VDI Practical Guidelines and Real
Life Considerations
Richard Price
Virtualization Specialist
[email protected]
www.virtguy.com
(512) 431-7080
Austin, Texas
Fly on the wings of technology
VDI – The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Agenda
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
User State
Virtualization
Folder Redirection
Roaming Profiles
Session
Virtualization
ie. Terminal
Services
Management
Infastructure
Desktop
Virtualization
Application
Virtualization
Basic Building Blocks
Personal Virtual Desktops
One OS image per user
Administrator access, desktop customizable
User state typically part of the image
Personal Virtual Desktops
Personal Virtual Desktops
Shared OS images, identically configured
No administrator access
User state temporary (discarded at session
end)
Pooled Virtual Desktops
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
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 /
RD Virtualization Host
Isolation of incompatible apps
Fewer RDSH server silos
Clean app state separation
NEW: Now available as part of
the RDS-CAL
App-V Management
Server
RD Session Host
RD Client
RD Virtualization Host
Citrix drives the depth of the solution
Better Together: Citrix, Microsoft and VMware
Citrix XenDesktop and Citrix XenApp:
On-Demand Desktop and Application Delivery
Dynamic
Application
Delivery
Security
Enterprise
Scalability
& Access
Single
Instance
Management
Extensibility
High
Definition
Experience
Stability
Secure
by
Design
Connectivity
VDI Nitty-Gritties
(as I see it)
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”.
http://www.facebook.com/TeacherRetirementSystemofTexas