Virtual Desktop Infrastructure — (VDI)

What is VDI?

  • Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a collection of desktop operating systems, hosted on a collection of virtualized servers.

What does the VDI infrastructure look like?

  • There is a collection of 400 virtualized Windows 7 desktops ready to be accessed
  • Current utilization is 100 – 130 concurrent users
  • If desktop utilization becomes greater than 350, then 25 additional Windows 7 desktops are automatically built, giving us 425.  This will be repeated as concurrent user demand increases.  Build time for the 25 additional desktops is 15 – 20 minutes
  • When you logout of a desktop, the image is destroyed and rebuilt from the golden image  (no more virus worries!)
  • There are 7 virtual servers dedicated to VDI.
  • VDI runs on Solid State Drives
  • VDI is load balanced across two gateways
  • VDI servers are located, both in the Data Center and DeVolder

How can VDI be accessed?

  • At various locations on campus, including the Hamersly Library, Wyse terminals are directly connected to VDI.
  • IMG_0217
  • VDI can be acessed with a web browser
    • https://wouvdi.wou.edu
      • Select the icon on the right side of the screen labeled, VMware Horizon HTML Access
      • Use your Pawprint login credentials to authenticate
      • Select the “Lab Stations” icon to connect to Windows 7

Will I have access to my network drives?

  • Yes, H:, I:, J:, P:, etc are all accessible

What software is available on the Windows 7 virtual desktop?

  • Microsoft Office Suite, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox
  • ArcGIS, BlueJ, eclipse, Fathom, Foxit Reader,Geo Gebra
  • GS View, Ghostscript, Green Globs, Escape!, GSP
  • SPSS,Kinovea, LEGO Mindstorms, Maple, MatLab, TeXworks
  • Printkey, Python, QuickBooks, QuickTime, RealNetworks Suite
  • Subversion, VLC,  WinDirStat, WinEdit, WinRAR

Additional Functionality?

  • Select the down arrow in the top middle of the screen.
    • This will display a down arrow.  Select the down arrow to display menu options
      • Options include
        • Send control-alt-delete message to Windows
        • Toggle to full screen
        • Paste text
        • Disconnect
        • Help
  • Transfer data to and from USB drive attached to local computer
    • Install VMware Horizon Client on your local computer  (an alternative to the web client
    • Select Connection, then USB from the VMware Horizon Client menu
      • Select Automatically connect when inserted (you will now be able to copy files to / from networks drives from / to local USB storage