On Jul 11, 2011, at 11:21 AM, Madrigal, Juan A wrote:

> Its true what they say, history does repeat itself! I don't see how
> virtualization is much different from
> a dummy terminal connected to a mainframe. I'd hate to see an entire
> computer lab go down should the network fail.
> 
> The only real promise is for making web development and server management
> easier.

re: web development

I assume by that you're talking about cases like Citrix, where they
force you to come in from the same OS & web browser version, so
they don't have to worry about Firefox rendering differently from
Safari, or the IE6 vs. 7, etc.

It's okay for an intranet, but I don't know that it's a good idea for
general web usage, as they normally force people to use some
outdated browser, as the web applications always seem to be
designed for IE6, and never tested on anything else.

(if they were, they then try to serve down alternative versions
using browser detection, which in my experience is more likely
to make things worse)


...

The only reason I've heard to virtualize desktops wasn't for
monetary considerations, and wasn't for general word processing
and such ...

it was for workstations for scientific processing.  By using virtualized
servers, you can more easily take snapshots of the machine's state
to archive it, and later restore it to re-run the software.  This gives you
two advantages:

	(1) reduced down-time for patching / upgrading software -- you
		patch the image, then push the image into the processing
		pipeline.

	(2) Because you've archived the OS, libraries and all software,
		you have something you can analyze should someone
		identify problems with the data processing such as
		discontinuities after an update.

I could see the first one being useful for most groups, but with
tools like puppet and chef, it might not be a big deal. 

I can't remember what the software was that the university I
formerly worked for used in their computer labs -- it basically reset
the machine on each login, in hopes to prevent someone from
installing malware (intentionally or accidentally) that would then
affect later users.   And then once a week each lab was closed
down so they could do a complete re-format and re-image of
each machine ... you might be able to do something similar
with virtual desktops.

-Joe