Amazon Kindle Fire Running Windows 7 via Citrix VDI-in-a-Box

As a Proof of Concept, I wanted to deliver a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) to a tablet based device, Kindle Fire was the ideal candidate.

I can only provide positive comments for the Kindle Fire, it does exactly what you would expect from an Amazon device. As long as you accept the limitations of the device; no Bluetooth, no GPS, no camera, no Android Marketplace, and accept that the device is incredible low priced you can only agree that this is an excellent example of what a tablet device should be.

Techradar.com reviewed the Kindle Fire here.

I have used the Citrix VDI-in-a-Box product on an old server we had available.

The server is Windows 2008R2 with the Hyper-V Role installed.

As far as the Citrix VDI-in-a-Box product is concerned, it was perfect for my needs. I had a Windows 7 Professional (VDI-in-a-Box 5.0 does not support dynamic memory so no need for Enterprise) template deployed in half a day containing all the relevant software, Office, Photoshop, Anti-Virus etc. I also included the Microsoft App-V client in the image to enable the deployment of Virtual Apps.

I then configured the Kindle Fire, installed the Citrix Receiver, connected to the VDI-in-a-Box portal address and that was basically “Job Done”

Kindle Fire - Google

Kindle Fire - Win7 Start Menu

Kindle Fire - Close Up

Kindle Fire

We have also tested the Citrix Receiver client on Mac OSX, Windows, Iphone and thin client, all with outstanding results.

I must admit this implementation is very exciting. The implications of a reasonably priced tablet device utilising a VDI can only make the case for BYOD stronger.

Also because of the cost involved this solution lends itself very easily to an educational environment.