How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?
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At the request of another user, I'm going to try this again. With a couple of pre-discussion statements.
We have been doing TS for decades. We have been VMimg Servers for years. We are now beginning to move TS customers to Windows 10 Pro hosted by Hyper-V.
This question has nothing to do with the design or deployment of a VDI solution.
When you deliver a physical demo of VDI to your customer or potential customer, who has absolutely no idea what the words Virtual, VDI, VM, Hyper-V, ESX, VMware, or any other word you are thinking of right now, mean..... What is your model?
What is your existing physical on site demo unit look like? What does it connect to?
The physical onsite demo for the customer cannot be a PC or anything that any normal end user would think is a pc.
It cannot be a laptop, or chrome book, or tablet, or ipad.
It must support 2 or more 23" LCD displays.
It must support a local printer, a local barcode reader, a local Driver License reader/scanner, a local utility meter reader, and an electronic signature pad.
The physical onsite demo for the customer must connect to local LAN resources for proof of concept.In the final solution, there will NEVER be a cloud based solution for the customer, all connections and data must remain on site.
I don't give two hoots about your ideas on how to design or deploy a VM or VDI (call it whatever you like) environment. I only care about what you carry into a customer site to provide a demo of what will be at the users desk after their current PC goes in the dumpster.
You see, if you don't carry hardware into the customer site and set it up to show them, (because they have no idea what you are talking about), you may not have anything to add here...... and that's okay.
I am looking forward to comments from folks who provide this kind of a demo for their customers.
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In this case, I would put a Intel NUC on the back of a monitor with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Have it boot into Kiosk mode with a VDI connection client. From there that would connect to whatever VDI environment you have. Where the user would then login.
Having this work as an on-site demo I'm not sure how that would be facilitated.
Since all hardware is going away, you're going to need to replace it with something, to facilitate the connection from the users workstation to your VDI environment.
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This could also be done with a Tablet and some software on that tablet. In this case though you'd need a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
All of the printers, scanners, network shares, etc etc would all be hosted from the VDI environment that the client logs into.
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@DustinB3403 said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
This could also be done with a Tablet and some software on that tablet. In this case though you'd need a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
All of the printers, scanners, network shares, etc etc would all be hosted from the VDI environment that the client logs into.
All those examples look like a computer to the end user, though. Can you do it? Yes, but it doesn't meet the goals here of making it clear to the client / end user that it is something unique and doesn't require a traditional computer to function.
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I have taken my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 before and logged into a desktop from the tablet. A few people have been impressed by that. Light to carry to a meeting and can use in the meeting as well. I always have a company background with logo on the desktop just to make it visually appealing as well.
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@DustinB3403 said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
All of the printers, scanners, network shares, etc etc would all be hosted from the VDI environment that the client logs into.
No they wouldn't. That is not how any of this works.
As stated, if you don't have something specific to add STFU, and spew in the other thread.
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@JasGot You build a cart with WTF ever solution you use (Wyse or whatever) with one of all the things hooked up to it.
There is really nothing to discuss. You have very specifc requirements. That means you have very specific hardware choices. So just build a kit. zip tie the fuck out of everything and walk in the door.
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@StuartJordan said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
I have taken my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 before and logged into a desktop from the tablet. A few people have been impressed by that. Light to carry to a meeting and can use in the meeting as well. I always have a company background with logo on the desktop just to make it visually appealing as well.
Specifically what was excluded.
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@JaredBusch said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
@DustinB3403 said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
All of the printers, scanners, network shares, etc etc would all be hosted from the VDI environment that the client logs into.
No they wouldn't. That is not how any of this works.
As stated, if you don't have something specific to add STFU, and spew in the other thread.
Yes they would or could. All end user equipment is being tossed.
What is wanted on the user desk is something that doesn't look like a computer.
Also, go fuck yourself you prick.
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@DustinB3403 No. He clearly stated.....
@JasGot said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
It must support 2 or more 23" LCD displays.
It must support a local printer, a local barcode reader, a local Driver License reader/scanner, a local utility meter reader, and an electronic signature pad.
The physical onsite demo for the customer must connect to local LAN resources for proof of concept.Nothing stated here is not on site
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@JaredBusch said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
@StuartJordan said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
I have taken my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 before and logged into a desktop from the tablet. A few people have been impressed by that. Light to carry to a meeting and can use in the meeting as well. I always have a company background with logo on the desktop just to make it visually appealing as well.
Specifically what was excluded.
True, but not much left to choose from:
"The physical onsite demo for the customer cannot be a PC or anything that any normal end user would think is a pc.
It cannot be a laptop, or chrome book, or tablet, or ipad."So you would need a screen to plug this device into? are you going to carry a screen round with you as well or expect the client to grab a screen for you? obviously only leaves thin clients, Intel Nuc and compute sticks.
I think the devices you mentioned above actually would be ideal to show the solution to the customer.
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@JasGot said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
The physical onsite demo for the customer cannot be a PC or anything that any normal end user would think is a pc.
It cannot be a laptop, or chrome book, or tablet, or ipad.
It must support 2 or more 23" LCD displays.
It must support a local printer, a local barcode reader, a local Driver License reader/scanner, a local utility meter reader, and an electronic signature pad.
The physical onsite demo for the customer must connect to local LAN resources for proof of concept.Why the need to keep it from looking like a computer? Computers literally come in all shapes and sizes today, so to say it can't look like one - well, you've likely already failed - unless you're going to have a plant sticking out the top of the box.
No laptop, chromebook, tablet or iPad... that leaves maybe the Chrome Box or NUC or any of the several thin clients out there today. It boils down to how you want to lock the end device down as well - do you want to use Google's tools, Windows/Linux (assuming NUC) or the thin client vendors? Your supported device requirements will obviously also limit what devices you can choose from.
Then there are the regulations - any you have to be certified for?
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@Dashrender said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
unless you're going to have a plant sticking out the top of the box.
hahahaha
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A Celeron based Intel NUC with two 24" monitors and a wireless keyboard and mouse has been our go to for quite a long time. An alternate is the Intel Compute Stick for single monitor setups. Both are Windows Pro based.
Since 2016 RD EasyPrint just works it's a pretty neat thing to walk in, set up, turn on, connect to a printer on-site, and fire a print job off in a few short minutes. That seems to transcend any need to discuss Geek Speak type stuff.
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I'd do a Kangaroo Pro and a USB hub if needed if I wanted to demo multi monitor with something that most people wouldn't think of as a computer.
I actually have a few of these floating around some Customer sites used as "thin clients". Caveat? No integrated speaker.
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If you have the resources you need to experiment with Single Boards Computers, some of them runs Windows like LitePanda, but expensive at 200$.
I think using SBC stronger than the Pi3 good be good start like ASUS TinkerBoard, and see how many addons and software you can shove in those boards, but you really need resources and time for this.
Other than that you can can get one of those commerical solutions like IGEL
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@manxam said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
I'd do a Kangaroo Pro and a USB hub if needed if I wanted to demo multi monitor with something that most people wouldn't think of as a computer.
I actually have a few of these floating around some Customer sites used as "thin clients". Caveat? No integrated speaker.
We've looked at Kangaroo as regular desktops. They'd be seen as every day style desktops around here.
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@scottalanmiller said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
@manxam said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
I'd do a Kangaroo Pro and a USB hub if needed if I wanted to demo multi monitor with something that most people wouldn't think of as a computer.
I actually have a few of these floating around some Customer sites used as "thin clients". Caveat? No integrated speaker.
We've looked at Kangaroo as regular desktops. They'd be seen as every day style desktops around here.
you work for an ITSP - so your user base is different. Normal users at first at least wouldn't consider this 'normal.' Though it could quickly become so.
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@Dashrender said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
@scottalanmiller said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
@manxam said in How do YOU provide a physical VDI demo?:
I'd do a Kangaroo Pro and a USB hub if needed if I wanted to demo multi monitor with something that most people wouldn't think of as a computer.
I actually have a few of these floating around some Customer sites used as "thin clients". Caveat? No integrated speaker.
We've looked at Kangaroo as regular desktops. They'd be seen as every day style desktops around here.
you work for an ITSP - so your user base is different. Normal users at first at least wouldn't consider this 'normal.' Though it could quickly become so.
What makes it different? ITSPs' customers are the same as any other. The "your customers are different" thing is never a viable way to excuse things. Everyone says that, but never considers how it applies in the real world. In this situation, an ITSP customer is identical to a non-ITSP customer, they are interchangeable by definition.
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I would argue that most people see the monitor as "the computer", at least the end users themselves. If the computer boots into something like windows, that is a PC regardless of it's physical form. People that do not understand what VDI actually is will assume that whatever physical box is plugged in is "the PC", they are just black boxes to them. How would they know the difference between a thick client box that boot into local windows 10, and a black box that boots straight into a windows 10 VDI? All the user can see is the physical appearance, and PC's come in all manner of physical appearances these days, thick and thin.
