VIRTUMANIA Podcast Episode 15 – Fishing For Virtual Desktops. Hosted by Rich Brambley (@rbrambley) of VMETC and Greg Knieriemen (@knieriemen) with guests and Rick Vanover (@rickvanover) of RickVanover.com and Ron Oglesby (@ronoglesby) Chief Solution Architect at Unidesk. Unlike our previous VDI Plumber Crack episode where we looked at server infrastructure, this time the focus is on the end user side of virtual desktops. Just like in fishing there is a “tackle box” of choices for provisioning, managing and supporting user images and applications, and virtualization admins have to be careful not to snag their VDI project in the weeds of end point connection devices. Virtumania is a Infosmack Production.

Listen to the podcast with the embedded player or subscribe to get a weekly copy so you can listen when convenient.

Check out the VM /ETC VIRTUMANIA Page to listen to past episodes as well as episodes of Infosmack.

The following links offer more information on some of the topics mentioned in VIRTUMANIA Episode 15:

Ron Oglesby

Ron Oglesby leaves Dell to go to Unidesk? (err… Unidesk!)

“All this changes with Ron.

I’m not sure exactly what his job will be, but you can rest-assured that Ron brings instant credibility to the company in the eyes of the thousands of people who have seen him speak at BriForum, VMworld, iForum or read any of his three books. (One on Terminal Server and two on VMware ESX.)

So congrats to Unidesk for scoring Ron. So, um, can you tell us what the hell you’re doing now? ”

The Client Hypervisor’s Other Use

VDI, XenClient, iPad, and more final thoughts from Citrix Synergy

The real XenClient opportunity is not about letting users toggle back and forth between work and home VMs in a Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC) model. XenClient’s ability to run multiple VMs on a PC or notebook opens up amazing new opportunities for third party solutions that can improve or provide new capabilities around desktop patching, app delivery, user mobility, personalization, end user self-service, desktop repair, auditing, edge security, data protection, and more

BriForum Session – VDI Adoption’s Slow Rate

Server virtualization – Success! VDI – Not so Much. Why VDI Adoption Has Been Slow and How Desktop Virt Will Change the Future

VDI Protocol Wars

Compares: RedHat SPICE vs RDP vs ICA performance video

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/gabeknuth/archive/2009/06/18/redhat-spice-vs-rdp-vs-ica-performance-video.aspx

What is Unidesk?

Watch a pre-recorded webinar with industry expert Ron Oglesby, as he takes you on deep dive through VDI personalization, management, and storage optimization.

UPdate 2 Info

VMware ESX 4 Update 2 is available for download here. The following is a cut and paste of What’s New from the Release Notes:

• Enablement of Fault Tolerance Functionality for Intel Xeon 56xx Series processors— vSphere 4.0 Update 1 supports the Intel Xeon 56xx Series processors without Fault Tolerance. vSphere 4.0 Update 2 enables Fault Tolerance functionality for the Intel Xeon 56xx Series processors.
• Enablement of Fault Tolerance Functionality for Intel i3/i5 Clarkdale Series and Intel Xeon 34xx Clarkdale Series processors— vSphere 4.0 Update 1 supports the Intel i3/i5 Clarkdale Series and Intel Xeon 34xx Clarkdale Series processors without Fault Tolerance. vSphere 4.0 Update 2 enables Fault Tolerance functionality for the Intel i3/i5 Clarkdale Series and Intel Xeon 34xx Clarkdale Series processors.
• Enablement of IOMMU Functionality for AMD Opteron 61xx and 41xx Series processors— vSphere 4.0 Update 1 supports the AMD Opteron 61xx and 41xx Series processors without input/output memory management unit (IOMMU). vSphere 4.0 Update 2 enables IOMMU functionality for the AMD Opteron 61xx and 41xx Series processors.
• Enhancement of the esxtop/resxtop utility— vSphere 4.0 Update 2 includes an enhancement of the performance monitoring utilities, esxtop and resxtop. The esxtop/resxtop utilities now provide visibility into the performance of NFS datastores in that they display the following statistics for NFS datastores: Reads/s, writes/s, MBreads/s, MBwrtn/s, cmds/s, GAVG/s(guest latency).
• Additional Guest Operating System Support— ESX/ESXi 4.0 Update 2 adds support for Ubuntu 10.04. For a complete list of supported guest operating systems with this release, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.
• Resolved Issues – In addition, this release delivers a number of bug fixes that have been documented in the Resolved Issues section.

PCoIP Connections Issue

The following cut and paste is from the VMware KB Article Upgrading VMware Tools in a virtual desktop causes PCoIP connections to fail:

As I understand Local Mode, VMware View will be able to coordinate the offload of intensive desktops operations such as graphics to the hardware of a user’s notebook, thin client, or PC. Since the VMware View Client is installed as an application on the operating system of the end user’s system, this seems to be a better technical fit with VMware’s expertise in type 2 hypervisor products, or hosted virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, Server, Player, and Fusion. This focus in development also seems more aligned with the Teradici partnership enabling the software based PCoIP protocol.

Combined with the promise of offline synchronization, where changes to the local copy of the VM will be replicated to the master copy in the data center, VMware View Local Mode would definitely make VMware View instantly compatible with the widest selection of hardware possible. This in turn creates the least path of resistance for the VMware VDI solution to provide remote and mobile access to a corporate virtual machine even when users are abroad.

Developing a bare metal client hypervisor has obviously been a bigger than expected challenge for both Citrix and VMware judging by the delays in release experienced by both companies so far. As more and more corporations consider the concept of BYOC (allowing employees to bring your own computer), VMware now seems to be backing out of the hardware platform support arena and falling back to what they do best. Although I believe a smart decision has been made here, there will no doubt be some public “crow to eat” in Palo Alto.

Be sure to read the entire VMware View Blog post linked above, but the rest of this post is the VMware Desktop Team’s own words about View Client Local Mode:

Enter View Client with Local Mode.

Unlike what others are pushing with much hyped “Type-1″ client hypervisors, View Client with Local mode installs cleanly and non-destructively on an existing Windows Laptop or PC.  You don’t need to start with brand-new hardware from an OEM.  You don’t need to wipe out or destructively modify an existing OS installation and void your service/support contracts.   It’s “just software” that solves real problems.

Once View Client with Local Mode is in place, you’ll be able to do things like…

As an end user:

• Checkout a desktop from the datacenter to run on the client device regardless of network connectivity.
• Enjoy a full fidelity desktop experience with 3D DirectX9c support, Aeroglass effects on Win7, support for devices like web-cams and VOIP.
• Immediately get access to a replica desktop if the client device (e.g. laptop) fails or is lost.
• Get a real choice of client devices.

As an administrator:

• Manage and monitor Local Mode desktops centrally from the same View administrative console and VM images as the rest of a VMware View deployment.
• Maintain control over end user desktops – revoking privileges and pulling data back to the datacenter on demand.
• Know corporate data is secure from outside attack with AES 128 or 256-bit encryption.
• Reduce overall CAPEX costs, both on newly purchased client devices, and lower upfront datacenter investment.
• Leverage an existing hardware fleet to deploy Local Mode desktops.
• Cleanly separate the Windows update/refresh cycle from hardware update/refresh cycles.

To visualize all this, below you see a managed Windows XP desktop running Google Earth with 3D buildings enabled (using DirectX) on top of an unmanaged Windows 7 laptop:

Citrix describes the XenClient hypervisor as “a high-performance, bare-metal hypervisor that enables users to run multiple instances of an operating system simultaneously, side by side, and in complete isolation.” A key feature necessary for running virtual corporate desktops provided by a centralized IT department is the Citrix Synchronizer. According to Citrix, Synchronizer will “add centralized control, deployment, and backup of local virtual machines to your XenClient environment.”

Since I was not in attendance at the Keynote, it is unclear to me whether the version of XenClient available for download today is in fact a production ready release. It is available as open source and free to download for those that want to try it out.

There is only a short list of hardware supported, however.

Citrix lists the following general hardware requirements for XenClient:

• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7
• Graphics: Intel integrated graphics GMA 4500, Intel® HD Graphics
• Memory: 4GB RAM recommended
• Disk: 160GB recommended
• Wireless Lan: Intel WiFi Link 5100/5300, Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200, Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300
• Intel vPro: Highly Recommended

Systems currently on the XenClient hardware compatibility list are:

• HP EliteBook 6930p, 2530p, 8440p*
• Dell Latitude E4300, E6400, E6410*, E6500, E6510*
• Dell Optiplex 780
• Lenovo ThinkPad X200, T400, T500

From what I can tell, the promise of 3D graphics, video, and overall rich user experience for both personal and corporate desktop virtual machines running simultaneously on the local hardware does seem to have been successfully delivered.

Citrix has provided some screen shots of XenClient in action.

VMware View Install Steps Overview:

1. Open Synaptic, update the packages, and then search for “vmware”. Synaptic can be found on UNR in the System group under administration.
2. Mark the vmware-open-view-client package for installation.
3. Note the dependencies. The VMware View client uses an RDP connection to the vDesktop. The rdesktop package is needed.  The project’s page on Google Code points this out as an important dependency too.
4. After completing the download and installs I found the icon in the Internet Menu Group of Ubuntu Netbook.

Here’s some screen shots of the process, but unfortunately I could not figure out how to get them in the correct order in this album. :/

View Full Album

updated 050110 – corrected the previously incomplete thought about the dependency on rdesktop in step 3

VIRTUMANIA Podcast Episode 7 – VDI Plumber Crack. Hosted by Rich Brambley (@rbrambley) of VMETC. Greg Knieriemen (@knieriemen) of Chi Corporation replaces Marc Farley (@3parfarley) of 3Par and StorageRap.com as this week’s episode Co Host. Our “other regular” guest Sean Clark (@vseanclark) of www.vmunderground.com is back to talk VDI with special guest Tyler Rohrer (@t_rex_vdi), COO of Liquidware Labs. The focus of this epsiode is virtual desktop assessment, design, planning, implementation, and migration. The topics range from Liquidware Labs’ Stratusphere tool, generic thoughts on what is VDI, ideas about factors impacting mass adoption, discussion about Microsoft’s recent licensing changes, to details about I/O performance based on types of disks and storage protocols. We even throw in some talk about the iPad just to be trendy! Thanks to Greg Knieriemen for this Infosmack Production.

Join us for some great laughs while discussing the serious topic of virtual desktop infrastructure.

Disclaimer: All references to plumbers, plumbing, hot dogs, fanny packs, and Budweiser are virtual.

Listen to the podcast with the embedded player or subscribe to get a weekly copy so you can listen when convenient.

Check out the VM /ETC VIRTUMANIA Page to listen to past episodes as well as episodes of Infosmack.

The following links offer more information on some of the VDI topics mentioned in VIRTUMANIA Episode 7:

Liquidware Labs

http://www.liquidwarelabs.com/products/stratusphere.asp

VDI.com

Microsoft VDI Inertia

VDI Pitfalls

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/040110-virtual-desktop-pitfalls.html?hpg1=bn

VDI on VM /ETC

http://vmetc.com/tag/vdi/

This post is my summary of research about the latest Microsoft and Citrix announcements. I’m linking and quoting several bloggers and analysts to help VM /ETC readers (and myself!) digest the details of the new licensing and promotions. I also the outline the actual products that make up the Microsoft and Citrix VDI solution, and then finally point to some interesting reactions and perspectives published over the last several days. 

New Microsoft VDI Licensing

Most importantly, Microsoft declared a new licensing policy where Windows desktops will no longer need a separate license to be accessed via VDI by companies with Software Assurance. Although I could not specifically find it stated anywhere I looked, I assume this means whether accessed on any Microsoft VDI solution, VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, or any other vendor’s VDI product. Here’s some additional information on the new licensing as intrepreted by others:

Desktop Virtualization: Microsoft, VMware in Cost Smackdown

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031910-desktop-virtualization-microsoft-vmware-in.html?page=1

“One key part of the sweeping announcements, covered in an hour-long Webcast, is a simpler and cheaper model for licensing Windows in a virtual desktop environment. Specifically, on July 1, Software Assurance customers will no longer have to buy a separate license to access Windows via a VDI.

Moreover, for customers that use devices that don’t qualify for Software Assurance, such as thin clients and PCs used by contractors, there will be a new license called Windows VDA (virtual desktop access) available for $100 per device per year. This license will allow users to still have access to their complete virtual desktop outside the corporate network on devices such a personal laptops and airport kiosks.”

Maybe Microsoft is finally starting to abandon the concept of anchoring a Windows license to hardware and hopefully beginning to consider introducing virtualization editions of their operating systems? We are definitely not there yet, but at least it’s movement in the right direction.

Microsoft and Citrix VDI Promotions

Along with the new VDI licensing Microsoft and Citrix has also introduced some competitive promotions not only stimulate VDI migration but hopefully capture back some market share in the process. A new web site, citrixandmicrosoft.com, details these new offers.

First is the VDI Kick Start

”Get started with VDI for only $7K¹

Interested in VDI? Kick start your VDI implementation today and save 50% on Microsoft VDI Standard Suite and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition. With the VDI Kick Start promotion, eligible customers only pay $28 per device² for up to 250 devices, giving them the opportunity to launch a VDI implementation for only $7K¹. The offer includes Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual licenses”.

Second is Rescue for VMware VDI

“Get the best virtual desktop solution – for FREE³!

 Struggling with VMware VDI? Replace your VMware View licenses today with the best virtual desktop solution from Microsoft and Citrix VDI – for free³. Through the Rescue for VMware VDI promotion, eligible customers can trade-in their VMware View licenses with same number of Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual licenses, up to a maximum of 500, at no cost^3”.

Go to the citrixandmicrosoft.com site to see the details of the footnotes in the quotes above. Both promotions are good until December 31, 2010.

Microsoft MSD VP Brad Anderson blogged about the promotions on the Windows Team Blog. Anderson’s post likens the “Rescue from VMware VDI” program to recent US Government attempts to stimulate the auto industry.

“One piece of news that I’m most excited about that helps with this is the “Rescue for VMware VDI” promotion we’re offering with Citrix. Think of it as a Cash for Clunkers trade-in of VMware View licenses to Microsoft VDI Standard Suite and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition licenses at no additional cost.”

What Makes Up the MS & Citrix VDI Solution?

So what exactly is the Citrix and Microsoft VDI solution? A picture is always a faster way to visualize all the components, and I took the following one from the Citrix and Microsoft Brochure:

To complete the picture is The Microsoft Windows Enterprise: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure web page which contains a lot of MS VDI solution information, but is also the source of the following breakdown of MS VDI Standard and Premium Suite components:

The Microsoft VDI Standard Suite will include licenses to the following technologies:

1. Hypervisor platform (Hyper-V Server 2008 R2)
2. An integrated management suite for VDI (System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2)
3. Microsoft Application Virtualization through the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)
4. Connection Brokering capability through Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services.

The Microsoft VDI Premium Suite includes all the features of the Microsoft VDI Standard Suite, and also includes:

1. Complete Remote Desktop Services capability, including the option to deploy session based desktops in addition to VDI desktops.
2. Microsoft Application Virtualization for Remote Desktop Services

Note that both the VDI Kickstart and the Rescue For VMware VDI offers are for the MS VDI Suite only.

Reactions and Perspective

Of course, after exciting news like this there are those that can look beyond the fanfare and raise some questions. Here’s several links worth following for a deeper analysis that helps provide a better understanding and point out the areas still needing improvement.

chriswolf.com

A User-centric Microsoft Licensing Model? Not Yet, but Getting Closer

“Looking past the good news that came out of yesterday’s announcement, considerable work remains. Microsoft has still not addressed the service provider market. Considerable clarity is still needed for licensing virtual desktops on shared infrastructure. For example, if a user needs a Windows desktop for a week, he essentially has to pay for 90 days worth of licensing. Why? Even with VDA, the service provider technically has to associate the VDA with the subscriber’s physical device and can’t transfer it for another 90 days. The result is that desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) is far more costly than it should be. This problem will grow once companies like HP, IBM, and Dell offer client hypervisors, and look to offer services where user desktop VMs are automatically replicated from their personal system to the cloud.”

simonbramfitt.com

The sleeping giant awakes – Microsoft gets desktop virtualization right

“Admittedly there are still a few kinks to iron out with the VDA licensing model. Most notably there is a problem with the way that Microsoft handles the difference between “corporate” and “non- corporate” devices. Microsoft defines a corporate device as one that was bought by the organization. Any non-SA eligible endpoint owned by the organization that needs to access a virtual desktop must have its own Windows VDA license. Which, kind of makes sense until you start to move away from desktop devices and down to smart phones; at which point it gets ugly fast. This isn’t anything to do with functionality; you can do a lot with the right smart phone today.  It’s more a matter of the intersection of policy and accounting.

Looked at from a personal perspective, my iPhone is MY iPhone (so it’s non-corporate), but my colleague’s Blackberry was bought by Gartner (that makes it corporate). They both do the same job more or less; I get better apps, he can type faster. But when we look at using them for remote access it gets very messy.   I will be able to take advantage of my laptop’s Windows SA license to access my virtual desktop from my non-corporate device, but my colleague can’t use ‘his’ Blackberry to access that same environment, without an additional VDA license. Of course we could avoid this by giving him $100 and telling him to go and buy his own phone but that’s not the point is it?  Still, with a couple of months to go before the July 1st launch it’s possible that we will see further changes to address this flaw.”

Closing Thoughts

Be sure to read all of the links in this post for more information, but these last few quotes pose some interesting ideas and viewpoints that stood out to me.

J.Tyler Rohrer, founder and COO of Liquidware Labs’ Stratusphere tool being used by many VMware Partners to assess VDI opportunities, blogs that 2010 is now officially the year of virtual desktops

Microsoft VDI Inertia

“As we all sit around this weekend and try to figure out “what does this mean for vendor XYZ” – relax a bit. What this means, in my opinion, is that every vendor needs to sharpen their pencils, products, and presentations because this now IS, the year of VDI.”

Quoting a quote seems like a violation of journalistic ethics, but, hey, I’m a blogger! Besides, this quote on the competition for VDI market share was too good not to mention again.

Microsoft, Citrix lure VMware customers with cutthroat promo

“One desktop virtualization integrator, Tony Wilburn at IT services company Betis Group, called the promotion a “desperate” attempt to generate buzz. He also said it has the added effect of elevating VMware.

“Has Microsoft ever before had to partner with another company in order to take on a rival?” Wilburn said. “When the No. 2 and No. 3 companies in the industry have to team up to take on the No. 1 player, doesn’t that make the one player look even stronger?””

It appears to me that Microsoft and Citrix aligned together for VDI have a fighting chance. I expect a lot of interest will be generated from the incentives of these joint promotions.

A common question from those that did not get to attend VMware Partner Exchange 2010 has been “So, tell me about what you saw that you can’t tell everyone about!” Unfortunately, like Maverick in the movie Top Gun said, “It’s classified. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

On the other hand, more and more information is starting to surface on the web. I can neither confirm or deny that all features and version numbers will be available or released as reported, but the TechTarget folks have put together a couple of good summary articles for those who interested in a little more information on a possible future roadmap of VMware vSphere and VMware View. Check the following articles for a round up of general speculation and reaction during and after the PEX 2010 conference. Most of the sources used are credible. (That last comment will make more sense to you after you follow the links)

VMware to add memory compression, I-O resource management to next vSphere

“The next release of VMware’s vSphere will add memory compression, I/O resource management and better VMotion performance, according to attendees of last week’s VMware Partner Exchange in Las Vegas. If the company architects these features as promised, they could improve performance and resource utilization of VMware environments.”

VMware vies for virtual desktop dominance with View 4.5

“The upcoming version of VMware’s VDI software will better integrate its desktop and server virtualization software and expand the role of its ThinApp application virtualization software, all in an effort to extend its server virtualization dominance to the desktop.”

The above quotes are just the opening paragraphs of each TechTarget article. Read the rest for the details.

To use another quote from the movie Top Gun,

you might now be having a similar conversation with yourself about “piloting” over to TechTarget:

“Goose: No. No, Mav, this is not a good idea.”
“Maverick: Sorry, Goose, but it’s time to buzz a tower.”

TA3461 – Tech Preview IO DRS: VM Performance Isolation in Shared Storage Environments

Since I’ve specifically posted about IO DRS already, I thought I would point out that VMworld 2009 had a very interesting tech preview session about the proposed feature.

Here’s some of the Session Abstract:

“… we introduce IO DRS, an experimental system that enforces proportional-share fairness among VMs accessing shared storage, independent of the type of storage array used. Each virtual machine is assigned IO shares and limits which IO DRS uses to provide proportional IO allocation. We also present some preliminary results showing how it can be used to provide differential quality of service for unmodified virtual machines while maintaining high efficiency.”

For those that have a VMworld.com account go to the TA3461 session page and download both the .pdf and the .mp3 for the audio recording of the presentation.

For those that don’t have a VMworld 2009 account (or don’t feel like “buzzing that tower” right now), here’s a copy of the TA3461 Session slides in .pdf !