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Virtual Desktops (VDI) on an Airplane

Yury Magalif

Testing out VDI on an airplane.

 

Recently, while flying on United Airlines I noticed the WiFi sign on the seat in front. I never used WiFi on planes before, so I thought it would be expensive. Imagine my surprise when it was only $8.99. It was probably cheap to compensate the absence of TV displays.

I immediately thought of our CDI Virtual Desktop (VDI) lab in Teterboro, NJ (USA). Would the Virtual Desktop even be usable? How will video run? I connected immediately, started recording my screen and opened my Virtual Desktop. It worked! Everything except video worked well.

My idea came because of Michael Webster, who has already tried doing this and wrote about it. I also wanted to do it in the Gunnar Berger style of protocol comparison. So, for your viewing pleasure — Virtual Desktops (VDI) on an Airplane.

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Description:

This video is a demonstration of the Virtual Desktop (VDI) technology, located at CDI in Teterboro, NJ (USA) being accessed from an airplane 34,000 feet (10 km) high. Virtual Desktops allow you to use your Windows desktop from anywhere — even on satellite based WiFi. You will see PCoIP and HTML5 tests, Microsoft Word, HD video, YouTube video and vSphere client utilization.

Demonstration: Yury Magalif.
Lab Build: Chris Ruotolo.
Date: June 7, 2014
Connecting From: Random clouds above Missouri, USA

Equipment and Software used:

VMware View 5.3.
VMware vSphere 5.5.
Cisco C-series servers.
EMC XtremIO all flash storage array.
10Zig Apex 2800 PCoIP acceleration card with a Teradici chip.

Inspired by:

Michael Webster’s blog article: View Here

Gunnar Berger’s low-latency VDI comparison video: View Here

Yury Magalif

Yury Magalif, Chief Architect Managed Services Cloud Computing, CDI

Yury Magalif lives and breathes the latest End-User Computing (EUC), Desktop Virtualization (VDI), Cloud, Storage and Data Center technologies. He’s managed teams that have designed and implemented virtual infrastructure for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies such as Walt Disney and Bank of America, to government entities like the New Jersey Department of Transportation and Columbia University. Yury is a frequent speaker and presenter at industry events, where his lectures are in the top 10 by attendance and score above 90 percent in satisfaction rate. As practice manager, End-User Computing (EUC) and Microsoft, at Computer Design & Integration LLC, Yury holds certificates from Cisco, VMware, Microsoft, EMC, HP and various other manufacturers.