Recently we announced VMware View 4. One of the most exciting and fulfilling things for the RDE team and myself was the collaboration with our partner Teradici to bring a software implementation of a next generation display protocol ( PCoIP ) to market. It has been a lot of work, on a really compressed schedule. In addition to Teradici. I also want to extend a special thanks as well to the entire View partner community. Everyone of our partners have stepped up to rally behind View with PCoIP and in many cases have gone above and beyond to work with us adjusting their own schedules and investing their own R&D efforts to help make this a success.

In addition to the existing VMware View partners I also want to thank and welcome the existing Teradici OEM partners who have come on-board as VMware partners.

These efforts further extend VMware Views ability to offer the most broad range of soft client, thin client, zero client and integrated display options in the market.

For anyone who is still wondering what works with what. I hope the following will clarify any quesions you might have. The goal for us is pretty simple. Deliver a solution that enables IT organizations to adress their users from the task worker to the designer. For anyone who does not know. Teradici has been OEMing technology to main stream hardware leaders such as Dell, IBM, ClearCube and others who build solutions that address the highend demanding needs of designers needing remotely delivered 3D for several years now. Starting out with their hardware to hardware based solutions. Working together, we have broght that same technology in a software implementation to Virtual Desktops with VMware View.

A common goal we have is to provide compatibility between both the hardware and software implantations to ensure cusotmers have the most broad choice and seamless experiance when using both. By unifying support for both using VMware View. Customers instantly have the most simple integrated solution for addressing users from the task worker to the designer.

The most common question we get is how does that work? VMware and Teradici are working closely together to ensure interoperability betwen both hardware and software based components. Some time back, we did the bulk of the work in VMware View so it could handle brokering PCoIP hardware based solutions. In the end, customers have the option to choose from any of the following combinations of client and backend options when planning their deployments and addressing specific user needs.

VMware View software client <---------> Virtual Desktops

VMware View software client <---------> PCoIP enabled Blade PCs

PCoIP zero clients <-------> Virtual Desktops

PCoIP zero clients <-------> PCoIP enabled Blade PCs

PCoIP zero clients from all the leading manufactures such as WYSE, DevonIT, Dell, ClearCube, EVGA, ELSA, Samsung etc. will all be VMware View compatible.

In addition to PCoIP zero clients. Traditional thin clients using the VMware View client for Windows and Linux will be available from VMware thin client partners. We are also working closely with thin client partners who offer unique differentiating custom and embedded OS solutions as well.

It's only the begining and our first step toward more exciting things to come in short order.

VMworld Europe 2009 is a wrap and despite the economic challenges everyone is facing across the world the turnout was amazing. One of the most exciting parts of the show for me was being able to demonstrate an early preview of the software to software implementation of PCoIP that we have been working on through our co-development agreement with Teradici.

This really is no secret, we announced our strategic partnership with Teradici last September at VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas Nevada. Since, we have been working hard to bring the best remote display solution to market based on Teradici's next generation display protocol PCoIP. A combined VMware, Teradidici solution leveraging VMware View Manager will allows us to deliver an enhanced solution to desktop organizations that enables them to target users from task worker to the designer, remotely accessing their virtual desktop both from the LAN or the WAN using a single display protocol with an uncompromising user experiance. Combined with VMware View Managers support for multiple protocols, we can offer cusomters a solution with the broadest array of choice in display protocols and client access devices.

For everyone that was not able to attend VMworld 2009. On day two, Steve Herrod and Jerry Chen provided an update on our progress to dated wrapping up with a live demo of a Teradici hardware to hardware based solution. The full Keynote and demo can be seen here VMworld 2009 Day 2 Keynote

In addition to the Keynote, there was quite a bit of coverage from the blogging and analyst community around our PCoIP efforts. Below I have pulled together several bits of commentary I have been able to find.

Totally unplanned and pulled together on the fly, I was able to sit down with Brian Madden and give him the first sneak peak of a PCoIP software to software demo. This can be found on Brian Madden TV along with interviews from Microsoft, Redhat and Citrix.

I also was able to find an interview with Peter Ghostine, CTO of Quest Software. Interestingly, in this interview with Eric Sloof, Peter tries to explain what the VMware remote display strategy is? He shares his skepticism regarding what can be acheived with PCoIP. Peter primarily focuses on attempting to cast a shroud of doubt regarding the WAN capabilities of PCoIP. Quest has been betting on RDP and has been building RDP enhancements for some time now. Features such as MMR, similar to the technology we OEMed from WYSE. In addition, to psudo multimonitor and more needed features such as latency reduction etc..

On that note, I was also able to sit down with Chris Wolf. Chris Wolf is a Sr. Analyst with the Burton Group covering the virtualization space, focusing on the Desktop to the Datacenter. I had a little more time with Chris and was able to demonstrate the current progress we have made with software to software PCoIP under a variety of network conditions including both the LAN and the WAN. Chris shares his thoughts and observations here - VMware's Software PCoIP - A Sighting!

Last but not least, Gerben Kloosterman attended a presentation I gave on the future of the VMware View Remote Display Experiance. Gerben did an excellent job capturing the Q&A at the end sharing that information on his blog for anyone not able to attend. For more information visit Gerben's Blog on Virtualization.

I am well past do for a post and some might think we have fallen off the face of the planet. For the last six months I have been heads down planning, coordinating, validating and writing the first VMware View Reference Architecture.

This has been a lengthy project that had some very well defined scope from the beginning. Honestly, I allowed the scope to creep, as I felt the effort and output would go much further to benefit cusotmers and partners.

First, I would like to thank everyone who helped ensure the project was successful. I would like to especially like to thank our partners at EMC whom allowed us to leverage their Validation Facility in Santa Clara allowing us to build and validate the RA itself. In addition to providing us a place to validate future efforts. They have a world class facility where we can validate customer solutions as well.

Second, this effort is only one of many to come. The foundation we have laid allows us to rapidly change and add components or used cases based on the core architecture we have already validated. This first reference architecture effort primarily focuses on desktop replacement in the enterprise and other use cases will follow.

The first release of the reference architecture is availalbe from the following location - http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1084

One of the documents that we intended to include but, were not able to finalize, was a document around the networking aspects of our efforts. We have received numerous requests for information on the networking specifically the load balancing and layer 2/3 configs and VLANs. Although we do not have a specific recomended design yet, we have been doing quite a bit of work in the labs in this area and have some information that might be useful to some. Later I plan to post some of the configs from some of our lab work here so check back.

Lastly, there are two other documents that I am working on and I hope to release those in the next few weeks.

I am pleased to announce the availability of the VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewer's Guide. I had the honor of working with Doug Brown, founder of DABCC, well known expert and long time contributor to the Server Based Computing, Application Delivery and Virtualization communities. Many of you might be familiar with Doug Brown's Methodology in Box (MIAB) deployment and install guides. Doug's MIAB takes a step-by-step approach to deploying and installing server based computing and virtualization products.

By taking a simple step-by-step real world approach MIAB can ensure audiences from all levels of technical aptitude and background are ensured a successful deployment.

Partnering with Doug for the creation of the VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewer's Guide just made sense. Who better to help create this guide. The VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewers Guide is a subset of a typical DABCC (MIAB), with the goal to provide a step-by-step guide for people interested in evaluating VMware VDI for their VMware based VDI deployments. By using the the VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewer's Guide new comer to VMware VDI and VDM 2.0 can quickly and easily get a full VMware VDI environment up and running for evaluation.

At a later date Doug will follow-up this work with a more extensive MIAB available from DABCC.

For more information about DABCC please visit - www.dabcc.com

The VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewer's Guide can be found here - VMware VDM 2.1 Reviewer's Guide

I wanted to wait till the smoke cleared before sharing some thoughts regarding Microsoft opening the specifications on several of its APIs and communication protocols. Part of the released technology was the specification of RDP.

For VMware VDI, this is probably the most interesting of the released protocol specifications. The initial impact to customers may not be that obvious. However, over time, the benefits could be huge. RDP is the preferred protocol for accessing VMware VDI based desktops. Currently, this makes the most sense to leverage as there is no added cost in doing so which is typically the case with third party add on protocols.

Although getting the optimal performance in broad set of network conditions can be tricky, but it's quite adequate in the highest majority of desktop replacement use cases. RDP has always had virtual channels which allow a third party to add feature functionality to RDP. For example, with VDM 2 we developed a generic USB device redirector that allows you to connect most USB devices, not supported by RDP to a client access device and make them available for use with your VMware VDI virtual desktop.

In order for third parties to leverage virtual channels, you either needed a team of lawyers and a chunk of change or some really good engineers that could reverse engineer. For some time now there have been licensees of the RDP spec and others who reverse engineered it in effort to add value. This included people building feature add-ons as well as full RDP client implementations. Open Source efforts such as RDesktop and commercial efforts from companies such as WYSE, VMware, ThinAnywhere, Provision Networks, Sun Microsystems, Calista and others have all contributed to enhancing RDP.

Over three years ago I started researching the use of VMware virtualization as a way to better manage and deliver desktop computing and overcome traditional server based computing short falls. As we started meeting with customers and sharing the vision of VDI it was becoming clear Citrix had lost their seat at the table. Customers were concerned with the issues surrounding Citrix as a solution, such as complexity, application compatibility and loss of a personal computing experience.

VMware VDI was resonating with IT organizations and desktop management teams as an answer for more broad desktop deployments. I was a little surprised, as no one can take away Citrix's past contributions to server based computing. It's always been my opinion Citrix and Microsoft had become comfortable with their position and the direction they were leading customers and the market.

As VMware VDI emerged it was becoming clear this was what customers wanted. I had not seen such vast interest and adoption of a desktop solution in a long time. Despite Microsoft attempting to down play interest, VECD emerged. As Citrix lost ground trying to protect the Presentation Server stronghold, they finally broke down, did a 360 degree about face, and sank 500M on XenSource.

Since they have renamed their legacy products and are attempting to broaden their vision beyond just "Application Delivery". Here at VMware we are building things from the ground up with virtualization in mind, not trying to retro fit legacy solutions to fit in a virtual world. Since the emergence of VMware VDI, millions of dollars are going into the R&D of network delivered desktops and applications. The result is innovation that improves user experience, desktop management and choice for IT organizations.

What does this mean for Citrix? For years there have been the conspiracy theories that Microsoft will buy Citrix. Over the years I have seen less and less evidence or reason to believe this, but I guess it could happen. For some time now, I have said Citrix is getting squeezed from the top by VMware and squeezed from the bottom by Microsoft. The crown jewel for Citrix is ICA. Without that, there is not a lot there you can't get from other cheaper more simple alternatives.

With the acquisition of Calista by Microsoft, it's clear they intended to continue the enhancement of RDP. With the RDP spec now open, more and more engineers can come to the party and rapidly further enhance RDP improving its performance and features in a broad array of use cases. With the XenSource acquisition, Citrix has dipped a toe in the open source world. Now that Micosoft has openly published the RDP specification, will Citrix set ICA free? Do they have any other choice? What long term value does ICA have with so many big companies now able to enhance RDP and in fact, already doing so?

Currently I am traveling across Germany meeting with customers and partners. This morning, just after I finalized preparation for a presentation. I decided to hop over to dabcc.com for a quick peak at what is going on in the SBC and virtualization community.

The first article that caught my eye was an article from a system provider in South Africa, OAS. The OAS was offering a test drive of a VMware VDI virtual desktop, connecting through VDM 2 and a XenDesktop based desktop.

To set the stage here. When I am traveling I use a MAC. If I need to access my VMware VDI desktop I can remotely connect with it using Safari. I also have a local Windows based virtual machine I can use with Fusion if needed. Using my MAC from the meeting room, here in Germany I fired up Safari and browsed over to the the OAS site for XenDesktop access.

At first it appears XenDesktop could not detect what client I needed.

When the client detection failed I decided to try the manual client detection.

The client detection failed so I decided to go ahead and download it. It took about five minutes to download the MACICA_OSX.DMG.zip file. Once it competed, I decided to install it. At this point I got a little confused as the installer said it was installing the ICA client for Presentation Server. Am I connecting to Presentation Server or XenDesktop? I figured I would find out once the client was installed an I get the chance to connect with a desktop. Unfortunately, that did not happen though. For some reason the ICA client could not be installed?

After this, I decided to compare the out of box experience for VDM 2 delivering a desktop. First I put the VDM 2 URL in Safari. I was asked to accept a certificate from OAS as I have never been to their site before. After accepting the certificate I was presented with a login.

After entering the login info and launching the tunnel I was presented with a list of desktops I was entitled to use.

After selecting my desktop and connecting my desktop session was successfully connected.


In all fairness, MAC support for VDM 2 is only experimental. I am unsure and have not checked if XenDestkop is planning to support MAC clients once its released. It may have been unfair of me to expect XenDesktop to work from my MAC?

Recently I read a blog explaining some of the early details of VECD. It described VECD as a hidden cost of VDI. There were also some snippets from a FAQ that was released by VMware, shortly after VECD was announced back in April. The blog makes some valid points, but there was one small detail that was not accurate. Not all VECD options require Software Assurance. Licensing Windows Desktop operating systems for use with VMware VDI falls in the top 10 questions I field on a day to day basis.

The initial white paper released explaining VECD. Created more confusion than clarity. I know I read it many times and each time, I came away with a new interpretation. Fortunately I have some close contacts at Microsoft I was able to sync up with, back in September, at VMworld. VECD was top of the list to get clarified. Who better to hear it from the horses mouth. At VMworld Microsoft was handing out a recently completed license brief that had yet to be published on the Microsoft web site.

This license brief as well as my conversation with the owner at Microsoft, went a long way in clarify things for me. Unfortunately, I failed to share it had posted when it did. I recommend, Anyone interested in better understanding VECD should read this license brief. It covers VECD for SA and VECD. The document is titled Licensing Vista for Use with Virtual Machine Technologies and can be found on the Volume Licensing Briefs site.

It seems since late 2007 and early 2008 some virtualization players are still trying to hop on the VDI bandwagon started by VMware back in 2005. Since 2007, Citrix has been feeling the squeeze from the top by Microsoft with 2008 Server and Remote App around the corner, and squeezed at the bottom by VMware and the momentum of VMware VDI. Citrix had to do an about face on the Application Delivery strategy and messaging by getting in the VDI game with the purchase of Xen Source; an attempt catch up by trying to deliver desktops.

It also appears based on the recent release of a White Paper titled Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, SWsoft would like to ride the VMware VDI tailwinds. After reading this short overview on VDI, I wanted to offer some additional things to consider for readers that come across this paper.

“There are five components that comprise the VDI solution.”

A properly designed VDI solution is going to include more than five components. At a minimum, a proper VDI solution will encompass the following:

1. Client Access – Fat Clients, Thin Clients, Repurposed PCs and or Mobile / Remote
   users.
2. Virtual Desktop Management Services – Connection Brokering, Session Management and desktop provisioning such as what’s provided with VDM 2
3. Virtualization Services – Such as what’s provided by VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 including tools such a HA, DRS and VMotion that simplify the operations of a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
4. Virtual Desktop Instances – Such as Windows XP and Vista
5. Infrastructure Services – Such as Active Directory, File and Print, Email, employee portals etc.
6. Application Virtualization Services – The legacy tools such as Citrix and Terminal Server used for delivering applications as well as next generation Application Virtualization tools such as Softgrid, SVS and ThinStall.
7. Management Services – Such a VirtualCenter and other existing desktop management tools for patch management and software distribution such as Altiris, and SMS.
8. Storage Services – The storage infrastructure for storing and managing the desktop images and data being centralized.
9. Integration Services – The services and support provided to successfuly design, implement and integrate all
   these components, such as those provided by VMware.

• Virtual Desktop Management
• Session Management
• Desktop Life-Cycle Management
• Desktop Provisioning
• Desktop Pooling
• User management and entitlement to virtual desktop resources
• Providing secure encrypted connections across un-trusted networks

VDI is not new technology. VMware customers have been deploying VMware VDI based solutions since 2005. I would say most the IT organizations I meet with do a really good job managing desktop systems. Although, they are looking for a better way to deliver desktop services, gain more control over their desktop architectures and inprove deployment and management efficency. Distributed desktop architectures are difficult and costly to manage, but I do not expect any explosions.

One area glossed over in this paper were Virtual Desktop Instances. One of many key driving factors increasing the adoption in VMware VDI, is the ability to virtualize and deliver Windows XP and Vista desktops. Doing so allows IT organizations to overcome the shortcomings of typical server based computing solutions such as Citrix Presentation Server and Microsoft Terminal Services, where application conflicts and the loss of the personal computing experience often inhibit mass adoption as the desktop environment.

According to the following requirements http://kb.swsoft.com/en/1446, SWsoft does not support or deliver Windows XP or Vista desktops. Providing each user a Windows 2003 Server is a costly proposition. If the proposition is to virtualize each server instance and then use Terminal Services, most people have come to agree that is not VDI, but rather consolidating Terminal Servers which are typically underutilized. Although Terminal Servers can be of value and Remote App is showing a lot of promise in extending the value of a VDI architectue; alone they do not offer all the benefits of a true VDI solution, to organizations with complex applicaition environments.