VMware VIEW 4.5 - ARCHITECTURE PLANNING... User manual

VMware View Architecture Planning

Guide

View Manager 4.5

View Composer 2.5

This document supports the version of each product listed and

supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced

by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this

document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-000350-00

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide

2 VMware, Inc.

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

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Contents

About This Book 5

1Introduction to VMware View 7

Advantages of Using VMware View 7

VMware View Features 9

How the VMware View Components Fit Together 9

Integrating and Customizing VMware View 13

2Planning a Rich User Experience 15

Feature Support Matrix 15

Choosing a Display Protocol 16

Using a View Desktop Without a Network Connection 18

Accessing USB Devices Connected to a Local Computer 19

Printing from a View Desktop 20

Streaming Multimedia to a View Desktop 20

Using Single Sign-On for Logging In to a View Desktop 20

Using Multiple Monitors with a View Desktop 21

3Managing Desktop Pools from a Central Location 23

Advantages of Desktop Pools 23

Reducing and Managing Storage Requirements 24

Application Provisioning 25

Using Active Directory GPOs to Manage Users and Desktops 27

4Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines 29

Virtual Machine Requirements 29

VMware View ESX Node 34

Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers 35

Desktop Virtual Machine Configuration 38

vCenter and View Composer Virtual Machine Configuration and Desktop Pool Maximums 40

View Connection Server Maximums and Virtual Machine Configuration 40

View Transfer Server Virtual Machine Configuration and Storage 41

vSphere Clusters 42

VMware View Building Blocks 43

VMware View Pod 46

5Planning for Security Features 49

Understanding Client Connections 49

Choosing a User Authentication Method 51

Restricting View Desktop Access 53

Using Group Policy Settings to Secure View Desktops 54

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Implementing Best Practices to Secure Client Systems 55

Assigning Administrator Roles 55

Preparing to Use a Security Server 55

Understanding VMware View Communications Protocols 60

6Overview of Steps to Setting Up a VMware View Environment 67

Index 69

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide

4 VMware, Inc.

About This Book

The VMware View Architecture Planning Guide provides an introduction to VMware View™, including a

description of its major features and deployment options and an overview of how VMware View components

are typically set up in a production environment.

This guide answers the following questions:

nDoes VMware View solve the problems you need it to solve?

nWould it be feasible and cost-effective to implement a VMware View solution in your enterprise?

To help you protect your VMware View installation, the guide also provides a discussion of security features.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for IT decision makers, architects, administrators, and others who need to

familiarize themselves with the components and capabilities of VMware View. With this information,

architects and planners can determine whether VMware View satisfies the requirements of their enterprise for

efficiently and securely delivering Windows desktops and applications to their end users. The example

architecture helps planners understand the hardware requirements and setup effort required for a large-scale

VMware View deployment.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMware® Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you. For definitions

of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to

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

Document Feedback

VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your

feedback to [email protected].

VMware, Inc. 5

Technical Support and Education Resources

The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and

other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone

Support

To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product

and contract information, and register your products, go to

http://www.vmware.com/support.

Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support

for the fastest response on priority 1 issues. Go to

http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.

Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs,

go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Professional

Services

VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study

examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference

tools. Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite

pilot programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting

Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your

virtual environment. To access information about education classes,

certification programs, and consulting services, go to

http://www.vmware.com/services.

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide

6 VMware, Inc.

Introduction to VMware View 1

With VMware View, IT departments can run virtual desktops in the datacenter and deliver desktops to

employees as a managed service. End users gain a familiar, personalized environment that they can access

from any number of devices anywhere throughout the enterprise or from home. Administrators gain

centralized control, efficiency, and security by having desktop data in the datacenter.

This chapter includes the following topics:

n“Advantages of Using VMware View,” on page 7

n“VMware View Features,” on page 9

n“How the VMware View Components Fit Together,” on page 9

n“Integrating and Customizing VMware View,” on page 13

Advantages of Using VMware View

When you manage enterprise desktops with VMware View, the benefits include increased reliability, security,

hardware independence, and convenience.

Reliability and Security

Virtual desktops can be centralized by integrating with VMware vSphere and virtualizing server, storage, and

networking resources. Placing desktop operating systems and applications on a server in the datacenter

provides the following advantages:

nAccess to data can easily be restricted. Sensitive data can be prevented from being copied onto a remote

employee's home computer.

nData backups can be scheduled without considering when end users' systems might be turned off.

nVirtual desktops that are hosted in a datacenter experience little or no downtime. Virtual machines can

reside on high-availability clusters of VMware servers.

Virtual desktops can also connect to back-end physical systems and Windows Terminal Services servers.

Convenience

The unified management console is built for scalability on Adobe Flex, so that even the largest View

deployments can be efficiently managed from a single View Manager interface. Wizards and dashboards

enhance the workflow and facilitate drilling down to see details or change settings. Figure 1-1 provides an

example of the browser-based user interface for View Administrator.

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Figure 1-1. Administrative Console for View Manager Showing the Dashboard View

Another feature that increases convenience is the VMware remote display protocol PCoIP. PCoIP (PC-over-

IP) display protocol delivers an end-user experience equal to the current experience of using a physical PC:

nOn LANs, the display is faster and smoother than traditional remote displays.

nOn WANs, the display protocol can compensate for an increase in latency or a reduction in bandwidth,

ensuring that end users can remain productive regardless of network conditions.

Manageability

Provisioning desktops for end users is a quick process. No one is required to install applications one by one

on each end user's physical PC. End users connect to a virtual desktop complete with applications. End users

can access their same virtual desktop from various devices at various locations.

Using VMware vSphere to host virtual desktops provides the following benefits:

nAdministration tasks and management chores are reduced. Administrators can patch and upgrade

applications and operating systems without touching a user's physical PC.

nStorage management is simplified. Using VMware vSphere, you can virtualize volumes and file systems

to avoid managing separate storage devices.

Hardware Independence

Virtual machines are hardware-independent. Because a View desktop runs on a server in the datacenter and

is only accessed from a client device, a View desktop can use operating systems that might not be compatible

with the hardware of the client device.

For example, although Windows Vista can run only on Vista-enabled PCs, you can install Windows Vista in

a virtual machine and use that virtual machine on a PC that is not Vista-enabled. Virtual desktops run on PCs,

Macs, thin clients, and PCs that have been repurposed as thin clients.

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide

8 VMware, Inc.

VMware View Features

Features included in VMware View support usability, security, centralized control, and scalability.

The following features provide a familiar experience for the end user:

nPrint from a virtual desktop to any local or networked printer that is defined on the client device, or use

the location-based printing feature to map to printers that are physically near the client system. The virtual

printer feature solves compatibility issues and does not require you to install additional print drivers in

a virtual machine.

nUse multiple monitors. With PCoIP multiple-monitor support, you can adjust the display resolution and

rotation separately for each monitor.

nAccess USB devices and other peripherals that are connected to the local device that displays your virtual

desktop.

VMware View offers the following security features, among others:

nUse RSA SecurID two-factor authentication or smart cards to log in.

nUse SSL tunneling to ensure that all connections are completely encrypted.

nUse VMware High Availability to host desktops and to ensure automatic failover.

The following features provide centralized administration and management:

nUse Microsoft Active Directory to manage access to virtual desktops and to manage policies.

nUse the Web-based administrative console to manage virtual desktops from any location.

nUse a template, or master image, to quickly create and provision pools of desktops.

nSend updates and patches to virtual desktops without affecting user settings, data, or preferences.

Scalability features depend on the VMware virtualization platform to manage both desktops and servers:

nIntegrate with VMware vSphere to achieve cost-effective densities, high levels of availability, and

advanced resource allocation control for your virtual desktops.

nConfigure View Connection Server to broker connections between end users and the virtual desktops that

they are authorized to access.

nUse View Composer to quickly create desktop images that share virtual disks with a master image. Using

linked clones in this way conserves disk space and simplifies the management of patches and updates to

the operating system.

How the VMware View Components Fit Together

End users start View Client to log in to View Connection Server. This server, which integrates with Windows

Active Directory, provides access to a virtual desktop hosted on a VMware ESX server, a blade or physical PC,

or a Windows Terminal Services server.

Figure 1-2 shows the relationship between the major components of a VMware View deployment.

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware View

VMware, Inc. 9

Figure 1-2. High-Level Example of a VMware View Environment

ESX hosts running

Virtual Desktop virtual machines

View

Connection

Server

View

Administrator

(browser)

VMware vCenter Server

with View Composer

network

Windows

View Client

Mac

View Client

Windows View Client

with Local Mode Thin Client

virtual desktops

ESX host

VM VM VM

virtual machine

desktop OS

app app app

View Agent

Microsoft

Active Directory

Terminal Servers

blade PCs

physical PCs

non-vCenter VMs

View Agent

View

Transfer Server ThinApp

Client Devices

A major advantage of using VMware View is that desktops follow the end user regardless of device or location.

Users can access their personalized virtual desktop from a company laptop, their home PC, a thin client device,

or a Mac.

From Mac and Windows laptops and PCs, end users open View Client to display their View desktop. Thin

client devices use View thin client software and can be configured so that the only application that users can

launch directly on the device is View Thin Client. Repurposing a legacy PC into a thin client desktop can extend

the life of the hardware by three to five years. For example, by using VMware View on a thin desktop, you can

use a newer operating system such as Windows Vista on older desktop hardware.

View Connection Server

This software service acts as a broker for client connections. View Connection Server authenticates users

through Windows Active Directory and directs the request to the appropriate virtual machine, physical or

blade PC, or Windows Terminal Services server.

View Connection Server provides the following management capabilities:

nAuthenticating users

nEntitling users to specific desktops and pools

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide

10 VMware, Inc.

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