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Stu_McHugh
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Tunning RDP when using View Client

I am using RDP protocol via the View Security Server and understandably the experience isn't as good as sitting in the LAN.  Microsoft advise to make the RDP experience better is to set the 'High Colour 15-bit' rather than the full 'Highest colour, 32-bit' option.

I can't set/see this option as I'm using the View client to connect and not the RDP client.  Is there a way to tune this protocol even though I'm not using the Microsoft RDP client?

Stuart ------------------------------------------------ Please award points to any useful answers..
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npeter
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You should be able to set it using GPO templates provided with view.

This option can be found under VMwareViewRdpSettings after adding vdm_client.adm administrative template.

For detailed info check View admin guide p148

-nObLe

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npeter
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You should be able to set it using GPO templates provided with view.

This option can be found under VMwareViewRdpSettings after adding vdm_client.adm administrative template.

For detailed info check View admin guide p148

-nObLe
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mittim12
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If you are using XP then the VMware XP deployment guide goes over some of this too, http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vdi-xp-guide.pdf.    All in all you can do just about anything from the View GPO templates mentioned above.

admin
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Are you using XP or Win7? Tweaking the settings are essentially the same. Just wanted to know before any claims about RDP acceleration start Smiley Happy

One thing to keep in mind is changing the color bit is not going to really improve the user experience. It is more likely going to lessen the user experience. Granted there are different trajectories to consider when considering user experience. For example; is it fast and responsive? Is it visually rich, interactive and productive? Or all of the above.

Lowering the color bit will only save bandwidth. It might slightly speed things up because the bandwidth or compute resources are constrained at their current levels. However, it could also have the adverse affect ( which it usually does ) of creating an undesirable visual user experience. The same applies to things like ClearType fonts. ClearType fonts are visually appealing to the majority of users and less strain on the eyes. However; they are bandwidth intensive. It also took RDP a long time to start supporting ClearType fonts.

The nirvana for a user is the combined experiance; rich, fast, responsive, productive. Take my remote desktop for example; As a user, would  you want A. or B.?

A.

rich.png

B.

not-rich.png

I am not sure how much detail you can see in the shots. Most users will choose A. or a modified version of A. You will notice a big difference in the fonts, if you can see the detail.

To be fair; this is a remoted desktop, but not a RDP remoted desktop. They fonts and a few other things are adjusted but, not the color. So it is not an exact comparison of what your dealing with, it is generally close though in principal. If I adjusted the color, shot B.would look even worse.

Before adjusting the color or turning off cleartype fonts. I would recommend adjusting the visual components of the desktop composition. For example; simple things like show window contents while dragging can help a lot before sacrificing color. A lot of this is detailed in the guides others have mentioned.

WP

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apuckett
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Additionally, if you're one of the admins with vSphere access, you can change the color depth to 16 bit via the console access to the VM.  Lowering the color to 16 bit will not be noticeable from an end user perspective.

One thing I would also like to point out would be to set your desktop background to one of Windows solid backgrounds, as it may greatly improve the "response" or performance of an external connection (through the security server).

Also, if using Windows 7, make sure appearance and performance settings are turned down and only "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" is checked.

Windows7Appearance.PNG

Hope this information helps.

- Arin Puckett

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AdamG53
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Another option for improving the performance of RDP over remote connections is with Ericom Blaze, a software-based RDP acceleration and compression solution that provides improved performance over the WAN. Besides delivering higher frame rates and reducing screen freezes and choppiness, Blaze accelerates RDP performance by up to 25 times, while significantly reducing network bandwidth consumption especially over low-bandwidth/high latency connections.

You can use VMware View with PCoIP for your LAN and fast WAN users, and at the same time use VMware View with Blaze over RDP for your slow WAN users.

Read more about Blaze and download a free evaluation at:
http://www.ericom.com/Blaze4VMwareView

Adam

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