INUVIKA OPEN VIRTUAL DESKTOP FOUNDATION SERVER

(1)

INUVIKA OPEN VIRTUAL DESKTOP

FOUNDATION SERVER

OVERVIEW OF OPEN VIRTUAL DESKTOP

Mathieu SCHIRES

(2)

1. INTRODUCTION

It’s a well established fact that the one-size-fits-all approach to applications and desktops is costly and inflexible. Consumerization is also now an established trend and a transformational force within the enterprise. Having the freedom to work on the device of choice though, is just one of the demands that IT has to satisfy along with flexible working directives, mobility, security, compliance and many others. A successful business is one that can readily embrace and adapt to these new demands and new ways of working. The challenge for IT is to deliver solutions that satisfy these demands within their existing budget.

WHAT IS OPEN VIRTUAL DESKTOP?

(4)

2. TERMINOLOGY AND CONCEPTS

OVD Session Manager (OSM)

OSM is the component responsible for handling OVD user sessions and publication policies. OVD Application Server (OAS)

OAS is the component responsible for hosting the applications that are made available via a publication to users.

OVD Web Access (OWA)

OWA is the component responsible for serving browser based user access to desktops and applications. It provides support for both HTML5 and Java Applet based access.

OVD Web Application Connect (OWAC)

OWAC is used to integrate SaaS and Web Applications into an OVD user session. This compo-nent is provided as a technology preview.

OVD File Server (OFS)

OFS is the component that provides user proﬁle and server-side data storage capability. Inuvika Enterprise Secure Gateway (ESG)

ESG is an SSL Gateway tailored for usage within an OVD farm that offers a main entry point to securely access an OVD farm from outside the ﬁrewall.

Inuvika Enterprise Desktop Client (EDC)

EDC’s are provided for Windows, Linux or Mac platforms. The client is a standalone application which can be used instead of browser based access to provide a tighter integration with the platform on which it is installed through seamless applications and local desktop integration. Inuvika Enterprise Mobile Client (EMC)

EMC is available on iOS and Android and offers a way for users to access OVD using a mobile device.

OVD Demo Appliance (ODM)

The ODM is a virtual machine which embeds all the basic components for evaluating and test-ing OVD. The ODM is provided ready to use via a browser without any additional conﬁguration steps. The pre-installed components are OSM, OAS for Linux, OWA and OFS.

ODM is not suitable for use in a production environment. OVD Farm

An OVD farm refers to the group of servers which compose the OVD solution. A typical OVD farm is based on one OSM server, one or more OAS servers and an OFS server

OVD Administration Console (OAC)

The Administration Console provides a web based interface for administrators to mange an OVD farm. This component is typically installed with the OSM and provides an API in order to automate admin tasks.

Seamless applications

Seamless applications are presented to the user as if they were installed locally on the user’s desktop.

Application Publishing

(5)

Application Publishing consists of assigning a group of applications deﬁned by an application group to a group of users deﬁned by a user group.

Virtual Desktop

OVD provides virtual desktops which is a simple solution to migrate your users to use remote virtual desktops. OVD supports both Windows and Linux desktops with Windows and Linux applications presented seamlessly. OVD uses the Windows desktop theme and offers a cus-tomized desktop for Linux.

Load Management Policy

OVD provides a mechanism to manage the load on multiple application servers within an OVD farm based on the metrics conﬁgured in the administration console.

OVD Universal Print Driver

Managing printers in a virtualized environment can be complicated. OVD simpliﬁes printer management by integrating a Universal Printer Driver that will print to a PDF ﬁle.

x-RDP

(6)

3. OVD FEATURES AND VERSIONS

3.1 VERSIONS AVAILABLE

3.1.1 OVD FOUNDATION SERVER

OVD Foundation Server is the foundation of the OVD platform and provides core hosted desktop and application delivery functionality. Desktops and applications from one or more OVD Windows and / or Linux Application Servers are brokered through the OVD Session Manager. OVD Foundation Server is freely available under GPL V2 to download, deploy and use by any organization.

3.1.2 INUVIKA OVD ENTERPRISE

Inuvika OVD Entreprise provides extended capabilities and ﬂexible delivery options to sup-port solutions such as mobility, security and BYO programs. Features include rich native and mobile clients, the Inuvika Enterprise Secure Gateway for enhanced security, integra-tion with Microsoft SharePoint and Alfresco through a supported API and integraintegra-tion with federated identity solutions using SAML. Inuvika OVD Entreprise is available by purchase of an annual Inuvika Subscription Agreement.

3.2 GLOBAL FEATURES

3.2.1 PLATFORM FEATURES

Open Virtual Desktop (OVD) is a virtual desktop and application delivery platform that sup-ports applications served from Windows Remote Desktop Services and the main Linux dis-tributions.

• _{Simplicity - feature rich and ﬂexible platform with an easy-to-use seamless user} experi-ence.

• _{Scalability - designed for performance and scalability incorporating advanced server load} balancing and directory management.

• Hi-Def - xRDP Microsoft RDP compatible display protocol delivers a user experience that parallels that of a local PC.

• _{Secure - remote access from WAN / Internet to an OVD farm can be secured by using the} Inuvika Enteprise Secure Gateway which acts as an SSL VPN.

OVD provides a ﬁle storage server, OVD File Server (OFS), to store personal datas and user conﬁguration preferences for Windows and Linux both on a central and secured point. • _{CIFS support, Samba Server embedded}

• _{WebDAV supported for shared folders}

• _{OFS can be integrated with an external ﬁle server}

3.2.2 DELIVERY FEATURES

OVD is able to publish any applications from Windows and Linux servers.

OVD provides a Desktop Mode and a Portal Mode through the OWA and the EDC.

• Desktop Mode - Applications are dynamically pushed down to a Linux or Windows virtual desktop.

(7)

• _{Portal Mode - a list of applications are published through a web portal. This provides a} seamless presentation just as if they were installed and running locally.

HTML5 and Java are the technologies used on the OWA. The EDC which is based on Java, provides a local desktop integration which means that applications can be published on the user’s local desktop.

3.2.3 MANAGEMENT FEATURES

The OVD management is handled by the OVD Administration Console (OAC). The OAC presents:

• _{The server OVD farm details:}

• _{The list of all the registered servers}

• _{Status of the OVD farm (maintenance mode or production mode)}

• _{An overview for each servers (monitoring, conﬁguration, applications published,} in-stalled OVD roles)

• Load Balancing mechanism for sessions and users proﬁles repartition when more than one related servers are available.

• _Users

• _{Users management} • _{User groups management} • _{Set Sessions settings by user} • _Applications

• _{List of available applications} • _{Applications groups management} • _{Static applications management} • Web applications management

• Publication - Wizard for creating a link between User groups and Applications groups • _{Domain Integration settings}

• _{Microsoft Active Directory} • _{LDAP integration}

• _{Novell eDirectory}

• _{Local authentication (Internal Database)} • _{Authentication settings}

• _{Password authentication - Login and password are used for the authentication (by} default)

• _{Remote User authentication - Single Sign-On authentication such as CAS (Inuvika} OVD Enterprise)

• Token authentication - Authentication by token

• _{SAML2 authentication - Uses SAML2 provider for authentication (Inuvika OVD} En-terprise)

(8)

• _{Session mode by default} • _{Session duration}

• _{Connection restriction by time-range} • _{Redirection for local disks and local printers}

• _{Smart Card readers redirection for usage within an OVD session (Inuvika OVD} En-terprise)

• _{Asian keyboard support - local IME usage (Input Method Editor) (Inuvika OVD} En-terprise)

• Session recovery and reconnection

INUVIKA OPEN VIRTUAL DESKTOP FOUNDATION SERVER