Dell unveils Citrix Desktop Virtualization Solution

Dell has unveiled new solutions in its desktop virtualization portfolio that optimise productivity and simplify deployment and management within Citrix environments. These new offerings include the Dell Appliance for Wyse – Citrix, Dell Wyse Device Manager (WDM) 5.5 and Foglight for Virtualization for application and infrastructure monitoring. These new solutions, along with product demonstrations and breakout sessions, will be showcased in Dell booth 201 at Citrix Synergy 2015.

Building on its long-standing relationship with Citrix, the new solutions from Dell make it easier than ever for small and medium organisations to adopt Citrix-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Dell has the solutions that organisations require no matter where they are on their desktop virtualization journey, from initial planning to optimisation of their current infrastructure. As the only true end-to-end VDI solution provider in the market today, Dell maximises the value of the entire system, from data center infrastructure through to the endpoint, as well as services and support.

Easy to Deploy Citrix-Based VDI

The Dell Appliance for Wyse - Citrix provides smaller organisations the ability to leverage Citrix XenDesktop in a single appliance that makes it easy to install, deploy and run VDI for up to 200 users. When paired with Wyse Xenith thin clients, it provides a complete enterprise-ready desktop virtualization solution that delivers full XenDesktop functionality to a smaller group. The appliance enables organisations to gain the security, flexibility, productivity and cost-saving benefits of VDI, while being managed by the same IT generalist personnel who manage physical desktops and laptops.

Key features include:

· Reduced complexity: The appliance has an option of two configurations with compute and storage in the same enclosure, scripts to simplify deployment and software built-in. This means that no separate storage array is required.

· Easy to purchase: The appliance is a pre-designed configuration in a single SKU that is as easy to order as a PC. There's no design cycle required, nor a long list of individual components to assemble.

· Easy to deploy: The appliance includes a unique Dell-designed set of wizards to speed the deployment of the infrastructure and Citrix XenDesktop, reducing the number of tasks to configure and install by more than 90 percent compared to manual deployment. As a result, it enables smaller organisations to self-deploy their virtual desktop environment.

Comprehensive Citrix-Based VDI Portfolio

Dell is now making it easier than ever for companies to adopt Citrix-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions regardless of company size. For large enterprises today, Dell offers the Dell XC Web-scale Converged Appliance for VDI that integrates enterprise-class storage, compute and hypervisor resources into a single solution that is easily deployed with Citrix XenDesktop. The appliance delivers predictable cost and scaling, simplified purchasing, and easy Nutanix-based management and monitoring. Now built on a new 1U Dell PowerEdge XC630 server, the appliance supports more virtual desktop users in half the rack space and at a lower cost than previous versions.

Simplified thin client management with WDM 5.5

Dell Wyse Device Manager (WDM) is the premiere solution for centralised management of Dell Wyse thin and zero clients, allowing IT teams to easily issue software images, patches, updates and add-ons from a single console. With benefits such as simple scaling with automated device discovery, performance monitoring, and secure encrypted HTTP transmissions, WDM helps administrators deliver more effective VDI support while minimising end user downtime. WDM is the most scalable thin client management software, with the ability to reliably scale to more than 50,000 devices. It is available in a free Workgroup Edition for smaller organisations, or a paid Enterprise Edition for customers with larger VDI deployments. Version 5.5 includes several enhancements to improve user experience, management and scaling. New features include:

· WDM Health Monitor: New health monitor interface offers an easy and consolidated view of critical performance statistics.

· Workgroup Edition scalability: Smaller organisations using the free WDM Workgroup Edition can now simultaneously update up to 250 images -- ten times more than in previous versions.

· Simplified installation: Version 5.5 offers more pre-requisite checks and fewer steps so it’s faster and easier to get it up and running; configuration of peripherals such as keyboards and mice can also be accomplished within WDM.

Foglight for Virtualization 8.2

The newest release of Dell Foglight for Virtualization enables Citrix administrators to quickly analyse and improve all aspects of the user experience by pinpointing and resolving performance bottlenecks. By providing a complete view of the underlying XenDesktop and XenApp infrastructure, administrators can capture analyses of virtual desktops and streaming application sessions, as well as performance data from platforms such as Active Directory, storage and network infrastructure. Predictive analytics with built-in domain expertise also allow administrators to use performance data for both real time and historical analysis. Adjusting dynamically as VDI sessions go on and offline or as virtual machines move within the data center, Foglight for Virtualization, Enterprise Edition, now shows the end-to-end topology of the Citrix environment and is accessible from a Windows client or tablet.