Dynamic Virtual Client

Managed IT with netBoot/i from Double-Take software

priya.m.abani@intel.com — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:26:32 GMT

Intel has been working with multiple ISVs to implement Dynamic Virtual Clients. Implementing netBoot/i™ solutions from Double-Take software simplifies desktop management, and provides IT providers and end-users with the right mix of management capabilities (centralized storage, recoverability) without compromising user-experience even for the most demanding applications. Central management of operating system and applications reduces management complexity of patching multiple desktops and offers cost reduction and security by eliminating hard drives from desktops.

Building and maintaining computer systems is no easy task and information technology managers are constantly looking for better tools to reduce the total cost of managing their data centers and infrastructure. Storing both operating system state and data within the computer can cause management challenges such as storage over provisioning, data duplication as well as expensive and ineffective backup solutions. Shifting data storage to Storage Area Networks (SAN) provided numerous advantages in both hard and soft dollar cost savings. The final evolution of storage management is to separate the boot disks from systems and turn them into stateless compute devices. The netBoot/i™ technology separates state from compute devices and allows them to run from iSCSI SAN.

Check this technology out in the attached case study.

Case Study - Scientific Application Streaming at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

priya.m.abani@intel.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:44:18 GMT

Hi all,

Intel has been working with various companies on implementing the concept of Dynamic Virtual Clients. As innovators among Harvard University’s IT community, the School of Engineering and Applies Sciences (SEAS) is an ideal environment for implementation of Application Streaming technology. Within SEAS, the office of Computing and Information Technology’s (CIT) CyberInfrastructure Labs (CI Labs) supports faculty, researchers, students, and staff by deploying and maintaining up-to-date, effective computing technologies.

With application streaming, applications are streamed on demand from the data center to the client, where they are executed locally. The goal of the scientific application streaming project, as outlined in the attached white paper, is to simplify the deployment of large, complex engineering and scientific applications to a highly diverse user population of around 1,000 students and faculty.

Initial results show install times decreasing from hours to minutes, as well as fewer problems caused by human error during complex installation and licensing procedures. As innovators among Harvard’s IT community, the CI Labs anticipates wider implementation of application streaming, both within its user base and across Harvard.

Check out the details in the attached case study.

Alternative Compute Model Selection Aid

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:07:08 GMT

After much talking with end users and industry thought leaders, a group of us developed this utility the help people decide which compute model is best for a specific user segment. There are many items to consider when trying determining which compute model is best for your users. I believe this utility does a decent job at calling out the most common questions that help to determine the ones that would be well suited and lists the ones that may not be appropriate.

In this application, you walk through a compute model decision by answering a series of questions for a specific user segment (the user segment you enter is a free form text field and does not change the output). You are presented with a summary screen that will give you recommendations and concern areas based on your inputs. When you mouse over the compute model name, reasons why that model is or is not recommended are in the notes section.

I welcome any feedback.

-Jason A. Davidson

p.s. For compute model reference, please refer to this document: http://communities.intel.com/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/1518-102-1-1802/Public%20compute%20model%20discussion%20deck%204-17-08.pdf

Emerging Compute Models on vPro Radio - LISTEN HERE!

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:23:05 GMT

Today Mike Ferron-Jones and I participated on the vPro Radio show. We covered the spectrum of emerging compute models and recommendations for when to consider each model. See this ppt for additional info:

Slide Deck

and click play below to hear our radio show from this afternoon!

ECMF feature on ArsTechncia

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:12:20 GMT

Intel partnered with ArsTechnica to create an ongoing web based conference / symposium with Intel as the presenting sponsor - and this week the topic is all about emerging compute models!

Please take a few minutes and go check out the conversations on their site and join in the discussion.

-Jason

Application & Desktop Virtualization Forum – Atlanta & DC

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:23:05 GMT

The application & desktop virtualization forums for Atlanta (March 20) and Washington DC (April 3) went off well. Here is my recap.

Atlanta:

When we arrived in Atlanta, the town had just survived a tornado on March 14^th and was in repair mode (the hotel that many of us were staying at had extensive damage and was doing everything it could to get back in working order). We had a few interesting times as passage to & from the hotel was often stopped due to the amount of falling glass (we passed the time in the nearby malls and downtown businesses). One person checked into their room to find that moments later a crack in the window gave way to a breezy view. The round the clock crews that were repairing the hotel made for some less than desired sleep patterns (3 am hammering in the room next to you is bound to wake the heaviest of sleeper). The people in Atlanta were as hospitable as ever, confirming that Atlanta is big city with small-town hospitality - even in the aftermath of a tornado!

We held the event at the 755 club at Turner Field (the Atlanta Braves stadium); the venue was awesome! The day of the event, started at 8:30 for attendees with a very enjoyable southern breakfast. At 9 am, Ketan Sampat of Intel gave the opening address, followed by presentations from Citrix, #, and Microsoft. During the lunch time, there were demos and deep dives with experts from Intel, AppStream, Citrix, Dell, Microsoft, and Symantec. As the attendees left the event, they received a USB thumb drive with all the presentations and collateral here:

I personally had several great discussions with the Atlanta attendees, and found that the attendees are definitely looking at various compute models to deliver the needs of their business and are eager to see which ones will emerge as the best complete solution - great perspectives and insight received from these talks. In addition, the team was happy to see the city recover quickly, and as we all left, we look forward to a return visit to a restored Atlanta, and the continued contact with the attendees from the event as they move forward exploring these topics.

Washington DC:

We arrived in Washington DC during cherry blossom season, a fantastic time of year. The venue for the event was the Marriott Hotel in Bethesda Maryland. The hotel staff was very helpful, the hotel was enjoyable, and the event went off without any major issues. The agenda was very similar to Atlanta with breakfast/registration time at 8:30 am, and at 9 am Chuck Brown of Intel giving the opening address. This was followed by presentations from Citrix, #, and Microsoft. During the lunch time, there were demos and deep dives with experts from Intel, AppStream, Citrix, Dell, Microsoft, and Symantec. As the attendees left the event, they received a USB thumb drive with all the presentations and collateral here:

Many great talks with the attendees in DC as well, confirming a similar message that was received in Atlanta. We are definitely on the edge of something big in this space - as can be seen by the various acquisitions that have occurred in the past year. A fantastic first two events for 2008, if you have not been able to attend either of these, see if one of these matches your location.

Pittsburgh\	May 06	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\
Columbus\	May 28	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\
Baltimore\	June 10	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\
Tampa\	June 12	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\
Austin\	June 24	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\
Denver\	June 26	Register: Members\ \	Non-Members\

Hope to see you at one (or more) of these events in the near future.

-Jason Davidson

PodTech interview with Chuck Brown, Jason Davidson, and Mike Ferron-Jones

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:36:09 GMT

PodTech recently conducted a video interview about the Emerging Compute Model Forum with Chuck Brown, Jason Davidson, and Mike Ferron-Jones from Intel. Here is the video, please give us any feedback you may have.

Your browser does not support JavaScript. This media can be viewed at http://www.podtech.net/home/5059/intels-emerging-compute-model-forum

PodTech wrote:

There are now possibilities in enterprise computing that have the potential to solve mainstream problems and become widely adopted. These "Emerging Compute Models" are creating a lot of buzz, but also a lot of confusion in the IT community. That's why this video podcast focuses on Intel's Emerging Compute Model Forum. Jason Davidson, technical evangelist for the forum, says IT shops are experimenting with new ways to deliver applications and operating systems, but there's no consensus on the best model, or models, to use.

In this podcast, Davidson and his colleagues Mike Ferron-Jones, marketing manager for Intel's Emerging Compute Models program, and Chuck Brown, who directs the program, lay out the basic questions IT managers need to ask before choosing new compute models, discuss some of the pros and cons of different models, and preview some Intel and industry developments in the ECM space.

Podcast on Compute Models with Mike Ferron-Jones

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:52:33 GMT

Recently, Mike Ferron-Jones did an interview with Scott Smith from Intel's feed room. Mike did a great job at explaining the views he expressed in his blog.

Innovative Compute Models provide Applications on Demand

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:50:49 GMT

Intel employee's Scott Smith & Mike Ferron-Jones recent podcast around the various models for computing. The video is embedded in this blog, and can be viewed here.

The performance studies he references in the video are: Check out some studies on emerging compute models and http://communities.intel.com/openport/blogs/ecmf/2008/01/25/streaming-impact-on-the-server-and-network

This is of course the Intel perspective - does it align with what you see?

Streaming Impact on the Server and Network

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:31:32 GMT

Catherine Spencewrote an IT@Intel blog on a recent lab experiment on the impact of various emerging compute models on both the server and network. You can find the blog at: http://communities.intel.com/openport/blogs/client/2008/01/25/streaming-impact-on-the-server-and-network

Several Intel IT folks (and others!) have expressed concern over the back-end implications of hosting a streamed computing solution. How many clients can be supported by a server? How will streaming affect the network? Well, we had the same questions so we constructed a lab experiment to find out.

Streaming was more efficient than we expected. We demonstrated that server utilization remained low and network utilization improved over time. We successfully executed a variety of applications including audio and video. We also encountered a few challenges.

Want to know more? Read our full report: Streaming and Virtual Hosted Desktop Study

Emerging Compute Models at the Intel Sales Conference

mike.ferron-jones@intel.com — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:30:07 GMT

I just got back from teaching a class on Emerging Compute Models at the Intel sales conference. A few things really struck me in the messages from the Intel executives, and the reactions and questions from the Intel sales force. None of them really shocked me, but rather re-affirmed some opinions I already held.

1. With only one or two exceptions, every sales rep has accounts that are actively evaluating or deploying some kind of alternate compute model to better manage and secure their clients. I met two that had not encountered it yet, and they covered the Emerging Markets accounts.

2. This sales conference was "university style", where the attendees were free to pick and choose among over 100 sessions on different topics. The sessions we taught were packed - standing room only - indicating that interest in these new compute models is very high. If the sales reps are interested, that means their customers are.

3. I'd estimate that more than 90% of those that selected our session were either from Western Europe or North America. Attendance from Japan, Asia-Pacific and China, the bulk of our sales force, was really low. If you judged from the people in the room, Emerging Compute Models are mostly a mature market, advanced IT trend right now.

4. Just about every executive from Intel CEO Paul Otellini on down talked about changes in the compute model, and Intel products to address the needs of every model - Intel Xeon processor-based servers, PC clients with Intel vPro technology and low-cost components for thin client terminals. I'd say Intel is treating this like an opportunity rather than a threat, and is setting up for success regardless of the model that fits the customers' needs.

From these indicators, my conclusion is that we are in the middle of a permanent change in the application delivery landscape, at least in the mature markets. The technology has caught up with need for better management, lower cost and stronger security, and I expect you'll hear a lot more from Intel about products tuned to these delivery models.