The original article can be found at http://go.techtarget.com/r/10359311/1667444

Desktop virtualization is something that companies — rather than consumers — use, and therefore, we usually assume any discussion about this topic pertains to the Windows systems. But now that Apple is cool again, and iPhone’s and Macs are making their way into business environments, we should take a look at desktop virtualization with Macs.

And even if you don’t think this is true today, eventually some executive is going to knock on your door and ask if you can integrate their Mac.

The good news is there’s a lot you can do with a Mac and an iPhone in the corporate desktop world. Let’s start with the iPhone, since it’s easiest.

The iPhone is a client device, so it’s a safe bet that people are going to want to use their iPhone’s to access the corporate desktop infrastructure. Fortunately, there are a lot of different clients for the iPhone.

With Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop, there’s a Citrix Receiver (the new name for the ICA client) for the iPhone. It has been around for about eight months, and Version 2.0 is around the corner. Like all Citrix clients, the Receiver for iPhone is free.

If you’re using VMware View, Wyse has released an application called PocketCloud that can be used to connect to your View environments. (Great app, stupid name!) Since PocketCloud can be used to connect to any remote host via pure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), you can also use it for remote administration or to connect straight to Windows XP desktops. PocketCloud is cool, but it’s going to cost you about $30 per user from the Apple App Store.

There are also some free RDP clients for the cost-conscious, such as iRDesktop and Remote Desktop Lite.

If you have Mac users who want to connect to your virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or Terminal Server-based desktops, there are a lot of great choices here, too.

The Citrix ICA Client for the Mac is really good now, as is Microsoft’s new Version 2 of its Remote Desktop Connection client for Mac. And Quest Software recently released a Mac client that also supports its VDI and Terminal Server products.

Of course, you can also run Windows desktop virtual machines (VMs) directly on your Mac clients. VMware Fusion, Parallels Workstation and VirtualBox all have Mac versions of their Windows products. And if you’d like to be able to manage, secure and centrally deploy your client-based VMs, you’ll be happy to know that MokaFive‘s client-based desktop virtualization product runs great on a Mac!

This is great — but it’s all about accessing Windows desktops from a Mac client. What if you have Mac desktops and applications you want to deliver to your users, either Mac or non-Mac?

There’s a solution there, too.

A company called Aqua Connect has a product called Aqua Connect Terminal Services that converts an ordinary Mac host (or server) into a Terminal Server, allowing anyone to connect to the Mac desktop via RDP. And you get it all — the dock, Mac apps, everything — from your remote client!

All in-all, this is some great news. While you might not like Macs, at least you’ll be able to support them!

Years ago, I spoke with VMware’s CEO at the time, Diane Greene,about Microsoft’s coming threat. I was curious why VMware wasn’t pursuing antitrust complaints against the software giant, as Microsoft had announced that it was going to bundle a hypervisor-based virtualization platform with Windows Server. (That software was since released as Hyper-V.)

VMware had no interest in pursuing Microsoft in the courts, I was told. Instead, the company would compete with Microsoft in the open market, and Greene was convinced that VMware could maintain its technological lead.

I told her that was a mistake. Microsoft understood then, as now, that virtualization is key to the future of computing, and it would go after this market with the same dogged determination it used previously in establishing NT as the low-cost workgroup computing standard.

I’ll spare you the serial-killer analogy I used at the time, but you get the idea. Microsoft isn’t a competitor to be trifled with. And you don’t want to be in its crosshairs.

Today, Microsoft has released its second-generation Hyper-V technology, and though VMware still maintains a huge lead in the virtualizationmarket, Greene is out. She’s been replaced by Paul Maritz of Microsoft (and NT) fame, and it’s equally notable that his number two, Tod Nielsen, is also a Microsoft alumnus.

As you probably know, VMware held its annual VMworld conference last week, and I spent a bit of time with Bogomil Balkansky, the vice president of product marketing at VMware. There was a bit of competitive did-not/did-too silliness between VMware and Microsoft at the show (it amounts to Microsoft being punished for infractions at last year’s show), but rather than get bogged down in that, I’d like to focus on VMware’s products and strategy and how they compare to what Microsoft is doing.

At a very high level, it’s fair to say that VMware got here first, has the more mature technology, and has a decidedly cross-platform approach that’s lacking on the Microsoft side. VMware, for example, can claim, as Balkansky did with me, that Microsoft’s chortling this year over closing the gap with Live Migration capabilities is cute, but VMware had that feature (VMotion) years ago. The point here is clear: While Microsoft’s virtualization solutions are starting to catch up, they’re still years behind what VMware is doing.

There’s some truth to that. VMware’s current virtualization platform, vSphere, which is based around the ESX Server 4.0 hypervisor, is still in some ways dramatically more capable than Hyper-V. Microsoft will tell you, however, that VMware’s solutions tend to be more expensive–in some cases a lot more expensive.

Maybe you get what you pay for. But Microsoft’s virtualization strategy should be familiar to anyone who was around in the NT days: Establish a beachhead as the low-cost alternative, add capabilities until you’re at least comparable to the competition, then watch your growth start outpacing that of the entrenched market leader.

One thing’s different this time, however. While Microsoft had no real server presence in the early days of NT (at least outside of workgroup-based LAN Manager installs), this time around the company is a major player in the server market. And when Microsoft shops start looking around for a virtualization player, the freebie that comes with Windows Serveris an obvious option. Especially when, again, the differences between that solution and the VMware solution are starting to dwindle.

In short, VMware’s position hasn’t really changed much over the past few years, but I think we’re on the cusp of a dramatic change in the market. Fortunately for VMware, the market is only going to grow, and this year’s gains with vSphere 4 hint at years of growth to come.

But with the overall market growing, Microsoft’s share of that market is going to grow too. And eventually, I feel, it will outpace VMware and other competitors (and partners) like Xen and Citrix.

It’s way too soon to start the “VMware is doomed” talk. But VMware needs to do everything it can to prevent the shedding of share to Microsoft. This will involve lowering prices, inevitably, and giving away more of the crown jewels.

But that’s a natural side effect of the commoditization of a market that was previously a niche specialty. Today, virtualization is on its way to becoming a common and accepted partof the computing experience for businesses of all sizes. And there’s no reason VMware can’t emerge as a major player–perhaps the major player–going forward. But it’s going to have to start taking Microsoft a lot more seriously.

You’ve been warned, VMware. Again.

Check it out and dream, what could have been,  just like me….

http://www.vmworld.com/index.jspa

A recovery solution may be as simple as restoring a deleted file or a complete server, the recovery point is as far as the previous nights’ backup. A file restore still has a simple and very fast restoration time within minutes.  While a server recovery upon a hardware failure can take several days to get back into production with the current environment.

Now that server virtualization is more affordable and being used in production, the backup and recovery strategies can change the RPO and RTO dramatically. The traditional disk to tape is no longer a constraint for dictating all of the recovery scenarios that may arise.

VMware provides virtual snap shots to apply patches and applications to a server in a test environment without impacting production and going through a lengthy process to create the test server or servers. VMware also leverages the Equal Logic SAN to provide an easy and fast recovery from a physical server hardware failure within minutes.

The Equal Logic SAN can be leveraged for multiple snap shots per day that can be kept and used for entire virtual server recoveries within minutes.

The granular capability of backup to disk software also allows files and databases to be saved multiple times per day. Files can now be restored to multiple points in time by the end user out of Windows Explorer by leveraging Microsoft’s Data Protection Manager.

Another component can be introduced for getting data offsite to another remote server on a nightly basis eliminating nightly tape backups and weekly off site tape rotations. Then it is just a matter of how to handle any permanent archive, which is accomplished by tape or hard drive. The hard drive can be space at a secure facility such as a hosted data center. Most services allow up to 7 years for such long term storage of data. This is more often an expensive method as simply buying hard drives every month is far more affordable since the price for hard drives are now a couple hundred dollars and hold up to 2 TB.

If you’d like to learn more about easy to manage backup and recovery solutions, contact CNS.  One of our highly experienced IT consultants would be happy to help you design a plan to support your unique needs.

I found this comparison chart on the VMware web site and want to share it.  It includes all the product editions from the free ESXi – Single Server, the Essentials products for up to three physical host and the vSphere product line for the larger SMB to enterprise customers. 

It is important to point out that the High Availability feature starts and the Essential Plus Edition.  This is a key feature that allows for cost effective Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery.

Below is the link to the VMware vSphere Editions Comparison

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html