AgnosticAdvice

has anyone seen this in action and how does it perform?

Costs? Do you have; switches, servers, storage and network available for the DC side of things? What are you planning for the desktop clients, old kit or new clients? In short if you have all the infrastructure in place and this will not need upgrading for say at least four years then look at VDI in a box for basic desktops and cheap licensing. The variables are considerable and you need to consider refresh cycles, maintenance, management time, power, etc to get the real OPEX and ROI figures.

It all depends on what you have and where you want to be

£283.48....WOW time to get the CC out

Very useful thanks

We got it working fine with the above

A tad extreme don't you think?

Can't dirnk instant...fresh beans all the way.

Assessment is the key to a successful deployment of any VDI solution. Both have good and bad points and with VMware View5 due out very shortly the comparison is going to be even harder. The necessity to get proper metrics on your environment can not be stressed enough. Before you even consider a POC invest in a good assessment tool. Understand fully how your desktops are being used and pick the right mix of candidates for a POC if the metrics prove that VDI is a viable option. Then engage a partner who has a good record of delivering both platforms (check with the colleges they've deployed to) and then and only then will you be able to judge your requirements and see which if View or Xen meets those and go ahead with a POC to decide if it does. Good Luck.