vdi requirements are confusing me

[Gonzouk]

Hello,

I've been using VMware ESX 4.1 (Datacentre) for over a year now and love it.  We have around 70 VM guests over 6 hosts and 6 SAN's.  I've been asked to look into VDI and have read that we almost should consider a new environment and with new hosts and SAN's depending on how many Windows 7 desktops we need.  I think it will eventually be around 500, but could start with just a pilot group, but the big questions are:

1.) Do we use ESX 4.1 like we currently do for the VM guest servers?

2.) Do we still use Vcentre to manage the hosts?

3.) What is VMview and View Manager, is it like the Vcenter I use for the Hosts and VM guests?

Thanks

[uday_s]

1.) Do we use ESX 4.1 like we currently do for the VM guest servers?

Ans: Yes.

2.) Do we still use Vcentre to manage the hosts?

Ans: Yes. You still need vCenter to manage your hosts.

3.) What is VMview and View Manager, is it like the Vcenter I use for the Hosts and VM guests?

Ans: VMware View is an enterprise‐class virtual desktop manager that securely connects authorized users to centralized virtual desktops. It enables system administrators to rapidly provision desktops and control user access. For more details refer http://www.vmware.com/pdf/viewmanager_intro.pdf