Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) - Enhancing deployment and management for Virtual PCs in enterprise environments

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) provides deployment and management of virtual Windows desktops to enable key enterprise scenarios. MED-V 1.0 helps enterprises upgrade to the latest version of Windows even when some applications are not yet compatible.

MED-V builds on top of Microsoft Virtual PC to run two operating systems on one device, adding virtual image delivery, policy-based provisioning and centralized management.

The challenge of legacy applications

Incompatibility of legacy applications with newer versions of Microsoft Windows can often delay enterprise upgrades to the latest version of Windows. Testing and migrating applications can be time consuming, and meanwhile users are unable to take advantage of the new capabilities and enhancements offered by the new OS. By delivering applications in a Virtual PC that runs a previous version of the OS (e.g., Windows XP or Windows 2000), administrators can remove the barriers to OS upgrades.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization: Advantages

• Centrally create, deploy, and update virtual PC images throughout the enterprise 
• Provision virtual images and user policies according to business affiliation and requirements
• Accelerate the upgrade path to new Desktop OS-legacy applications continue to run in a virtual environment with a previous OS version
• Simplify IT integration of new subsidiaries by running two IT environments concurrently (i.e. the corporate one and the acquired company's one)

MDOP 101 – What’s so great about the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack?

Posted on January 7, 2009 by Jeff Shemet

If you haven’t already heard of it, you will: The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, or MDOP for short, is an add-on subscription for customers with Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) coverage for their Windows desktops.

There’s a lot of great stuff in MDOP, but the error/diagnostics/recovery and application virtualization tools really caught our experts eyes.  

ROI Example - Decreased PC Sick Days with MDOP

We’ve all had the experience of encountering a PC that is either failing, generating an error (or the dreaded “unknown error” – my personal favorite!), or, if you’re having a really super day, won’t even boot.

System Center Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) is one of the unsung heroes of MDOP. It provides an insight into application and operating systems issues. 

You know the routine: many times if a PC “hangs” or at least stops responding, your users will merely turn the power off and re-boot the machine. Problem solved for today, but what about tomorrow? Will this error happen again? Will this error spread and begin to affect your other users? Will your users throw up their hands and say ”Nothing Changed! I Swear!” or “I don’t know why it’s hanging! But I just flip the power switch and it works again!”

Enter System Center Desktop Error Monitoring.

DEM provides an agentless way to track these events, identify their frequency, and provide crash details and automated responses to a centralized console that you control. This gives you a better clue as to what’s been going on and where to look in the PC, without relying on silent or unreliable user reports.

Having this head-start is so much better than just a short time ago (perhaps last week for some of you?) when you needed to look at everything on a sick PC just to try to figure out where to start diagnosing the real problem. Seriously: I’m sure you can imagine how the time savings from not having to do this is worth it. On top of this, DEM arms you with the tools to forecast problems down the road, and gives you the chance to take corrective steps before things get out of hand.

BUT: what if you’ve got a PC that is totally busted? DEM can tell you about it but it seems quite certain that once you know about it, you’ll be expected to do something about it. Well, MDOP’s got some IT Admin love for that too: a Swiss Army toolkit to allow you to resurrect dead PCs and pro-actively manage PC failures leading to better stability and reduced downtime.

The Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) can help you save time and reduce the challenges associated with troubleshooting and repairing system failures. The challenges include unusable PCs, issue diagnosis, and repairing unbootable or locked-out systems.

The toolset provides options for recovery, even when Windows Safe Mode or normal boot will not function. That’s a big benefit right there since you now have a better chance of not needing to reload or re-image the entire PC!

DaRT’s off-line boot environment helps you quickly restart computers, recover deleted files, remove malware whilst the computer is off-line and therefore protect the other computers on the network. Your desktop technicians will thank you if they have this tied to their utility belt.

Other coolness: DaRT’s ERD Commander boots PCs into a windows-like repair environment. Crash Analyzer determines the most likely cause of a crash. System Restore lets you safely remove changes that could be causing the system to malfunction. Taken together, this toolset allows you to work more quickly to minimize downtime due to lost productivity thus reducing associated support costs. Copy and paste that last sentence: your boss is going to love it.

Real quick: if you’re an SA customer with Microsoft, and are managing PCs, you are going to really want to get your hands on MDOP. It’s a great suite of products that we’re really excited about here on the team, as we’ve seen our customers’ real-world solutions reduce costs and downtime as well as increase productivity not only of information workers, but of over-taxed IT staff.