Citrix, Dell Shake Up Virtualization with VDI Appliance

Imagine a box, preconfigured and preset to automatically boot, serve and provision a complete virtualized desktop infrastructure. Sound good to you? Then, good news! Dell and Citrix have created it. Introducing the Dell DVS Simplified solution with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box technology. Could it be the future of virtualization deployment as we know it?

Citrix and Dell wanted to make virtual desktops “as simple as assembling building blocks,” so they built the Dell DVS Simplified VDI appliance, all from off-the-shelf Dell server parts. Just drop it into your data center, and you’re essentially off the to races with a scalable, “easily consumable” virtualization solution designed to be both friendly for Citrix and Dell partners, in addition to the IT staff tasked with maintaining the appliance.

Dell, which has been focusing continually on the enterprise, believes the new solution is perfect for a business that has been aching to expand its internal infrastructure with virtualization but lacks an easy way to do so. Dell promises the combination of Citrix technology and Dell hardware can make the virtualization appliance nearly hands-off.  If you want to increase the VM capacity, just drop in a few more Dell servers. As a bonus, the appliance and VMs are certified Citrix Ready, allowing for easy interoperability with other Citrix Ready technologies such as Citrix Receiver. This appliance now has the potential to bring mobility to the masses in a more streamlined way.

But how does it all actually work? It’s shockingly simple and, frankly, brilliant: According to Dell,  a user (or partner) picks a server specification that conforms to the number of virtual desktops needed. When the box arrives preconfigured from Dell, it’s literally plug-and-play, which is especially attractive to VARs and customers looking to reduce the complexity of selling and deploying the virtualization technology.

Partners ready to sell the solution as part of their portfolio can take a self-paced, four-hour technical training curriculum for VDI-in-a-Box, available free to qualified partners, according to Dell. VARs then will be officially certified in all the intricacies of installing the new appliance. And when it comes to the channel, the amount of partner participation is directly related to the simplicity of the program, so if anything, Dell and Citrix nailed that one on the head.

We’ll keep track of the Dell DVS Simplified VDI appliance and see how quickly it pops up in data centers and partner portfolios.