DevonIT VDI Blaster?

arwes

Are any of you using the DevonIT stuff? I came across them yesterday, as we're working up our 2012 IT budget. It's been made clear to our board that we've gone about as far as we can go with some of our equipment. I proposed an idea to my boss earlier that we load up VDI Blaster on our machines that don't have hardware issues, and replace our GX270's (they all got new "fixed" motherboards in 2006, but still end up with leaking/bulging capacitors) with DevonIT thin client hardware. We use RDP for a remote office, and a few employees that work from home. We'll probably stick with that unless we come across something that absolutely will not work right with 2008 R2, in which case we'll look at VDI in a Box from Citrix.

Edit: Just found one problem with it. Apparently dual monitors is only supported with their thin client hardware, not the VDI Blaster software.

Edit #2: Looks like Wyse PC Extender offers the same functionality AND dual monitor support, for about $5 more. Shame that Wyse has an absolutely horrible website though LOL. You shouldn't have to go to other websites to find out more info about your product.

elTorito

We're currently transitioning to a VDI infrastructure. In the planning stages of this project, we've considered using DevonIT software to repurpose our old desktops, but I ended up building our own thin client OS based on Windows Embedded and VMware View. Going this route, we didn't have to pay a dime, since our Volume Licensing deal with Microsoft included unlimited use of Windows Embedded.

The latest version of Windows Embedded is well-suited for this purpose, as it has native support for the latest protocols such as RDP7 and PCOIP.

How many desktops are we talking about here? DevonIT says on their website they're charging 30 bucks per PC. Might you be able to save money by developing your own thin client image? If you have a Volume Licensing deal with MS, call them up and see if your Software Assurance has any extra benefits.