Title

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Agenda– Understanding VDI Architecture– Understanding your options– Planning

Learning Objectives– Learn why Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is

important and how it can be implemented– Understand the pros/cons of VDI– Make the case for the VDI approach you should

implement based on your scenario

VDI Overview

1. Breakdown the components of a personal computer

2. This is what we commonly refer to as a Windows OS

3. VDI moves the OS, Apps and Data to the data center

4. Access VDI through Remote Desktop Protocol’s

What is VDI?

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

OSHW

DataApp’s

Common Misconceptions About VDI

VDI is just one of many tools to virtualize your desktop

Desktop Virtualization = VDI

VDI will save money immediatelyAll users will benefit from VDI

VDI is the future of the desktopOnly VMware has VDI

technology

The Benefits of VDICentralized Management Anywhere Access for Connected

Devices

Increased Business ContinuityEnhance Security and Compliance

•Manage physical and virtual desktops from a single console•Centralized desktop lifecycle management

•Access desktops from any connected device•Enable rich desktop experiences on thin clients and older PCs

•Data always locked in the datacenter• Improved compliance through centralization

•Datacenter grade business continuity for the desktop•Quicker resolution of desktop failures

Scenarios for VDI

Provide a Managed Desktop to Unmanaged Devices

• Contract workers• Employee-owned PCs

Desktops That Demand High Levels of Security and Compliance

• Non-mobile desktops in specific industries (i.e. financial services / healthcare / government)

Centralizing Desktop Management for Remote Locations

• Branch offices• Offshore locationsTask Worker Scenarios• Call center workers• Shared terminals, such as factory kiosk / nursing

stations

Big Components of VDI

ClientDesktop optimized for VDI

Remote access protocol

Connectivity to application infrastructure

Management and monitoring

ServerConnection Broker

Access Gateway

Hypervisor

Hypervisor Management

Provisioning System

Application Infrastructure

Authentication/Authorization/Access Control

Microsoft VDI Suite ComponentsSimple licensing for Microsoft infrastructure and managementApplication Delivery

Use rights for System Center components restricted to VDI scenario

Desktop Delivery

Management

Virtualization Platform

Connection Broker for VM Delivery

Technology for Session Delivery

VDI Standard Suite

VDI Premium Suite

XenDesktop Extends Microsoft VDI Suites

• Rich Remote user experience• High definition experience over both LAN

and WAN

• On-Demand Application Delivery• Builds on Microsoft App-V to deliver

applications

XenApp

• Virtual desktop and application delivery architecture

• Dynamic desktop delivery reduces cost of VDI.Citrix

Essentials For Hyper-V

• Profile management, storage optimization and other tools for Hyper-V

Separating Desktop Computing Layers

Microsoft delivers broad range of Desktop Virtualization offerings to address unique business and IT challenges • Folder Redirection

• Roaming Profiles

• Application Virtualization

• RemoteApp• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Suites• Remote Desktop Services• Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

Data & User Settings

Applications

Operating System

Deployment Considerations

Four components to Desktop Virtualization– User State– Application– User Session– Desktop Hardware

All four are not required

There are no dependencies

Can be implemented in any order

Each has discrete benefits

User State Virtualization

Reduces footprint of desktop VMs– Reduces disk IO– Reduces storage– Reduces disk size

Enables shared desktops– Replaceable PC scenario

Facilitates protection of user files

Application Virtualization

Simplifies delivery of apps, and allows any user to run any app, regardless of version

One install for both hosted and local deliveries

Optimizes storage

Decision point: Locally run or hosted

Session Virtualization

Not every virtual desktop is a VM

Shared session servers (terminal servers) replace most shared/pooled desktop scenarios

XenDesktop integrates both virtual machine and virtual session experiences

Desktop Virtualization

Provides datacenter-hosted user desktops

Private desktops most common use case

Shared desktops valid, with additional management

App-V with XenDesktop

Improves Application Compatibility•Prevents one app conflicting with another•Prevents one app conflicting with other instances of itself•Fixes many issues where app wouldn’t run as standard user

Enables Consolidation of Session Hosts•No longer any need for silos of session hosts•Allows session hosts to be homogenous•Shared Cache saves substantial storage as deployment grows

Improves user profiles•Application settings can be stored to network location / roamed independently

•Increases usefulness of mandatory profiles

App-V helps eliminate conflicts between applications and removes the need to install those applications on PCs

Understanding Desktop Models

Deployment Choices – VM Guests

• Provides virtual machine-based, centralized desktops for individual users that can be fully customized based on user profiles

• Allows users to perform specialized tasks that require administrator access to their desktop

• Enables users to access their personalized desktop from any computer while retaining the last saved state

Personal Virtual Desktop

• Provides virtual machine-based, centralized desktop based on a pool of virtual machines that are shared by multiple users

• Allows users to perform standardized routine tasks and have access to common applications (such as Microsoft Office)

• Rolls back the state upon logoff to provide a “clean” desktop for the next user’s session, but the previous user’s state can be saved offline

Pooled Virtual

Desktop

Static (“Persistent”)Virtual Desktops

Dynamic (“Non-Persistent”)

Virtual DesktopsUser State Virtualization(Folder Re-direction& roaming profile)

Application Virtualization(aka SoftGrid)Presentation Virtualization(TS RemoteApp)

VDI Architecture: VM Delivery

Storage vs. Desktop Model

User Model defines the Desktop Model

Pooled for shared desktops

Private for private desktops

Management Model defines the Storage Model

Shared storage– Thin provisioned– Linked clones, etc

Private storage– Monolithic desktops

The Case for Private Storage

Private Storage = One VHD per Desktop

Desktops treated as physical computers

Benefits– Simple management– Persistent data (certificates, etc)

Considerations– Requires isolation of apps to work well

The Case for Pooled Storage

Pooled Storage = Linked Clones/Diff disks

Desktops are “disposable”

Benefits– Easy on storage

Considerations– Management– Update process– Complexity

Guest VM Considerations

The Case for Personal Virtual Desktops

Its all about the user– Specifically suits knowledge workers (typical office worker profile)– Those that walk away/disconnect and then want to reconnect

Considerations:– Assign image through Active Directory Users and Computers– Provide an individual dedicated image per user

Minimize image duplication using SAN de-duplication if image storage is a concern– Minimize direct image management

Roaming ProfilesFolder redirectionUtilize Application Virtualization (App-V) or RemoteApp for application delivery and servicing

Service the operating system with your enterprise management tools and leverage single tooling

Result: Easier to manage, more personalized and integrated with current tools

Guest VM Considerations

The Case for Pooled Virtual Desktops

Its all about the user– Specifically suits task workers (typical call center profile)– User logs off, the VM resets and then just connect to the next VM to use applications

Considerations:– Same scenario can also be delivered through Session Virtualization, cheaper– User just connects to pool of VM’s through the Broker– Clustering generally doesn’t matter– With Citrix, the SAN doesn’t even matter

Minimize direct image management– Roaming Profiles– Folder redirection– Utilize Application Virtualization (App-V) for application delivery and servicing

Guest VM Operating System updates can be very painful

If pooled is best choice for you, consider Citrix XenDesktop on Hyper-V– Also consider RDSH as this provides similar scenario support and scales better

Result: Potentially less complicated, but less personalized and more difficult to manage

Guest VM Considerations

Why is Pooled more difficult?

Will a single master image and separation of the user state with linked clones work?

What happens when you need to service the image?– Can user state difference tolerate change of the master image?

When Master Image needs serviced, corresponding linked clone suffers a catastrophic break

Solution is to duplicate the master, update it and create new pool with new linked clones

Required every time a single master is updated with:– Operating System patches– Anti-malware Updates– Anything else on the OS

Guest VM Considerations

Why is Pooled more difficult?

Customer reports…– Highlight that updating single master/linked image

desktops without pool recreation aren’t working as expected

– Nasty corruption problems

Some switching from pooled to PVD– Bad story: switching and leaving the linked clone

architecture in place– Citrix XenDesktop on Hyper-V does the pooled model

very well with its provisioning server

VDI vs. Terminal Servers

TS Versus VDI For Desktops

Your requirements should dictate mode

Remoting protocol is common factor for both models

Expect to have mix of both models

TS VDI

Isolation Session Isolation Virtual Machine Isolation

Remote User Experience Dependent on Protocol Dependent on Protocol

User Flexibility User has to run as user User can have full rights

Application Support Server OS Client OS

Hardware Resource Utilization Highly Efficient Less Efficient

IT staff skills needed Needs TS experts Needs VM Experts

Patching Overhead Once patch per server One patch per VM template

Guess the OS?

Operating System TwoGuess the OS?

Operating System Quiz

Windows RDS has up to 5x the scalability over VDI

Capacity Planning & Sizing

VDI Capacity Planning

Caveats and Objectives

Performance is very subjective with many variables

Caveats– Data based on benchmark results; not reflective of real-life deployment

considerations: (a) Based on specific scenarios (b) Does not account for “cushion” to deal with temporary peaks in resource usage

– Recommend piloting for performance planning– Multiple factors determine actual performance: (a) Variations in hardware, (b) Driver

versions, (c) Desktop Workloads, (d) Application quality

What we used:– Two differently configured AMD servers– Fiber Channel SAN

Objectives to be determined:– An indication of VM’s per server that could VDI scale to: (a) Processor, Disk and

Memory requirements, and (b) Network requirements– Service Placement– Comparison against RDS Session Virtualization scale on same hardware

VDI Capacity Planning

Processor

Rule of thumb: If it doesn’t have SLAT don’t buy it– SLAT enabled processors provide up to 25% improvement in density– # of VMs per core is highly dependent on user scenarios– Application specific usage play a big role

Hyper-V supports:– 64 VMs per Server in Clustered scenarios– 384 VMs per Server in non-Clustered scenarios– 8 VM’s per Core (not architectural limitation, what is tested/supported)

What is Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)? – Intel calls it Extended Page Tables (EPT)– AMD calls it Nested Page Tables (NPT) or Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI)– Processor provides two levels of translation: (a) Walks the guest OS page tables

directly; (b) No need to maintain Shadow Page Table; (c) No hypervisor code for demand-fill or flush operations

– Resource savings: (a) Hypervisor CPU time drops to 2%; (b) Roughly 1MB of memory saved per VM

VDI Capacity Planning

Processor – “Real World”

Real world deployments reflect higher RDS scale

Our customer engagement feedback indicates differences between tests and real world deployments:– Our rough estimate: Some customers see

as high as 5:1 in favor of Session Virtualization over VDI

– Use cases will determine actual numbers

VDI Capacity Planning

Disk IO

Rule of thumb: SANs are your new best friends

Disk performance is most critical factor in achieving density

SAN makes significant difference. Highly recommended– Plenty of cache– Consider de-duplication support – de-duplication allows the benefits of

individual images at the cost of differencing disk– Managing images on a SAN is way faster and easier than network

(provisioning is faster)– We mean real SAN not NAS across the network…– Remember RDS does not require this huge SAN investment…

If you have low complexity requirements:– Think about cheaper DAS – RAID 0+1 offers better read and write performance than RAID 5– Make sure to consider RDS

VDI Capacity Planning

Disk IO

Peak of read/write @ 3500 IOPS on single un-clustered server (Starting 64 VMs simultaneously)– Multiply that by number of servers– Result = rough guidance for the maximum SAN disk IOPS you

need– Test for most demanding user logon pattern (e.g.,: 9 am scenario)– This test based on Windows 7 Enterprise

Why use IOPS as a measurement?– Trying to calculate drive perf differences based on seek, latency

and transfer rate is hard– IOPS is an easier way of understanding disk/SAN performance– Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS

  Read Write Read+WriteMbytes/sec Ops/sec Mbytes/sec Ops/sec Mbytes/sec Ops/sec

Avg Peak Avg Peak Avg Peak Avg Peak Avg Peak Avg Peak64 users

10 220 350 2500 8 75 350 2500 18 224 700 3500

VDI Capacity PlanningMemory

Rule of thumb: More is betterBiggest constraint of upper limit VM density (not performance related)– Constrained by: (a) Available memory slots in servers, (b) Largest

Available DIMMs– Creates an artificial scale ceiling

Buy as much RAM as you plan to scale VMsAllocate at least 1GB per Windows 7 VM – Memory allocation should be determined by upper maximum limit

of running apps– Allocate enough RAM to prevent the VM paging to disk

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/Perf_tun_srv-R2.mspx.

VDI Capacity Planning: Network Performance

Rule of thumb: Rich User Experience requires rich bandwidthLAN– Generally place VDI (RDVH) servers as “close” as possible to users– VDI User experience is heavily dependent on network performance– LAN performance generally not a bottleneck (calculate to be sure)– Network redundancy important in switching fabric; when its down, the user is

totally down– Ensure Blade servers can sustain on the backplane

WAN – WAN issues now equal worse issues later; latency kills user experience; look at

WAN optimization or compression solutions– Persistent protocols take bandwidth per connection– How to tell: Multiply the number of users by approximately 20kbps: (a) Is that

beyond the capacity of your internet/WAN network?(b) 20kbps is the best case scenario based on HDX(c) 20kbps represents a cut down user experience

VDI Capacity PlanningHyper-V Choice and Support Limits

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition: best choice for VDI management services– Flexible Virtualization Licensing– Think of the overall VDI architecture – additional server VM’s than just

the Clients– Supports 2 TB RAM (Core or Full)

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2: best choice for VDI Guest VM hosting– Lowest cost hypervisor– Supports 1TB RAM

Supported Limits:– Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V 2008 R2 supports:

384 guest maximum per server (clustered or unclustered)1,000 guests per cluster

VDI RecommendationsMemory and Disk

VM Disk– Utilize Fixed Disks where possible

Reduces VM Disk fragmentation (mainly for non-SAN)Cant be used in differencing disk scenarios

– SCSI vs IDE doesn’t matter

VM Memory– Make sure there is sufficient RAM allocated to VM– Increased Disk IO Pagefile growth from disk fragmentation

(insufficient memory)Increased fragmentation requires memory managementLack of memory grows the pagefileGrowing pagefile requires more memory…and then creates more Disk IO

Windows 7 as an OS

RemoteFX and Dynamic MemoryTechnologies to increase user productivity and lower the cost per desktop

Microsoft RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will enable a local-like, rich media experience for session-based or virtual desktops.

Dynamic Memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 enables better consolidation ratios with predictable performance

Dynamic Memory RemoteFX

VDI Recommendations

Windows 7: A viable choice for VDI

VDI is typically memory and disk IO constrained– Windows 7 generally has less disk IO than Windows XP– Windows 7 generally requires more RAM than Windows XP– Windows 7 is faster to provision than Windows XP

In part supported by offline domain join – RAM is an temporal artificial limit

Recommendations:– Minimize unrequired system services– Minimize network traffic

Screensavers and screen redraws impact network IO– Ensure that applications are checked for disk IO efficiency

Perfmon (Disk Queue)– Ensure latest drivers are being used

http://blogs.msdn.com/rds/archive/2009/11/02/windows-7-with-rdp7-best-os-for-vdi.aspx

VDI Recommendations

Windows 7: User Experience

Aero Glass for Remote Desktop Server• Provides the same new Windows 7 look and feel when using RDS

Multimedia Support & Audio Input• Provides a high-quality multimedia experience with multimedia

redirection capabilities

True Multiple Monitor Support• Allows users to view their remote desktop on multiple monitors

configured the same way as if their desktop or applications were running locally

Enhanced Bitmap Acceleration• Allows rich media content, such as portable graphics stacks

(Silverlight, Flash) and 3D content, to be rendered on the host and to be sent as accelerated bitmaps to the remote client

SP1 VDI features Generic multi-media remoting: Flash, Real Players, Quick Time 3D graphic support: DirectX® 9, DirectX 10 Broad USB support

Remote Desktop Connection BrokerUnified administration experience for TS and Microsoft VDI Supports both “Pooled” and “Dedicated” VM assignment Extensible platform for partner enterprise solutions

VDI Specific Enhancements in

Live Migration of Virtual MachinesVMs moved from source to destination host with no perceived downtimeLive migration between hosts within a High Availability Cluster“Clustered Shared Volumes” to store multiple VHD’s from different VMs on a single LUN

VM

VM

Enhanced RDP FeaturesEnhanced Graphics: Multi-monitor, Windows Aero, D3D remotingEnhanced Audio: Business quality bi-directional audio for enterprise VoIPWindows Media Player remoting

SP1

Planning

Considerations Prior to Adopting VDI

• Network-dependent apps (i.e. VOIP) may have degraded performance

• Graphic-intensive applications may notperform well over WAN

Application Performance

• No offline mode – unsuitable for non-connected workers

• User experience degrades with server loading and reduced network capacity (i.e. WAN)

User Experience

• Additional investments in server, management, storage, and network infrastructure

• Additional software for VDI management, user experience, and optimization

Datacenter Upgrade Cost

Identify Appropriate Use Cases for VDI

Provide a Managed Desktop to Unmanaged Devices• Contract workers• Employee-owned PCs

Desktops That Demand High Levels of Security and Compliance

• Non-mobile desktops in specific industries (i.e. financial services / healthcare / government)

Centralizing Desktop Management for Remote Locations

• Branch offices• Offshore locationsTask Worker Scenarios• Call center workers• Shared terminals, such as factory kiosk / nursing stations

Well-managed VDI Offering Components

Access Points(PC, Thin clients)

Access Points(PCs, Thin clients)

Server and Management Infrastructure

Datacenter Hardware

Layer

Servers Storage

Virtualization Platform

ManagementApplication Delivery

User State Virtualization

Desktop Delivery

Network

Will my current network and

infrastructure deliver a true

desktop experience?

Key Questions As You Plan to Deploy VDI

Have I already laid the foundation

for VDI with application and user state virtualization?

What investments are required beyond

basic VDI infrastructure to enable a true

desktop experience? Are all my workers always connected?

Am I targeting the right use cases to ensure ROI for my

VDI?

If my primary goal is to reduce desktop costs, do I

have a baseline for comparison?

Can my organization handle a new desktop

deployment paradigm?

How do I handle mobile workers?

Desktop Virtualization Beyond VDI

How do I ensure my data is always protected and available to all my users

no matter what device they use?

How do I reduce the cost of managing physical

and virtual environments?

How do I ease my application management?

What additional management investments do I need to ensure success in desktop virtualization?

Where do I start my desktop virtualization project so I can

achieve the fastest ROI?

Realizing the Benefits of Desktop Virtualization

Anywhere Access for Users •Data and applications•Offline mobile user productivity

Business Agility and Continuity •Disaster recovery•Helpdesk tools

Integrated Management•Application management• Physical and virtual desktop

management•Data Management•Corporate PCs•Portable devices

Security and Data Protection

Microsoft can help IT achieve these benefits across all types of desktops and devices – not just VDI

VDI Management with System Center

Self-Service Portal 2.0

Building VDI – The Business Approach

Virtualize the Hardware

Private VDI Shared VDI

Virtualize the DesktopSession Host XenDesktop

Separate the ApplicationsApp-V XenApp RDS

Optimize the DesktopMDOP User State Virtualization

Building VDI– The Technical Approach

Virtualize User State

Roaming Profiles Folder Redirection Profile Management

Virtualize the ApplicationsApp-V XenApp

Virtualize the DesktopsXenDesktop RDS

Deploy the Hypervisor LayerHyper-V Server SCVMM

Conclusion

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) can be implemented in a variety of ways

Understand the pros/cons of VDI

Make the case for the VDI approach you should implement based on your scenario

©2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows Azure, Hyper-V and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this

presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.

MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.