In a static Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop deployment, each user has a dedicated VM image on the server, which essentially houses that user’s hard disk. All user data, settings, and applications are contained within the VM image, resulting in a one-to-one mapping of VMs to users. VMs are stored on a SAN and execute within Virtual Server; RDP is the client access method used to send user desktops to remote rich or thin clients running the RDP client.
Dynamic Deployment
In a dynamic deployment of Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop, there is only one master VM image for a group of users, and application images and individual user settings and data are stored separately. When a user requests a desktop session, the master VM image—containing only the operating system—is replicated and executed on the server, where it points to a virtualized copy of user settings and data that is stored separately from the master VM image instead of within the .vhd file. When the user clicks an application icon, the application is dynamically provisioned to the VM session.
What enables the dynamic deployment is Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization technology, which supports the dynamic provisioning of applications, user data, and user settings to a common VM image. Benefits of a SoftGrid-based approach—applicable to both traditional PCs as well as deployments of Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop—include:
Elimination of compatibility/regression testing between applications
Elimination of installation and uninstallation of applications to VMs
Centralized upgrade of applications from a single point
Automated, policy-based provisioning of applications to users
Additional unique benefits provided by SoftGrid technology in a Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop deployment include:
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