System Requirements for MED-V v1 SP2

• Server O/S:

·        Management Server

•       Operating system: Windows Server 2008 or 2008R2 Standard/Enterprise Edition x86 & 64-bit
•       Recommended hardware: Dual Processor (2.8 GHz), 4GB RAM
•       Active-directory: Management server should be joined to a domain
•       Scale: The setup above was tested with 5000 concurrent active clients. Other setups can scale to support larger number of users.

·       Additional Server Components

•       Image repository: Web server(s) based on Microsoft IIS
•       Reporting database (optional): Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2 Enterprise Edition SP2 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express/Standard/Enterprise editions

• Client O/S:

·        Operating system:

•       Windows 7 (Enterprise, Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate)— 32 & 64-bit (2GB RAM Recommended)
•       Windows Vista® SP1 (Enterprise, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate) or (2GB RAM Recommended)
•       Windows XP SP2 or SP3 (Professional, Home)—32bit (1GB RAM Recommended)

·         Virtual PC: Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 with KB958162 (or newer) is required

•       Guest Operating System

1.      Windows XP SP2 or SP3—32bit
2.      Windows 2000 SP4—32bit 

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High-level Architecture

(1) Administrator-defined "master" virtual machine  - encapsulates a full desktop environment: an OS, applications and optional management and security tools.

(2) Image Repository  - stores all virtual images on a standard IIS server and enables virtual images version management, client-authenticated image retrieval, and efficient download (of a new image or an updates) via Trim Transfer technology.

(3) Management Server  - associates virtual images from the image repository along with administrator usage policies to Microsoft Active Directory users or groups. The Management Server also aggregates clients' events, and stores them in an external database (MS SQL) for monitoring and reporting purposes.

(4) A unified Management Console  - enables administrators to control the Management Server and the Image Repository.

(5) End-user Client

a.    Virtual image life-cycle – Authentication, image retrieval, enforcement of usage policies.

b.    Virtual machine session management - Background start, stop, suspend of the virtual machine.

c.    Single desktop experience - Seamlessly make the applications installed in the virtual machine available through the standard desktop Start menu, and integrate the applications with other applications on the user desktop.

All communication between the client and the servers (Management Server and Image Repository) is carried on top of a standard HTTPs channel.

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Introduction to Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) enhances deployment and management of Virtual PC images on a Windows Desktop, while also providing a seamless user experience of a Virtual PC environment, independent of the local desktop configuration and operating system (OS).

MED-V leverages Microsoft Virtual PC to provide an enterprise solution for desktop virtualization.With MED-V, you can easily create, deliver and manage corporate Virtual PC
images on any Windows desktop.

Incompatibility of legacy applications with the new version of Microsoft Windows can often delay enterprise upgrades to the latest version of Windows. Testing and migrating applications can take a while, and users are unable to take advantage of the new capabilities and enhancements offered by the new OS.

Enable legacy applications and accelerate upgrades to new operating systems

By delivering applications in a Virtual PC that runs a previous version of the OS (e.g., Windows XP or Win 2000), MED-V removes the barriers to OS upgrades,and allows administrators to complete testing and to deal with incompatible applications after the upgrade

From the user’s perspective, these applications are accessible from the standard desktop Start menu and appear side-by-side with native applications – so there is minimal change to the user experience.

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