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Table Of Contents
- VMware View Architecture Planning
- Contents
- VMware View Architecture Planning
- Introduction to VMware View
- Planning a Rich User Experience
- Feature Support Matrix
- Choosing a Display Protocol
- Using View Persona Management to Retain User Data and Settings
- Benefits of Using View Desktops in Local Mode
- Accessing USB Devices Connected to a Local Computer
- Printing from a View Desktop
- Streaming Multimedia to a View Desktop
- Using Single Sign-On for Logging In to a View Desktop
- Using Multiple Monitors with a View Desktop
- Managing Desktop Pools from a Central Location
- Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines
- Virtual Machine Requirements
- VMware View ESX/ESXi Node
- Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers
- Desktop Virtual Machine Configuration
- vCenter and View Composer Virtual Machine Configuration and Desktop Pool Maximums
- View Connection Server Maximums and Virtual Machine Configuration
- View Transfer Server Virtual Machine Configuration and Storage
- vSphere Clusters
- VMware View Building Blocks
- VMware View Pod
- Planning for Security Features
- Understanding Client Connections
- Choosing a User Authentication Method
- Restricting View Desktop Access
- Using Group Policy Settings to Secure View Desktops
- Implementing Best Practices to Secure Client Systems
- Assigning Administrator Roles
- Preparing to Use a Security Server
- Understanding VMware View Communications Protocols
- Overview of Steps to Setting Up a VMware View Environment
- Index
You can also reduce operating system disk space by using View Composer persistent disks or a shared file
server as the primary repository for the user profile and user documents. Because View Composer lets you
separate user data from the operating system, you might find that only the persistent disk needs to be backed
up or replicated, which further reduces storage requirements. For more information, see “Reducing Storage
Requirements with View Composer,” on page 26.
NOTE Decisions regarding dedicated storage components can best be made during a pilot phase. The main
consideration is I/Os per second (IOPS). You might experiment with a tiered-storage strategy to maximize
performance and cost savings.
For more information, see the best-practices guide called Storage Considerations for VMware View.
Storage Bandwidth Considerations
Although many elements are important to designing a storage system that supports a VMware View
environment, from a server configuration perspective, planning for proper storage bandwidth is essential. You
must also consider the effects of port consolidation hardware.
VMware View environments can occasionally experience I/O storm loads, during which all virtual machines
undertake an activity at the same time. I/O storms can be triggered by guest-based agents such as antivirus
software or software-update agents. I/O storms can also be triggered by human behavior, such as when all
employees log in at nearly the same time in the morning.
You can minimize these storm workloads through operational best practices, such as staggering updates to
different virtual machines. You can also test various log-off policies during a pilot phase to determine whether
suspending or powering off virtual machines when users log off causes an I/O storm. By storing
View Composer replicas on separate, high-performance datastores, you can speed up intensive, concurrent
read operations to contend with I/O storm loads.
In addition to determining best practices, VMware recommends that you provide bandwidth of 1Gbps per 100
virtual machines, even though average bandwidth might be 10 times less than that. Such conservative planning
guarantees sufficient storage connectivity for peak loads.
Network Bandwidth Considerations
For display traffic, many elements can affect network bandwidth, such as protocol used, monitor resolution
and configuration, and the amount of multimedia content in the workload. Concurrent launches of streamed
applications can also cause usage spikes.
Because the effects of these issues can vary widely, many companies monitor bandwidth consumption as part
of a pilot project. As a starting point for a pilot, plan for 150 to 200Kbps of capacity for a typical knowledge
worker.
With the PCoIP display protocol, if you have an enterprise LAN with 100Mb or a 1Gb switched network, your
end users can expect excellent performance under the following conditions:
n
Two monitors (1920x1080)
n
Heavy use of Microsoft Office applications
n
Heavy use of Flash-embedded Web browsing
n
Frequent use of multimedia with limited use of full screen mode
n
Frequent use of USB-based peripherals
n
Network-based printing
This information was excerpted from the information guide called PCoIP Display Protocol: Information and
Scenario-Based Network Sizing Guide.
Chapter 4 Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines
VMware, Inc. 47