VDI questions

[JoeShmoe]

Hi there - is it possible to do the following ?

• Run a client hosted VDI environment where the desktop shall run locally on existing desktop hardware

• Stream the OS to the client on network connection (OS provisioning). Ideally this would only be the delta of any changes not the whole lot each time (i.e. the client stores an OS file somewhere much like say a Sun VirtualBoxVDI file )

• Stream applications on top of that OS via ThinApp or similar

• Allow the client to work offline (i.e. for laptops)

Does these functions exist now with the current VMWare View product offering? Is this good practice or should we be looking at a better way to do this? What issues would we face (security, network bursts at 9am etc?). We are thinking of using existing desktops as we have an investment there and dont want to come up against the performance issues of remote protocols, hardware support etc. Its ideally to allow us to manage gold builds of desktops (OS's+ applications) within the DC (NetApp) and stream these down to desktops to reduce the management overhead we have now. Long term when client hypervisors mature enough we could see migrating this setup there - that is allowing the desktop to process but running the config out of the DC

All thoughts appreciated

[mjsvirt]

View does not have the streaming OS capability. It would not be

possible to do what you have outlined.

On Jun 16, 2009, at 4:42 AM, "JoeShmoe" <communities-

[TomHowarth]

• Run a client hosted VDI environment where the desktop shall run locally on existing desktop hardware

Almost. VMware veiw offers Offline capability where the VM Guest is copied down to the client for local execution within a special VMware View Client (only works with windows Guests)

• Stream the OS to the client on network connection (OS provisioning). Ideally this would only be the delta of any changes not the whole lot each time (i.e. the client stores an OS file somewhere much like say a Sun VirtualBoxVDI file )

there is no streaming in the sense of App-V or Ardence. once the VM Guest has been copied to the local machine. all changes are copied to and from the VDI host and client via snap delta changes and commits.

• Stream applications on top of that OS via ThinApp or similar

with the correct design of the environment this would be possible.

• Allow the client to work offline (i.e. for laptops)

This is what Offline Desktop mode is for. when a client is connected to the LAN and has direct access to the VDI guest it will utilsed the remote copy and changes are copied to the local stored version and when it is in disconnected mode the local changes are stored in a snap/delta and copied to the master on the Host on LAN connection.

Also these Offline guests can be set to time out and become unusable after certain times. etc

Does these functions exist now with the current VMWare View product offering? Is this good practice or should we be looking at a better way to do this? What issues would we face (security, network bursts at 9am etc?). We are thinking of using existing desktops as we have an investment there and dont want to come up against the performance issues of remote protocols, hardware support etc. Its ideally to allow us to manage gold builds of desktops (OS's+ applications) within the DC (NetApp) and stream these down to desktops to reduce the management overhead we have now. Long term when client hypervisors mature enough we could see migrating this setup there - that is allowing the desktop to process but running the config out of the DC

All thoughts appreciated

Yes this function is available in the current release of View (3.0 and 3.1) however it is still consided in "Experimental mode", what this means is that it works but any support is best endeavours. further any offline desktops have to be traditionally deployed VDI guests not Linked Clones.

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Tom Howarth VCP / vExpert

VMware Communities User Moderator

Blog: www.planetvm.net

Contributing author for the upcoming book "[VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment|http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780136083214]”. Currently available on roughcuts