Components
Desktop Virtualization Components
The desktop virtualization solution comprises various components.
VDI Platform
The VDI platform hosts both infrastructure VMs and desktop VMs. Physical hosts can be clustered to take advantage of high availability and other features. The important part of the platform is the hypervisor. You must consider the following when you choose a hypervisor:
n Management
n High availability features
n Operating system support
n VM requirements
Services Infrastructure
A VDI solution requires certain services in order to operate. Each VDI requires a services infrastructure. Among these services are the following:
n Application servers (farms)
n Management servers
n Communication grooming
n Dynamic provisioning server
n Application profiler
n DNS
n RDP licensing server
n DHCP
Data and Profile Management
Clients can access a different desktop VM each time that they connect. To maintain personality and data, the profiles are used. Typically, profiles are stored on a network location, and storage of data can be directed to it and the profiles stored on the network are applied as needed.
Access Protocols
The access protocols are used to access the virtualized desktops. They should support various clients, including fat and thin clients that are directly involved in the end-user experience. The access protocols impact user experience—the performance of the desktop—and are thus critical for providing feature-rich content to the virtual desktop.
There are different protocol options that are vendor-specific:
n Citrix: Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)
n VMware: PC over IP (PCoIP)
n Microsoft: Route Discovery Protocol (RDP)
Virtual desktop access can also be offered via web portals for easy access from anywhere.
Connection Broker
Connection broker is the component of VDI deployment that coordinates the connection to a virtual desktop. It directs users to new VM desktops or redirects clients to previous desktops and is responsible for connection distribution and management.
Desktop Components
Each desktop comprises these distinct components:
n Operating system
n One or more applications
n Data (user and other type)
© 2012 Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco Data Center Solution Architecture and Components 1-83
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. DCUCD v5.0—#-32
Authentication Connect to connection broker 1 Identify target VM 2 Start target VM 4
Query for user policy 3 5 Return VM to endpoint Connect VM to endpoint 6 7 Successful connection Display Protocol Connection Broker Virtual Infrastructure Management Virtual Infrastructure Virtual Desktops Active Directory Thin Client Smartphone/Tablet Thick Client OS App OS App OS App OS App OS App OS App OS App OS App OS App
In a typical desktop virtualization environment, clients access virtual desktops through a connection broker server and are authenticated by an Active Directory server. Virtual desktops are hosted on a virtual infrastructure (for example, VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer) with network and storage connectivity.
A desktop virtualization solution can use static or dynamic architecture:
n Static architecture: Used where the user is mapped to the same VM upon each connection
n Dynamic architecture: Creates the VM each time that a user connects
VDI Advantages
The shared resources model inherent in desktop virtualization offers advantages over the traditional model, in which every computer operates as a completely self-contained unit with its own operating system, peripherals, and application programs. Overall hardware expenses may diminish as users can share resources allocated to them on an as-needed basis. Virtualization potentially improves the data integrity of user information because all data can be maintained and backed-up in the data center. Other potential advantages include the following:
n Simpler provisioning of new desktops
n Reduced downtime in the event of server or client hardware failures
n Lower cost of deploying new applications
n Desktop image-management capabilities
n Longer refresh cycle for client desktop infrastructure
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. DCUCD v5.0—#-33
• Infrastructure services (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP) • vSphere virtual platform
- ESXi hypervisor
- vCenter Server management • View for desktop virtualization
- Desktop management and provisioning
- View Connection Server
- View Client
- View Administrator
- View Composer
- View Security Server
Thin Client Desktop
Local Mode
User Experience PCoIP, Print, Multimonitor Display, Multimedia, USB Redirection, Local Mode
View Composer Centralized Virtual Desktops Linked Clones Parent Image Repository Virtualized Applications Connectivity Connection Server(s) Security Server(s) Vmware vSphere OS App OS App OS App vSphere Management vCenter Server, View Manager,
View Composer, ThinApp Infrastructure Active Directory, DNS, DHCP OS THINAPP vSphere Platform Desktop Cluster(s) Infrastructure Cluster
VMware View
VMware View is a commercial desktop virtualization product developed by VMware. It enables you to deliver desktops from the data center as a secure, managed service. Built on VMware vSphere, it is the only platform designed specifically for desktop virtualization. VMware View supports the RDP and PCoIP protocols, which accelerate the VMware View performance for remote users (such as those communicating over a slow WAN connection). Apart from the VMware View components, the important components to the solution are vSphere virtual infrastructure and infrastructure services: Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP. The ESXi hypervisor is the basis for the server virtualization—in this solution, it hosts the virtual desktops and virtual machines to host the server components of VMware View,
including Connection Server instances, Active Directory servers, and vCenter Server instances. A vCenter Server acts as a central administrator for VMware ESX servers that are connected on a network. It provides the central point for configuring, provisioning, and managing virtual machines in the data center.
Management
VMware View Manager is the core to the VMware View solution, providing centralized management of the desktop environment and brokering of connections to desktops in the data center.
VMware View Composer delivers storage optimizations to reduce storage requirements and simplify desktop management.
VMware ThinApp addresses the requirement for application virtualization in both virtual and physical desktop environments.
User Experience
© 2012 Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco Data Center Solution Architecture and Components 1-85
VMware View has a number of technologies addressing user experience.
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. DCUCD v5.0—#-34
• View Agent
- Installed on virtual desktop
- Communicates with Connection Server using message bus
• Composer
- Directs user requests to virtual desktop
- Authenticates and manages virtual desktop • Connection Server
- Desktop broker • Security Server
- For SSL tunneling between View Client and the View Security Servers
• View Portal
- Web page to facilitate users accessing their virtual desktops
• View Administration