HPQ: HP Virtual Solution Eases Management of Desktop PC Environments

HP today introduced a solution that eases the management of desktop environments and lowers costs by reducing the need to over-provision IT resources.

The HP Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) provides customers with a cost-efficient desktop environment by consolidating many physical desktop PCs onto a single server that is centrally hosted and managed within the data center. The solution combines HP hardware and management software with services and partner components, such as VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

HP’s desktop virtualization solutions offer centralized manageability, efficiency and reliability through server-class hardware and virtualization software. These solutions also secure application and data centrally while saving power and cooling costs for underutilized PCs.

HP VDI complements other HP client virtualization offerings, including the HP Consolidated Client Infrastructure and Citrix solutions that extend the reach of virtual desktops over longer distances.

“HP is bringing advanced desktop virtualization capabilities into the reach of mainstream IT for cost-effective management of desktop environments,” said Nick van der Zweep, director, Virtualization, Technology Solutions Group, HP. “By pooling and sharing computing resources for desktop infrastructures, businesses can use computing resources that would otherwise be wasted.”

Making IT more efficient with a virtual desktop solution

A complete hardware and management solution, HP VDI supports dozens of virtual clients on a single HP ProLiant server or HP BladeSystem server blade, and delivers a PC computing environment that can be accessed from HP thin clients, desktops and notebooks. The servers use existing network switches and wide area network (WAN) infrastructure and leverage server-class high availability for data security and enhanced business continuity.

As a member of the VDI Alliance program, HP’s offering leverages Virtual Desktop Infrastructure from VMware, the global leader in virtualization software for industry-standard desktops and servers. VMware provides a scalable enterprise-class virtualization platform for virtual desktop solutions.

The solution also includes HP Systems Insight Manager and ProLiant Essential tools to unify management of virtual and non-virtual machines. To meet their storage needs, customers can use HP StorageWorks storage area network, network attached storage and HP Modular Smart Array direct attached storage solutions.

HP Services completes the offering with VMware Capacity Planner assessment, installation and startup, consulting and integration, educational and financial services, and hardware and software technical support.

“With the previous solution we were using, we noticed that managing IT was getting too expensive for us and end-user desktop management was a significant part of that cost,” said Thomas Petry, coordinator, Network Technology, District School Board of Collier County, Fla. “With this new virtual desktop infrastructure solution, we went from high-cost, underutilized IT islands to low-cost, optimized IT assets, experienced greater reliability and manageability and now have a more flexible infrastructure that can be more quickly modified as our business needs change.”

Attendees at VMworld 2006, Nov. 7-9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will have a chance to experience HP VDI first hand. During the conference, all of the email stations will be virtual clients, running on a single HP ProLiant server accessed through HP thin clients throughout the center.

The HP VDI is a solution within HP’s Adaptive Infrastructure portfolio, which helps enterprises capitalize on the move toward “lights out,” automated and virtualized 24x7 computing environments. More information on the HP Virtual Desktop Infrastructure offering, which is shipping worldwide, is available at www.hp.com/go/vdi