supports high-end designers and engineers of 3D professional graphics applications and provides cost-effective support to viewers and editors of 3D data.

VMware desktop virtualization

 * VMware Virtualization. VMware virtualization helps you reduce capital expenses through server consolidation and reduce operating expenses through automation, while minimizing lost revenue by reducing both planned and unplanned downtime.
 * VMware Horizon View. VMware® Horizon View™ (formerly VMware View) is a virtual desktop infrastructure solution that simplifies desktop management and provides users with what they need, when they need it.

NVIDIA GRID K1 and K2 graphics-accelerated virtual desktops and applications

 * NVIDIA GRID™ VGX. for large corporations offers the ability to offload graphics processing from the CPU to the GPU in virtualized environments.

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