Dell DVS Simplified Appliance Tower Reference Guide - Page 28

Features and enhancements to Citrix VDI-in-a-Box:  Personal Desktops o IT departments can now create personalized desktops from a common published Windows 7 image while users can install applications of their choice, set their own profiles and store their data. Administrators can update, manage, backup and restore these personalized desktops. When the published image is updated, the base image of all the personal desktops are automatically updated with the administrator‖s changes and yet the user installed applications, profiles and data remain intact. Citrix recommends using a profile management application with the personal desktop feature to backup user profile data. Citrix Profile management is included with VDI-in-a-Box. o VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 uses proprietary Personal vDisk (PvD) layering technology available with XenDesktop to provide personalized desktops. With PvD, userinstalled data and applications are stored in a user specific layer that is used in conjunction with a base image. This allows users to install applications and personalize their desktops while enabling the administrator to manage their desktops by administering and upgrading the base image. The result is potentially the best of both worlds: personalized desktops for users coupled with single image management for administrators.  Automated Desktop Agent o The VDI-in-a-Box Desktop Agent resides on each desktop created from the published image. vdiManager communicates with the desktop through the agent. The new Desktop Agent process installs the agent on the draft image automatically. The automated installation process is part of the process for creating a first draft image.  Active Directory Failover o This release introduces Active Directory failover. VDI-in-a-Box automatically starts to use another Active Directory server if the primary server fails. Administrators can specify two or more Active Directory servers in a prioritized list. VDI-in-a-Box uses the primary Active Directory until it fails and then defaults to the next Active Directory on the list and continues in this fashion. VDI-in-a-Box periodically checks to see if failed Active Directory servers have recovered and automatically reverts back to the highest priority Active Directory server.  Ability to specify virtual desktop names o VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 allows administrators to specify the complete name of their virtual machines and computers. This allows administrators to track your virtual machines on your hypervisors and the associated computers on the Active Directory server.  Grid-wide virtual IP address o This feature allows user devices to access the grid through a single virtual IP address hosted by one of the servers in the grid. All user connection requests are sent to this host server. If the host server fails, another server in the grid becomes the host and fields the connection requests. The grid-wide virtual IP address feature provides end-to-end high availability without requiring a load 25 Dell DVS Simplified Appliance Reference Architecture