Development of a thin client based operating system with arch linux and raspberry pi for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)solution

Abstract

Virtualization is a modern technology that enables industry or academic IT to manage resources dynamically based on demand. It has application in different areas such as network, server, storage, application and client. Now a day’s physical desktops are not only expensive, insecure, and require heavy maintenance, they are not necessarily a good fit for smart IT support and demanding workforce. In a distributed computing environment, users have their own workstations, usually a personal computer connected to the corporate network. They can run their own software, accessing organization data whenever needed. Through virtualization the same user requirements can be fulfilled while minimizing IT management and support. Virtualization can be implemented in different levels or areas of a network each having their own advantages and disadvantages. One of such virtualization techniques is desktop virtualization where the logical desktop is separated from the physical machine in a server-client base architecture. As in this system the logical desktop is implemented in the server as virtual machine (VM), most of the complexities and required maintenance work are transferred from client to server. This system also allows the organization to choose from a wide range of physical machines having different configurations depending on its needs. The cost of overall system includes cost of the server, virtualization software licenses and client machines along with their Operating Systems (OS). In a network where a large number of clients are required, the price of machine and its OS may play a big role in the total cost. This project work proposes a solution with low cost client machines with free OS that can be connected to the VMs hosted in a server. To implement the project a light weight OS is developed with Arch Linux and deployed in Raspberry Pi Model 2. The Raspberry Pi Model 2 acts like a client machine and can be connected to the VMs hosted in the server. For this work Citrix XenSever, a free virtualization software is installed in the server for installing and hosting VMs. As the Raspberry Pi costs much less compared to the available proprietary machines available in the market, this solution can will be useful for an organization where client machines need not to be powerful themselves to do complex works locally.