Server Virtualization: SuccessVDI: not so much…
Why?.
Ron Oglesby @ronoglesby
NOT A UNIDESK COMMERCIAL
What are we going to talk aboutWhy is Desktop Virtualization on hold?What are the key issues?Common misconceptions about desktop virtualizationHow to get past these issuesWhere is all of this going anyway?
VDI Has Awesome Potential Increase operational efficiency
Simple provisioning, patching, repair for IT
Improve business continuity & agility Workers access desktops from any office,
BYOPC, home PC, or mobile device
Increase security Data stays inside the data center
Go green Thin clients use less power than PCs
(5W vs. 60W) and last 3-6 years longer
So why was server virtualization so successful?
Server virtualization rocked!
Server Virtualization was easy!CAPEX savings was EASY to showSavings were HUGE!Already in the datacenter – It’s a form factor change!Standardization was a GOOD THING!OPEX was simply a nice by productLet’s face it, a P2V was a simple migration process
So why is VDI on ‘hold’ in so many organizations?
So what about VDI? Not easy?
StorageHost Servers
Image Management
Brokers
Protocols?Disk IO issues
Personalization
Loss of Control
Copyright © 2010 Unidesk Corporation. All Rights Reserved. www.unidesk.com
VDI: More complex than it should be?
Image/OS Mgmt
Storage Footprint
App Mgmt
Profile Mgmt
Client Mgmt
Desktop Virtualization is not as easy
CAPEX is almost impossible to showOPEX is pretty much the only savings availableDesktops have to be “moved”Users don’t “like” standardizationLet’s face it, there isn’t an “easy” migration process to
virtual desktopsA number of “secondary” products are needed
So what are the key issues in these desktop projects?
Pick 2 (or sometimes 1!)
VDI SuccessTriangle
Key IssuesSingle image management comes w/ a pricePersonalization means loss of single image
managementPersonalized desktops increase storage costs (foot
print)VDI itself has higher IO requirements than servers!All of this on top of user acceptance issuesNo good offline tools todayBrokers don’t always scale to the thousands very well
Do you have a desktop Virtualization strategy?
Start with your current Desktop Strategy
Make sure your VDI project FITS!!!
VDI – (Kudos to VMware) Tied Virtual Desktops to VDI.
VDI is another tool…Terminal Services…App Virtualization…Client side virtualization?
Personalization: What do you and the users see?
What you see: What users see:
So what makes up a virtual desktop?
Typical view of desktopThis does not match realityOS and up are hopelessly
mergedHypervisor
Operating System
Hardware
Applications
Profile
User customization often includes application installation, application add-ins and ties to the machine
Applications can tie to SIDs, UUIDs, and GUIDs on the machine – Machine specific settings
All of this makes it tough to extract and maintain a “user environment” through changes to gold images
Hypervisor
Operating System
Hardware
Applications
Profile
How we want to manage the desktop
Disk IO… the common problem.Footprint can be reduced via numerous technologies
IO… not so muchServer IO loads? What is/was typicalDesktop IO loadWhat is all this RAID penalty stuff?
Disk IO Solutions?
Man in the middle solutions? Atlantis type solutions?Hybrid Arrays? Dell/EQL XVS – EMC FAST?Homemade!?! ZFS Local Disk? SSD or even distributed rotating media
Management and personalizationGenerally there are numerous trade-offs
Single image mgmt and you lose “persistent” desktops Use persistent desktops – you lose single image mgmt and
move right back to traditional desktop mgmt Single image mgmt reduces storage footprint (linked clones,
provisioning server) but at the cost of personalization.
Do existing Mgmt tools fit the VDI world or your use case? Possibly.
Management Solutions?
Block based provisioning alone NOT the solutionLayering technology is one option
The Unidesk and Moka5’s of the world
Multiple tools Stack provisioning tools w/ a profile/User environment
manager
Apps – App virt not the key to everything.
So what should I be on the look out for?
Common Mistakes in VDIDesigning the hardware first
To many variables to choose hardware out of the gate; Just duplicating Server Virt hardware
Believing everything the vendors say… Buying software because the “vendor said” it would do what
I needed The vendor said I could get 120 Desktops on this system
Not configuring the Disk subsystem properlyForgetting about “personalization” of the desktop
Key “Check Boxes” for your designDefine what you are delivering and to whoEnsure your design covers the following:
Base OS delivery and updating Application delivery and updating Personalization and profile mgmt Broker configuration and requirements Pool Vs Persistent desktop decisions Storage configuration (foot print and IO load) WAN and LAN use cases
Hardware RecommendationsSmaller servers w/ more coresGood storage controllersMore memoryLocal disk, SSD, centralized disk, centralized SSDBuild redundancy through quantityThink back to the old “MetaFrame Days”
So what about Windows 7
Win 7Will change the memory and CPU footprint
Face it XP Pro is like a decade old Vendors UNDER SPEC their VMs in scale testing!
Storage foot print? WinXP SP3 w/ hot fixes is about 2.8 GB Base Win7…. 10-13GB
Lots of talk. Expect ramp ups during PC replacement cycle.
Good time to change the environment
