VirtualizationTransforming the Desktop of the Past

Jack Kramer, Communications and Brand Strategy

JJ Strieff, Health Information Technology

Muhammad Umar, Community and Sustainability

Virtualization—Core Concept

Making one physical machine appear to be one or

more logical (virtual) machines

Increases efficiency by utilizing extra resources

(versus leaving them idle)

Increases manageability by abstracting away the

hardware layer

Server fails? Move your virtual machines to new

hardware and keep going

Virtualized machines are usually servers

But desktops can be virtualized too

Traditional Architecture vs. Virtualized

Traditional Architecture Virtualized Architecture

Server Virtualization versus Desktop

Servers are task-focused File server, print server, mail server, web

server

These tasks are carried out at user request, but not with direct user interaction

Speed is important, but responsiveness is not

Desktops are user-focused Users interact with the desktop to do anything

Responsiveness is essential, speed is not

The Different Needs of Desktops

Desktops must be responsive

No waiting for clicks or screen refreshes

No lag while waiting for tasks to complete

As long as the user feels they aren’t waiting for

their clicks or keyboard inputs, they will accept

the virtual desktop as their own

This is true even if the machine is a little slower

Why Desktop Virtualization?

The same reasons as server virtualization Save space and power / avoid wasted

resources

Improve management

Reduce deployment time

Plus Consolidate licensing

Provide secure remote access

Improve user flexibility

Provide for “bring your own device”

Our Solution for Desktop Virtualization

VMware Horizon View

Horizon View Architecture

View Composer

Linked Clones vs. Full Virtual Machine

Linked clones will all be identical to the source machine But that means they will all have the same software

Users can customize but will lose their changes

That makes them very survivable and manageable

Not good for users who need special software

Full VMs are just like individual desktops The VM is reserved for that user and is a full PC, just

running on the virtual server

Managed like a traditional desktop, just without hardware issues

Users can install software—but also can trash the VM

How do Linked Clones work?

You create a base virtual machine

Install software, configure settings, etc.

Take a snapshot of the virtual machine

View Composer will build new virtual machines

automatically based on the snapshotted machine

Clones are “linked” to the snapshot so the disk

space is not duplicated

Machines can immediately be returned to their

original state

Machines can be created and destroyed

dynamically to handle changing user demand

Unified Access and Management

What You Need

VMware vSphere vCenter and ESXi

Fast SAN storage VDI is very IO sensitive and speed is essential

SATA with RAID 5 or 6 need not apply

VMware Horizon View or Suite licenses Horizon View is VDI only, the suite comes with extra

features (Workspace and Mirage)

Windows and application licenses You must have Software Assurance or VDI licenses

Make sure your software licenses are concurrent

Health Information Technology

Support the colleges of COM, CHM,

CON, and the HealthTeam

50 FTEs

2100 Users

2500 Computers

Clinical, Academic, Classroom, and

Labs

All over campus, greater Lansing

area, Grand Rapids, and Detroit

Provide full service

HIT Virtualization Path

Started investigating VDI in 2009

6 month Proof of Concept

Chose EMC for Storage

RFP for Servers (HP)

RFP for Professional Services (Advizex)

HIT Virtualization Infrastructure

Sized for 150 servers and 1800 desktops

16 HP BL465 Server Blades 192 GB RAM

Dual 6-core Intel CPUs

EMC NS960 SAN Storage 165 Fibre Channel Disks

8Gb Fibre Channel interconnects

HIT VMware Design

4 Blades for Virtual Servers

12 Blades for Virtual Desktops

2 vCenter Servers (one server, one desktop)

2 View Security Servers

2 View Connection Servers

1 MSSQL Server

3 VMware Clusters (one for servers, two for desktops)

HIT Horizon View Pool Design

Multiple Pool Types

Linked Clone Non-Persistent

Linked Clone Persistent

Full VMs

HIT Pool Design

Linked Clone Non-Persistent

Standard “Golden” image for entire pool

Virtual desktop is reverted back after logoff (all changes are discarded)

Third-party Profile Management software used to manage custom user settings (Profile Unity —www.liquidwarelabs.com)

ThinApp used to deliver applications that are not in the main image

Users cannot install software

HIT Pool Design

Linked Clone Persistent

Standard “Golden” image for entire pool

User will connect to the same desktop every time

Changes are not discarded

User may or may not have rights to install software

No profile management software needed

HIT Pool Design

Full VMs

Golden or Custom image can be used

User is typically an administrator

Very similar to a virtual server

Takes up more disk space!

HIT—Where we are today

170 Virtual Servers

400-500 concurrent VDI

sessions

Over 1000 users have access

Community Sustainability and

Communications and Brand Strategy

Two departments, one unified (stretched) datacenter Partnership to share costs and increase

capabilities

Fully redundant environment in each building High Availability—can survive failure

Separate Active Directory and operating environments CSUS uses the ANR AD forest and

Exchange

CABS has its own AD forest and Exchange

Community Sustainability

A Department of College of

ANR

25 Staff, 55 Faculty

Approx. 300 users

220 Computers

Academic offices and student

labs

Natural Resources building

Communications and Brand Strategy

University Communications

department

40 Staff

Approx. 60 users

45 computers

Staff offices and mobile

devices

Olds Hall

CABS/CARRS Virtualization Path

Virtualized all servers by 2010

Started investigating VDI in 2010

Pilot deployment Summer 2010

Full deployment in Fall 2011

Built on existing VMware infrastructure

CABS/CARRS Virtualization Infrastructure

Sized for 100+ servers and 50 desktops

4 Dell Rack Servers (2 R610s, 2 R710s)

148 GB RAM

2x 4- or 6-core Intel CPUs

Custom “white-boxed” storage

63 SATA Disks (RAID 10) and 24 SSDs (RAID

6)

Storage is duplicated between buildings

(identical configuration) for high availability

CABS/CARRS VMware Design

Combined environment (shared

desktop/server environment)

Hardware vCenter server

2 View Connection Servers (one per

dept.)

2 MSSQL servers (one per dept.)

1 VMware cluster for all VMs

View VMs and high-load servers placed

on SSDs; other servers on mechanical

disks

CABS/CARRS Horizon View Pool Design

Only two types

Linked Clone Non-Persistent (Floating)

Full VMs

CABS/CARRS Pool Design

Linked Clone Non-Persistent (Floating)

“Golden” image for the entire pool

Desktop is wiped and replaced with a new machine at logoff (clone is deleted)

VMware Persona Management and folder redirection used to manage user data

Applications are baked into the image—no ThinAppsused

Users are local admins but changes aren’t preserved after logoff

CABS/CARRS Pool Design

Full VMs

Same as a regular desktop, just virtualized

VM is created from a master image and then handed over to user

Users are allowed to install software and make changes

Managed like a normal desktop, including Windows Update and antivirus

CABS/CARRS—Where we are today

100 Virtual Servers

50 Virtual Desktops

20 concurrent sessions (on average)

All users have access to floating pools

Virtual Desktop Benefits

Standardized desktops

Decreased service calls

Reduced hardware costs

Decreased new desktop delivery time

Streamlined process for new app delivery

Increased remote access capability

Secure mobile access

© VMware, Inc.

Virtual Desktop Challenges

User experience

Wide range of software needs

Technology learning curve

User peripheral devices

All your eggs are in one basket

The User Perspective

Users can use software or

hardware clients to connect to

the View environment

Software clients are available

for Mac, Windows, Linux,

Android, and iOS

Hardware clients are either

traditional “thin” clients or

PCoIP-only “zero” clients

Software Clients

Great for portability or occasional users

Mac user who needs Windows software

Mac / Windows users who need departmentally

licensed software with seat restrictions

Users who want to use Windows on an iPad or

Android tablet, or their smartphones

Users who need to connect to secure resources

from their homes

Performance is lower than a hardware client

New in Horizon View 5.2—VMware Blast

Lets you access VMs from a HTML5 browser

Lower performance than software, but great for

quick remote access

Hardware Clients

Traditional thin clients

Wyse and HP are the major vendors

Run a low-profile OS (usually Windows Embedded or

Linux) and a specialized software client

Extra hardware for VDI acceleration

Zero clients

“Thinner than Thin” clients

Designed specifically for PCoIP and View

Zero clients are preferred for View desktops

What do Zero Clients look like?

Embedded PCoIP OS

Only serves to connect to the View server

Available as “standalone” hardware or integrated into displays

Zero-touch setup

Teradici management software detects new zero clients an pushes settings automatically

Management software is free

Requires an organizational DHCP server

Very affordable

$300 for “desktop” or $500 for monitor-integrated

Ultimately…

Users get a secure and accessible

desktop at a lower price, with greater

availability

Administrators get an environment that

is easier to manage and can provision

machines faster, increasing user

satisfaction

Organizations save money on licensing

and through reducing wasted time and

effort

Where do we go from here?

More VDI info on the NAGlist

We will be sending out invites to periodic

virtualization and VDI meetings

Even Hyper-V people are welcome!

Future presentations from vendors

VDI-related services and appliances

Upcoming vendor presentations will be

announced (on NAGlist)

Questions?

Jack Kramer—jack.kramer@cabs.msu.edu

Twitter—@sithanas

JJ Strieff—strieff@msu.edu

Muhammad Umar—umarmuha@msu.edu