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Virtual Solutions to Real Life Problems

Antony Jo The University of Montana. Virtual Solutions to Real Life Problems. Virtualization. The process of abstraction; making something more abstract Many types: Server Desktop Application etc (Storage, Memory). Terminology. Virtual Machine (VM) Software that emulates a machine.

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Virtual Solutions to Real Life Problems

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  1. Antony Jo The University of Montana Virtual Solutions to Real Life Problems

  2. Virtualization • The process of abstraction; making something more abstract • Many types: • Server • Desktop • Application • etc (Storage, Memory)

  3. Terminology • Virtual Machine (VM) Software that emulates a machine. • Hypervisor • Also known as the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM), the hypervisor is the software that allows hardware virtualization. • Provides the layer of abstraction between hardware and software.

  4. Terminology (cont.) Comparison Traditional Type 1 Type 2 OS OS VM VM OS OS Hypervisor VM VM OS Hypervisor OS Hardware Hardware Hardware

  5. The Big Three • VMWare • Citrix • Microsoft

  6. I Have Some Issues (…with servers) • We need to buy more servers and they are expensive • I just did a major patch on my server and now my server is BSOD • I need a bigger server room to fit all my servers • And the list goes on…

  7. Server Virtualization Why? • Minimal usage on server hardware • Hardware consolidation = $$$ • Less power consumption • Less datacenter costs • Flexibility (snapshots, migration, templates, etc)

  8. Offerings from the Big Three • VMWare ESX • ESXi is free • Citrix XenServer • Upgrade to XenServer Essentials for advanced features • Microsoft Hyper-V • Free

  9. Considerations • Start simple • Store locally • Backup VMs as necessary • No high availability • Or design a redundant solution with shared storage • Multiple Hosts • Use a shared storage (i.e. SAN) • Redundant, but high cost

  10. Other Considerations • Not everything should be virtualized • SQL Server, Peripherals • Redundancy concerns if not using shared storage solution • Be careful of IO Operation/sec (IOPS) • More variables in troubleshooting

  11. What We Do • Tested both VMWareESXi and Citrix XenServer • Decided to go with Citrix XenServer • Goes great with XenApp • Better hardware utilization on the free version • Considering shared storage solution • P2V tools are a lifesaver

  12. DEMO An insider look to one of the virtual server hosts Citrix XenServer 5.5

  13. A New Challenge Appears! DESKTOPS! • As number grows, management becomes more difficult • Short list of issues: • Security • Hardware Failures • Application compatibility • Lifecycle • Power Consumption • etc

  14. Desktop Virtualization Why? • Server Virtualization is so great, so why not virtualize Desktops? • Enable users to customize, but still give Administrators ability to manage • Ability to access your desktop from anywhere (not tied to physical machine)

  15. Two Different Approaches • Terminal Services (TS) Users login to terminal servers, where applications are installed centrally. Less customization, Easy to maintain • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Provide users with virtual desktops provisioned by hypervisor. More customization, Difficult to maintain

  16. Illustration VDI TS User User User User User OS OS OS OS OS User User User User User VM VM VM VM VM OS Hypervisor Hardware Hardware

  17. Other considerations TS • Easy to set up • Server 2003 / Server 2008 • TS Client Access Licenses (CALs) VDI • Considerable complexity • OS Licenses, Storage, Performance, etc. • VMWare View & Citrix XenDesktop

  18. In Our Environment • Terminal Services with Citrix XenApp • ICA sessions vs. traditional RDP sessions • Manage loads / logon restrictions • Promote Thin Clients • Citrix Access Gateway for off campus users • We’re looking into VDI, but we’re probably not going jump into it, yet

  19. DEMO This is a good to time to show some examples Citrix Delivery Services Console (DSC)

  20. Wait! I still have other problems I just upgraded my Internet Explorer to version 8, and now my Death Star doesn’t work.  IT’S A TRAP!

  21. Application Virtualization Let’s separate the application from the user environment Some of the applications that can help • VMWareThinApp • Citrix XenApp • Microsoft App-V

  22. Other Interesting Topics Client Virtualization • Type 1 Citrix XenClient Interesting idea, still very new • Type 2 Parallels for Macintosh, XP Mode in 7 Works quite well, but VMs take a performance hit

  23. Other Topics • Empowered Users • Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC) • Others…

  24. Closing Remarks • Server Virtualization is very useful Try it out if you haven’t already • Desktop Virtualization TS is good, VDI is still too early • Other Virtualization Depends, it might be useful

  25. Questions Any further questions?

  26. Thank you I hope you enjoyed the presentation and found it useful. Please fill out the evaluation form at http://resnetsymposium.org/rspm/evaluation Contact Info: Antony Jo antony.jo@umontana.edu

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