Today at Cisco Live, Cisco's annual IT and communications conference, VCE announced new features for its solutions enabling simple and rapid deployment of thousands of centrally managed, secure VMware virtual desktops on VCE Vblock Systems. Virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI) allow users to securely access their desktops, including enterprise applications, from anywhere using smartphones, tablets and other devices.

Vblock systems are optimized for VMware View, bringing together leading technologies from Cisco, EMC and VMware into a single intelligent converged infrastructure system with seamless support. The VCE Vblock FastPath Desktop Virtualization Platform is a complete integrated desktop virtualization solution that automates VDI deployments, simplifies management and lowers costs.

FastPath allows IT administrators to deploy and decommission virtual desktops in minutes, easily accommodate unplanned events such as spikes and boot storms to ensure a consistent high performance, and centrally enforce VMware View best practices for improved security and management.

New FastPath features include:

• A new entry point with additional support for Vblock Series 300 Systems, providing more flexibility for VDI implementations. A single Vblock Series 300 system can support up to 5,000 virtual desktops.
• Simplified IT manageability and control with support for VMware View 5, which provides a high fidelity desktop virtualization experience regardless of LAN or WAN connections. Centralized, automated desktop management provided by VMware View 5 enables the scalable management of tens of thousands of virtual desktops through a single console. VMware View reduces operational costs by as much as 50 percent while increasing availability, reliability and security levels far beyond levels of traditional PCs.
• More VDI flexibility with support for multiple "pools" of virtual machines in a single Vblock system. The "pools" are groups of virtual machines with similar characteristics or policies that can be dynamically expanded or contracted as business requirements dictate.
• Simplified scalability with a new licensing wizard that simplifies and automates the process of adding VMware View virtual desktop appliances.

For healthcare organizations, the VMware AlwaysOn Point of Care solution, offered by VCE on Vblock systems, is a high availability desktop virtualization solution designed for the unique needs of medical professionals.

New VCE features include:

• Increased high availability capabilities with the integration of Cisco load balancing appliances, which automatically routes requests to a server in a Vblock system to the one that is able to most rapidly serve the request. This further enables uninterrupted secure access to clinical desktops and Electronic Medical Record applications.

Supporting Quotes

Laura Mattingly, manager of client support services, Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities

"We are deploying a virtual desktop infrastructure on two Vblock Systems to support a more mobile workforce and computing environment. Following a yearlong pilot project, we have moved into production and are very pleased with the high levels of performance we're seeing with the Vblock systems. This VDI environment enables our employees to provide our customers with the highest levels of service and responsiveness."

Todd Pavone, executive vice president, VCE

"VCE has simplified the task of choosing the right combination of IT resources for a virtual desktop infrastructure. With FastPath, the entire virtual desktop infrastructure is ready to run, with nothing else to buy. Deployment times go from days to minutes and the new capabilities we're introducing make it even easier to enable users to access their desktops, including enterprise applications, anywhere, from any device."