Insider Eyes Virtual Desktops

Desktop virtualization is set to make its mark as more businesses look for cost savings, although there is still some confusion to be cleared up before it goes mainstream.

These were the findings of "Desktop Virtualization: Market Prospects," the latest Byte and Switch Insider, which examines both PC- and server-based offerings.

It has already been established that server virtualization can benefit users by consolidating hardware and saving money on space, electricity, and management costs. (See Microsoft Makes Virtualization Play, VMware Unveils New Suite, and Virtual Iron Dangles iSCSI Savings.) Although most organizations are well down the path towards consolidating physical servers in data centers, desktop virtualization is still in its relative infancy.

A number of software vendors, including VMware, XenSource, Novell, Parallels, and Red Hat, have already made moves into the desktop space. (See VMware Manages Desktops, VMware Targets Mac Users, and MS Highlights Virtualization.) Red Hat, for example, recently included the Xen Hypervisor in its latest Linux desktop OS. (See XenSource.)

Benefits of virtual desktops include improved management and flexibility, less downtime, and enhanced security, although there are still some hurdles in the path of users looking to deploy the technology.Licensing, for example, remains a major challenge. Because virtualization lets users run multiple instances of an application, or shift them from one machine to another, it can violate licensing agreements, making many software vendors nervous. (See Users Talk Virtual Tension and Users Search for Virtual Reality.)

Last month, VMware fired a broadside at Microsoft over the issue of licensing, accusing the software giant of placing prohibitions on the virtualization of desktop OSs like Vista. (See VMware Slams Microsoft .)

Microsoft countered by saying that it had published a set of APIs for all its commercially available virtualization products. Last year Microsoft bought application virtualization startup Softricity, which developed desktop software, and is also said to be working on new virtualization features for its next OS release, code-named "Vienna." (See Microsoft Makes Virtualization Play, MS Highlights Virtualization, and Tacit, Softricity Extend Apps.)

Despite the question mark over licensing, the fact that enterprise CIOs are increasingly focused on cost reduction and consolidation spells good news for the prospects of desktop virtualization. At this stage, initial takeup of the technology depends very much on vendors' ability to win over users.

Get more details and/or purchase the report here.James Rogers, Senior Editor Byte and Switch