The Managed Desktop Factory: Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software as a Service 
by Michael Rosenthal and Stefan Schmitz-Homberg
May, 2008
Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software is a compelling new architecture for providing office desktop environments and IT services to users. It delivers applications and full desktop environments to clients using a server-based computing model. All the intelligence—compute power, storage, software, and administration—is concentrated in the datacenter. Web browsers running on Sun Ray ultra-thin clients, PCs, or mobile devices provide access to services and applications running in the datacenter.
This article suggests an operational model for a desktop environment that is based on the Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software. Using ITIL as a foundation, the concept presented illustrates opportunities for optimizing operations and describe the next steps toward industrializing IT services—the managed desktop factory.
Chapter 1. Introduction
- Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software
- The Managed Desktop Factory
Chapter 2. An Overview of the Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software
- The Case for Virtual Desktops
- Market Evaluation
- Centralization
- Isolation
- Virtualization
- Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software Concepts and Architecture
- Sun Ray Software
- Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
- Sun Virtual Desktop Connector Software
- Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software Building Block Architecture
- Migrating to Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software
- Application Migration
- Client Migration
Chapter 3. Operating a Managed Desktop Factory
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Process Design
- Release Management
- Capacity Management
- System Management Tools
- Technical Building Blocks and Operational Tasks
- Asset Overview
- Servers and Operating Systems
- IP Networks
- Storage Area Networks
- Databases
- VMware ESX
- VMware VirtualCenter Software
- Sun Ray Servers
- Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
- Impact of Failures
- Managing the User Space
- User to Image Mapping
- General Datacenter Services
- Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Software and Security
Chapter 4. The Managed Desktop Factory as a Service
- Service Management
- Service Catalog
- Key Performance Indicators
- Service-Level Agreements
- The Managed Desktop Factory as a Business Model
- Major Advantages
- Selecting a Business Model
- Understanding Cost Factors
- Accounting Models for Costs and Charges
- Determining Total Cost of Ownership
Chapter 5. For More Information
Appendix A. Glossary
Stefan Schmitz-Homberg is a Solution Architect in the service practice of Sun Microsystems in Germany. Initially a Systems Engineer for remote system management, his current role is to develop managed service architectures for Sun service customers. Today, Stefan specializes in solutions for telecommunications and financial services companies. He holds a masters degree in computer science from the University of Bonn and is an ITIL certified Service Manager.
Michael Rosenthal is Global Product Manager for Sun Managed Services. He works on the ongoing development of new and in-market Sun Managed Services offerings, such as Remote Management, Interim Operations Management, and Utility Computing. Prior to this role, Michael worked as Solution Architect for Sun Managed Services in Germany. He holds a masters degree in computer science from the University of Hamburg and the University of Erlangen, and is an ITIL certified Service Manager.
The authors would like to recognize the following individuals for their contributions to this article:
- Dirk Grobler
- Birgit Kreuz
- Jorgen Skogstad
- Rolf-Per Thulin
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