Virtual desktop infrastructure

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
Transform Your Desktop with Virtualization
Prepare By:
Kavaskar G
k.ganesan@kr.om

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a virtualization technique enabling access to
a virtualized desktop, which is hosted on a remote service over the Internet. It refers to the
software, hardware and other resources required for the virtualization of a standard
desktop system
VDI provides users the ability to access their desktop remotely, often even from a handheld
device because the entire process of executing the interface is done at the central server.
VDI operates by storing OS preferences, software applications, document and other
customized data on a server in the cloud. In theory, or ideally, the user experience is the
same as on a physical desktop.
Virtual desktop interfaces were primarily design to provide global access to desktop
systems. They are also used in designing disaster recovery and backup solutions. This is
done by routinely updating the desktop’s data on a remote server and enabling the
interface for users in case of a system disruption.
WHY VDI
Organizations choose to leverage desktop virtualization for a number of reasons, including
the need to
 Support “co-existence” among multiple versions of Microsoft OS including XP, Vista,
Windows 7, Windows 8.x/Server 2008, 2012
 Replace outmoded user management tools such as Roaming Profiles and Folder
Redirection or basic UPM solutions such as VMware VPM or Citrix® UPM
 Bring user profiles and user-authored data inside secure data center locations
 Enhance security with locked down endpoints for remote or field workers, outside
consultants
 Provision new workspaces easily for business peak seasons or one-off scenarios
 Provision a form of “hot desking” which allows shifts of users to share the same
endpoint devices
 Transform enterprise IT deployment from infrastructure-focused model into a user-
centric approach, which improves user productivity
 Support BYOD strategies and anytime, anywhere, any device logins
 Support regulatory and compliance requirements
 Support desktop DR strategies by leveraging image backup and image replication
software to replicate desktop images to a secondary site.
As more organizations have moved into production and the technology has matured, there
is increasing evidence that desktop virtualization also saves considerable costs once in
production and rapidly recoups the initial capital investment

VDI provides deployment and flexibility for specific scenarios including:
 Centralized and simplified IT desktop management
 Anywhere access and work-from-home scenarios
 Centralized desktop computing
 Access your desktop anywhere, anytime and on any device
 Increased mobility and remote access
 Operating System migration
 Image Management
 Reduced cost and hardware
Advantages of VDI
 Data center capabilities for virtual Desktops –DR/HA
 Reduced cost in purchasing desktop computers, as thin clients often last two to
three times longer than a desktop computer
 Deploy desktops in virtual machines on secure and centralized server hardware,
which improves business continuity, data security, and desktop lifecycle
management

 Rapid Client Deployment like Operating System, Application and windows upgrades
 Reduction in desktop support costs
 Reduction in electricity costs, as thin client computers use only a fraction of amount
of energy that is used by a desktop computer.
 Improved Data Security
 Need for extremely Quick application updates
 Secure Remote Access, as most connection brokers offer an SSL VPN Component
and Web Portal
End User Benefits
 Remote access via the web or iPad device to your actual Desktop, data, and apps
 Get new apps and OS faster
 Get new devices faster (or replace your device fast if it is broken)
 Keep the villagers happy while improving their service levels and making IT more
efficient
Cost Saving Benefits
 Reduce or redirect desktop support people to other tasks
 Reduce power consumption with thin clients

Major Vendor for VDI
Virtual Infrastructure Components of VDI
The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure consists of several components.
Component
VMware Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
Client
software
VMware View Client
This component is installed on all the
computers and thin clients through
which you want to access the virtual
desktops.
Citrix Receiver
This component provides users with
access to their virtual desktops.
Base image
agent
VMware View Agent
Installed on all the virtual
desktop templates.
Virtual Delivery Agent
Installed on server or workstation
operating systems. The Virtual Desktop
Agent enables connections for desktops
and applications.
Connection
server
VMware View Composer
Use this component to rebalance,
recompose, or refresh desktop
images regularly.
Delivery Controller
This component creates and
manages virtual desktops for users.
Administrative
console
VMware Horizon View
Administrator
This component is available on the
computer where you installed
the VMware View Connection Server.
Citrix XenDesktop.
The console from which Administrators
can install, configure, create, manage
virtual desktops, and publish
applications.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure License Summary
 Microsoft Windows software Assurance provides the ability for the covered device
and its primary user to access the VDI
 Without Software Assurance, a VDA license is necessary to access the VDI
environment
 Microsoft Windows VDI Licensing is DEVICE based –it’s not based on concurrent
usage
 Licensing can be transferred once every 90 days
 Roaming usage for the license “Primary User” of the device is permitted.

VMWare Horizon 7- Editions and Licensing
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION PACKAGING SKU
Horizon 7
Standard CCU
Includes:
Horizon 7 Standard
Hosted Apps (RDSH)
Mirage
VMware Fusion Pro
Virtual SAN Advanced for
Desktop
10-pack
100-pack
HZ7-STD-10-C
HZ7-STD-100-C
Horizon 7
Advanced
(Named)
Includes:
Horizon 7 Standard
Hosted Apps (RDSH)
Mirage
VMware Fusion Pro
Virtual SAN Advanced for
Desktop
10-pack
100-pack
HZ7-ADN-10-C
HZ7-ADN-100-C
Horizon 7
Advanced
(CCU)
HZ7-ADC-10-C
HZ7-ADC-100-C
Horizon 7
Enterprise
(Named)
Includes:
Horizon 7 Advanced
App Volumes Enterprise
User Environment Manager
vRealize Operations for
Horizon
(includes support for third-
party
VDI/RDSH environments)
Linux VDI
10-pack
100-pack
HZ7-ENN-10-C
HZ7-ENN-100-C
Horizon 7
Enterprise
(CCU)
HZ7-ENC-10-C
HZ7-ENC-100-C
Horizon Standard is the only Edition to be offered as an Add-on through the channel and
direct. Horizon Advanced and Enterprise Add-ons are available through select OEM
partners.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION PACKAGING SKU
Horizon
Standard
Add-On
For customers who already
have vSphere and vCenter
and want Horizon
Standard Edition
10-pack
100-pack
HZ7-STD-A10-C
HZ7-STD-A100-C

XenDesktop 7 – Editions and Licensing
 VDI Edition – Scalable VDI-only solution for delivering virtual desktops that
includes HDX technology, provisioning services, profile management, and Storage
Link technology.
 App Edition – replacement of XenApp that allows publish Hosted Shared Desktops,
Applications hosted on either VM’s or RDS environments and it also supports App-V
delivery for off-line applications.
 Enterprise Edition – Enterprise-class desktop virtualization solution with Flex Cast
delivery technology that delivers the right type of virtual desktop with on-demand
applications to any user, anywhere.
 Platinum Edition – Comprehensive enterprise-class desktop virtualization solution
with advanced management, monitoring and security.

Understanding Desktop Virtualization Solutions
VDI Infrastructure Cost

VDI Performance Assurance
 IT Productivity
 Higher service uptime
 Simplicity
 User Satisfaction
 Cost control & ROI

Implementation Steps for VDI
 Decide on the architecture
What will the implementation be as Basic, Standard, Enterprise or a Hybrid
implementation?
 Sizing and configuring servers infrastructure
The following discussions are meant to provide guidance on common practices and
relative figures on appropriate sizing numbers by device.
Hardware components
For Example, if the Organization reaches capacity at 500 users, the block may
look as follows in Table For every 500 subsequent users
Components Quantity Capacity per unit
SAN 1 500 users
Servers 16 32 VMs
Blade enclosures 1 16 servers
Thin clients 500 1 client per user
Hypervisor licenses 5 100 VDI instances per
license

 Server Recommendations
The following are system recommendations for servers in a VDI
environment. Minimum
 8 processing cores
 32GB of memory
 2 network ports for Console and VMotion networks
 2 network ports for virtual machine traffic
 2 network ports for iSCSI traffic (Standard VDI only)
 2 fiber channel ports (4Gb) (Enterprise VDI only)
 2 72GB SFF SAS 10,000 RPM HDD in a RAID 1+0 configuration (15,000
RPM drives and c of spindles if hosting VMs locally)
 Determine Networking Requirements
Be sure to include remote network requirements and connectivity between locations.
Define connectivity in terms of bandwidth and latency. Define datacenter networks based
on servers and storage.
Physical Networking
At a high level, there are few hard and fast rules for physical network configuration. The
known imperatives include:
 Network links should auto negotiate to maximum speed and full duplex. If a link
does not get set to these parameters, investigate the switches for potential
problems.
 Network latencies for a successful deployment will optimally be below 100ms and
should always be below 150ms. Some customers have run VDI in higher latency
environments, but these are for remote developers where experience is secondary
to data integrity. The protocol has an effect on this. The reference here is to
Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol. WAN accelerators can help with remote
desktop connections. They do not help with voice over IP (VOIP) implementations.
 Datacenter connections should always be a minimum of 1 gigabit.

 Storage Sizing
Define server and storage environment
Inventory and define all available VDI hosts and their connections to storage (both
NAS and SAN). Include uplink ports used for connectivity
Storage can be the most perplexing variable in designing VDI. Application patterns,
data redirection and especially virtual machine size all play critical roles in
determining the total IO required in a VDI implementation.
Unified Storage for Virtual Desktops
 Any Protocols
 Desktop, Users and Profile data
Individual and Pooled desktops
Scale Capacity in real-time
 Thousands of desktops per
system
 No trade-off in desktop
performance
 Use the fastest drives available
for your storage system. This
includes both rotational speed
and drive architecture.
 Gather a list of existing programs on desktops
Create a detailed list of all programs AND SERVICES running on the local
desktops that are distributed and supported by local IT. Use this document to
determine whether these applications are good candidates for VDI when
combined with a specific type of user

 Determine Requirements for local device support
Inventory existing devices such as printers that will need to be redirected in
a VDI environment. This should become a list of devices to discuss
REMOVING from the environment. If devices cannot be removed, their
functionality will need to be verified and validated onsite.
 Migration with Profile Unity
Migration from the physical desktop to virtual ones can be painful unless you utilize an
automated process to addresses the potential pitfalls of the user migration process. This
procedure can be even more daunting when an organization needs to move users from an
older OS to a new Windows OS at the same time they wish to migrate from physical to
virtual desktops.
Migrating users to a new OS or a new desktop platform typically encompasses the
following steps:
• Capture User Settings and Personalization
• Capture User Data
• Capture Application Data Settings
• Migrate Users
Microsoft currently offers a less than user-friendly solution to do a one-time migration
from Windows XP to Windows 7/8 called USMT (User State Migration Tool). As a result,
most experienced administrators have found ways to script the automation for several
users at once.
 Determine current print layout
A solid understanding of the current print environment is critical. Mapping
location, permissions and access methods for all printers and maintaining a
record of these devices should be completed prior to implementing a design.
 Define virtual machine size and performance requirements
Decide what is expected in terms of performance, availability and space.
Insure that the virtual machines follow best practices for creation and that
they have enough CPU, memory and disk resources dedicated to them.

 Installation the Management tools
This section applies to Basic, Standard and Enterprise VDI implementations. Small
customizations may be required for each of these environments and are noted as
needed
 Active Directory Polices
 VMWare Virtual Center
 VMware Virtual Desktop Manager
 Adding Host to Virtual Center
 Configure Network Adopters in Virtual Switch
 Create & Virtual Machine Configuration
 Customizing Virtual Desktop
 Test
Test local device redirection, end user acceptance, system performance and sizing, printing
and overall usability.
 Working With Your End Users
The user login process at the start is the same as when using a View Connection
Server for internal access.

 The Security Server is paired with a View Connection Server that is configured by
the use of a one-time password during installation. It's a bit like pairing your
phone's Bluetooth with the hands-free kit in your car.
 When the user logs in from the View Client, they access the View Connection Server,
which in turn authenticates the user against AD.
 If the View Connection Server is configured as a PCoIP gateway, then it will pass the
connection and addressing information to the View Client.
(1). The View Security Server will forward the PCoIP connection to the virtual desktop
machine,
(2) Creating the connection for the user. The virtual desktop machine is
displayed/delivered within the View Client window
(3) Using the chosen display protocol (PCoIP or RDP).
Test Plan for End Users
 Work in the virtual desktop environment as much as possible
 Browse with different web browsers.
 Use most common standard applications (e.g. Microsoft Office)
 Use critical business/organizational applications.
 Use graphics-intensive apps such as Adobe Creative Suite and CAD.
 Open and save files with a USB flash drive and network shared drive.
 Print to various network printers.
 Access virtual desktop from home PC.
 Access virtual desktop from BYOD device (iPad, Android).
 Install an application and plug-in. Verify it persists between sessions.
 Change profile settings (e.g. display settings, app preferences). Verify they persist
between sessions.
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Virtual desktop infrastructure

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