Abstract

Citrix Systems, Inc. — along with help from IBM and VMware, Inc. — commissioned The Tolly Group in June 2006 to conduct a comprehensive hands-on evaluation of a desktop virtualization environment combining solutions from Citrix, ESX Server software from VMware, Inc. and IBM System X and BladeCenter servers.

Tolly Group engineers examined a variety of capabilities delivered by the Citrix Access Suite when used in a desktop virtualization solution. The tested solution included IBM blade servers and VMware virtualization; providing virtualized Windows XP "desktops" that could be accessed via remote desktop applications running on the Citrix Presentation Server.

Tests focused on scalability, performance, and feature/functionality capabilities. Specifically, The Tolly Group focused on determining how many simultaneous remote control sessions could be supported by the "broker" machine. In addition, The Tolly Group performed functional testing aimed at assessing the solution's suitability for a remote deployment model. The report is informed reading for any company considering server virtualization.