Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: The New Desktop Experience

Copyright © 2006 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

The New Desktop Experience

by Ed Meanan

VMware Staff Engineer, ChicagoCISSP, VCP, ITIL foundation practitionerSpring 2007 Networking Training Seminar

May 3, 2007Grand Bear Lodge

Utica, IL

2Copyright © 2006 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Agenda

• VMware Technology Overview

• VMware Desktop Virtualization Products

• VMware ACE 2 Enterprise Edition

• VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

• Q&A


Hardware

Application

Operating System

With VirtualizationWithout Virtualization

What is Virtualization?

• VMware provides hardware virtualization that presents a complete x86 platform to the virtual machine

• Allows multiple applications to run in isolation within virtual machines on the same physical machine

• Virtualization provides direct access to the hardware resources to give you much greater performance than software emulation


VMware is the Leader in Virtualization Technology

Founded

Total Employees

Number of Users

Key Partnerships

# Channel Partners

Customer Profile

Operating Structure

1998

1,600+

Independent EMC subsidiary

4+ Million

1,800+

Intel, AMD, HP, Dell, IBM, SUN

90% of the Fortune 100


Bare-MetalVirtualization

Hosted Desktop

Virtualization

Secure Desktop

Environment

The VMware Product Line

Converter

VirtualCenter

VMotion™

Consolidated Backup

Dist Resource Scheduler

VMware High Availability

Hosted Server

Virtualization


VMware Infrastructure – Key Solutions / Use Cases

Server Consolidation and Containment – Eliminate server sprawl by deploying systems into virtual machines

Test and Development – Rapidly provision and re-provision test and development servers; store libraries of pre-configured test machines

Enterprise Desktop – Secure unmanaged PCs. Alternatively, provide standardized enterprise desktop environments hosted on servers.

Business Continuity – Reduce the cost and complexity of business continuity by encapsulating entire systems files that can be replicated and restored onto any target server

Infrastructure Provisioning – Reduce the time for provisioning new infrastructure to minutes with sophisticated automation capabilities.

Legacy Application Re-hosting – Migrate legacy operating systems and software applications to virtual machines running on new hardware for better reliability


VMware Desktop Solutions

1. Assured Computing Environment (ACE)

2. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Secure Desktop

Environment

VDI Core technology


When will you need ACE?

1. Control encryption, locked down ports and devices

2. Capture Easily snapshot and move between known desktop image states for quick recovery

3. Isolate Easy to provision various difference desktop machines with complex security policies

4. Mobile Take your desktop in a portable media i.e. USB thumb drive

5. Streamline Minimized provisioning time and create easy to deploy standard desktop images


ACE V.2: Components


Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VDI leverages Virtual Infrastructure 3 and a remote control protocol such as RDP to provide users access to a remote desktop.

Thin Client or PC

Virtual Infrastructure 3 Server


VDI Benefits - Centralization

Close to IT Operations• Desktops are located in the Data Center – close to support staff.• Management tools can access desktop VMs over high-speed local networks for

patching and maintenance.

Application Performance• Close proximity to servers maintains application performance, regardless of

where the client is located

Security• All data resides on a secure network inside the corporate firewall.• Remote users only ‘view’ data - it never gets transferred to insecure devices

which might be lost, stolen, or hijacked.


VDI Benefits - Compatibility

Real Desktop Operating Systems• Virtual Machines run Windows XP just like physical hardware so applications

work normally without modification.• Applications can make system level changes such as registry writes and DLL

replacements where necessary• Existing corporate desktop configurations can be easily imported.

Isolation• Each Virtual Machine runs separately, so a crashed VM or a poorly behaving

application does not affect other users on the same server.• VDI is suitable for developers because any type of change can be made to a VM

without affecting other users.


VDI Benefits – Virtualization

Homogenous Virtual Hardware• All Virtual Machines use the same virtual hardware.• One base image can be used for many different VMs – driver management is

greatly simplified.• Templates can be created in Virtual Center to aid rapid deployment of new Virtual

Machines

VDI is Virtual Infrastructure• VI3 Servers and Virtual Center are the core components.• Virtualized Server and Desktop spaces can leverage the same hardware,

architecture, and infrastructure.• Automatic Load-Balancing and High Availability through VMware HA, DRS, and

VMotion features.


Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)


• ESX Server is a virtual machine platform with a bare-metal architecture for highest possible performance

• Lean virtualization-centric VMkernel delivers complete control over hardware resources

• Supports dynamic allocation of computing resources

• Highly available, fault-tolerant and secure design

• Supports both scale-up and scale-out strategies

VMware ESX Server

Datacenter-Class Virtual Infrastructure

for Mission-Critical Environments


Virtualization Increases Hardware Utilization

Before VMware After VMware

Virtualization enables consolidation of workloads from underutilized servers onto a single server

to safely achieve higher utilization


Resource Pools

Aggregate collections of disparate hardware resources into unified logical resource pools

Failed server mean less resources not a failed application

Dedicated (virtual) infrastructure for each business unit; central IT retains control over hardware

Delegation of resource and virtual machine management down to the business unit

Management of an entire SOA application stack as a single entity

Servers, Storage, Networking

Business Unit

Department A Department B

Aggregate Resources

Resource Pool 2CPU 36GHz, Mem 58GB

Priority HIGH

Resource Pool 3CPU 12GHz, Mem 22GB

Priority LOW

CPU 48 GHz, Mem 80GB


Network VirtualizationSimplify port configuration by

utilizing a single configuration object across large groups of ports

Expanded port configuration policies including:

• NIC teaming policy (now per port instead of per virtual switch)

• VLAN tagging • Layer 2 security • Traffic shaping

Flexible virtual switches. • Create Virtual switches with any

number of ports from 8 to 1016

• Max number of virtual switches has been raised from 128 to 248

• Scale up to handle more virtual machines

Teamed Physical NICs

Virtual Machines

ESX Server

Virtual SwitchVirtual NIC


Ensure High Availability with VMware HA

Automatic restart of virtual machines in case of server failure

No need for dedicated stand-by hardware

None of the cost and complexity of clustering

VMware HA enables cost-effective high availability for all servers

Resource Pool

X


Resource Optimization with VMware DRS

Intelligent allocation of resources based on pre-defined rules and policies

Monitor utilization across resource pools

Optimize data center resources

• Dynamically adjust supply based on changing demand for resources

• Prioritize resources to the highest value applications

• Conduct zero-downtime server maintenance

Dynamic and intelligent allocation of hardware resources to ensure optimal alignment between business and IT

Resource Pool

Business Demand


Protect data with VMware Consolidated Backup

Centralized agentless backup for virtual machines

• Move backup out of the VM

• Eliminate backup traffic on the LAN

Pre-integrated with major 3rd-party backup products

Perform back up any time

CentralizedData Mover


VDI - The Building Blocks

Enterprise Server Infrastructure

The VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VMware ESX Server

VMware Virtual Center

User Management(Connection Brokering / Session Management)

Remote Access Protocol(RDP)

VMware

VIM

SDK

Systems Integration Services

Devices Operating Systems

Desktops Laptops Thin Clients


VDI – Where does each piece come from?

Enterprise Server Infrastructure

The VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VMware ESX Server

VMware Virtual Center

User Management(Connection Brokering / Session Management)

Remote Access Protocol(RDP)

VMware

VIM

SDK

Systems Integration Services

Devices Operating Systems

Desktops Laptops Thin Clients

Client Side Hardware

Data Center Hardware

VMware Software

3rd Party IntegrationLayer


VDI – Protocol Overview

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

Virtual Network Computing (VNC)

Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)

Remote Graphics Software (RGS)

• Servers exists for almost every platform.

• Various commercial and free versions available

• Performance varies by implementation, no audio support.

• Standard Windows Remote Viewing Protocol (built-in for XP)

• Good performance, supports audio output.

• Viewers available for many platforms and as a browser plug-in.

• Standard Citrix Protocol

• Excellent performance and bi-directional audio support

• Requires Citrix Presentation Server

• Best graphics performance

• Per-node Licensing required from Hewlett-Packard


VDI Architectures – Basic Implementation

• A “One-to-One” relationship between endpoints and Virtual Machines is established

• End-users are assigned the hostname of a VM which belongs to them.

• Connections take place over an existing secured corporate network.

• Remote viewing of VMs is done through desktop RDP software or the built-in features of a thin client.


VDI Architectures – Simple Brokering

Connection Broker

• End-users are given a web address on the corporate network for the connection broker.

• After authenticating, the connection broker provides a list of available resources to the end-user.

• The end-user establishes a connection directly to the VM using desktop or web-based RDP software, or through the built-in features of a thin client.


ConnectionBroker

VDI Architectures – Tunneled Brokering

Corporate Firewall

• End-users are given a public web address for the connection broker.

• After authenticating, the connection broker provides a list of available resources to the end-user.

• The connection broker links the end-user via an encrypted tunnel to the VM.

• The encrypted tunnel is a mini-VPN component designed to route only RDP traffic.


VDI Architectures – Joint Citrix Implementation

Citrix Secure

Gateway

Citrix Presentation

Server

• End-users are given a public web address for the Citrix Secure Gateway.

• After authenticating, the Citrix Presentation Server provides a list of published applications and desktops to the end-user.

• The Citrix Desktop Broker allows pools of Virtual Machines to be accessed as published applications.

Citrix DesktopBroker

Corporate Firewall


VDI Architectures – VMware Lab Manager

VMware Lab Manager

• Developers are given a web address on the corporate network for the Lab Manager server.

• After authenticating, the Lab Manager provides a web interface for accessing and provisioning groups of Virtual Machines.

• Groups of Virtual Machines can be quickly deployed, linked into isolated networks, and destroyed when they are no longer needed.


VMware Desktop Ecosystem

VMware VDI Alliance partners provide hardware and software enhancements to the basic VDI solution.

Some examples…


VMware Desktop Ecosystem

Additional VDI Alliance partners provide complete VDI solutions from the data center to the desktop:


VDI Partners – Wyse

• Thin client hardware with a variety of models, capabilities, and price points.

• Years of industy experience on remote access products.

• Support for RDP and ICA on all models

• Simplified hardware model removes complexity form the user’s desk


VDI Partners – Sun Microsystems

• Supports Sunray thin clients

• Robust infrastructure for external access

• AIP protocol is fast and provides remapping of other display protocols such as RDP, 3270, etc.

• Allows VDI to be part of a unified access solution.


VDI Partners – Citrix

• Widely deployed in the application virtualization and server-based-computing space

• Supports Wyse S10 thin clients

• Robust infrastructure for external access

• Proprietary ICA protocol is fast and efficient

• Can be used as part of a joint implementation with VDI to resolve application compatibility issues.


Case Study: Kindred Healthcare

Business challenges• Mobile roaming solution for doctors & nurses• Bedside access to patient records & data• Ensuring HIPAA compliance

Technical solution• Thin clients from Neoware mounted on rolling carts, connecting

wirelessly to virtual desktops• Hundreds of virtual desktops deployed on hosted ESX servers in

VDI implementation

Why VMware VDI• Flexible secure access to sensitive data anywhere• Quick desktop provisioning & improved reliability• Enthusiastically adopted by demanding user base• Smart economics: desktops require less power and

can be deployed as needed, centralized mgmt

“Nurses and doctors don’t really care about the underlying technology. They just want it to work, and help them do their jobs better. The fact that our users have so readily adopted our VDI-powered workstation on wheels shows that this solution really works for them.”

Laura ArmisteadUnix Support Team Manager


Case Study: IntelliRisk Management Corporation

Business challenges• IRMC performs collections & accounts receivable for

all major banks & credit cards in U.S.• Time to market adding desktops for new customers• Desktop tasks were time-consuming & inflexible

Technical solution• Chose thin clients with RDP access to data center• Large virtual desktop deployment on hosted ESX

servers in VDI implementation

Why VMware VDI• Easier administration of desktops anywhere in the

world from 1 central location• Reduced time to add new PC to <10 minutes• Operational & hardware savings

IRMC slogan: “Any agent, any desk, anywhere.”

Chris VidaSenior Vice President

“We could provide a workstation to any client, in any seat, at any office in the world… in just 8 minutes.”

Frank SabatelliDirector of Virtual Technology Infrastructure


Virtualization Leadership Awards


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