Virtualized Desktops

EDUCAUSE LEARNING INITIATIVE | NOVEMBER 2016

Scenario

As the Support and Special Projects Coordinator for Central IT at Cliffridge University, Paul has observed a growing trend over the past several years. Students and faculty are bringing an increasing variety of hardware and software to campus, all of which are expected to function seamlessly with university networks and systems. After watching his teams struggle to support numerous versions of desktop software on many kinds of hardware, during the spring semester Paul convinced the institution to invest in virtualized desktops across all three university campuses.

By fall semester, the new system is in place. Faculty and students can log in to the service from any personal device and see the same operating system, along with the suite of applications appropriate for their role, all of which is running on servers. This means that students who bring Chromebooks, Macs, or Windows laptops to Dr. Hewett’s Introduction to Economics course can work in the same version of Excel. In addition, students in any of his classes can use the virtualized desktop to access the economics modeling software that Hewett previously could only make available to his graduate seminar class. Faculty can assign activities, confident that all students will have the same software to use, and all users can access the same desktop from any device, anywhere, without having to purchase, install, and maintain required software.

As usage increases because faculty and students access their virtual desktops 24/7, on campus and off, the university has to upgrade its network. Paul eliminates the scheduled purchase of new hardware for two computer labs now that the heavy computing demands that used to be made on lab PCs fall to university servers. The costs to license software for all students and faculty add to the central IT budget. On the other hand, costs drop for some areas of support and maintenance—even though user devices remain susceptible to malware and viruses, the frequency of compromises falls because so much of the software runs on the servers. Some applications available through the virtualized desktop are not optimized for mobile delivery, resulting in a poorer experience on some devices. Still, Paul reports to institutional leaders that help desk call volume is down dramatically, and the university is on track with its four-year projected ROI from the virtualized desktop system.

1 What is it?

A virtualized desktop is what many of us think of when we talk about our computer—an operating system and application software—except that this computer runs on a remote server and can be delivered in real time to a local computing device, such as a laptop. Because a virtual desktop runs in the cloud, users can access it anywhere an Internet connection is available. The notion of desktop virtualization covers a range of technologies and infrastructures designed to deliver the virtualized experience, and the particular approach used determines which kinds of devices can access the virtual desktops, what software (if any) needs to be running on the local devices, where individual settings and files are stored, and other aspects of the service.

2 How does it work?

Desktop virtualization is an example of client-server architecture, in which software is maintained on servers and accessed by remote users on client devices. Rather than installing software on users’ computers, an IT organization can install desktop software on one or more servers—hosted by the organization or in the cloud—and make certain that the applications integrate properly. An intermediate software layer running on the server then allows users to access discrete instances of that software on laptops, tablets, phones, or other devices; in some cases, a local application must be running on the client device to access the virtualized software. This model can be used to deploy individual applications or a full operating system and a suite of software, and the architecture guarantees that all users see the same version of those services. The system typically manages users’ individual settings, and users’ files could be stored locally or on the server. The term virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), often used synonymously with desktop virtualization, refers to one approach to providing virtualized desktops.

3 Who’s doing it?

Institutions such as Missouri University of Science and Technology and Trinity University employ desktop virtualization to provide specialized software to students, without their having to purchase and install those applications or visit a computer lab to use them. At the University of Minnesota Duluth, a VDI system combines with application delivery infrastructure (ADI) to deliver Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Office, browsing capability, and a suite of specialized Windows software (e.g., SOLIDWORKS, ANSYS) to thin clients in a lab setting. A version of this system that runs on student-owned devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops) is currently in rollout and will give students access from any location with an Internet connection. Scottsdale Community College offers students, faculty, and staff a virtualized desktop option called mySCC, which students can access either on or off campus. At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the Division of Information Technology partnered with the economics department to redesign a course that uses domain-specific software. Previously taught in a lecture format to students who had to schedule lab time to use the software, the course now uses desktop virtualization, enabling the students to access the software during the class and allowing the instructor to convert lectures to interactive sessions.

4 Why is it significant?

Desktop virtualization provides an experience virtually identical to that of software running locally but with the benefits of control, access, and security afforded by a centralized system. Rather than maintaining software on every user device, IT departments can focus on the servers and virtualization software. With virtualization, software that is expensive, domain-specific, or requires more computing power than a user device has can be made available to a wide range of users, from any location with a network connection. A significant proportion of students bring Macs to college, even though many courses require software that only runs on Windows. With virtualized desktops, students can use their preferred hardware and still have access to necessary applications. In addition, a virtualized environment lowers security risks because far fewer devices are running software. A user whose device is lost or stolen can simply replace the hardware and immediately have access to the same virtualized desktop.

5 What are the downsides?

The move of desktop software from user devices to servers carries changes in technology, funding, and staff skills. Whether an institution makes upfront investments to build server capacity or pays for ongoing cloud capacity, the costs of desktop virtualization can be significant. Data-center hardware and configurations will change, requiring IT staff with new or different skills, and these modifications can also require funding to move from capital to operating budgets. Virtualized software typically requires a robust Internet connection, which can place new burdens on institutions and students for maintaining access to high-speed networks. Although desktop virtualization has the potential to broaden access to expensive applications, software licensing for virtualization can be enormously complex. Users who need to run applications locally, such as assistive technologies, might find that they don’t work with the virtualized software provided by the institution. Finally, because the number of vendors and variety of delivery methods are expanding, this could be a difficult time for an institution to select a solution.

6 Where is it going?

Because trends including BYOD support the use of virtualized desktops and apps, expect more institutions to employ them at scale. Alternatives such as software as a service (SaaS), where software applications are accessed through a browser, may also become more common for desktop software because they provide some of the benefits of server-centered computing. Licensing issues should evolve as vendors and institutions adapt to the virtualized environment. Cloud storage has made these virtualized systems more feasible, and “thin” hardware products such as Chromebook are likely to see greater use. Virtualized environments already deliver to tablets and phones, but apps running on a virtualized service are not always optimized for mobile delivery. More phone-specific applications should emerge in the coming years.

7 What are the implications for teaching and learning?

Desktop virtualization increases flexibility for providing specialized software for courses in areas such as statistics, CAD/CAM, learning simulations, complex data models, and video production. Wider access to sophisticated software opens opportunities and capacities of students to produce different and potentially better work. Such access can be available from almost anywhere, reducing the need to be on campus for certain courses and assignments. Virtualization could also change the character and substance of computer labs, which might stop providing computers with a suite of software installed, instead offering work spaces with printers, scanners, multiple monitors, and other peripherals for students who bring their own devices to access virtual desktop software.

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