VMware Horizon Community
soleblazer
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Question, need pros/cons of using desktop images via RDP vs View

Hi everyone.

I currently have about 15 desktop (Windows XP) that developers offshore are RDP'ing into to work.  These images are running on a vSphere cluster, when a new desktop is needed we deploy a new one from a template.

I am not tasked with the possibility of having 80 of these desktops.  I could certainly create 80 images and just have people RDP into them, but I am looking for a better option.  I am aware of the View product and it sounds good.  I am looking to create a case for the View product.  Can anyone give me a list of reasons why I should use View vs just using my template to deploy desktops to have people RPD into them.  These desktops are permanent and are a one to one mapping to a developer.

So far I have:

-PCoIP can have more than one monitor

-I could use 50% less storage on the SAN because most of the desktop image is essentailly linked from the golden image XP image

-The desktop experience would be richer if they needed to use flash, etc

-I could patch all the desktops at once via the golden image

Are there any more?  Also, does anyone have any cons to doing what I may have to if we do not go with View?  Thanks!!!

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9 Replies
eeg3
Commander
Commander

It would ease administration with automated desktop creation, it would set the mappings automatically, etc. It also provides a centralized desktop administration portal via the View Administrator site.

PCoIP provides a better experience over a slow link.

If a user were to get a virus, you could repair it easier by refreshing back to the master image. Or, unlink the User Data Disk from that virtual desktop and assign it (and the user) to a new one.

Blog: http://blog.eeg3.net
mittim12
Immortal
Immortal

In addition to what has already been stated View also provides printer remapping via Thin Print,USB redirection from the desktop, and user data disk.   Also keep in mind that PCOIP currently requires a direct connection to the VDi desktop so if the offshore people are currently off of your network they would need a VPN connection to make use of PCOIP.  

soleblazer
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Another quick question.  If my users are complaining about RDP being slow when changing windows, etc, could PCoIP help here, or will I have a similiar problem?  I ask because some folks think VDI is a magic bullet, but I'm not so sure.

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mittim12
Immortal
Immortal

PCOIP does offer a far better user experience than RDP.  

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eeg3
Commander
Commander

PCoIP is a significant, drastic, humongous increase over RDP.

Blog: http://blog.eeg3.net
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tacticsbaby
Expert
Expert

Fortunately with View 4.6 you no longer need to use VPN for PCoIP.

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tacticsbaby
Expert
Expert

I have heard many things in this realm about PCoIP vs RDP. I would say that the best thing you could do is test it out for yourself. From what I understand PCoIP is optimized to take advantage of high bandwidth connections, more so than RDP. Another good thing about PCoIP is that there are a number of thin clients on the market that have been optimized to speed up this protocol. We use Wyse P20 thin clients in our existing View environment and their performance is great. Hope this helps. Otherwise I think everyone else summed up the main reasons for going to View over your current solution. The central management is nice once you get it setup. Think about it in these terms:

Suppose you have 30 desktop VMs and a new virus comes out and infects many of them. What do you do in your current environment to resolve the issue?

Now suppose you have a linked clone pool of 30 VMs and that same new virus comes out? I know what I would do. I would hit the 'refresh' button and in my case 30 minutes later the problem would be gone. Imagine what would be needed in your current environment? Likely more time to solve the problem. Just my thoughts.

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soleblazer
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Can I ask how your clients are connected network wise?  These folks are in India, connecting over RDP currently, I'm curious if your users are local.

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tacticsbaby
Expert
Expert

At present all of my users are local. We have a number of sites and hardware at each site. Our sites are connected by gb links. Users at each site connect with their thin clients through that LAN. If your users are in India you should definately check to see how PCoIP handles that sort of connection. At present we ruled out providing remote access because we are not sure how well it will work at this time. Please us know how this goes for you. Hope my answer is helpful.

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