Virtual Computer

Virtual Computer

I love VDI, not because it is cool, not because it can change the way we manage our security, data centers and desktop environments today, but because it is the window into the future I’ve been waiting for for a VERY long time.

Let’s put this in context. I’m a device freak, not because I want the latest and greatest.  Well not entirely anyways, but because of the doors and possibilities that those pesky little devices create. You see I’m not a device freak, I’m a possibility freak. The future keeps me up at night wondering how wonderful it will be.

The problem we have with technology today quite frankly is the limitations that we have to ensure every time we pick up a piece of technology. My cell phone is great because it gives me about 7 days of air time, follows me everywhere I want it to and basically enables me to talk to the world. It doesn’t allow me to interact with the world digitally however, so that is why I need to carry around an IPhone, and Blackberry and an HTC G1 Android phone. I also have an IPod, a Sony E-Book and occasionally lug around my netbook.

The IPhone is a requirement because it does certain apps, especially games very well. What it doesn’t do however is have enough on board storage for my music collection and the 8-10 movies I like to have with me when I travel. Hence the need for a separate IPod just to keep the music and hopefully have enough power to get through a short 3-5 day trip without lugging chargers around.

The BlackBerry is my corporate device. It holds all my corporate contacts and is how “work” gets hold of me. It is required because the IPhone still doesn’t have sufficient over-the-air managability to allow me to get pass the corporate security requirements. That and the fact that Apple still doesn’t really get push e-mail.

The HTC G1 Android, is my own personal device. While the functionality is very similar to the IPhone (games, phone e-mail), it is the only device that really effectively syncs with Google, where I keep my personal life. It also has a REALLY good keyboard so that I can actually type at 40+ words per minute. I can usually do about 25-35 words per minute on the BlackBerry but suffer terribly on the IPhone at about 15-20. That being said, it doesn’t do the corporate thing as well as the Blackberry, and doesn’t support the same music, video and game abilities as the IPhone.

The Sony E-book is to overcome the screen limitation of the 3 devices when you are outdoors or trying to read late at night. The screen size is almost perfect on the PRS505, the screen is day light readable, and the Sony book light makes it very easy to read at night without bothering my significant other. By keeping the battery for the night light separate from the book reader, I also get to go for 2-3 weeks with out having to charge either. It’s biggest limitation is the lack of over-the-air sync capabilities for adding new content, requiring tethering to a computer. The lack of even a simple keyboard interface for annotation or note making forces me to fall back to the netbook.

The Netbook is also a compromise. Less powerful than my full desktop or laptop, but better battery life than either of those. It also has the virtue of being extremely light, having a keyboard that I can type at 80-100 words per minute, allows me to surf the web for research and run basic apps. It is limited to 1-2 apps running at a time however and forget the new MS Office features or Windows 7.

Each one of these devices shows the potential that we can hopefully come to expect in the future, yet all of them will still be somewhat of a limitation.

And that is where VDI comes in. Today, VDI is little more than a fancy RDP connection between one computer and another. Don’t let the hype sell you on anything otherwise.

However, let me paint a slightly different picture, one of a truly portable world.

Imagine instead of bringing a full computer with you, or a shoulder bag full of devices when you travel, you could bring a hybrid device.

In every hotel you travel to, there is a TV, a set top box with basic internet surfing and a clock radio in the corner. What if we were to swap that basic TV and Set-top box with an IMac or Intel based all-in-one?

Well, you would still have TV, internet and games. But you would also have a full workstation with keyboard, mouse and a few spare USB ports.

That all-in-one can now allow you to plug your smart-phone in for charging. It can also now allow you to use your smart-phone as a data repository (USB stick), a modem for internet access (if desired). As a user, I could now play my music, movies and review my own data that might be stored on that smart-phone.

But the real key, is the fact that since I have a basic PC setup, I can run a proprietary VDI image off my smart phone’s built in memory storage turning the basic hotel setup into a fully functional and customized computing platform. Best of all, since the VDI image is encrypted and stays on the smart phone, my backend computing environment stays secure.

With a little bit of sync built into the VDI package, I can run either off the VDI image on my server farm in the office, or sync and run that image off my smart phone when communications are more limited.

That’s not much different than what we have today folks, but it means fewer devices, more independance and ultimately more security. And that is the true meaning of computing anywhere.