Virtual Desktop Mistakes Conclusion


The virtual desktop top 10 list is complete! Of course there are numerous things people can do to mess up their environment, but the 10 discussed are probably the 10 most critical. If you get them wrong, you will struggle to survive. But the list doesn’t end there. My colleagues (Tarkan Koçoglu, Nicholas Rintalan and… Continue reading Virtual Desktop Mistakes Conclusion

Windows 7 Registry Optimizations for Virtual Desktops


In another blog, I discussed Windows 7 services that you might wish to disable when going down the path of desktop virtualization. In this article, I’m now focusing on registry modification you will want to make to optimize Windows 7 for virtual desktops. I’ve broken it down into Recommended configurations, Standard Mode configurations (for Provisioning… Continue reading Windows 7 Registry Optimizations for Virtual Desktops

Not Spending Your Cache Wisely


It almost sounds like I’m talking about personal finances. You better plan your cache appropriately or you will run out. I’m not talking about money; I’m talking about system memory (although if you plan poorly we will quickly be talking about money). It comes down to this… system cache is a powerful feature allowing a… Continue reading Not Spending Your Cache Wisely

Delivering Desktop Images at the School


In a previous post, I discussed how many different desktop images the ABC school district required for their desktop virtualization design: five. Read the previous blog to find out why five were needed. With 18,000 virtual desktops, the challenge now becomes on how to design/scale the Provisioning services environment. And even still, what happens if… Continue reading Delivering Desktop Images at the School

This School House Rocks with Virtual Desktops


Imagine an environment where: The endpoints are over 5 years old Users’ personal computers are state of the art Applications have not been patched in over one year Each office has different configurations, although they should be identical These are some of the challenges with one particular environment: the ABC School District. This particular school… Continue reading This School House Rocks with Virtual Desktops

Dear Architect, is my write cache estimate correct?


The latest question into the Ask the Architect mailbag comes from Andy.  Andy is creating a Provisioning services design for an environment based on Windows Server 2008, with the write cache stored on a NetApp share.  Andy’s question is if the write cache estimates are correct.  Basically, Andy is estimating 650 MB write cache per… Continue reading Dear Architect, is my write cache estimate correct?

Do you know all that you should know about desktop virtualization


A long time ago, in a blog far, far away, I asked a simple question “What virtual desktop design topics are you interested in?”  Thankfully, I got a few comments from Steven Hunt, Faisal Iqbal, and Tyrone Thomas so I won’t be forced to deliver a standard, glossy marketing presentation. Instead, those of you attending… Continue reading Do you know all that you should know about desktop virtualization