VDI Practical Guidelines and Real Life Considerations Richard Price Virtualization Specialist (512) Austin, Texas Fly on the wings of technology

VDI – The Good the Bad and the Ugly

This will not be a speech on how great VDI is, it’s great for some users and lousy for others; We will discuss the preparation for VDI; How to license the desktops for VDI; & VDI Nitty-Gritties Agenda

Management Infastructure Desktop Virtualization Application Virtualization Session Virtualization ie. Terminal Services User State Virtualization Folder Redirection Roaming Profiles

Basic Building Blocks

Personal Virtual Desktops Pooled Virtual Desktops Personal Virtual Desktops One OS image per user Administrator access, desktop customizable User state typically part of the image Personal Virtual Desktops Shared OS images, identically configured No administrator access User state temporary (discarded at session end)

Support for multiple screens and resolutions Support for up to 16 monitors Multi-monitor support fully configurable by administrator All operations supported locally, work remotely

RD Session Host / RD Virtualization Host Audio input and recording Streams microphone input from the user’s machine to the Remote Desktop. Enables VoIP and voice recognition applications over RDS. Improved Audio / Video synchronization Provides an experience closer to using an physical desktop

RD Session Host App-V Management Server RD Client RD Virtualization Host Isolation of incompatible apps Fewer RDSH server silos Clean app state separation NEW: Now available as part of the RDS-CAL

Better Together: Citrix, Microsoft and VMware

Do I need a SAN for my VDI Farm? NO! (Unless you go blade route.) DAS will give great performance at much lower cost. Connection broker will balance the loads; no need for shared storage for Vmotion or Live Migration to dynamically balance. A VDI host server failure will cause the desktop to act like it crashed (no one’s died from this yet). Log back in and the Broker will find a working machine for you. Design to avoid “Boot Storms” to avoid crazy expensive Solid State cards.

“VDI Will Save you Money” Nothing is more dangerous than a salesman with an ROI calculator. (They get the development teams for ROI calculations from the guys that package bacon.) Don’t believe them. It will not save you money, it will be at least 15% more expensive than just refreshing your desktops. This doesn't mean don’t do it; just make sure the benefits you get will justify the costs.

Assessments, Planning and Implementation Do test studies in your lab environments, you will learn a lot. This is not server virtualization. Virtual server environments have their ups and downs. VDI environments are off the charts manic depressives. Use a VAR/OEM to assess historic workload patterns, plan and design/implement, and check their references.

Licensing the Desktops Ask three different Microsoft people how to licensing “anything” and you will get three different answers. Two ways to license (independent of Hypervisor choice) 1.Have Software Assurance on Desktops 2.Purchase VDA Subscription (all thin clients are licensed this way.) VDA Subscription conveys Software Assurance so either option entitles you to Windows Thin PC to reuse old desktops. Remember a new Thin PC will consume about 1/7 the power of a desktop.

Nothing to do with VDI, but If you are a Member of TRS My wife, Rhonda Price, manages the TRS Facebook page. Please go to it and click “Like”.