VDI - Physcial Considerations

As we began to evaluate memory, cpu size and count, storage size, etc... we thought we had covered all the bases on our needs for our VDI solution. We were sure that no stone was left unturned in making sure that it would all be a great success as far as we could measure. Oops! As you look at your needs do not forget to look into rackspace needed as well as power requirements! Often overlooked until it is time to install, this can be quite a large expense added into your calculations of the cost of VDI or any other server installation.

Also, don't forget to look at cooling needed in an often already crowded an under cooled area. Fortunately for us we have 15 tons of A/C piped into our room that we had constructed last summer to ease the cooling needs. Most school data rooms in smaller and older buildings are put "wherever they fit" and often fall short of the requirements to keep your equipment running smoothely and longer.

Power sometimes can become an issue as some systems need more than just the normal 110 outlet and call for special twist-lock plugs similar to those found on household dryers. Have your electrician make sure that the circuit breaker panel can sustain the increased load of electricity and count of outlets that you'll need for the UPS systems required for your servers. Know that there will be power savings for blade systems, but they need a bigger "pipe" to power the whole system. Rackspace can be a concern as well as you can't spread the system out across several small spaces. The UPS system for our blade server alone will take up 24 units of measure on one rack. That is half the rack!

When planned out correctly, the virtual desktop solution will be a great cost savings in the long run. Just do not forget to calculate all the "start up" costs, including space, power and cooling.