{"id":3256,"date":"2024-10-11T13:34:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T00:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/?page_id=3256"},"modified":"2025-11-28T15:42:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:42:21","slug":"student-desktop-vdi-replacement-frequently-asked-questions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/about\/student-desktop-vdi-replacement-frequently-asked-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Desktop (VDI) Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>How has the Student Desktop (VDI) changed?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThe previous Student\/Staff Desktop (VDI) was provided as a full Windows desktop \u2013 in computer rooms\/labs \u2013 known as Computer Assisted Learning labs (CAL labs)\/Computer Resource Rooms (CRR) \u2013 or on your own computer via a web browser.\u00a0<strong>This service is no longer available.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It has been replaced by a new service called \u201cApps at Otago\u201d. Apps at Otago provides your required software applications via a web portal, using \u201capplication streaming\u201d to deliver the software application to computers in the computer labs and your own computer<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>What has changed?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The previous Student<\/strong><strong> Desktop<\/strong> automatically directed students and staff to a Citrix virtual environment known as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), which housed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A Windows 10-style desktop<\/li>\n<li>Document files etc on H: Drive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The new service<\/strong> is in Microsoft\u2019s Azure virtual cloud environment, which houses:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The app streaming service Apps at Otago e.g. Affintity Photo Editor, EndNote, Stata statistics etc.<\/li>\n<li>Document files etc on Microsoft OneDrive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In computer rooms\/labs:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The desktop will be Windows 11.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Windows App has been added to lab computers to provide access to Apps at Otago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For other changes on computer lab\/room computers, please see this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005666\">Knowledgebase article<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 sign into the Knowledgebase first to see this article.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>On personal devices e.g. laptops, desktop computers and cell phones:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Remote access is no longer be available to computer rooms\/labs, instead we recommend installing the Windows App for the most seamless experience with Apps at Otago. Please see this Knowledgebase\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005663?svcArticleNumber=SA-000186\">article<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Apps at Otago can also be accessed via this link apps.otago.ac.nz, which is also on the University of Otago website. Please see this Knowledgebase\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005663?svcArticleNumber=SA-000186\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>What are the advantages?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>OneDrive has much more storage space for files than H: Drive.<\/li>\n<li>Laptops\/desktop computers\/cell phones etc using the streaming service still do not need high specifications because they are not downloading the apps onto them.<\/li>\n<li>Cost effectiveness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note: Streaming involves apps being run directly from a central location (the cloud) over a network, instead of being installed on a laptop\/desktop computer\/cell phone etc.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>How will I access Apps at Otago?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Using your own laptop\/desktop computer\/cellphone, see Knowledgebase <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005663?svcArticleNumber=SA-000186\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In computer rooms\/labs \u2013 known as Computer Assisted Learning labs (CAL labs)\/Computer Resource Rooms (CRR) \u2013 see Knowledgebase <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005666?svcArticleNumber=SA-000037\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Where will my files be and how do I access them?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1: Any files you had already created on H: Drive in Citrix will still be there, to find them see this Knowledgebase <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10005668?svcArticleNumber=SA-000037\">article<\/a>, however any new files you create using Apps at Otago will be automatically saved to OneDrive.<\/p>\n<p>Please move all your files from H: Drive to One Drive, which has more storage capacity and is also a Microsoft product, the same as the new virtual desktop Apps at Otago.<\/p>\n<p>To access OneDrive please see <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10002782\">our Knowledgebase<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The many options for moving files include drag and drop, copy and paste and move to. If you are not familiar with these, please contact <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10002095\">AskOtago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>2: Files in drives \u2013 home drive, research folders,department shares etc \u2013 will be available on Apps at Otago. If any are not available, please contact <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\/knowledgebase\/article\/KA-10002095\">AskOtago.<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Are my files in my mapped drives (e.g. Home drive, Research folders\/Department shares, etc.) available in Apps at Otago?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nYes. If any files are unavailable, <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.otago.ac.nz\">contact AskOtago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Are existing Student Desktop (VDI) applications available?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nYes, applications currently installed on the Student Desktop (VDI) will still be available.<\/p>\n<p>Note: Some University computer labs\/rooms will have specialised apps that have limited licences and others will not e.g. GIS geospatial mapping app will be in the Central Computer Assisted Learning lab (CAL lab) in the Richardson Building.<\/p>\n<p>This is the <a href=\"https:\/\/otagouni.sharepoint.com\/sites\/DigitalWorkspaceTraining\/Lists\/Application%20Availability\/Available%20apps.aspx?ovuser=0225efc5%2D78fe%2D4928%2Db157%2D9ef24809e9ba%2Cgooga70p%40registry%2Eotago%2Eac%2Enz\">apps availability page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How has the Student Desktop (VDI) changed? The previous Student\/Staff Desktop (VDI) was provided as a full Windows desktop \u2013 in computer rooms\/labs \u2013 known as Computer Assisted Learning labs (CAL labs)\/Computer Resource Rooms (CRR) \u2013 or on your own computer via a web browser.\u00a0This service is no longer available. It has been replaced by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"parent":22,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3256","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3256\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/studentit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}