VDI - Health Information Technology - Michigan State University

Introducing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Starting in the summer of 2011, MSU Health Information Technology (HIT) will begin Phase III of a project to move the “brains” of our computing infrastructure off of the desktop and into the datacenter.  The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) project will transform most of the existing desktop PCs in our academic and clinical environments into simple high tech terminals with high speed connections to central “super servers”.

Thanks to some very hard work and amazing dedication from our staff, Phase I of the project has already been completed.  This took place entirely on the backend, upgrading our connection to the campus backbone to 10gb all the way thru our datacenter and upgrading network components along the way.  Phase II involves standing up our new server cluster and large SAN (storage area network) to power our new environment.  Additionally this phase will feature us reducing our overall server count by 75%.  This reduction will lower power consumption, dramatically decrease maintenance and replacement cost, and lead to more reliable network services for you the user.

Up to this point, the improvements have been made behind the scenes.  But Phase III will expand VDI technology to include desktop PCs, providing a virtual desktop for more than 1,700 desktops on the HIT network.  Of course, the success of this process will ultimately be determined by our users.  As such, we want to ensure that all of our users are 100% in the loop.  We understand how important your work is and will do everything in our power to make the transition as easy and pain-free as possible.  We want to answer all of your questions and hopefully alleviate any concerns you may have.    

What is VDI?

Imagine having access to your work computer desktop from any other computer or tablet with an internet connection, and having it function exactly as if you were sitting at your office desk.  Imagine delivering a new virtual computer, new operating system or new application overnight to your entire department – with no service interruptions or waiting for installations to complete. It can happen with VDI.

Traditionally, a PC runs its operating system and applications locally, doing all the work itself.  The PC or laptop on your desk right now functions in this way.  The concept worked well but was very labor intensive to support and brought many new challenges to light. Today, advancements in both hardware and software have provided us a better way to do things, overcoming many of the old problems faced by users and greatly streamlining service workflow.  We accomplish this by running many “virtual” PCs on one large server.  Essentially, we move the operating system from under your desk to a central “super server”.  Some of the many advantages of this setup include:

What Does this Mean for You?

As a user, the transition to virtualization will be seamless, and your day to day experience will remain practically unchanged.  You will retain the same familiar Windows experience that you are accustomed to, and will be able to  work with all the same applications that you have always used, such as Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, SPSS, etc.  On older machines, applications may even run faster than before.  Internet access will be available just as it is now, as will printing and dual monitors.

There will be special cases – such as in clinical environments where securing patient information is our top priority – where some adjustments will be necessary (see below*).  But for the vast majority of users, your computing experience will not change much.

Some of the most noticeable benefits for you are:

Remote access to your desktop
Enjoy the flexibility of complete computing mobility.  Working on something and need to continue at home or at a coffee shop?  There is no need to email it to yourself or copy it onto a flash drive.  Simply log in to VDI and pick up where you left off.

Instant desktop recovery  
Unlike now, in the unlikely event that connection is lost to the virtual server while working on your computer, simply log back on and continue your work with no loss of data.

Less downtime
The desktops will be hosted on our servers in the MSU HIT Datacenter, a secure and redundantly powered facility. Every server in the cluster has redundant hard drives, redundant power, and redundant network connections. If we need to take a server offline for maintenance or upgrades, the desktops being processed by that server will automatically be migrated to another server and the user will not experience any interruption in service at all. You get to keep on working while we make repairs.

The latest software, with no waiting
Currently, if there are software updates required for a machine, the user has to wait for the deployment process to complete before logging into the computer.  With VDI, all updates are done in the background, in the datacenter, before a user logs in.

Faster fixes
With VDI, if a workstation stops functioning we can replace and reconfigure the system in as little as 15 minutes. This means greater up-time for your computer and greater productivity for you.  Of course, hardware problems may still take a little time to fix and obtain parts.

Clean, functional images
As we all know, on occasion applications or the operating system can stop functioning.  This can be extremely frustrating for you, especially if it prevents you from doing your job. With VDI, PC’s are refreshed in the datacenter more frequently, so you will experience such problems far less often.

More robust security
These days security is an ever increasing concern for all computer users.  In recent years, HIT has responded to hundreds of calls regarding viruses, malware, and other intrusions.  VDI greatly enhances our network security.  While VDI won’t completely protect you from getting viruses, the viruses will be contained and cleaned quite easily and quickly.

* Notes Specific to Clinic Users

Centricity EMR and Centricity Business applications will be accessed the same way, with functionality remaining constant.

For security reasons, USB ports will be closed off from portable storage and software cannot be installed on any PC without assistance from HIT.  

* Notes Specific to Academic and Administrative Users

Since all data will now be stored on virtual servers, you will need to move all your personal and work files to a “shared drive” (with the exception of the operating system and applications).  HIT technicians will be happy to assist in this.  We suggest you start by checking your C drive for information you wish to keep and moving it to your P drive.  Shared drives will be accessed the same way they are now.  

USB ports will not be closed off or disabled by default, unless specific needs indicate.  For security reasons, software cannot be installed on any PC without assistance from HIT.

The Power of VDI

Today’s desktop computers use only a fraction of their computing power.  It does not make sense to run 50 computers, each utilizing only 10% of its capabilities.  It is far more economical to run one high-performance computer utilizing 70% of its resources.   This is especially true when we consider that those  50 computers may actually run faster that way.

Investments in security and reliability for a few centrally located high-performance servers  pay off in lower utility bills and less downtime.

For the clinician, VDI provides peace of mind. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules don't specify which devices or technologies can access sensitive patient data.  They simply require that the data itself be secured, and when shared, it must be over an encrypted connection. VDI inherently meets both requirements, regardless of the device the VDI session is accessed on.  Moreover, healthcare and education are sectors notorious for running legacy applications.  For example, Windows 7 64-bit can't run 16-bit applications.  VDI is ideal when there are specialized applications that must be supported which can't natively run on a 64-bit OS.  

HIT is very happy  to be able to provide our users with a more flexible, more productive, more reliable, more cost effective, safer, and greener way to compute.  This is the future of desktop computing, and we are proud to lead the way.


Rollout Schedule

When will you recieve your virtual desktop?  Our rollout schedule is available here.  Dates are subject to change.