Virtualization Products and Technologies

Microsoft provides an end-to-end suite of virtualization products and technologies — all tied together by a centralized management system.

Desktop Virtualization

Microsoft Desktop Virtualization solutions help companies to reduce their total cost of ownership, increase business agility and continuity, enable anywhere access, and improve security and compliance. For companies new to desktop virtualization, deploying Microsoft Application Virtualization as a first step can provide immediate cost savings.

Desktop Virtualization offers a broad portfolio of solutions that empower companies to choose the technologies that best address their unique business and IT challenges while preserving their existing IT investments. Microsoft delivers desktop virtualization offerings for a wide range of situations—from always connected workers to those requiring more flexibility such as mobile workers. For connected workers, Microsoft and its partners, including Citrix, deliver a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution that allows organizations to centrally manage desktops in the datacenter while providing a personalized desktop experience for end users.

For more information about Microsoft Desktop Virtualization please click here.

Benefits of Virtualization:

  • Leveraging the software you already own, you can create business solutions for the challenges you face.

  • With Windows Software Assurance, you already own the ability to upgrade to Windows 7 and all the virtualization benefits it provides.

  • If you own Windows Server 2008, you own Virtualization.

  • You preserve your existing investment.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is an alternative desktop delivery model that allows users to access desktops running in the datacenter.

Microsoft offers comprehensive and cost effective technology that can help customers deploy virtual desktops in the datacenter. The Microsoft VDI Suites allow customers to manage their physical and virtual desktops from a single console, while providing great flexibility for deploying server-hosted desktops and applications.

The Benefits of VDI include:

  • Integrated Management

  • Enhanced security and compliance

  • Anywhere access from connected devices

  • Increase business continuity

For more information about Virtual Desktop Infrastructure please click here.

Session Virtualization

Session Virtualization with Remote Desktop Services delivers session-based desktops or applications and is suitable for low complexity or task worker scenarios. It allow for high user density with a limited degree of personalization or isolation.

For more information about Session Virtualization click here.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) removes the barriers to Windows upgrades by resolving application incompatibility with Windows Vista or Windows 7. MED-V delivers applications in a virtual PC that runs a previous version of the operating system (for example: Windows XP). It does so in a way that is completely seamless and transparent to the user. Applications appear and operate as if they were installed on the desktop, so that users can even pin them to the task bar. For IT administrators, MED-V helps deploy, provision, control, and support the virtual environments.

For more information about Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V click here.

For information about licensing Microsoft Windows for virtual click here.

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In a physical environment, every application depends on its OS for a range of services, including memory allocation, device drivers, and much more. Incompatibilities between an application and its operating system can be addressed by either server virtualization or presentation virtualization; but for incompatibilities between two applications installed on the same instance of an OS, you need application virtualization.

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 is now available! App-v 4.6 with Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010 delivers a seamless user experience, streamlined application deployment and simplified application management.

  • Broaden the windows platform coverage. App-V now supports 32-bit and 64-bit applications on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

  • Office 2010 virtualized with App-V 4.6 delivers key productivity enhancements & a seamless user experience with Sharepoint, Outlook and more.

  • Optimize Server Disk Storage when using App-V in VDI with a shared cache reduces storage requirements on SAN’s.

  • Increase IT control, user productivity and security with key Windows 7 features. Integrates seamlessly with AppLocker, BranchCache, AppLocker and BitLockerToGo.

Application Virtualization allows you to isolate a specific application from the OS and other applications, eliminates conflicts between applications and removes the need to install applications on PCs.

Benefits

  • Streams applications on-demand over the internet or via the corporate network to desktops, Terminal servers and laptops

  • Automates and simplifies the application management lifecycle

  • Accelerates OS and application deployments

  • Reduces the end user impacts associated with application upgrades/patching and terminations

  • Enables controlled application use when users are completely disconnected

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User State Virtualization

User state virtualization isolates user data and settings from PCs and enables IT to store them centrally in the datacenter while also making them accessible on any PC by using Windows Roaming User Profiles, Windows Folder Redirection, and Offline Files. Using each of these technologies or a combination of them enables easily replaceable PCs for business continuity, centralized backup and storage of user data and settings, end user access to their data from any PC, and simplified PC provisioning and deployment.The rich client advantage: user data can be cached for offline access and then automatically synchronizes with datacenter servers upon re-connection to the network.