Windows 7 Desktop Virtualization Demo for Public Access

Author: Mike Lovell
Date: February 18, 2010

Public access computer sites present a unique problem for desktop deployment. The computers are not expected to do much; they just need to get people on the internet and allow them to use some office applications. Essentially, these computers just have to work well. However, these sites are almost always underfunded and lack the staff to keep the computers running well.

For the desktop virtualizaton setup I recently built for the Nova Scotia Community Access Program (C@P), I went with a Linux-based terminal services setup. This solved many of the problems and ended up greatly improving the user experience. However, there is a problem with using Linux. Most people are only familiar with Windows and there are a lot of sites that require Windows software.

So, for my latest setup, I have taken the things I learned from developing the C@P's system and used it to build a Windows 7 Desktop Virtualization deployment system. I starting building this with a few goals in mind.

Goals:

• The easiest possible way to deploy Windows onto desktops. All I should have to do with the desktop computer is boot it from the network and it should automatically boot into Windows.
• The ability to use the same computers already located at the sites.
• Utilize free and open source software whenever possible.
• Keep the cost of the solution as cheap as possible.
• The ability to use one image for all desktops, but have the option to differentiate them.
• Make Active Directory (AD) logins possible (but not required). Some sites require this, but for many public access sites, this is unnecessary.
• Use as little server resources possible to keep servers inexpensive.

What I ended up with was a system that uses a Ubuntu-based Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) build that boots on each desktop computer, loads the client connection software, and logs the desktop into its own Windows 7 virtual machine.

Here is a video of it in action:

Advantages over traditional desktop deployment:

• Desktops can all run the latest version of Windows regardless of the specs or age of the computer. Sites can continue using their old computers.
• Desktop computers can be added to the network and running Windows much quicker and easier.
• Because the Windows desktops are virtual machines, they are easy to back-up or fix.
• This system can be built using free virtualization software.

There are also some advantages of this setup over a commercially available desktop virtualization environment (like VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, or Microsoft RDS). Some of those advantages are:

• Does not require extra servers for running connection or datacenter server software. This cuts down on the costs of server operating systems and extra hardware resources.
• Does not require a per client access cost for each desktop (which can be over $150 per desktop on commercial solutions).
• Does not require the site to use Active Directory (although AD is still an option); again cutting down on server software and hardware costs and making the setup less complicated for the administrator.

While commerically available products might work great in large scale deployments in bigger organizations, the extra features are not really worth the extra costs for public access sites.

For the system I have designed here, the only costs are the Windows licenses and the server hardware (which can be pretty inexpensive at this time). For an underfunded public access site, this equates to the cheapest and easiest way they can ensure all of their computers are running the latest software and providing a great user experience.

Additional Notes:

It is also good to note (and the video shows this) that if a desktop computer is set to boot from the network and it does not have a virtual machine assigned to it yet, it will simply boot to a full Ubuntu desktop from the LTSP. This is great for quickly adding a computer and making it useful immediately.

I mention Windows 7 a lot in this article, but it should be noted that this system is designed to work with any version of Windows.

While this is initially designed for public access sites, there is no reason why any organization or workplace couldn't use this system for Windows desktop deployment.

If you have any questions about this demo and/or you would like to see it in working, please feel free to contact me. Please check out our other articles for more information, like Advantages to Virtualized Desktops. Check out my blog for more info on this project and others.