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2. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) • Agenda • Understanding VDI Architecture • Understanding your options • Planning • Learning Objectives • Learn why Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is important and how it can be implemented • Understand the pros/cons of VDI • Make the case for the VDI approach you should implement based on your scenario

3. VDI Overview

4. What is VDI? • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Breakdown the components of a personal computer This is what we commonly refer to as a Windows OS VDI moves the OS, Apps and Data to the data center Access VDI through Remote Desktop Protocol’s Data App’s OS HW

5. VDI is just one of many tools to virtualize your desktop Common Misconceptions About VDI • Desktop Virtualization = VDI • VDI will save money immediately • All users will benefit from VDI • VDI is the future of the desktop • Only VMware has VDI technology

6. The Benefits of VDI • Centralized Management • Anywhere Access for Connected Devices • Access desktops from any connected device • Enable rich desktop experiences on thin clients and older PCs • Manage physical and virtual desktops from a single console • Centralized desktop lifecycle management • Enhance Security and Compliance • Increased Business Continuity • Datacenter grade business continuity for the desktop • Quicker resolution of desktop failures • Data always locked in the datacenter • Improved compliance through centralization

7. Scenarios for VDI Provide a Managed Desktop to Unmanaged Devices • Contract workers • Employee-owned PCs Centralizing Desktop Management for Remote Locations • Branch offices • Offshore locations Task Worker Scenarios • Call center workers • Shared terminals, such as factory kiosk / nursing stations Desktops That Demand High Levels of Security and Compliance • Non-mobile desktops in specific industries (i.e. financial services / healthcare / government)

8. Big Components of VDI Client Server Connection Broker Access Gateway Hypervisor Hypervisor Management Provisioning System Application Infrastructure Authentication/Authorization/Access Control • Desktop optimized for VDI • Remote access protocol • Connectivity to application infrastructure • Management and monitoring

9. Microsoft VDI Suite ComponentsSimple licensing for Microsoft infrastructure and management Desktop Delivery Application Delivery Management Virtualization Platform VDI Premium Suite VDI Standard Suite Connection Broker for VM Delivery Technology for Session Delivery Use rights for System Center components restricted to VDI scenario

10. XenDesktop Extends Microsoft VDI Suites • Rich Remote user experience • High definition experience over both LAN and WAN XenApp • On-Demand Application Delivery • Builds on Microsoft App-V to deliver applications • Virtual desktop and application delivery architecture • Dynamic desktop delivery reduces cost of VDI. Citrix Essentials For Hyper-V • Profile management, storage optimization and other tools for Hyper-V

11. Separating Desktop Computing Layers • Microsoft delivers broad range of Desktop Virtualization offerings to address unique business and IT challenges • Folder Redirection • Roaming Profiles Data & User Settings • Application Virtualization • RemoteApp Applications • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Suites • Remote Desktop Services • Enterprise Desktop Virtualization Operating System

12. Deployment Considerations • Four components to Desktop Virtualization • User State • Application • User Session • Desktop Hardware • All four are not required • There are no dependencies • Can be implemented in any order • Each has discrete benefits

13. User State Virtualization • Reduces footprint of desktop VMs • Reduces disk IO • Reduces storage • Reduces disk size • Enables shared desktops • Replaceable PC scenario • Facilitates protection of user files

14. Application Virtualization • Simplifies delivery of apps, and allows any user to run any app, regardless of version • One install for both hosted and local deliveries • Optimizes storage • Decision point: Locally run or hosted

15. Session Virtualization • Not every virtual desktop is a VM • Shared session servers (terminal servers) replace most shared/pooled desktop scenarios • XenDesktop integrates both virtual machine and virtual session experiences

16. Desktop Virtualization • Provides datacenter-hosted user desktops • Private desktops most common use case • Shared desktops valid, with additional management

17. App-V with XenDesktop App-V helps eliminate conflicts between applications and removes the need to install those applications on PCs

18. Understanding Desktop Models

19. Deployment Choices – VM Guests • Provides virtual machine-based, centralized desktops for individual users that can be fully customized based on user profiles • Allows users to perform specialized tasks that require administrator access to their desktop • Enables users to access their personalized desktop from any computer while retaining the last saved state Personal Virtual Desktop • Provides virtual machine-based, centralized desktop based on a pool of virtual machines that are shared by multiple users • Allows users to perform standardized routine tasks and have access to common applications (such as Microsoft Office) • Rolls back the state upon logoff to provide a “clean” desktop for the next user’s session, but the previous user’s state can be saved offline Pooled Virtual Desktop

20. VDI Architecture: VM Delivery • Static (“Persistent”) • Virtual Desktops • Dynamic (“Non-Persistent”) • Virtual Desktops User State Virtualization (Folder Re-direction& roaming profile) Application Virtualization (aka SoftGrid) Presentation Virtualization (TS RemoteApp)

21. Storage vs. Desktop Model User Model defines the Desktop Model Management Model defines the Storage Model Shared storage Thin provisioned Linked clones, etc Private storage Monolithic desktops • Pooled for shared desktops • Private for private desktops

22. The Case for Private Storage • Private Storage = One VHD per Desktop • Desktops treated as physical computers • Benefits • Simple management • Persistent data (certificates, etc) • Considerations • Requires isolation of apps to work well

23. The Case for Pooled Storage • Pooled Storage = Linked Clones/Diff disks • Desktops are “disposable” • Benefits • Easy on storage • Considerations • Management • Update process • Complexity

24. Guest VM ConsiderationsThe Case for Personal Virtual Desktops • Its all about the user • Specifically suits knowledge workers (typical office worker profile) • Those that walk away/disconnect and then want to reconnect • Considerations: • Assign image through Active Directory Users and Computers • Provide an individual dedicated image per user • Minimize image duplication using SAN de-duplication if image storage is a concern • Minimize direct image management • Roaming Profiles • Folder redirection • Utilize Application Virtualization (App-V) or RemoteApp for application delivery and servicing • Service the operating system with your enterprise management tools and leverage single tooling • Result: Easier to manage, more personalized and integrated with current tools

25. Guest VM ConsiderationsThe Case for Pooled Virtual Desktops • Its all about the user • Specifically suits task workers (typical call center profile) • User logs off, the VM resets and then just connect to the next VM to use applications • Considerations: • Same scenario can also be delivered through Session Virtualization, cheaper • User just connects to pool of VM’s through the Broker • Clustering generally doesn’t matter • With Citrix, the SAN doesn’t even matter • Minimize direct image management • Roaming Profiles • Folder redirection • Utilize Application Virtualization (App-V) for application delivery and servicing • Guest VM Operating System updates can be very painful • If pooled is best choice for you, consider Citrix XenDesktop on Hyper-V • Also consider RDSH as this provides similar scenario support and scales better • Result: Potentially less complicated, but less personalized and more difficult to manage

26. Guest VM ConsiderationsWhy is Pooled more difficult? • Will a single master image and separation of the user state with linked clones work? • What happens when you need to service the image? • Can user state difference tolerate change of the master image? • When Master Image needs serviced, corresponding linked clone suffers a catastrophic break • Solution is to duplicate the master, update it and create new pool with new linked clones • Required every time a single master is updated with: • Operating System patches • Anti-malware Updates • Anything else on the OS

27. Guest VM ConsiderationsWhy is Pooled more difficult? • Customer reports… • Highlight that updating single master/linked image desktops without pool recreation aren’t working as expected • Nasty corruption problems • Some switching from pooled to PVD • Bad story: switching and leaving the linked clone architecture in place • Citrix XenDesktop on Hyper-V does the pooled model very well with its provisioning server

28. VDI vs. Terminal Servers

29. TS Versus VDI For Desktops • Your requirements should dictate mode • Remoting protocol is common factor for both models • Expect to have mix of both models

30. Guess the OS?

31. Guess the OS? Operating System Two

32. Operating System Quiz Windows RDS has up to 5x the scalability over VDI

33. Capacity Planning & Sizing

34. VDI Capacity PlanningCaveats and Objectives • Performance is very subjective with many variables • Caveats • Data based on benchmark results; not reflective of real-life deployment considerations: (a) Based on specific scenarios (b) Does not account for “cushion” to deal with temporary peaks in resource usage • Recommend piloting for performance planning • Multiple factors determine actual performance: (a) Variations in hardware, (b) Driver versions, (c) Desktop Workloads, (d) Application quality • What we used: • Two differently configured AMD servers • Fiber Channel SAN • Objectives to be determined: • An indication of VM’s per server that could VDI scale to: (a) Processor, Disk and Memory requirements, and (b) Network requirements • Service Placement • Comparison against RDS Session Virtualization scale on same hardware

35. VDI Capacity PlanningProcessor • Rule of thumb: If it doesn’t have SLAT don’t buy it • SLAT enabled processors provide up to 25% improvement in density • # of VMs per core is highly dependent on user scenarios • Application specific usage play a big role • Hyper-V supports: • 64 VMs per Server in Clustered scenarios • 384 VMs per Server in non-Clustered scenarios • 8 VM’s per Core (not architectural limitation, what is tested/supported) • What is Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)? • Intel calls it Extended Page Tables (EPT) • AMD calls it Nested Page Tables (NPT) or Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) • Processor provides two levels of translation: (a) Walks the guest OS page tables directly; (b) No need to maintain Shadow Page Table; (c) No hypervisor code for demand-fill or flush operations • Resource savings: (a) Hypervisor CPU time drops to 2%; (b) Roughly 1MB of memory saved per VM

36. VDI Capacity PlanningProcessor – “Real World” • Real world deployments reflect higher RDS scale • Our customer engagement feedback indicates differences between tests and real world deployments: • Our rough estimate: Some customers see as high as 5:1 in favor of Session Virtualization over VDI • Use cases will determine actual numbers

37. VDI Capacity PlanningDisk IO • Rule of thumb: SANs are your new best friends • Disk performance is most critical factor in achieving density • SAN makes significant difference. Highly recommended • Plenty of cache • Consider de-duplication support – de-duplication allows the benefits of individual images at the cost of differencing disk • Managing images on a SAN is way faster and easier than network (provisioning is faster) • We mean real SAN not NAS across the network… • Remember RDS does not require this huge SAN investment… • If you have low complexity requirements: • Think about cheaper DAS • RAID 0+1 offers better read and write performance than RAID 5 • Make sure to consider RDS

38. VDI Capacity PlanningDisk IO • Peak of read/write @ 3500 IOPS on single un-clustered server (Starting 64 VMs simultaneously) • Multiply that by number of servers • Result = rough guidance for the maximum SAN disk IOPS you need • Test for most demanding user logon pattern (e.g.,: 9 am scenario) • This test based on Windows 7 Enterprise • Why use IOPS as a measurement? • Trying to calculate drive perf differences based on seek, latency and transfer rate is hard • IOPS is an easier way of understanding disk/SAN performance • Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS

39. VDI Capacity PlanningMemory • Rule of thumb: More is better • Biggest constraint of upper limit VM density (not performance related) • Constrained by: (a) Available memory slots in servers, (b) Largest Available DIMMs • Creates an artificial scale ceiling • Buy as much RAM as you plan to scale VMs • Allocate at least 1GB per Windows 7 VM • Memory allocation should be determined by upper maximum limit of running apps • Allocate enough RAM to prevent the VM paging to disk • http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/Perf_tun_srv-R2.mspx.

40. VDI Capacity Planning: Network Performance • Rule of thumb: Rich User Experience requires rich bandwidth • LAN • Generally place VDI (RDVH) servers as “close” as possible to users • VDI User experience is heavily dependent on network performance • LAN performance generally not a bottleneck (calculate to be sure) • Network redundancy important in switching fabric; when its down, the user is totally down • Ensure Blade servers can sustain on the backplane • WAN • WAN issues now equal worse issues later; latency kills user experience; look at WAN optimization or compression solutions • Persistent protocols take bandwidth per connection • How to tell: Multiply the number of users by approximately 20kbps: (a) Is that beyond the capacity of your internet/WAN network?(b) 20kbps is the best case scenario based on HDX(c) 20kbps represents a cut down user experience

41. VDI Capacity PlanningHyper-V Choice and Support Limits • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition: best choice for VDI management services • Flexible Virtualization Licensing • Think of the overall VDI architecture – additional server VM’s than just the Clients • Supports 2 TB RAM (Core or Full) • Hyper-V Server 2008 R2: best choice for VDI Guest VM hosting • Lowest cost hypervisor • Supports 1TB RAM • Supported Limits: • Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V 2008 R2 supports: • 384 guest maximum per server (clustered or unclustered) • 1,000 guests per cluster

42. VDI RecommendationsMemory and Disk • VM Disk • Utilize Fixed Disks where possible • Reduces VM Disk fragmentation (mainly for non-SAN) • Cant be used in differencing disk scenarios • SCSI vs IDE doesn’t matter • VM Memory • Make sure there is sufficient RAM allocated to VM • Increased Disk IO Pagefile growth from disk fragmentation (insufficient memory) • Increased fragmentation requires memory management • Lack of memory grows the pagefile • Growing pagefile requires more memory…and then creates more Disk IO

43. Windows 7 as an OS

44. RemoteFX and Dynamic MemoryTechnologies to increase user productivity and lower the cost per desktop RemoteFX Dynamic Memory Microsoft RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will enable a local-like, rich media experience for session-based or virtual desktops. Dynamic Memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 enables better consolidation ratios with predictable performance

45. VDI RecommendationsWindows 7: A viable choice for VDI • VDI is typically memory and disk IO constrained • Windows 7 generally has less disk IO than Windows XP • Windows 7 generally requires more RAM than Windows XP • Windows 7 is faster to provision than Windows XP • In part supported by offline domain join • RAM is an temporal artificial limit • Recommendations: • Minimize unrequired system services • Minimize network traffic • Screensavers and screen redraws impact network IO • Ensure that applications are checked for disk IO efficiency • Perfmon (Disk Queue) • Ensure latest drivers are being used • http://blogs.msdn.com/rds/archive/2009/11/02/windows-7-with-rdp7-best-os-for-vdi.aspx

46. VDI RecommendationsWindows 7: User Experience • Aero Glass for Remote Desktop Server • Provides the same new Windows 7 look and feel when using RDS • Multimedia Support & Audio Input • Provides a high-quality multimedia experience with multimedia redirection capabilities • True Multiple Monitor Support • Allows users to view their remote desktop on multiple monitors configured the same way as if their desktop or applications were running locally • Enhanced Bitmap Acceleration • Allows rich media content, such as portable graphics stacks (Silverlight, Flash) and 3D content, to be rendered on the host and to be sent as accelerated bitmaps to the remote client

47. VDI Specific Enhancements in • Remote Desktop Connection Broker • Unified administration experience for TS and Microsoft VDI • Supports both “Pooled” and “Dedicated” VM assignment • Extensible platform for partner enterprise solutions • Live Migration of Virtual Machines • VMs moved from source to destination host with no perceived downtime • Live migration between hosts within a High Availability Cluster • “Clustered Shared Volumes” to store multiple VHD’s from different VMs on a single LUN • Enhanced RDP Features • Enhanced Graphics: Multi-monitor, Windows Aero, D3D remoting • Enhanced Audio: Business quality bi-directional audio for enterprise VoIP • Windows Media Player remoting VM VM • SP1 VDI features • Generic multi-media remoting: Flash, Real Players, Quick Time • 3D graphic support: DirectX® 9, DirectX 10 • Broad USB support SP1

48. Planning

49. Considerations Prior to Adopting VDI • Application Performance • Datacenter Upgrade Cost • User Experience • • Network-dependent apps (i.e. VOIP) may have degraded performance • Graphic-intensiveapplications may notperform well over WAN • • No offline mode – unsuitable for non-connected workers • User experience degrades with server loading and reduced network capacity (i.e. WAN) • • Additional investments in server, management, storage, and network infrastructure • Additional software for VDI management, user experience, and optimization

50. Identify Appropriate Use Cases for VDI Provide a Managed Desktop to Unmanaged Devices • Contract workers • Employee-owned PCs Centralizing Desktop Management for Remote Locations • Branch offices • Offshore locations Task Worker Scenarios • Call center workers • Shared terminals, such as factory kiosk / nursing stations Desktops That Demand High Levels of Security and Compliance • Non-mobile desktops in specific industries (i.e. financial services / healthcare / government)