By Sachin Sharma, Product Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware
and Dinesh Singh, Solutions Marketing Manager, Hitachi Data Systems
The advent of bring your own device (BYOD) and bring your own PC (BYOPC) has pushed organizations worldwide to seriously consider centralized endpoint management. IT teams have realized that managing end-user devices is quite different from operating enterprise servers due to unpredictable users and predictable servers. Any performance degradation or downtime during OS migrations or patch updates could have serious consequences for the business. The situation worsens if user devices are lost and user environments cannot be restored. VMware Mirage beautifully integrates critical end-user management abilities with the customer’s existing IT environment. Mirage enhances IT efficiency by improving end-user productivity and simplifying desktop management while maintaining a consistent user experience. Mirage offers single image management and disaster recovery of user devices for any unforeseeable service disruptions e.g. theft, data loss, physical damage etc. Another benefit with Mirage is the centralized management and migration of laptops/desktops to latest versions of Microsoft Desktop OS. End users benefit by getting native performance, consistent personalization, flexibility in operations, and continuous ability to perform business operations.
With all these benefits also comes the task of managing backend IT infrastructure including storage platforms, which would host the images of your burgeoning employee base and provide consistent data throughput to employee endpoints. The choice of storage deployment could potentially be a dealmaker or deal breaker in maximizing the possibility of realizing full benefits of centralized desktop management. The purpose of deploying Mirage is not fully served if slow data backup and slow restore result in user frustration and not meeting user expectations on recovery options. A storage array that cannot deliver performance in a sustained sequential write-heavy Mirage environment could have negative consequences for both IT and the end-user.
Our storage partner, Hitachi Data Systems, offers storage solutions to complement Mirage in delivering simplified, automated and efficient centralized end-point backup environment. Hitachi Unified Storage with NAS Platform 4000 series performs at the required high throughput and performance levels. The icing on the cake is lower total cost of ownership due to lower migration costs and non-disruptive technology refresh. What it means for IT teams is worry-free infrastructure that fits IT budgets while keeping end users happy with easy OS migration, secured end points, and the flexibility of working from any locations they wish to work from. Hitachi NAS solutions for Mirage delivers :
- Proven performance for heavy IOPs requirement for peak and steady state
- Proven scalability to meet business growth, for Mirage based workloads
- Proven lower cost of ownership
A large telecommunications software company that VMware and Hitachi worked with decided to replace existing storage arrays with Hitachi NAS platform cluster (HNAS) to support its Mirage deployment to manage its rapidly growing mobile workforce. Hitachi and VMware enabled this company to deliver flexibility and mobility to its employees without worrying about performance challenges, future scalability or migration costs.
What has been your experience?
To learn more on how to have simplified and cost efficient centralized end-point infrastructure, attend VMware/Hitachi Data Systems sessions in booth # 905 @VMworld 2014. See you next week!
