Paul Slager

Earlier this month I blogged about a few of the VMworld 2011 parties and events I was looking forward to and recommending to fellow attendees at this year’s conference. I know at some point we all wish we could clone ourselves in order to make every single one of these events because for many of us, VMworld is the one time during the year when we get to see fellow IT professionals face-to-face and all together in one place.

While I can’t say which sessions or events I’ll manage to attend, one thing I can say for certain is that on Monday, August 29 at 6 p.m., I will be at the CommVault booth (#801) to deliver a special presentation about LWG Consulting and our experience with CommVault. I’ll be there to talk about challenges, celebrate our accomplishments, and exchange anecdotes and best practices with fellow IT professionals at the conference.

LWG Consulting works primarily with insurance companies to determine the nature and extent of damage loss while also providing a full range of disaster recovery solutions to help organizations better protect their assets. CommVault has been a key partner in reshaping LWG Consulting’s IT infrastructure and making it possible for our team to oversee our entire IT environment.

Using CommVault’s Simpana Backup and Recovery, Deduplication and Replication software, we have been able to reduce our backup footprint and increase our storage space savings by over 90 percent. We have reduced our backup window with better compression ratios and application restores are now much easier and efficient. We are also able to backup both physical and virtual machines from one platform. And our bottom line has seen significant benefits of more than $1 million in cost savings.

I’m looking forward to meeting with other CommVault customers and channel partners at the VMworld CommVault booth and learning more about their experiences, as well as to meeting other attendees and discussing the subject of storage in the world of server virtualization.

Feel free to connect with CommVault on Twitter, Facebook, and the PartnerAdvtange LinkedIn Group. And follow the #VMWorldCV hashtag on Twitter for all CommVault updates during the conference.

VMworld is held in Las Vegas this year from August 29^th –September 1^st. One of the best ways to connect with other IT professionals is through the parties/tweetups that will be occurring during the conference. Most of these events fill up very fast so you want to make sure you sign up for them as soon as possible because you might miss out.

This is a working list of all of the parties and events I have seen thus far. I will be updating this list over the next couple of weeks to get the most recent information.

Sunday August 28^th

• V0dgeball
  • What: A rules-based dodgeball tournament with a M.C. and referee
  • When: 7PM – Whenever its over
    
  • Where: Sports Center of Las Vegas - 121 East Sunset Road, Las Vegas, NV
    
  • Teams:
    
    • EMC vSpecialists vSales
      
    • Juniper
      
    • NetApp
      
    • VMware
      
    • VCE
      
    • Dell
      
    • HP
      
    • Cisco
      
    • Tech Ladies
      
  • Contact: @vcemonk
    
  • Cost:  5$ donation at least 100% of the proceeds to go to the wounded warriors project
• Vmunderground (WuPaaS.Next)
  • What: drinks, socializing, networking and good fun before the event starts
  • When: 7PM -10PM
  • Where: The Nine Fine Irishmen
  • Contact: @vSeanClark
  • Spots: tickets are sold out already but if you go after 10PM you can get in for free just have to pay for your drinks.
• In-N-Out #Tweetup
  • What: Stuff your face with good food and socializing
    
  • When: 10PM -?
    
  • Where: In-N-Out:  4888 Dean Martin Dr, Las Vegas
    
  • Contact: Tim Oudin, Paul Valentino
    
  • Spots: free for all to come
    

Monday August 29^th

• Fun Run

  • When: 5AM – 8:30 PM  a shuttle will take you from the Venetian and back.
  • Where: Red Rock Canyon
  • Route: 23 mile ride or a run
  • Cost:  $110 for the run and $150 for the bike ride
  CXIParty Combined with the MN/WI/IL #Tweetup
  • What: networking, socializing, drinks
  • When: 8:30PM -4:30AM after the welcome reception
  • Where: Cosmopolitan Hotel, room number to be determined. West tower of the hotel.
  • Contact: Christopher.kusek@pkguild.com, 630-362-1320
  • Spots: still some left
• In-N-Out 2vcps
  • What: another eat and socialize event
  • When: Following the VMworld reception around 8:30
  • Where: In-N-Out:  4888 Dean Martin Dr, Las Vegas
    
  • Contact: Jon Owings à
    http://www.2vcps.com/
  • Spots: all free to come
• Alliance Technologies
  • What: networking in one of the suites at the Venetian with other experts. This event is only for attendees not vendors.
  • When:
    • Monday 8 -10PM
    • Tuesday 7:30 -11:30 PM
    • Wednesday 5-6:30 PM;  11:30PM – 1:30AM
    • Thursday 5-7PM
  • Where: Venetian Suite, To be Determined
  • Contact: Sarah Swedberg; SwedbergS@alliancetechnologies.net
  • Sports: still some left

Tuesday August 30^th

• Dell TechCenter Event
  • What: TBA
  • When: 5:30- 6:45PM
  • Where: TBA
  • Contact: enterprisetechcenter@dell.com
    
  • Spots: get your email on the waiting list
• Dell Customer Party
  • When: 7PM-9PM
  • Where: Lavo at the Palazzo
  • Contact: your dell rep
• SHI Cloud Launch Party
  • What: open bar, and d’oeuvres to commemorate the official launch of SHI’s Infrastructure as a service. Also one winner will get a Panasonic 65 inch 3D LCD TV
  • When: 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
  • Where:
    House of Blues in Mandalay Bay
  • Contact:
    SHI
  • Spots: still some left
• EMC Customer Party
  • TBA
• Veeam Customer Party
  • TBA

Wednesday September 1^st

• Official VMworld Party
  • What: food, drinks, music by the killers
  • Where: TBA
  • When: 7PM -11PM
  • Spots: all attendees are welcome to come
• vStogies
  • What: smoking some cigars
  • Where: Rhumbar
  • When: 11PM – 1AM after the VMworld Party
  • Contact: Tim Oudin, Paul Valentino
  • Spots: still some free

Other

• Spousetivities
  • What: activities for your spouses to do while you are at the conference during the day.
  • Where: lots of different activities to do check the site
  • When: different times
  • Contact: Scott Lowe, http://spousetivities.com
• Zenoss Party
  • To be Determined enter your email address on their website.

It’s also a good idea to follow the other VMworld twitter users/bloggers for details.

Every year I look forward to VMworld it’s by far my favorite event of the year. If you have never gone before you are missing out because all of the largest computer vendors in the world are present. It’s like a one stop shop to everything technology. Those of you have been going for years know what I am talking about. VMworld provides an excellent opportunity to network with fellow experts, learn about the latest technology, take part in hands on demos, hang out with friends at the after parties, and much more! This year VMworld has reached out the community to present topics that they think would be useful, then the community can vote on their favorite topic.

I have submitted a topic called VMware View for the Mobile worker. My session will discuss the unique challenges of trying to deploy a virtual desktop environment to a mobile workforce. Just like my blogs I am going to include all of the necessary technical information you need while leaving all of sales BS. I am also going to be passing out some pretty awesome prizes that I am sure everyone will like (hint think mobile devices). If you have enjoyed my blog or would like to know more about this topic please create a VMworld account and vote for my session I would greatly appreciate it! Please vote even if you think you won’t be able to attend.

To vote sign up for a VMworld account , it’s free.

Then view the VMworld sessions and search for my name or my topic and click the vote button.

1943 VMware View for the Mobile Worker
		Track:	Topic:
	Paul Slager, IT Director, LWG Consulting	End-User Computing	Client Side Virtualization

Check back later for all of the VMworld parties and events blog that I do every year!

I bet some of you are thinking “it’s about stinking time.” I apologize to those of you who have anxiously been waiting for this article to be released. I hope it answers all of your questions surrounding Thinapp.

This blog series has been a great success and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback. In appreciation to your feedback and to help out a lucky winner I am offering 6 free hours of VMware consulting services to the individual who comments/twitters the most about my site in the next month. These consulting services are no way affiliated with my current company. The contest begins today and ends May 19^th.

So what is Thinapp anyway? Thinapp is simply a tool that allows you to virtualize your applications. This separates your applications from the desktop keeping your operating system registry squeaky clean. These virtualized applications run in a sandbox so to speak. One of the benefits is being able to quickly grant users access to certain applications based on their role or other criteria. There are some monetary savings that come from Virtualizing your applications as well because you can minimize the number of licenses needed.

You have two Thinapp installation choices either you can stream the application from a shared file server or install the application on the VMware View desktop. If you stream the application you must take network bandwidth into consideration especially if streaming to satellite offices across a WAN.

Virtualizing your applications is actually a good place to start if you are thinking about entering the realm of desktop virtualization. It’s really the applications that matter in the long run and if you have a good application virtualization solution the rest is a bit easier to fall into place. On the flip side there are times were application virtualization doesn’t really make sense either though. For instance, if you are a small company with maybe 10 major applications. It might be easier to create 2 or 3 different desktop pools based on the applications required. Or you could even use Windows 2008 RDS. Deploying applications quickly and on demand is a great selling point for any administrator though, especially when an upgrade to that software occurs. You can push out that upgrade in a matter of minutes to all of your desktops.

This article is part 9 of a ten part series. Future articles are listed below.

• Part 1: Installing & Configuring VMware View 4.5
  
• Part 2: Configuring VMware View 4.5 Local Mode
  
• Part 3: Configuring VMware View 4.5 with Linked Clones
  
• Part 4: Managing VMware View 4.5 Linked Clones
  
• Part 5: Managing VMware View 4.5 Local Desktops
  
• Part 6: Configuring Juniper SSL VPN with VMware View 4.5
  
• Part 7: VMware View 4.5 Planning & Implementation Guide
  
• Part 8: VMware View 4.5 Thin/Zero Clients
  
• Part 9: VMware View 4.5 ThinApp Configuration/Management
  
• Part 10: VMware View 4.5 Event Logging
  

Preparing the Desktop

The first thing you want to do before you start virtualizing any applications boot-up a clean virtual machine with no software installed. After you have a clean operating system take a snapshot, so you can go back to that clean image if you mess up. This clean operating system virtual machine will be used to install all of your applications that will be captured by the “Thinapp Setup Capture” application. I have had issues in the past where I would install an application and then try to capture that application and the capture would fail because of some other applications I installed/uninstalled previously, it can be a bit sensitive sometimes.

VMware View Thinapp Requirements

The requirements listed below are for packages deployed to VMware View 4.5 Desktops

1. You must use ThinApp 4.6 or later
2. You must package your applications as Microsoft Installation Packages (MSI)
3. To run streamed ThinApp applications on View Desktops users must have access to the network share that hosts the MSI packages
4. The MSI Packages must be stored on a Windows network share that resides in the Active Directory domain that VMware View can access.
5. Do not deploy an application that is already installed on your View Desktop image you will get an error in the events tab under the ThinApp section in the VMware View Administrator.
6. Do not assign a ThinApp to a desktop or pool more than once with a different installation type, you will get an error. So for instance, you don’t want to install a streaming ThinApp for Adobe Reader and then turn right around and install the full ThinApp of Adobe Reader to the same desktop.

*IMPORTANT* Deploying ThinApp’s to your local desktop is not supported but it does work. ThinApps’s are only fully supported when installed on View Desktops.

Installing ThinApp 4.6

1. Download the ThinApp bits using this demo download link à
   https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/p/activate.php?p=view46&lp=1
2. Run the Thinapp Setup on your clean VM that you created earlier.

   

3. Accept the Terms and click Next

   

4. The installation window will disappear for a brief moment, so don’t freak out. Enter in the License Key you got from the demo or purchased

   

5. Click the Install button

   

6. Click Finish to complete the installation

Build a Virtual Application Package

1. The first step is to run the VMware Setup Capture Utility. This utility will run a pre-scan of your computer before you install any applications, this creates the baseline. Then you install your application and run a post scan to pick up that new application and all of its registry files, and then build the application package.

   

2. Click the Next button to continue

   

3. Click Prescan

   

4. Your operating system starts scanning

   

5. You might get a warning saying it couldn’t scan certain registry keys on Windows 7. The keys are:

   Unable to Query the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009 index 0
   Unable to Query the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\CurrentLanguage index 0

   These keys really don’t play an important role from my experience and you can ignore them. If you don’t want to see the error message anymore add those registry keys to the Setup Capture Exclusion list. The exclusion list is called snapshot.ini and can be found in the Setup Capture folder.

   Click Next to any Prescan warnings.

   

   

6. It’s now time to install your application. I recommend starting with a small application while you get familiar with the product. Try Adobe reader, or Adobe flash to get your feet wet.

   *NOTE* after you install the application, open it up. Many applications require you to answer questions the first time you use it. For instance, some applications will ask you to accept terms and conditions; others will ask you for a username, others will prompt you for startup considerations, etc.

   Click the Postscan button, and then accept the warning message below.

   

   

7. After the PostScan completes you will find a list of all of the executable files associated with the new application you installed. I don’t need to present the uninstall executable so I will just select the main flash application and click next. Please note that some larger applications like Microsoft Office have many different sub applications like word, excel, PowerPoint, Office Tools, etc (as shown in the screenshot below)

   

   

8. Choose who is authorized to access the application. You can change authentication based on AD groups if you wanted to but for now I am going to keep it simple and allow everyone.

   

9. I am going to give Adobe Reader Full Write Access, which you can read about below. It’s a trusted application and I don’t have any problem with it writing to non-system directories. When you select your option click Next

   

10. I am going to choose to store application data with the user’s local profile on the virtual desktop under the %AppData% folder. In my environment user data is stored on a persistent disk meaning all profile information is kept safe during a desktop refresh/recompose. If you were using a floating pool without a persistent disk you really couldn’t store the application information in the user profile folder and would probably want to use option 3 which is to store it on a network drive.

    

11. Choose to send out quality assurance statistics or not and click the next button

    

12. Give the package a name that will show up in View Administrator that you can easily identify and select the project location and click Next

    

13. The next screen asks you if you what the primary data container should be. Usually I take the recommendation that is provided for me. Larger applications will automatically default to “Use separate .Dat file”; however, in this case I will use the Flash.exe entry point. Remember one of the requirements for deploying ThinApps to your View Desktops is that you must “Generate an MSI Package”, which I have checked. Another option you can play around with is compressing the package which will reduce its storage footprint. When finished with your settings click the Save button.

    

14. At the next screen you can manually edit the package.ini file. (Screenshot Below)

    

15. When satisfied with all of your settings go ahead and click the Build button.

    

    

16. Once the build process has completed go ahead and click the Finish button.

    

17. Awesome your first package has been created. The next step is to add this package to the VMware View Administrator.

Create a Windows Network Share

1. Create a shared folder on a computer that is on an Active Directory domain that VMware View can access
2. Place the MSI package that you created from the previous step into this folder.
3. Setup the correct share permissions: you must give read access to the built-in Active Directory group Domain Computers.

   

Add Applications to View Application Repository

1. Open the VMware View Administrator à View Configuration à ThinApp Configuration à Click the Add Repository Button. Give the repository a name and enter in the share path where your MSI packages are and then click Save.

   

2. Navigate to Inventory à ThinApps à Click Scan New ThinApps. From the ThinApp Repository drop down chose the repository you just created, and click the Next button.

   

3. Select all of the MSI packages you want and click Scan

   

4. The new Thinapp should be added, click Finish

   

Assign Applications to a Desktop Pool

1. Open VMware View Administrator à Inventory à ThinApps à Select the Add Assignment drop down button and select à
   Pools.
2. Add the pool or pools you want and click Ok

   

3. If you check the events tab under ThinApps you will notice that the application gets pushed out. *Important* when you assign an application to a pool the application starts installing when a user signs into a desktop in that pool. If you assign an application directly to a specific desktop or series of desktops then the application will start installing a few minutes later.

   

4. On the Virtual Desktop you will notice a shortcut for the Adobe Reader. After double clicking the shortcut the following popup will present itself for a brief moment.

   

5. If you go to Add/Remove Programs you will notice the application shows up and says (VMware ThinApp) next to it.

Assign Applications to Desktops

Assigning applications to a single desktop is pretty much the same thing as assigning it to a pool.

In this instance, I am deploying Adobe Reader 10 to the desktop. The desktop already has Adobe Reader 9.something. When I deploy Adobe Reader 10, Adobe reader 10 becomes the default pdf viewing application not Adobe Reader 9, which is pretty cool.

1. Open VMware View Administrator -> Inventory à ThinApps à Select the Add Assignment drop down button and select à
   Desktops
2. Select the desktop you want, add it to the list, and click Ok

   

   

Remove ThinApps from Desktop or Pool

1. Open VMware View Administrator à Inventory à ThinApps à
2. Double click on the application à Select the assignments tab à Click the Remove Assignment button.

   

3. If you select the Desktops Tab you will notice that there is a new pending uninstall event

   

4. It took about 4 minutes to uninstall the application from the desktop, below is the event log.

   

5. While we are under the Application Page you will notice another button called Package Information, once clicked you will see summary info about the ThinApp

   

   

Create a ThinApp Template

Creating a ThinApp Template is a great way to combine many different applications into a single assignment point. For instance, you might deploy the same 12 applications to all of the folks in the sales department. Instead of deploying these 12 applications one by one you could create a Sales Application template.

1. Open the VMware View Administrator à Inventory à ThinApps à Click the New Template button.
2. Give the Template a Name

   

3. Click the Add button and select the applications you want part of the template

   

4. Click the Ok Button when all of the applications you want are added to the template

   

5. On the main ThinApp page you can now see summary information about the template

   

6. You can then deploy this template to a desktop or a pool by following the steps I have outlined above.

Web Browser ThinApp

One of the cool things you can deploy with ThinApp is a new web browser. I pretty much use Google Chrome for everything that I can. One really cool feature when deploying a ThinApp Web Browser is you can list a series of websites that will automatically redirect or use that browser. So for instance, let’s say that I want Google Chrome to be opened when I view http://paulslager.com I can do that.

1. List the websites you want to redirect.

   

2. If I open Internet Explorer on my Virtual Desktop and go to http://paulslager.com it will automatically launch the Thinapp version of Google Chrome

   

Streaming ThinApp

If you want to stream one of your applications you will need to edit the package.ini file before you build the application. Click the Edit Package.ini button

Locate the line that says MSIStreaming = 0 and change the 0 to 1 and then save the .ini file.

Upon my desk sits a height adjustable, tilt and swivel capable 24 inch Samsung PCoIP Monitor. To maximize my desktop experience I have connected a second 24 inch monitor and a wireless keyboard and mouse. The only cords I have are an Ethernet cable which provides access to my VMware View desktops and a power cable. The solution is both functional and extremely sexy. It doesn’t stop there because Samsung has decided to one up their already simplified solution by offering a power over Ethernet option.

To get POE to work you need a network switch that has POE ports. All of the top switch manufactures like Cisco, Juniper, and Brocade have POE options. In essence electricity is safely passed over your Ethernet cable to the end point which in our case is the Samsung Monitor. Samsung is suggesting that you will produce savings from less energy used which is most likely true. However, POE switch ports do cost a bit more so you need to figure this into your TCO.

LED Displays

That’s not the only green technology that is coming from Samsung’s portfolio they are also coming out with new PCoIP, Cloud Station, and Thin Client monitors that will be using LED technology instead of CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp). LED’s are known to consume much less energy with an even better picture quality, awesome!

New Citrix TC Model Thin Clients

The NC Series displays have been out some time. These displays carry the Teradici PCoIP chip that allows you to make a connection to your VMware View Virtual Desktops. However, in late second quarter Samsung is planning on developing a Citrix model thin client called the TC Series. The TC series will be using Windows embedded as the base operating system. Check out the roadmap below for more details on dates and size displays. You will notice that 4 new size displays are planning on being released which is great news!

Cloud Station

The cloud station is a pretty cool concept from what I know the “Cloud” monitors are going to be using the Teradici PCoIP chip. The Teradici chip and the USB ports will be placed in the base of the monitor allowing you to leverage the VESA mount to snap in any other Monitor. For instance, let’s say I had a 30 inch Samsung display I could snap that display into the base and turn it into a really big PCoIP display.

You can even mount these to a wall if you really wanted to. This could be useful in a Network Operations type setting.

50% Thinner

One of the benefits of using LED technology is the displays can be much thinner. You can notice that there is a detachable power adaptor to keep the power cabling very clean and tidy.

(Screenshots provided by Samsung)

What’s Still Unknown

There is no word on an integrated speaker model at this time but I would be surprised if they didn’t incorporate a built in speaker in the new 2011 line up. Furthermore, there is no mention of an embedded webcam I don’t think we will be seeing that any time soon but you never know. The last thing I pressed about was the ability to automatically move your monitor from vertical to horizontal and the picture change with it. This might be something in the works but there are no details at this time on including a mercury switch.

How do you minimize the number of devices your mobile employee carries? How do you reduce cost? How do you manage two, three or more devices for each mobile worker? How do you implement a virtual desktop solution for your mobile workforce? Is there currently a solution to this problem?

These questions have plagued me since the concept of virtual desktops came to fruition. For the past two decades we have been utilizing thin clients to present users with a desktop like experience while minimizing operational expense. Namely the time it takes to service these devices with repairs, software upgrades, professional resources, training, etc. Virtual Desktops expanded upon this idea by granting employees their own personal desktop instead of using a shared server. Zero and thin clients make working with your virtual desktop very seamless for most office employees. However, if you are a professional services type company and your work force is primarily mobile then it can be very difficult to minimize the number of devices these employees need while maximizing their productivity on the road.

Thankfully there are many different options you could deploy in your environment. But what is the best choice? And is it too early to jump in?

Below you will find a graph of devices that make up Tablets, mobile thin clients, smart phones, laptops and netbooks. These devices have been ranked based on certain criteria as well as analyzed to show the different specifications between each of them.

Requirements for a Mobile Worker

All of the devices I have listed above have a certain “cool” factor to them but when it comes down to it enterprises need a device that is going to allow their employees to do their work productively, easily, and without interruption. So what are some of the essential requirements when evaluating a mobile device?

• Business Productivity
  • Access Virtual Desktop…. This could be a Windows 7 Machine running on Citrix or VMware. For me this is an absolute must have. If our users can’t access their business applications then the solution has failed.
    
  • Access Line of Business Applications
    • Customer Relationship Management Software
    • Financial Software
    • Medical Applications
  • Access Corporate Databases
  • Access Corporate Intranet
  • Access Corporate File Shares
• Portability
  • Weight
  • Size
  • Ability to use anywhere
    • Airport, Hotel, in the car, etc.
• Ease of Use
  • Doesn’t require a lot of user training
  • Is a tool for making the employees job easier not more difficult
  • Allows the employee to accomplish a job function
  • Isn’t slow and cumbersome to work with
  • Doesn’t have a lot of bugs
• Flexibility
  • Can be double as a bring your own computer device
  • Can access local applications for quick access to resources
  • Can be used in different modes: plugged into a docking station, plugged into a TV, plugged into an external monitor, used for presentations
  • Personal and business use cases – when you are on the road all of the time you need to enjoy some personal aspects of your computer equipment like watching Netflix, playing games, etc.
• Stay Connected
  • Always have Internet Access ( WiFi, 3G, 4G)
  • Chat with other employees through IM à Office Communicator, or Microsoft Lync
  • Access Email, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, etc.
  • Ability to make phone calls
  • Video Conferencing
• Limit the number of Devices Carried
  • Many users carry a smartphone, a pad/netbook, and a full size laptop which isn’t efficient and a huge hassle
• Reduce Cost
  • Minimize the number of devices/accessories required
  • Reduce operational expense by allowing connections to virtual desktops
• Security
  • Keep corporate data off the actual device
  • Allow secure authentication to corporate resources

Advantages/Disadvantages of Each Device

Each of these devices has its strengths and weaknesses. I will be ranking these devices on their business proficiency not on the cool games or multimedia capabilities they might have. I also list the total cost of ownership of each solution. When you think of TCO you must take into account all of the devices the employee will have and all of the monthly service charges incurred with those devices. *Don’t get in all a huff and puff about the TCO those are estimated numbers and shown to get you thinking about all of your expenses.*

Apple iPad 2

Advantages

• VMware View 4.6 Client allows you to connect to your virtual desktops over a secure PCoIP connection. You can learn more about the VMware View Client for the iPad here.
• Citrix Receiver client allows you to connect to your XenDesktop virtual machines.
• Very light weight and portal; only weighs 600ish grams.
• Easy to use interface with dependable touchscreen.
• Mobile Broadband
• Very flexible can be used for presentations, working on files, has loads of applications
• Is a proven device that is more mature then some of the other devices
• Can act as the employees personal device until they connect to their virtual desktop

Disadvantages

• Expensive – You have to pay a monthly service charge for internet and if you are like most companies you are already paying for the data package on the employee’s cell phone. The accessories are very expensive and never seem to interoperate between generations of devices. The unit itself comes with a hefty price tag.
• You still need to dock the device or connect a Bluetooth keyboard to be productive.
• Only a 3G device, booo!
• Forces you to carry a pad, smart phone, and possibly a laptop still.
• Not as powerful or robust as some of the other tablets on the market
• Doesn’t have USB ports or HDMI output. This limits you from connecting to printers, cameras, thumb drives, secondary monitors, etc.
• Locked into Apple products and accessories
• No USB Redirection to remote desktop
  

Total Cost of Ownership

• iPad 2 with 3G&WiFi 32GB= $729
• iPad 2 Camera Connector Kit to provide USB connectivity to your devices = $29
• iPad 2 digital AV adapter to connect to a screen = $39
• iPad 2 Sleeve or Bag = $29 roughly
• iPad 2 Bluetooth keyboard/mouse = $50
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Monthly Data charge for 3G = $25 per month for a measly 2GB and $10 more per month per GB.
• Voice and Data on Mobile Phone = $75-100 per month
• Cost of a mobile phone = $100-200
• Possibly the cost of a laptop or netbook = $800-1200
• Laptop Bag = $40
• Tethering Charge from your mobile phone to your laptop = $15 per month

Estimated 3 year TCO with laptop, iPad 2, and a smart phone = $7,240

Estimated 3 year TCO with iPad 2 and smart phone = $5,860

Overall Rating 7.5/10

Motorola Xoom

Advantages

• Citrix Receiver allows you to connect to your XenDesktop virtual machines.
• Light Weight and portable
• USB Ports
• HDMI Output to connect to a secondary display
• One of the most powerful tablets on the market
• 4G LTE
• Can act as the employees personal device until they connect to their virtual desktop
• Very flexible can be used for presentations, working on files, has loads of applications
• You don’t need to buy as many accessories as the iPad 2

Disadvantages

• Expensive – the unit is one of the highest priced tablets. You also need to factor in the cost of having 4G with is roughly $25 per month.
  
• No VMware View Client to date
  
• You still need to carry a smartphone and quite possibly a laptop
  
• This is a generation 1 product and I am sure still has some bugs that need to be worked out
  
• No USB Redirection to remote desktop
  

Total Cost of Ownership

• Motorola Xoom with 4G&WiFi 32GB = $799
• Sleeve or Bag = $29
• Bluetooth keyboard/mouse = $50
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Monthly Data charge for 4G = $25 per month for a measly 2GB and $10 more per month per GB.
• Voice and Data on Mobile Phone = $75-100 per month
• Cost of a mobile phone = $100-200
• Possibly the cost of a laptop or netbook = $800-1200
• Laptop Bag = $40
• Tethering Charge from your mobile phone to your laptop = $15 per month

Estimated 3 year TCO with laptop, Xoom, and a smart phone = $7,110

Estimated 3 year TCO with Xoom and smart phone = $5,730

Overall Rating 8/10

Motorola ATRIX

Advantages

• Can potentially reduce the number of devices you need to carry: the phone and the docking station
• Citrix Receiver allows you to connect to your XenDesktop virtual machines.
• Very light and portable
• Extremely powerful phone with USB ports, HDMI, can even do 1080p with a software update.
• 4G
• Greatly reduces your monthly data charge by only have one device with a data on it. Most employees have a smart phone with the data package on it, a 4G air card, and then maybe a data charge on their pad.
• Can act as the employees personal device until they connect to their virtual desktop
• Very flexible can be used for presentations, working on files, has loads of applications
• Fairly cheap

Disadvantages

• Users find it annoying that they have to dock their phone to actually do any work. You can get netbooks that essentially do the same thing.
  
• If you are not connecting to a virtual desktop the dock is a waste and a bit cumbersome to work with.
  
• The docking station is expensive if you don’t buy the docking station and phone together which is $500, but the standalone docking station is $500.
  
• You must $25 per month for the 2GB of metered data and then another $25 per month for a tethering fee when used with the laptop dock even though the laptop dock has no processing power only keyboard, screen, and battery.
  
• No VMware View Client yet
  
• Might not be as fast as users expect when using it as a laptop.
  
• No USB Redirection to remote desktop
  
• This is a generation 1 product and I am sure still has some bugs that need to be worked out
  

Total Cost of Ownership

• Motorola ATRIX with Docking Station = $500
• Sleeve or Bag = $29
• Bluetooth keyboard/mouse = $50
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Monthly Data charge for 4G = $25 per month for a measly 2GB and $10 more per month per GB
• $25 per month tether charge to use your phone while docked
• Monthly cost for voice = $50-75 per month

Estimated 3 year TCO = $5,330

Overall Rating 7/10

Wyse X90leW

Advantages

• Runs ICA, RDP, VMware View Client
• Allows USB redirection to remote desktop
• Umm..Umm…..

Disadvantages

• Not very light/portable
• Useless if you don’t have WiFi or a LAN connection
• Local Applications are not that great
• Not very good for travel or remote work
• Need to install software locally to allow tethering to a mobile phone

Total Cost of Ownership

• Wyse X90LeW = $800
• Sleeve or Bag = $29
• External Mouse = $29
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Voice and Data on Mobile Phone = $75-100 per month
• Cost of a mobile phone = $100-200
• Possibly the cost of a laptop or netbook = $800-1200
• Laptop Bag = $40
• 4G USB Air Card = $100
• Monthly data charge for 4G Air Card = $50

Estimated 3 year TCO with laptop, smartphone, 4G Air Card, and X90LeW = $7,550

Estimated 3 year TCO with smartphone, 4G Air Card, and X90LeW = $4,800

Overall Rating 4/10

Asus EEE PC 1015PN-PU17

Advantages

• Light Weight and Portable
• Super Cheap
• Decent business efficiency
• Low learning curve for employees
• Can run business applications locally
• Supports VMware View and Citrix Receiver
• Has USB Ports, Video Out, webcam, etc.
• Only need to carry a netbook and smartphone for traveling
• Allows USB redirection to remote desktop
• Could be a BYOC if you let employees install their own software on the local OS and have them connect to their virtual desktop for all work related tasks.

Disadvantages

• Needs a USB 4G Air Card for Internet Access everywhere
• Could be a security issue if corporate data was saved to the device
• Doesn’t make a lot of sense to run a local version of windows and a virtual desktop; it’s just another OS for your IT department to maintain.

   

Total Cost of Ownership

• Wyse X90LeW = $379
• Sleeve or Bag = $29
• External Mouse = $29
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Voice and Data on Mobile Phone = $75-100 per month
• Cost of a mobile phone = $100-200
• 4G USB Air Card = $100
• Monthly data charge for 4G Air Card = $50

Estimated 3 year TCO with smartphone, netbook, and 4G Air Card = $6,300

Overall Rating 8/10

HP ProBook 6550b

Advantages

• Best for business productivity
• Fastest and most powerful
• Flexible
• Users already are comfortable with them
• Tested and mature
• VMware View Client and Citrix Receiver support
• USB Redirection to remote desktop

Disadvantages

• Heavy
• Users complain about the portability of such a device
• Not secure if corporate data is saved locally
• Needs a 4G Air Card to have internet anywhere
• High Maintenance costs
• Shouldn’t be used for Virtual Desktops

Total Cost of Ownership

• HP ProBook 6550b = $900
• Sleeve or Bag = $29
• External Mouse = $29
• VMware View Client license = Estimated $250 per device or Citrix Receiver License = Estimated $250 per device
• Voice and Data on Mobile Phone = $75-100 per month
• Cost of a mobile phone = $100-200
• 4G USB Air Card = $100
• Monthly data charge for 4G Air Card = $50

Estimated 3 year TCO with smartphone, ProBook, and 4G Air Card = $6,800

Overall Rating 8/10

Conclusion

Any solution I chose is dependent on the ability of the employee to connect to their virtual desktop, from anywhere and access their corporate resources. So does such a device exist currently? My answer is kind of. We are definitely getting closer to a good mobile virtual desktop solution. There are still some roadblocks that need to be hammered out in my opinion before we can totally toss our laptops.

Personally I like the Motorola Xoom and the ATRIX the best. The ATRIX would be difficult to adopt as our users would be pretty confused as to why they needed a docking station for their phone when they could just open their laptop and work. I also think they shot themselves in the foot by making the docking station $500, I mean come on that’s ridiculous. Furthermore, even though it’s probably the most powerful phone on the market it’s still a phone and doesn’t perform as well as a netbook which is even cheaper.

The Xoom is a clear winner over the iPad 2 when it comes to tablets. Not only is it much more powerful, but it’s a ton more flexible by offering USB ports and HDMI out to a monitor.

The biggest problem I have with the iPad 2, Xoom, and ATRIX is that USB redirection will not work yet. I want the ability to be able to plug a USB device into my tablet and utilize that USB device on my remote desktop that I connect to; whether I use the VMware View Client, Citrix Receiver, or Wyse Pocket Cloud.

The first three solutions I reviewed are pretty much brand new and still need to have the kinks worked out. Tablet technology is still evolving and is very competitive at the moment so I am sure we will see some amazing things in the future.

I will be performing a proof of concept with the Motorola Xoom so stay tuned for an article that outlines my experience with it. I am going to have to use Wyse Pocket Cloud because there isn’t a VMware View Android client yet which means I have to use RDP instead of PCoIP.

I hope this article helps you narrow down the best device for your particular environment. If you are trying to deploy mobile devices that can connect to a virtual desktop then ensure the software is supported and the features you need work. If you just need to give your employees something that’s lighter than maybe a netbook is the best choice for you. Please feel free to post any comments or suggestions.

What device is your favorite and why?

I don’t know about you but I cannot simply operate at 100% efficiency unless I have two monitors. In fact, I could probably benefit from a third monitor in the upright position. If we are going to replace our desktops with zero clients using PCoIP we must get dual monitor support working. Configuring Dual Monitor Support is quite easy but can be frustrating if you have run into a road block.

VMware View Version

Be running VMware View 4.x or later

VMware View Desktop Pool Multiple Monitor Support

Ensure your desktop pool is configured to support 2 monitors.

Sign into the VMware View Administrator à Inventory à Pools à Select your Pool à Click the Edit button à Click the Pool Settings Tab à under Remote Desktop Protocol change the max number of monitors to 2. I have heard users having issues when they had this set the max number of monitors to 3 or 4. If you have issues I suggest changing this to 2 while you do testing.

Ensure you are using a DVI-D output on your Zero or Thin Client

If you’re zero or thin client supports dual displays then there should be a VGA or DVI-D output from your device to the second monitor. Some zero or thin clients have an output and an input so make sure you are using the output to the second monitor. The other thing I have noticed is that when using VGA the display just mirrors itself. So basically only 1 monitor is ever seen and the same applications are seen on both monitors. This is why I recommend you test using a DVI connection to your second monitor.

Choosing Multi-monitor in VMware View Client

In the VMware View client you must enable multiple monitor support. However, when you use a thin or zero client to connect to your virtual desktop pool the Display option isn’t even present. So what you need to do is access the VMware View Client on a desktop PC or Laptop, sign in as the user that needs multiple monitor support, select the desktop pool and set the display to Multimonitor. Then when the user signs in on the Zero or thin client Multiple Monitor support will be engaged because you set it previously.

VMware View Client on a Desktop                        VMware View Client on Samsung NC240 Zero Client

If you don’t perform this step the second monitor will go to sleep right when you try to connect to the virtual desktop.

Increase Virtual Machine Video Ram

If you are still having issues you can try increasing the Video-RAM of your virtual machine, your VM must be powered off to edit though. Open the VMware vSphere client à Select the Virtual Machine à right click the Virtual Machine and chose “Edit Settings”. Select Video Card and try upping the RAM to 64MB which should be more than sufficient.

VMware View 4.6 Upgrade & PCoIP Security Server Configuration – Part 1

In Part 1 I showed you how to installed the security server and upgrade your View Connection Server. Now we are ready to actually start playing with the fun stuff!

Article Highlights

In this two part article series I will be showing the following:

• Upgrading your Environment from View 4.5 to View 4.6
• Security Server Pairing with Connection Server
• Installing the VMware View Security Server
• Configuring the Security Server for PCoIP
  
• Testing a zero client with PCoIP through the security server
  
• Testing other new Features

Configuring Parent VM for PCoIP

You need to upgrade the VMware View Agent Version from 4.5 to 4.6 for your parent VM. Make sure you follow these directions exactly because I have seen many people have issues with this step.

1. Power on your Parent VM and uninstall the VMware View Agent. You will be asked to reboot after uninstalling, Click Ok to reboot.
2. Now uninstall VMware Tools you will be asked to reboot again, click Ok to reboot.
3. Re-install VMware tools and perform a custom installation. You can right click the parent VM in vSphere à Guest à Install/Upgrade VMware tools.
4. Install the latest VMware View Agent which you can download from the link I provided in part 1 à VMware-viewagent-x86_64-4.6.0-366101.exe. Reboot the Parent VM after installing VMware View Agent 4.6.
5. Check the Display Adapter Driver and make sure it’s using the following driver version.

   

   

6. If the Driver Version is different right click the display adapter à Update Driver Software à Browse My Computer for driver software à Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer à Select VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft Corporation – WDDM) Version 7.14.1.49 and click Next to install.

   

7. Power off the Parent VM, and take a snapshot.
8. Recompose the desktop pool using the new snapshot.

If you need more assistance with these steps please refer to my VMware View 4.5 series that explains these steps in more detail

Configuring Security Server for PCoIP

As stated before the best new feature of View 4.6 is the ability to connect through PCoIP to your VMware View Security Security without the need of a VPN. For instance, I am sure you have employees that work from home and VPN in now to access corporate resources. Those same employees would probably love to be able to access their work desktop’s from home to get work done. Let’s face it the work day isnt 9-5 anymore we squeeze in time wherever we can.

In order to allow your employees to connect to their desktops you need to setup the PCoIP external address. This address must be routable on the public Internet. Meaning employees can connect to it from their home computers.

VMware View Configuration

1. Open the VMware View Administrator GUI à View Configuration à Servers
2. Select the View Connection Server and click the Edit button

   

3. Check “Use PCoIP Secure Gateway for PCoIP connections to desktop” Also ensure “User secure tunnel connection to desktop” is checked. By default the PCoIP External URL will be the IP address of your View Connection Server(192.168.1.138). The external URL address is the fully qualified domain name of your View Connection Server. You can leave the defaults as they are. Below is what your settings should look like.

   

4. Now you need to setup the External Addresses on the View Security Security. This needs to be the IP address of your WAN internet connection. You will need to use NAT, MIPS, or VIPS to translate the external IP address to your internal LAN IP, I will discuss this in more detail later. Select the View Security Server from the VMware View Administrator GUI and click the edit button. Type in your external IP addresses and click Ok.

   
   

Network Address Translation

On your firewall or router you need to map your external IP to your internal view security server and you need to allow both TCP and UDP traffic on ports 443, and 4172. Please pay extra special attention when you create your NAT rule so that you are for sure allowing TCP and UDP traffic. Someone firewalls/routers default to TCP traffic when you create policies and you have to manually allow UDP. If you do not allow UDP traffic to pass through you will get a black screen when you try to access your virtual desktop.

Sample Legend

External IP = 12.49.15.181

View Connection Server IP = 192.168.1.138

View Security Server IP = 192.168.1.250

Sample NAT Rule

Destination à 12.49.15.181 on TCP/UDP 443,4172 à 192.168.1.250 on TCP/UDP 443,4172

Below is a sample NAT rule on my Firewall that is allowing TCP/UDP traffic on port 4172 from 12.49.15.181 to 192.168.1.250(View Security Server). I have to create separate rules for TCP and UDP traffic and you might have to as well. Do the exact same thing for port 443 as well.

UDP

TCP

Firewall Rules

• PCoIP Traffic between View Security Server and the Virtual Desktop(Internal)
  • TCP 4172 from Security Server to Virtual Desktop
  • UDP 4172 from Security Server to Virtual Desktop in both Directions
• PCoIP between View Client and Security Server(External)
  • TCP 4172 from Client to Security Server
  • UDP 4172 between client and security server in both Directions

To check to see if your TCP ports are opened correctly please visit http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/. Please note this link will only test the TCP side of the port.

Recommendations

• It is a good idea to map the WAN IP to a domain name so your employees don’t have to memory a group of numbers. For instance, I mapped 12.49.10.15.181 to desktop.company.com.

Testing PCoIP Through the Security Server

I was really excited to test PCoIP through the security server so I brought home a Samsung NC240 Zero Client. First I had to configure the Zero client to get a LAN connection on my home network. When the Zero client boots up simply go to Options à Configuration à on the Network tab specify the LAN IP address information or if you have DHCP working you can use that. Once I had the IP address in place I was able to manage the device through the Web UI. You can do this by going to the IP address of the Zero Client in Internet Explorer, https://192.168.1.196

Zero Client Firmware Upgrade

Teradici just released its latest firmware package about three weeks ago. The new firmware adds a lot of really important features. In fact using a USB headset or webcam didn’t work until I upgraded to version 3.3.

3.3 Features

• Improved performance of USB bridging protocol
  
• Support for isochronous USB devices (e.g. USB headsets, USB microphones)*
  
• Improved support for devices connected to the zero client through a USB hub
  
• A new auto-logon mode, which allows administrators to pre-configure the user information and domain name on the zero client for automatic login
  
• Support configuring the pool/desktop name when starting a session
  
• Increase the number of supported desktop pools to 100
  
• Support up to five Connection Server addresses on the VMware View connect screen
  
• Improvements to audio and video synchronization for PCoIP Zero Client sessions with VMware View virtual desktops
  
• Improved monitor detection and removal handling
  
• New optimizations for improved bandwidth and user experience in constrained WAN environments
  

Upgrading the firmware is a really easy process.

1. Direct download link to the firmware here
2. Extract the zip file to a folder on your desktop
3. Sign into the Zero Client’s Web Interface using the IP address of the Zero Client, for instance http://192.168.1.196
4. Select Upload à Firmware

   

5. Upload the tera1x00_rel3-3-0_v321.all file. If the upload is successful you will be asked to reboot the device.
6. Check your firmware version by signing into the web interface for the zero client again and going to Info à Version

   

Zero Client Configuration

1. Select Configuration à VMware View
   1. Within here you can enter the external IP address of your PCoIP gateway that we configured earlier as well as some other really nice features like server auto connect, and connection server cache. Once you have your settings entered in how you would like click Apply

      

2. Select Configuration à VMware View (Advanced)
   1. Within this configuration you will find more options for connecting to your virtual desktops. I especially like the topn auto launch if the user only has access to one desktop, and auto-logon.
   2. 
3. There are a bunch of other settings that you can explore and play with but this should be good enough for getting your test to work.

Now try connecting to your environment and enjoy using PCoIP over the VMware View Security Server!!!

TroubleShooting

Drat, its still not working!!! Don’t worry here are some troubleshooting steps to take.

1. If you are able to get to the screen that shows you a list of Virtual Desktops you have access to and when you try to connect to one of those desktops over PCoIP you just get a black screen then these are typically your issues.
   1. Make sure your display adapter driver is the same version as I showed you
   2. Make sure that VMware View Agent 4.6 was installed properly like I demonstarted
   3. Ensure both TCP and UDP ports are open for port 4172
2. If you are not even able to connect to the View Connection server to see a list of your desktop pools then do the following
   1. Recheck the Firewall
   2. Make sure the Zero client has the right External IP address
   3. Double check your View Security Server PCoIP External Gateway IP

Conclusion

PCoIP running over the security server is awesome. If you have problems re-read my sections or post a comment. I really excited to get USB headsets, and webcams working which was a huge negative before. In addition, some there have been a bunch of new VMware View Connection settings that streamline the connection process for the user like auto-logon, auto-connect, etc. If there is anything that you would like to discuss that I didn’t write about please let me know.



VMware View 4.6 Upgrade & PCoIP Security Server Configuration – Part 2

I have been putting off writing an article on VMware View Security Server because I knew that PCoIP support was coming and without this the Security Server was pretty limiting. Now that VMware has released View 4.6 PCoIP is supported over the Security Server meaning you don’t need to use one of the supported SSL VPN products.

PCoIP uses UDP for streaming audio and video. VMware View 4.5 security servers only supports TCP Streams. Now View 4.6 Security Servers Support UPD Streams.

VMware View 4.6 Features

PCoIP is the biggest feature that was rolled out with View 4.6 but here are some of the other ones:

• USB device compatibility enhancements
• Enhance keyboard mapping
• New and improved timeout settings for SSO users
• Important bug fixes that continue to improve the performance and robustness of the product
• Support for Win 7 SP1 RC (experimental)

Article Highlights

In this two part article series I will be showing the following:

• Upgrading your Environment from View 4.5 to View 4.6
• Security Server Pairing with Connection Server
• Installing the VMware View Security Server
• Configuring the Security Server for PCoIP
• Testing a zero client with PCoIP through the security server
• Testing other new Features

Download Links

Sign into the VMware site with your username and password and then go to http://www.vmware.com/downloads/eula.do . This is the trial download link that you must use if you don’t have a licensed copy of VMware View 4.6.

*IMPORATNT*

If you want to leverage the PCoIP gateway with the View Security Server the VMware View Connection Server must be running Windows 2008 R2. The good news is you can upgrade VMWare View Connection server fairly easily from Windows 2008, in fact this is what I did.

Below are the supported operating systems for VMware View 4.5 and View 4.6 Connection Servers.  The Security Server MUST be Windows 2008 R2 if you want to use the PCoIP Gateway.

Below is my VMware View Connection Server now running Windows 2008 R2. I have been a bit naughty and running the View Connection Server on Windows 2008 instead of 2008 R2.

Upgrading the View Connection Server from 4.5 to 4.6

1. The first thing I did was take a snapshot of my View 4.5 server in case anything happens I can roll back.
2. Download the VMware View Connection Server either 32 or 64 bit

1. Run the appropriate version and start the installation, click Next

   

2. Click Next

   

3. Agree to the Terms and click Next

   

4. Uh OH! Our first issue your View Connection Server must be running 2008 R2 for the PCoIP Gateway to work. Upgrade the View Connection first to Windows 2008 R2 if you want to use PCoIP through the VMware View Security Server.

   

5. Click Install

   

6. Click Finish

   

7. Check the Install Version

   

    

Update VMware View Client

1. Go to your View Connection Server http://viewconnectionserver to download the View Clients if you need them. The other option is to download the client bits from the VMware link I provided earlier.

   

2. After Downloading the VMware View Client, run the setup, and click Next to continue.

   

3. Click Next

   

4. Accept Terms and click Next

   

5. I am going to install all of the features and then click Next

   

6. Enter in the name of your View Connection Server

   

7. I am going to set the default option to login as the current user and click Next to continue

   

8. Select your shortcut options and click Next

   

9. Click Install

   

10. Click Finish

    

11. You may have to restart after installing

    

Configuring Security Server Pairing Password

This is a one-time password that permits a security server to be paired with a View Connection Server instance.

1. Open the VMware View Administrator GUI à View Configuration à Servers à Select the View Connection Server à Select More Commands à Specify Security Server Pairing Password

   

2. Type in the password twice and set the timeout limit. If you don’t pair the security server with the connection server before the timeout then you need to set a new pairing password.

   

Design Considerations

1. The Security Server needs to be installed on one of the supported operating systems that I listed at the beginning of this article
2. The Security Server does not access any authentication database like Active Directory so it does not need to be on the Active Directory Domain if you don’t want.
3. You can install the VMware View Security Server component on the same sever as your VMware View Connection Server. For security purposes I have installed the VMware View Security Server on a standalone box that I am putting in our DMZ, this would be my recommendation for most companies.

VMware View Security Server Installation

1. Run the VMware View Connection Server installation bits from the link I provided you. As mentioned before I am installing the Security Server on a different server from my normal View Connection Server. Click Next to start the installation.

   

2. Click Next

   

3. Accept the terms and agreement and click Next

   

4. Click Next or change the installation directory.

   

5. Select View Security Server and click Next to continue.

   

6. Type in your view connection server FQDN like below and click Next

   

7. You must configure a pairing password, which permits the security server to be paired with a View Connection Server instance. Type in the password which you configured earlier and click Next to continue.

   

8. By Default the external URL’s will be pointing to your internal View Security Server. You will need to change these to WAN IP addresses and configure NAT rules on your router/firewall. For now I am going to go ahead and click Next. I will go into more detail on configuring these links later.

   

9. Configure the Windows Firewall Policy and click Next to continue

   

10. Click Install

    

11. Click Finish

    

12. Check the VMware View Administrator à View Configuration à Servers to see the installed Servers.

    

Conclusion

In this article I showed you how to upgrade your View Connection Server, Install a Security Server and Pair it with your connection server, as well as update your View Client. This article gets you ready for testing out PCoIP through the Security Server. I am working very hard on getting part 2 out to you as quickly as possible so please stay tuned.

If you have been following along with this series you are probably at the point where you want to start testing your VMware View environment with a thin or zero client. Picking out a thin/zero client is a pretty overwhelming process for most IT professionals. I always find it easier to start with your list of requirements and then weed out the products that don’t have the features you can’t live without. The good news is there are a lot more vendors/models of thin/zero clients then there were even 2 years ago. As a result of this competition innovation has gone up and price has gone down.

In this article I will explain the following

• End-Point Requirements
• What is PCoIP
• Explain the difference between thin and zero clients
• VMware View 4.5 & PCoIP Optimization
• Take a closer look at some of my favorites zero clients
• Thin Client Configuration tips

This article is part 8 of a ten part series. Future articles are listed below.

• Part 1: Installing & Configuring VMware View 4.5
• Part 2: Configuring VMware View 4.5 Local Mode
  
• Part 3: Configuring VMware View 4.5 with Linked Clones
  
• Part 4: Managing VMware View 4.5 Linked Clones
  
• Part 5: Managing VMware View 4.5 Local Desktops
  
• Part 6: Configuring Juniper SSL VPN with VMware View 4.5
  
• Part 7: VMware View 4.5 Planning & Implementation Guide
  
• Part 8: VMware View 4.5 Thin/Zero Clients
  
• Part 9: VMware View 4.5 ThinApp Configuration/Management
  
• Part 10: VMware View 4.5 Event Logging
  

End-Point Requirements

There are primarily four different types of end-points that are utilized in VDI environments; Thin clients, Zero Clients, Blade PC’s, and software clients. I am going to focus on Thin and Zero clients because I think they are better solutions are more widely used.

As you were reading Part 7: VMware View 4.5 Planning & Implementation Guide you probably noticed that one of the largest benefits of VDI is a reduction in total cost of ownership. The type of end-point you decide to purchase can dramatically change your TCO.

So what are some of the most common requirements?

• Reduce TCO – spend less money on your VDI environment this includes both operating expense and capital expense.
• Improve Productivity – Instead of dedicating resources to fixing laptop and PC problems focus your efforts on business intelligence and other initiatives.
• Transparency to users – the users should have the same feeling and experience as if they were using a desktop PC or Laptop
• Reduce Energy Costs – Save on power and cooling costs by going with an end-point that draws very little power and is convection cooled.
• Improve Security – mitigate against data theft by not storing any data on the end-point.
• Reduce Management – spend much less time working on break fix issues, managing hundreds or thousands of PC’s, managing the software used to manage all of your client computer’s.
• Ability to utilize USB Devices – plug in any USB device like printers, headsets, storage, etc. Some end-points require firmware updates or software to leverage the use of USB devices.
• Ability to watch videos without performance degradation – watch training videos or WebEx conferences without problems. A lot of end-points require Multimedia Redirection capability, if you don’t get this on the end-point video and sound frankly suck!
• Multiple Monitor Support
• Wired/Wireless Ethernet
• Does it support VMware View 4.5 – pretty important for these articles J

PCoIP

I figured it would be useful to some of you to explain what PCoIP actually is because throughout this article I will be referencing it quite often. For those of you who already have a commanding knowledge of PCoIP you can probably skip this section.

PCoIP is a remote access protocol owned and designed by a company called Teradici. PCoIP was developed as a way to connect zero clients to a host environment, this includes VMware View.

Microsoft’s RDP protocol has been around for a long time and primarily used in terminal server environments. RDP works great but there are some serious limitations which PCoIP overcomes.

PCoIP currently supports the following features:

• Display Compression
• Support of USB Devices
  • Printers – including multi-function printer-copier-scanners
  • Custom 3D CAD manipulation devices
  • Scanners
  • Smart card readers
  • Many PDAs
  • Biometric devices
  • Web cameras
  • Custom Bloomberg keyboards
  • Wireless keyboards, mice
  • Bluetooth adapters
  • Tablets
  • DVD/CD drives
  • USB HDDs
  • Many USB Flash drives
  • USB keyboards, mice
  • USB headphones (VoIP)
  • Game controllers
  • Game driving wheels
• Ability to watch HD Video and HD Audio
• WAN Support ( you still need a decent WAN, 3MBPS is usually sufficient for normal data usage, streaming HD Video , doesn’t work unless you have a very fast WAN)
• Improved security allowing you to block unauthorized USB Devices
• Operating System independence
• Auto-Logon – allows administrators to pre-configure user information and domain name on Zero clients for Automatic Logon

Thin Vs Zero

There are four main end-points used in VDI environments: Thin, Zero, Blade-PC’s and software clients. Thin and Zero clients are definitely the most popular options but what is the difference between to two?

Thin Client

A Thin Client is named such because it is a slimmed down version of a PC. It still has a processor, storage, RAM, and an operating system on it. The Operating System is usually Windows XP embedded, Windows CE, Windows 7 embedded, some flavor of Linux, or the manufacturer’s Operating System. Typically the Operating System is installed on a 1, 2 or 4GB Flash drive, but I have seen Solid State drives as well.

The range of models varies from low cost models marketed towards terminal services to expensive models that have faster CPU’s, more RAM, larger disk space, multiple DVI outputs. This basically turns them into cheap desktop PC’s. The higher end models are usually in the $550-850 range. The extra hardware is needed a lot of times to run the operating system on the Thin Client. For example, Wyse uses its TCX application suite to manage video, audio, flash, multiple monitors, etc.

Thin Clients also typically have firmware that you must be updated from time to time which can be annoying from a management perspective. Sometimes you even need to download and update the drivers for the embedded operating system you are using in order to get certain USB Devices to work.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you must update and manage all of the operating systems on all of your thin clients in your environment. This is typically made easier with some sort of overlaying management software. The problem is the management software can get expensive, and you need to commit valuable IT resources to it.

Pros

• Cheaper capital investment than most desktop PC’s
  
• Reduce Energy Costs
  
• Improved Security over a desktop PC
  
• Most devices have pretty good USB support
  
• Less management expense then a Desktop PC
  
• Some models have wireless capability
  
• Some models support multiple monitors
  

Cons

• Cheaper than most desktop PC’s but not by much
  
• Still have to manage and update an embedded operating system
  
• Have to update drivers and firmware every now and then
  
• Higher level of IT skill needed
  
• IT staff has to spend time using management tools
  
• Management tools are expensive especially when maintenance is taken into consideration
  
• Sometimes Thin clients require additional licenses for multi-media redirection and USB device support.
  

Here is an example of some of the cost considerations of a Thin Client

(Panologic Picture)

Zero Clients

Unlike a Thin Client a Zero client doesn’t have any processing, drives, or embedded operating system on it. A Zero client has the logic necessary to connect to an Ethernet network as well as present audio and video and connect USB Devices.

You are not limiting yourself by not having these features in fact the exact opposite is true. Think about not having any operating system to update, no drivers to install, no viruses or spyware, no hard drive to crash, no need to cool the device, they practically last forever. In fact, I had some old Wyse terminal services clients that lasted 9 + years. Thin clients have much more overhead compared to zero clients. When you setup a zero client you shouldn’t need to spend any time maintaining it.

Zero clients allow you to simplify your network and start realizing some of those TCO cost savings that got you interested in VDI in the first place. I don’t see the point of using Thin Clients in your VDI environment. Thin clients tie you down to the same issues you are trying to get away from. They aren’t quite as bad as fat PC’s but why half ass it.

Pros

• Low cost end-points
• No embedded operating system that you have to update, maintain, and secure.
• Zero end-point management and configuration , saving IT staff time
• Very low energy costs
• Lack of moving parts improves life span of the product
• Ability to utilize USB devices
• Ability to leverage multiple monitors with most models
• Most new end-points leverage the PCoIP protocol
• Ability to play HD videos.
• Some models support VMware View 4.5
• Most models are purpose built for VDI

Cons

• Zero clients require a fast network connection since none of the processing is done locally. Accessing clients over the WAN is still an issue today although there are some new developments that are improving this.
• Cannot be re-used for terminal servers.
• This isn’t really a big Con but every now and again you may have to run Firmware Updates as new features are released. However, this shouldn’t really be something you have to do very often.

Sample cost of using Zero Clients

(Panologic Picture)

VMware View 4.5 PCoIP Optimization

1. Install VMware tools on your parent VM or virtual desktop depending on what kind of desktop pool you are using before you install the VMware View Agent.
2. When creating your Virtual Desktop pools select the following Adobe flash options by going to your VMware View Administrator à Inventory à Pools à Select your Pool à Edit à Click the pool settings tab

   

3. Set the remote display protocol to PCoIP on that same screen. You will also want to set the desktop display resolution to whatever the native resolution is for the monitor attached to the Zero Client.

   

4. In the VMware View Administrator GUI go to Policies à Global Policies à Edit Policies à Ensure multimedia redirection is set to deny. If you need to enable Multimedia redirection for one of your other desktop pools you can do it on the local policy level instead of the global policy level. Zero clients don’t support MMR so it’s just a waste of CPU cycles. Furthermore, set the PCoIP hardware acceleration to Allow and priority to Highest for the best desktop experience. You probably will want to play around with this value because it does impact CPU.

   

5. For optimal performance ensure you are using a full/duplex gigabit Ethernet connection to your Zero Client. A user accessing Microsoft Office Applications uses about 150-250kbps, however while running 720p videos that number is much higher. Furthermore, confirm that your round trip latency is also low, less than 150ms.

Recommended Zero Clients

Samsung PCoIP Monitor

The Samsung NC190/NC240 definitely wins the sexy award. You can get either a 19inch or 23.6 inch Samsung monitor that has PCoIP support built into it. You can’t really get any sleeker than this. In fact, all you need is the Samsung Monitor, a keyboard, mouse, and an Ethernet cable. The Samsung NC190/NC240 support VMware View 4.5 while leveraging PCoIP. They use the Teradici Tera1100 Portal Processor to present a very good desktop experience.

Features:

You can own the 24 inch version for around $550 and the 19inch for around $450. All things considering that’s a pretty reasonable price.

Wyse P20

Wyse has been making Thin Clients since I got into Computers, and they have been doing it well. They extended their portfolio to include zero clients as well. The Wyse p20 is fully supported with VMware View 4.5. It has multiple display support, multimedia playback support, HD Audio, and four USB ports. It uses the same Teradici 1100 Portal for PCoIP connectivity. They run you around $400 and include a three year warranty.

Wyse Thin Client Configuration Tips

MMR Support

If you are using a Wyse Thin Client to connect to your View 4.5 environment then you will want to perform the following configuration settings. First of all you want to ensure that Wyse Multimedia support is installed when you install VMware tools. Not you only need to install MMR if you bought a Wyse Thin Client that supports it. Generally you also need to purchase a license to activate MMR. Please reference this article for more details http://www.tcpdump.com/kb/virtualization/virtual-desktop/wyse-tcx-mmr-and-vmware-vdi-view.html

1. Install VMware Tools on your client before installing the VMware View Agent
2. Load VMware Tools, Click Next

   

3. Chose Custom and click Next
4. Expand VMware Device Drivers à Scroll down to the bottom and set “Wyse Multimedia Support” to “this feature will be installed on the local hard drive”, and the click the Next button to continue.

   

5. After selecting this option there should no longer be a red X next to Wyse Multimedia Support signifying that it will in fact be installed.

   

Auto Launch VMware View Client

If you are using a thin client you want access to their desktop to be very easy. One way to do this is to have the VMware View Client set to auto launch when Windows Embedded loads.

1. The first thing you probably need to do is change the boot order on the Wyse Thin Client to boot to the flash drive first instead of DHCP unless you have that configured.
2. Then you must hold down the shift key while you are logging into the Thin client. This will allow you to sign in as the administrator otherwise it takes you right into the desktop. The administrator password is Wyse123#. On the desktop there should be an icon for you to enable the write filter. Double click on that icon and you will need to reboot and sign back in as the administrator. Enabling the write filter allows you to write data to the flash drive.
3. Set the VMware View Client to start when the profile loads by placing it in the startup folder.
4. Also preconfigure the View Connection Server and domain and save these settings so your users don’t have to enter them in.
5. When finished disable the write filter
6. Sign in as a user and it should automatically try connecting to your View Connection server and the user just needs to enter in their password.

   

Overview

If you are looking at using end-points in your VDI environment I strongly suggest using zero clients. I listed two of my favorites in this article, click here for more options. I listed single unit pricing for the two end-points I reviewed but if you are purchasing these in bulk I am sure you can get better discounts. I hope this article helped you wrap your mind around end-points accessing a VDI environment. Please stay tuned for my next article in the series on ThinApp.

Today I had a comment from one of the posters on the site, Matt. I think Matt sparked a very good question/problem that I wanted to open up to everyone else to see if we could get some clever ideas to combat this issue.

Here is Matt’s question

Paul,
I was wondering if you or anyone else has run into this issue:
After refreshing/recomposing a Floating Pool of linked clones I found that DNS resolution for those VMs was broken. After a bit of investigation I found that on a refresh/recompose the linked clones generate a different MAC address which leads to them getting a different DHCP address.
The problem is that when this happens it leaves a stale entry with the old MAC in DHCP which is linked to its DNS record. This could potentially flood DHCP with stale entries that are locking up IP addresses (DoS if the DHCP scope runs out) if you have a large desktop Pool with a high refresh rate (refresh on logout option). It also prevents the linked clones DNS record from being updated.

My question is, is there any way to force view composer to keep the VM’s MAC address when it does a refresh/recompose? that would stop it from getting a different DHCP address every time and it will keep the DNS record up to date.

If not, will I have to write some script to run on power off that deletes the DHCP and DNS entries for that virtual desktop?

As you know the virtual machine MAC address changes when you recompose/refresh when using a floating or non-persistent desktop pool. The MAC address does not change after a refresh/recompose when you have users assigned to that particular desktop.

The common solution to this issue is to create a special DHCP scope just for your floating/non-persistent desktop pools with a very low DHCP reservation value like 4 hours. Now this doesn’t totally solve the issue because you could be ripping through 500 desktops in the matter of hours especially if you are a college or library and still run into some DNS cache poisoning issues.

This is a long shot but Quickprep gives you the ability to run scripts after a recompose/refresh or after power off. You could have a script run that will run after a refresh/recompose to retain your current MAC Address. I don’t have a sample of one but I am sure it’s possible but would probably involve a great deal of effort on your part.

VMware needs to grant us the ability to manually configure MAC addresses for our pools so we can get around this issue.

Does anyone out there have a better solution? I am very interested in your thoughts…