Fusion-io unveils ioVDI software to speed deployment of VMware Horizon

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Fusion-io announced the availability of Fusion ioVDI software for VMware Horizon View hosted virtual desktop environments.

Fusion ioVDI software speeds the deployment of VMware Horizon View virtual desktops by intelligently combining the stateless cost economics of server flash performance with the manageability benefits of installed shared storage required for persistent desktops.

"We're committed to bringing a great user experience to our increasingly mobile workforce," said Paul Tradewell, senior systems engineer at National Marrow Donor Program. "Fusion ioVDI helped us solve this challenge with its cost-effective server-side approach that worked with our existing storage in a solution that our desktop team could manage."

Fusion ioVDI software is a virtual desktop solution that offers Write Vectoring, a patent-pending technology that monitors and directs session-based desktop writes uniquely to server-side flash. By limiting shared storage interaction to the small number of writes that persist between login sessions, Write Vectoring preserves the use of VMware value-added features such as vMotion, HA, DRS, and SRM that require shared storage while substantially reducing SAN or NAS performance dependencies.

"Many customers would prefer the performance and flexibility of persistent desktops if they could solve the cost and complexity involved with shared storage," said John Webster, senior partner at Evaluator Group. "The idea of viewing a desktop operating system as a unique application opens up some intriguing possibilities for supporting shared storage without being held hostage to it."

It also accelerates reboot times with a patent-pending technology called Transparent File Sharing, which allows many hosted virtual desktops to simultaneously share common files.

As VMware Horizon View Storage Accelerator can use up to 2GB of RAM, Transparent File Sharing optimizes performance by rapidly sharing common files throughout the VDI infrastructure. Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) testing of ioVDI found that caching further offloads shared storage by up to 87 percent so that VDI success no longer requires expensive storage or network upgrades.