Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

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What SMBs need to know when evaluating VDI solutionsCitrix VDI-in-a-Box provides simplicity, speed and cost-effectiveness

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper 2Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

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As interest in desktop virtualization spreads across the small and midsize business (SMB) segment, organizations are seeking a fast, simple and cost-effective way to take advantage of its benefits. However, the selection of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution can be difficult for SMBs because many options are designed for the extensive economic and IT resources of large enterprises. Many SMB customers are turning to Citrix® VDI-in-a-Box™ because it has been purpose-built to streamline virtual desktop implementation—with simple deployment, management and scalability.

In addition to misalignment between enterprise VDI solutions and SMB needs, there is a common misconception that adds to the confusion. Businesses using VMware® vSphere® for server virtualization often assume that this hypervisor restricts compatible VDI solutions to VMware View—a costly product beyond the reach of many SMBs. In reality, VDI-in-a-Box is certified on vSphere, and more than half of Citrix desktop virtualization implementations run on VMware server virtualization platforms.

The recent report by PQR, an IT infrastructure specialist, entitled “VDI Smackdown!” provides a matrix comparing various features across competing VDI solutions. This paper goes beyond the PQR checklist to provide additional context and insight to help SMBs make the right choice.

Delivering the promise of VDI to SMBsDesktop virtualization has proven highly effective for enabling delivery of desktops, applications and data as a service to devices of any kind. Workers have greater freedom and flexibility to complete tasks, helping them achieve optimal productivity. Desktop virtualization enables IT to centralize and streamline desktop management and support, and eliminates the high cost of traditional PC refresh cycles. People, IT and the organization as a whole gain the agility to respond quickly to changing business priorities while dealing with tight budgets.

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

The proven business value shown by VDI in the enterprise has led other businesses to aggressively pursuing similar benefits through their own desktop virtualization initiatives. According to Gartner, approximately 40% of midsize enterprises in developed regions are testing or deploying desktop virtualization today.* As SMB organizations seek to realize these benefits, however, they are often stopped in their tracks by the high cost and complexity of VDI solutions designed for enterprise deployment.

VDI-in-a-Box is an all-in-one solution that delivers personalized virtual desktops for less than the cost of new PCs. VDI-in-a-Box is available as a virtual appliance that runs on standard servers and eliminates the need for expensive datacenter infrastructure. It is designed to allow desktop administrators to take advantage of their existing skills. Powered by Citrix® HDX™ technology, VDI-in-a-Box delivers an excellent quality of experience to users anytime, anywhere and on any device. This solution delivers an immediate return on investment (ROI) because it is simpler and less expensive to set up and manage than PCs.

“I run a VMware shop and I know how complex VDI can be. I couldn’t believe how simple VDI-in-a-Box is.”

IT Director Retail

* Source: Gartner ”Desktop Virtualization Best Practices for the Midmarket” September 2012, By - James A. Browning and Mark A. Margevicius, ID:G00236590

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper 4

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Evaluating VDI readinessAs you seek a simple, cost-effective way to adopt desktop virtualization, you should consider the following checklist:

Designed to meet the essential criteria for simple, affordable desktop virtualization, VDI-in-a-Box enables IT to answer all these questions with a resounding YES!

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Cost

• Budgets continue to be tight. If you make the investment to deploy a VDI solution, will it fit within your budget and provide almost immediate ROI?

• Will the entire solution fit within your budget for the number of desktops you need to virtualize now?

IT resources

• Can it be deployed, managed and maintained by your current desktop IT staff or Microsoft® Windows® administrator?

• Will it provide built-in high availability without requiring customization or systems integrator work?

• Does it have simple concurrent user licensing and all-in-one support (upgrades, updates and 24 x 7 tech support)?

Business demands

• Will the solution you are considering delight your end-users with a high-definition, high-performance experience whether they are connected over a LAN, WAN or WLAN?

• Will it enable new business advantages such as right-sizing devices for user requirements, mobility, bring your own (BYO) programs and workshifting?

• Will it enhance security by allowing you to create templates and policies that govern image and peripheral access?

• Will it streamline desktop IT operations, allowing you to reduce costs, delight users and shift your focus from tactical troubleshooting to more strategic projects?

• Will it provide on-demand scalability with no hidden cost surprises, so you can keep pace as business or requirements dictate?

• Is the VDI vendor financially healthy and an industry leader in desktop virtualization?

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A decision maker’s guide to “VDI Smackdown!”This section corresponds with the VDI Features Comparison beginning on page 46 of the “VDI Smackdown!” report. While the PQR report presents dozens of criteria under the following categories, this paper focuses on the most important aspects of each and highlights the key features and capabilities that VDI-in-a-Box provides. PQR evaluated VDI-in-a-Box release 5.01. Subsequently, VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 was launched and offers a number of significant new features, called out below.

User experienceTo be successful, a VDI implementation must provide a computing experience at least as good as that of a traditional PC. If people are unable to access their applications and data easily, with high performance and full support for multimedia and peripheral devices, they will resist adoption and undermine the effectiveness of the initiative. For optimal flexibility and mobility, they should also be able to access their virtual desktops on the devices of their choice, including thin clients, tablets and smartphones.

VDI-in-a-Box provides secure, high-definition, high-performance projection of the desktop to the user’s endpoint device. Key features include:

• The full HDX technology stack built in (HDX optimizes performance for bandwidth-restricted environments and high-latency connections)

• Citrix Receiver™ (free) client supports almost any endpoint device

• Single sign-on from any Windows endpoint

• Multiple monitor and printer support

• Multimedia support

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 update:With the addition of the personal vDisk feature, you can now create personalized desktops that allow users to install applications and store their data and their personalized settings. These personalized desktops are generated from the same master image used to create pooled desktops. Now you have the best of the both worlds: fully personalized individual desktops for your users and single instance management for IT (eliminating the clutter and management overhead of multiple images). VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 also adds support for multiple virtual CPUs for applications such as Google Earth™, as well as support for the Google Earth Optimization Pack.

“With VDI-in-a-Box, the old PCs we tested with AutoCAD ran faster than the dedicated expensive end points we’ve been using”

IT Manager Government Agency

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Supported remote display protocolsIn VDI, a remote display protocol, which enables users to connect to virtualized resources via the LAN or WAN, plays an important role in delivering a high-performance experience under various bandwidth and latency conditions. While different VDI vendors favor different remote display protocols for the delivery of virtual desktops, IT teams should have the flexibility of choosing the right protocol for their needs and computing environment.

VDI-in-a-Box supports Citrix HDX and Microsoft® RDP protocols, giving customers a choice of proven, highly effective remote display protocols.

ManagementCentralized management is one of the primary benefits of desktop virtualization. For optimal efficiency, IT should be able to access complete management functionality from any location. A VDI solution designed for the SMB market should also enable simple management without requiring specialized virtualization skill sets or experience.

VDI-in-a-Box includes vdiManager, a web-based central management console that allows a Windows administrator to manage all components in the system from anywhere. Key features include:

• User profile management (included with the VDI-in-a-Box software license)

• The ability to manage and create templates for bandwidth and for managing printers, client drives, USB ports, audio and video and a universal printer driver for client-connected printers

• High ease-of-use to eliminate the need for expensive virtualization, storage, security, networking and database administration personnel

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 updateVDI-in-a-Box 5.1 adds the ability to fully specify computer names so you can run automation scripts and other software that require known computer names. It also allows the use of an NTP server as the master clock with which all the servers in the grid synchronize,, making management easier and ensuring cross-server logs are consistent with respect to time. With VDI-in-a-Box 5.1, all vdiManager logs show up in syslog, with a consistent format for event log, task log and audit logs.

“After a short test of the trial software, it became apparent that by using Citrix VDI-in-a-Box to deliver applications to a Wyse Xenith Zero client, I could finally achieve all of my requirements.”

ICT Manager Education

“We’re impressed with the functionality, accessibility and speed—we were up and running within minutes. Citrix VDI-in-a-Box gives us a solution we can easily replicate across our manufacturing sites, as it can be handled by differently trained and skilled IT staff.”

Senior Support Analyst Manufacturing

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Security and networkingDesktop virtualization brings inherent security to IT infrastructure, making it possible to consolidate applications and data so they can be protected more effectively. This centralization should be complemented by secure remote access echnologies and endpoint protection to provide a multi-layered approach to security.

VDI-in-a-Box stores all data centrally; no data is ever stored on the endpoint, eliminating the risk of loss from misplaced or stolen devices. Additional security features include:

• Optional disabling of peripherals such as hard drives and USB ports, effectively turning the PC into a highly secure thin client

• Integration with the free and paid versions of Citrix® NetScaler® and Citrix Access Gateway™ secure remote access software to provide single sign-on via SSL VPN

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 update:VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 introduces the ability to establish separate user and computer domains. This is useful when delivering virtual desktops anywhere, anytime with maximum security and control over user data and applications.

VDI desktop assignmentFor simple and efficient provisioning of virtual desktops to users, IT needs a way to match specific master images to specific use cases, groups and users.

VDI-in-a-Box integrates with Microsoft® Active Directory® and Workgroup to simplify VDI desktop assignment. IT can also create rules to restrict access to virtual desktops based on endpoint device address, device type, location or time.

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 update:VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 introduces Active Directory failover to extend grid high availability to work with your high-availability Active Directory.

Desktop provisioningMany desktop delivery models are used in today’s enterprises, each with its own requirements for supporting infrastructure. In practical terms, however, many of these models are inappropriate for SMB use, calling for an array of servers and networking equipment that can push the solution’s cost and complexity out of practical reach.

Designed to be practical and affordable for SMBs, VDI-in-a-Box provides capabilities for simple, cost-effective desktop provisioning. Key features include:

• “Quick deploy” provisioning services that use local storage, eliminating the need for a storage area network (SAN)

• Standard images in pooled desktops

• Automatic and manual creation of desktops

• Integration with Microsoft® Hyper-V® differencing disks

“We chose Citrix VDI-in-a-Box as an easy-to-use, cost-effective system that integrates with existing platforms, performs well and meets employee needs as well as our security requirements.”

IT Project Manager Government Agency

“We got the solution up and running overnight. Best part is, our agents find the virtual desktops to be faster than their local PCs.”

IT Director Real Estate

“Using VDI-in-a-Box we found that since it was so simple to install, and we had really good feedback from the people that had used it, and the total cost was so low, we could go ahead and actually choose VDI-in-a-Box as our production application, and start pushing it out a year ahead of our original plan”

IT Director Healthcare

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 update:With VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 release, “touchless” desktop agent feature eliminates the current simple but time-consuming manual process of installation and upgrades. Now, desktop agents are automatically upgraded when your golden images are refreshed, making it easier to roll out virtual desktops and even easier to stay current with latest release.

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 supports the use of dual data stores to increase density (more desktops per server) and improve I/O performance. For example, this enables you to store golden images and personal desktops on serial attached SCSI (SAS) drives and pooled desktop instances on solid state drives (SSD).

Guest (VM) operating system supportTo deliver the full range of business applications, a VDI solution must offer support for contemporary versions of Windows.

VDI-in-a-Box supports Microsoft Windows XP Professional 32-bit and Windows 7 32-bit, 64-bit and SP1. VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 supports Windows 8, Windows Server® 2008 R2 (VDI mode for service providers) and Remote Desktop Gateway.

Client (endpoint) operating system supportA VDI solution that fails to support the widest possible range of client operating systems falls short of the promise of any-device computing. People should have the freedom to access their virtual desktops on any device they choose, from Mac® and Windows laptops to thin clients, tablets and smartphones.

VDI-in-a-Box supports the widest range of client operating systems of any VDI solution on the market, including:

• Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows XP

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, 2008 and 2008 R2

• Windows 9x, CE and embedded standard 7

• Mac OS X

• Any OS running Java

• Linux® and Unix® flavors and Linux – Ubuntu

• EPOC / Symbian

• Wyse Thin OS (WTOS), Zenith zero client

• Apple® iPhone® and iPod® iOS® v4.x

• Apple® iPad® iOS v4.x

• Google Android®

• RIM® BlackBerry®

“With VDI-in-a-Box we found something that would enhance the lifespan of our PCs and also keep us on the leading edge of technology. We’ve got XP on the computers, and we didn’t want to have that for the next 10 years.”

Network Manager Education

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Internet browser support (for web-based access to virtual desktops)

Web-based access to virtual desktops is an important element of desktop virtualization, providing a secure way for people to connect and work from any location.

VDI-in-a-Box supports every popular browser on the market, allowing people to use their preferred environment to access their virtual desktops without having to adapt to a new company-enforced standard. These include:

• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.x, 8.x and 9.x

• Mozilla® Firefox® 3.x

• Apple® Safari v5

• Google Chrome™

• Java client

Supported protocols Support for networking protocols tends to be fairly consistent across VDI solutions. Like most, VDI-in-a-Box supports TCP/IP v4.

Virtual infrastructure (hypervisor) support While companies often make their decision about desktop virtualization software in tandem with their choice of server virtualization software, vendor lock-in runs counter to the openness promised by virtualization. A VDI solution should provide the flexibility to run on any leading hypervisor so companies can make the best choice for each element of their virtualization infrastructure.

Allowing full freedom of choice for customers, VDI-in-a-Box can be implemented successfully on any leading hypervisor, including:

• Citrix® XenServer® 5.6 SP2

• VMware vSphere 4.1 and 5.0

• Hyper-V Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Virtual infrastructure integrated management As companies build out their virtual infrastructure, they need a simple way to manage it, including the ability to create, snapshot and delete virtual machines tailored to specific use cases.

VDI-in-a-Box integrates with multiple virtual infrastructure management tools, including Citrix® XenCenter® and VMware Virtual Center, so companies can make the right choice for their priorities and environment.

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Service/connection broker VDI solutions typically require extensive hardware investments including connection brokers, load balancers and other elements. The cost of this environment and the resulting management complexity pose significant challenges to SMBs.

As an all-in-one solution, VDI-in-a-Box has all the typical components of enterprise VDI built into its software. This reduces infrastructure cost and complexity by at least 60 percent. Built-in features include:

• Connection brokering

• Load balancing

• Dynamic provisioning

• High availability

• On-demand scalability

• HDX user experience

• Linked clones for pooled and personalized desktops

• vdiManager web-based central management console

• User profile management

VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 update:VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 is certified to scale to 2,000 concurrent users. It also introduces a grid-wide IP address to provide a highly available connection to the grid from any endpoint, without the need for an external load balancer.

Connection broker/service OS supportVDI-in-a Box does not need a separate connection broker. As described above, the connection broker and all the other infrastructure components are built into this all-in-one software appliance.

Data store/database OS supportMost VDI solutions require the use of a Microsoft® SQL Server®, Microsoft® Access® or Oracle database to provide high availability. This makes support for various database operating systems an important criterion for selection.

Unlike most solutions, VDI-in-a-Box does not require a database to provide high availability. Instead, the solution uses a grid of industry standard servers with local direct-attach storage (DAS) to provide high availability based on an N+1 model.

“VDI-in-a-Box made it possible to provide better performance and service without having to do a full-scale change-out of our desktop hardware.”

Systems Manager Library System

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Support and communitySupport resources are especially important for SMBs with limited internal expertise in virtualization.

VDI-in-a-Box offers a wide range of resources to help customers leverage the full value of the solution. These include:

• A software maintenance program including software upgrades, software updates and 24 x 7 technical support

• A certification program allowing thin client vendors to become Citrix Ready®, giving VDI-in-a-Box customers a simple way to find compatible endpoints at a low price point

• Active public community forums

• An official online self-paced training class

• A publicly available reference architecture

LicensesWhile many organizations embrace desktop virtualization based on business benefits such as increased user mobility and flexibility and enhanced security and business agility, cost is also a key consideration.

The entire VDI-in-a-Box solution can be deployed for less than the cost of an equivalent number of new PCs. This is possible because the system consists of only four components:

VDI-in-a-Box virtual software appliance (list price $160 per concurrent user) and Citrix software maintenance ($35 per license). Software maintenance includes software upgrades, updates and 24x7 technical support. Included with this license:

• vdiManager, the full HDX stack built in, Citrix Receiver, XenServer, Citrix Profile Manager, NetScaler VPX™ / Access Gateway VPX and personal virtual desktops

• Hypervisor of your choice: VMware vSphere ($65 per device for VMware Essential license), XenServer (free) or Hyper-V (free)

• Servers: Industry-standard servers with local DAS (typically $100 to $150 per user)

• Microsoft VDA licenses (list price $108 per device)

“Within literally a matter of days, we went from no virtualization to virtualization. And it was so easy. We have configured a server appliance that supports 50 users. So, if the requirement is 51 users, we deploy two servers. We just literally add licenses as needed. And it’s very easy to add a server to the grid.”

IT Systems Architect Real Estate

“Citrix VDI-in-a-Box saves our district thousands of dollars on hardware purchases each year because it enables us to lengthen our PC refresh cycles and redeploy old hardware with the VDI architecture.”

Manager IT Infrastructure Education

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

The following table shows the total pricing for a complete VDI-in-a-Box system (with high availability) that supports 100 concurrent users. The table shows the pricing when using a VMware vSphere hypervisor. The table includes three servers with a capacity of 50 users per server (the third server is for high availability).

Company integrityAlthough not discussed in “VDI Smackdown!” the integrity of the vendor should be evaluated carefully to make sure there are no hidden costs or other surprises down the line.

As a pioneer of virtualization and cloud service infrastructure, Citrix has built a sterling reputation among customer organizations of all kinds in markets throughout the world. Citrix is completely upfront about the costs of deploying VDI-in-a-Box; there are no cost surprises, and the resulting system meets the high standards Citrix maintains for all of its virtualization and cloud infrastructure products.

100 concurrent users on VMware vSphereSoftware Unit Price Line TotalVDI-in-a-Box licenses $160 $16,000

VDI-in-a-Box support $35 $3,500

Hypervisor (vSphere) $65 $6,500

Microsoft VDA $100 $10,000

Servers (3) $5,000 $15,000

TOTAL $51,000

Per-user price $510

If using XenServer or Hyper-V hypervisors (no charge) the total price and price per user are:

TOTAL $44,500

Per-user price $445

No external license service is required.

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

Full Windows virtual desktops for less than the cost of PCsAs a complete desktop virtualization solution designed for business-critical use, VDI-in-a-Box delivers value across the full spectrum of priorities driving today’s virtualization initiatives, such as:

• Reducing management and maintenance costs for PCs, or eliminating them entirely

• Facilitating Windows 7 migration by eliminating the need to refresh existing PCs or upgrade their components

• Delivering data and applications on any device people choose to use

• Enhancing security

• Streamlining endpoint management

• Improving user experience by eliminating slow networks and improving performance

In addition to SMBs, VDI-in-a-Box is appropriate for small departments or business units within an enterprise, and for organizations of any kind, including educational institutions, public sector companies and state and local government agencies. In addition to a simple, low-cost entry point for desktop virtualization, VDI-in-a-Box offers a clear migration path for evolving implementations. VDI-in-a-Box licenses can be migrated to Citrix® XenDesktop® to support a greater variety of use cases through multiple desktop delivery models, such as hosted shared desktops and streamed virtual hard disk (VHD) desktops. The solution works seamlessly with additional products in the Citrix virtualization portfolio, including the Citrix Receiver™ universal client, Citrix® XenApp® application virtualization software, the NetScaler application delivery controller, Citrix Access Gateway™ secure remote access software and Citrix® ShareFile™ cloud-based storage, file sharing and collaboration.

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Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for SMBs White Paper

New features in VDI-in-a-Box 5.1 (available August 21, 2012)• Personalization

– Personal vDisks

• High availability, Performance and Scalability

– Grid-wide virtual IP address

– Active Directory failover

– Dual data stores

– Optimization for Google Earth

– Scaling certified to 2,000 desktops

• Ease of use, flexibility and compliance

– Touchless DT agent

– Fully specified computer names

– Active Directory search (for users and groups)

– Multiple virtual CPUs

– Separate user and computer domains

– NTP

– Syslog format

• Expanded support for Windows

– Windows 8 (experimental - RDP only)

– Windows Server 2008 R2 (RDP only)

– Windows Server 2012 R2 (experimental - RDP only)

– Remote Desktop Gateway

All at no additional charge! Still $160 per concurrent users; still less than $500 per desktop.

About CitrixCitrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the company transforming how people, businesses and IT work and collaborate in the cloud era. With market-leading cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization technologies, Citrix powers mobile workstyles and cloud services, making complex enterprise IT simpler and more accessible for 260,000 enterprises. Citrix touches 75 percent of Internet users each day and partners with more than 10,000 companies in 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2011 was $2.21 billion. Learn more at www.citrix.com.

©2012 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix®, XenDesktop®, XenApp®, XenServer®, XenCenter®, NetScaler® ICA®, Citrix Ready®, VDI-in-a-Box™, Citrix Access Gateway™, Citrix Receiver™, HDX™, ShareFile™ and VPX™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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ConclusionVDI-in-a-Box is an all-in-one solution for desktop virtualization that costs less than new PCs. It provides key benefits:

• Simplicity: VDI-in-a-Box can be deployed easily by importing it onto a standard server, loading your image, configuring desktop templates and configuring users—all in less than one hour. People can log in easily from more than one billion devices to find their virtual desktop ready for use. Management is simplified through the included vdiManager, a centralized point-and-click, web-based management console. A patent-pending grid architecture enables scalability by simply adding more servers.

• Flexibility: VDI-in-a-Box allows companies to repurpose existing PCs and servers until they fail or there is budget to replace them. The addition of the Citrix Receiver universal client to an existing PC will enable it to run any Windows applications—most likely faster than before—delaying the need for endpoint replacement. Any server that meets VDI-in-a-Box requirements can be added to the grid, and need not match in size or brand. VDI-in-a-Box will automatically load balance according to the capacities and performance of the individual servers.

• Affordability: VDI-in-a-Box lets you start with as few as 10 licenses and grow the system as requirements dictate, with no need to re-architect or reconfigure.

ResourcesTo explore the benefits of VDI-in-a-Box for your organization, simply download a trial version of the software or have your reseller set you up with a test account on the Citrix Virtual Computing Demo Center.

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