6.0

Table Of Contents
Using Existing Processes or VMware Mirage for Application Provisioning
With View, you can continue to use the application provisioning techniques that your company currently
uses, and you can use Mirage. Two additional considerations include managing server CPU usage and
storage I/O and determining whether users are permitted to install applications.
If you push applications out to large numbers of remote desktops at exactly the same time, you might see
significant spikes in CPU usage and storage I/O. These peak workloads can have noticeable effects on
desktop performance. As a best practice, schedule application updates to occur during off-peak hours and
stagger updates to desktops if possible. You must also verify that your storage solution is designed to
support such workloads.
If your company allows users to install applications, you can continue your current policies, but you cannot
take advantage of View Composer features such as refreshing and recomposing the desktop. With View
Composer, if an application is not virtualized or otherwise included in the user's profile or data settings, that
application is discarded whenever a View Composer refresh, recompose, or rebalance operation occurs. In
many cases, this ability to tightly control which applications are installed is a benefit. View Composer
desktops are easy to support because they are kept close to a known good configuration.
If users have firm requirements for installing their own applications and having those applications persist
for the lifetime of the remote desktop, instead of using View Composer for application provisioning,
VMware recommends that you create full-clone dedicated desktops, allow users to install applications, and
then use Mirage to manage and update the desktops without overwriting user-installed applications.
IMPORTANT Also use Mirage to manage locally installed offline desktops and their applications. For more
information, see the Mirage Documentation page.
Using Active Directory GPOs to Manage Users and Desktops
View includes many Group Policy administrative (ADM) templates for centralizing the management and
configuration of View components and remote desktops.
After you import these templates into Active Directory, you can use them to set policies that apply to the
following groups and components:
n
All systems regardless of which user logs in
n
All users regardless of the system they log in to
n
View Connection Server configuration
n
Horizon Client configuration
n
View Agent configuration
After a GPO is applied, properties are stored in the local Windows registry of the specified component.
You can use GPOs to set all the policies that are available from the View Administrator user interface (UI).
You can also use GPOs to set policies that are not available from the UI. For a complete list and description
of the settings available through ADM templates, see Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View.
Chapter 3 Managing Desktop and Application Pools from a Central Location
VMware, Inc. 39