VMware Horizon Community
David_Mitchell
Contributor
Contributor

PCoIP or RDP over WAN for Remote Branch Office VDI Users??

Hi all,


I am trying to work out which protocol would be better for my remote Branch Office workers connecting back in to VMWare View VDI environment?


There will be 120 users and I am trying to determine the BW of the WAN link based upon deciding which Display protocol I will end up using.  I understand VMWare View has the option of both RDP and PCoIP.


I have come across the following which is causing the confusion:


The primary advantage of PCoIP is speed and display quality. The primary advantage of RDP is that common protocol on some restrict network is available. Neither is “better”; they are just different:


1.Use PCoIP if any of the following are true for you: 1.You want to display better quality graphics, video, and sound.
2.If bandwidth is not a problem because you are on a high-speed connection.

2.Use RDP if any of the following are true for you: 1.You don’t know your network quality, set RDP is better than PCoIP
2.If graphics, video, and sound quality are not an issue.
3.If you have limited bandwidth because you are on dial-up or a slow DSL connection.

I have read on a VMWare white paper that you should use Network WAN optimization if you are using RDP due to the overhead on the TCP handshake constantly reoccurring and that built-in RDP compression is 2:1.  But if you chose to use UDP based PCoIP you don’t need WAN optimization as this is built in and includes a compression of 100:1


Seems to me that PCoIP is the better of the two protocols in that you don’t need to install optimization in the network, but at the same time I am reading that PCoIP is best used for 3D graphics and video (non-of which I will have) and should be used when bandwidth is plentiful...... but then if I opt for RDP to keep WAN costs down am I going to need Optimization installed too?
My question is, which do I go with over a WAN and why?

Thanks in advance

David
Humble network engineer got himself involved in VMware

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7 Replies
vcpguy
Expert
Expert

I think you should use PCoIP. It is build specially for WAN connections. It has many inbuilt features that will help in network consumption and usage. The below text is form PCoIP Network Optimization Guide

  1. Strengths of the PCoIP Protocol

    PCoIP is a real-time protocol based on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). UDP provides no resiliency facilities at the network layer. Instead, PCoIP provides resiliency at the application layer. The real-time nature of the protocol means that PCoIP makes the decisions about which data is important, and which data can be discarded. The protocol is therefore very responsive, but anything that may induce packet loss or add latency must be eliminated for optimal performance.

    PCoIP automatically reduces image or sound quality on congested networks, and resumes best quality when congestion is alleviated. PCoIP is adaptive and can detect available network bandwidth and network conditions, such as delayed or out-of-order packet delivery. When these conditions reach a particular threshold, PCoIP compensates by limiting how much bandwidth it uses or by increasing compression depth. You need to make sure the network is optimized so that PCoIP does not adjust itself down to a level with unsatisfactory quality. PCoIP requires minimal and consistent latency and high-priority queuing to perform well.

    There are a number of tuning options for optimizing performance on a WAN including: • Ensuring sufficient minimum network bandwidth for PCoIP packets
    • Minimizing packet buffering for PCoIP packets through the network
    • Ensuring an appropriate queuing or priority configuration in the switch or router

    • Following key WAN testing guidelines



----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please don't forget to reward Points for helpful hints; answers; suggestions. My blog: http://vmwaredevotee.com
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Ugotmail8
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I was wondering if you had made any progress on the View over the WAN deployment. We have a similar issue and I wanted some ideas.

Thanks in advance

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eeg3
Commander
Commander

You should use PCoIP in 99.999999999% of scenarios. You can tune it to use less bandwidth if needed via GPO (Disable Build-to-Lossless, set bandwidth/quality/etc caps).

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

and it secure as compared to RDP. So it makes more sense to use PCoIP

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please don't forget to reward Points for helpful hints; answers; suggestions. My blog: http://vmwaredevotee.com
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Gaurav_Baghla
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

As VCpGuy and eeg3 has already explained about Pcoip I would like to add Some more to it .

Let Us check what Infrastructure we have

1)There are PCOIP Clients only: Ipad and Android ,Zero Clients They Cannot use Rdp whereas Some old Mac and Linux would use just Rdp Protocol Specifically Terminal Servers .

2)Serial and parallel port Redirection works only with RDP but thin print Come handy in that Scenario.

3)PCOIP maximum multimonitor :4 Rdp can give you 16 (pratically the use is very less and 4 should be a good limit)

4)Pcoip Tunneling is more secure as compared to RDp as Rdp is on port 443 and Pcoip is on 4172

Regards Gaurav Baghla Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer. https://twitter.com/garry_14
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markbenson
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

PCoIP

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ReinerHeinz
Contributor
Contributor

PCOIP (with udp), just tunnelling pcoip through TCP does not improve much over RDP. You might also want to consider some PCOIP encoding through an Apex 2800 card.  I saw some on ebay recently going for a great price so worth considering one for testing.

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