In order to offer the right solutions to our Swiss customers, we often compare IT solutions with each other to gain an optimum view of the market and the products.
Here, for example, is a match-up between the terminal server and the VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), otherwise known as the virtual computer.
On the server side, several solutions coexist, the main ones being VMware, Microsoft and Citrix.
As far as Microsoft is concerned, since Windows Server 2012, Microsoft has offered two options:
- Classic” terminal
- VDI
The Classic terminal
The classic terminal has been used for many years by our customers, mostly to provide a remote working solution:
- For mobile users
- As a teleworking solution
- To provide external access from a remote site (a subsidiary in a different geographical location, for example)
Another use of the Terminal is to deport workstation resources, in order to use the centralized resources of the Terminal server.
We have already implemented this solution for several of our customers, with the aim of limiting workstation costs.
One of these customers (a Geneva-based real-estate company) chose to replace its old PC fleet with thin clients.
In return, this customer had to invest in a much larger server infrastructure.
The operation proved to be profitable for the customer (as in most cases, the cost of the thin clients, well below the price of standard computers, offset the purchase of the server infrastructure).
VDI
Microsoft’s VDI solution replaces terminal “sessions” with independent virtual computers.
In other words, each user uses their own virtual computer, on which they can install their own applications, without interfering with the virtual computers of other users (which is not the case with the classic terminal).
This solution is a kind of cross between Hyper-V and Terminal.
Customer side
- Classic computer (PC, Mac, Linux, …)
- Tablets and Smartphones
- Thin clients
Classic” terminal VS VDI
En termes de prix, le VDI sera plus coûteux que le Terminal Server.
