VMware Horizon Community
dclipp
Contributor
Contributor

Choppy video performance!

Looking for any help! I have a new implementation of View 5.0 that is running on new hardware and network. The hosts are also running on ESXi 5.0. There are only 10 PC's currently in the pool. They are Win7 32bit with 2vCPU and 2GB RAM allocated. I spent hours on the phone today trying to figure out why we are experiencing very very POOR video performance over PCoIP on the local network. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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PhilofPerth
Contributor
Contributor

Had or have the same issues, Had to provide my Win 7 32 bit machines with 4GB of ram as well as 2 vCPU.  This fixed the issues with playing youtube videos, although we still have some lag issues with full screen HD movies and DVD's.  The other items to check is the Disk IO's and the Network.  I am using Xangati to monitor my system and the main items (Disk IO, Network bandwidth) all are working well, yet still have issues with HD full screen video (although this was pumping 38 Mb per second through the network so you could say that this could be expected)

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bhamm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

If you're expecting video performance comparable with a physical   desktop, I think you're going to be disappointed.  Though your endpoint has display hardware in some form, the picture is being rendered by   software on the server, not a dedicated graphics chip.  It's much less   efficient.

This is a weakness of VDI.   However, in most situations, great graphics aren't a requirement for  work tasks, so the advantages you get  in terms of fliexibility, availability, management, and reliability far outweight  the sacrifice you make in  graphics.

My suggestion would be to start VDI with users who don't need graphics, and be prepared to temper their expectations in that area.

If you absolutely need cutting edge graphics and want  to keep the computers secure, you could try looking at blade PCs with  video cards & PCoIP host cards from Teradici.  The video is rendered  on traditiona video card, and then sent to a PCoIP encorder.  They're  expensive, but so is allocating 2vcpu and 4gb of server grade ram per  desktop.

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dclipp
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry, I think in my exhaustion I put a BAD title on the thread. I understand the limitations of VDI and actually displaying video content. The problem I am facing is that all display performance is BAD! With just a window (Windows Explorer or Outlook) open, if you attempt to move the window it is a good 1-3 seconds behind the mouse pointer. If in Excel for example, scrolling through the document it painful at best...

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bhamm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

You mention PCoIP specifically.  Does this mean you've tried a RDP session and you're not having the same problems?

Also, did you use the suggestions for guest OS configuration in the View Admin guide?  Some of those tweeks can make a big difference in the perception of how quickly the VM is moving, though what you're describing seems like it might be something else.

page 56,57

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html

Take special note of the video card memory suggestion.

Also, is the connection server you're using set up as a secure gateway?  In this case, the connection would be encrypted and relayed through the connection server.  If not, the PCoIP connection goes straight from the VM to the endpoint.  The former can be pretty slow if the connection server isn't very quick or is limited in memory.

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gunnarb
Expert
Expert

Try disabling SSL in View Administrator.  Had someone with the same complaint yesterday and this resolved the issue.


Can you post your pcoip_server logs for that session I'll take a look and see if it looks like its the network.


Gunnar Berger

www.gunnarberger.com

Gunnar Berger http://www.gunnarberger.com http://www.endusercomputing.com
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Bendy22
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Had the same issue going to View 5.0. The fix was to reinstall the 4.6 Agent. Dragging around windows and such is now MUCH smoother. Must be some issue with the View 5.0 client video driver or something?

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CyberTron123
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi

do you use 2 screens?? if so try disabling energisaving for the screen ("turn off monitor = never") .

this is a bug with pcoip and view 5

there are numerous threads about it, it especially creates two different problems: One is that lagging of windows and bad window performance, the other one is black screen during logon.

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Bendy22
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

You are right. I am running 2 screens. I disabled this setting, upgraded back to the View 5.0 agent, and it works! I'm even running Aero. With the 3.5.0 firmware I can connect to any USB device I want. I connected to a PLC over USB yesterday for the first time with any thin client technology that I've ever tried.

This is the way to do desktops. I agree with VMware's vision - the PC age is over.

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Minnadesu
Contributor
Contributor

Until vmware can fix the issue of being able to allocate physical graphics cards per guest then you are absolutely wrong. Furthermore Desktops will never actually die because there are too many people that play games on PCs although i would never upgrade to Windows 8. Tried it hate it.

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Bendy22
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

My remaining issue with View 5.0 and Windows 7 is fixed by the workaround in this KB article:

KB2010359: Poor performance when moving windows between multiple displays in View 5.0 session

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=201035...

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