VDI Lessons Learned at DU Ivan Fetch 303-871-3092 ifetch@du.edu Andrew Chan 303-871-6888 andrew.chan@du.edu

TOC Timeline & Scope Why We Choose VMware View Lab Applications & User Feedback Thin Clients Challenges with Thin Clients Zero Client Solutions Vendor Experiences Reseller Experiences Infrastructure Lab Image Challenges The VDI Journey

Timeline & Scope Late 2009 2010 to present Future Benefits of VDI OPEX >>> CAPEX, data security, service level, not TCO/$$ Project scope: 300 non-persistent lab machines 2010 to present Vendor selection, hardware purchase Proof of Concept: up 30 VMs Pilot: up to 120 VMs Production: 300 lab VMs Future 1-2K personal desktops

Why We Choose VMware View DU is a VMware shop View 4 is easier to get started with, XD is more powerful & more complex View integrates with VMware platform well whereas XD requires multiple management consoles XD has many more components & features we do not need in phase 1 (hello phase 2!) Business requirement - VMware View 4 successfully virtualizes our lab workload

Lab Applications & User Feedback Applications which run well: Office 2007 Adobe Creative Suite 4 (very usable) ArcGIS Server 9.3.1 Applications which are not usable: Sony Vegas (audio/video editing) Google Earth 3D (DirectX) Other 3D rendering software A potential pain point: Access to large files on flash drives can be slow Use network drives instead

Thin Clients HP – HP Device Manager from Altris t5735 (Linux) – Citrix ICA t5730w (WES) – Citrix ICA, VMware View Wyse – Wyse Device Manager, V10L Config Editor V10L (WTOS) – both (View with RDP only) C90LE (XPe) – both Dell – Client Manager from Altris OptiPlex FX160 (XPe) – both OptiPlex FLX760 (streaming desktop license) – Citrix PVS

Challenges with Thin Clients Thin, but no zero Management overhead Embedded OS requires initial setup and future OS updates Antivirus considerations for protection vs. performance impact Client write-protection for OS stability Performance Satisfactory for task workers Average performance

Zero Client Solutions Smaller attack surface than thin clients No OS patches and antivirus definitions to manage Wyse P20 for View True zero client with no embedded OS Firmware updatable via PCoIP Management Server Teradici chip built in Dell FX100 for View Same features as P20 Different logo Wyse Xenith for Citrix Based on Wyse C90LE

Vendor Experiences Dell Wyse Resources spread thin in a wide company Slower to supply quotes, ship equipment, respond to questions, and suggest best practices Wyse Specializes in thin client computing market with fast turn around Is more engaged and has impressive sales and support follow-through

Reseller Experiences Resellers are eager to provide workload assessments and implementation assistance. Money MAY be available from vendors to help offset the cost of reseller engagements. Professional services are helpful to jump start the project yet we find ourselves needing to validate recommendations before we implement.

Infrastructure VMware View 4 on vSphere Hopefully View 4.5 by production Adding blades to HP c-7000 Blade Chassis Four HP BL460c G6 blade: dual Intel Xeon X5650 6-core CPU, 128GB RAM, on-board dual-port Flex-10 NIC Using redundant Flex-10 Virtual Connect Ethernet modules 10Gb network uplink Dual fabric fibre channel SAN, Hitachi arrays, 15K RPM

Lab Image Challenges VM vs. physical hardware specs Disk sizes, RAM Application update cycle Desktop pool re-provisioning and delegation Image creation and testing ~ 10 images PCoIP full-screen / resizing problem Antivirus (Symantec Endpoint Protection 11) w/ persistent desktops Flash CS4 Professional ThinApp performance benchmark

The VDI Journey Project management Hybrid environment Yours vs. Mine Hybrid environment VMware View for on-site, general labs Citrix XD for CPU & graphic intensive desktops VMware & Citrix SEs Resources for design, implementation, technical validation

Q&A Questions? Thank you!