The VMware Horizon Mirage Branch Office Reference Architecture detailed in this document is designed to solve two common challenges faced by IT managers today:
- How to backup desktops deployed throughout the enterprise, protecting the unique customization, applications, and valuable data that personalize each system for its end user.
- How to efficiently migrate remote desktops from Microsoft Windows XP to Windows 7 with minimal impact on both IT resources and end-user productivity.
Both tasks typically require a substantial investment in IT resources and the use of separate backup and PC lifecycle–management tools. VMware developed Horizon Mirage to efficiently meet both challenges.As the test results included in this document show, VMware Horizon Mirage can:
- Efficiently back up remote desktops located across slow wide area network (WAN) circuits, slashing the amount of data transferred to the datacenter by 46 percent through its deduplication and compression capabilities.
- Increase system performance to match increased network bandwidth, linearly decreasing the amount of time required to back up desktops.
- Migrate 10 remote desktops from Windows XP to Windows 7 in only 2 hours and 33 minutes, requiring minimal IT resources and WAN bandwidth.
- Minimize end-user downtime (and resulting productivity loss during the migration) to just 22 minutes on average.
The test results and architectural information in this document are provided to help guide the plan and design of other successful Horizon Mirage infrastructures.
