Enterprise Desktops Well Served - a technical perspective on virtual desktops

Ivo Murris
Molten Technologies
February 3, 2011
Enterprise Desktops Well Served Technical Review

Cloud, virtual or ...as a Service?
Options for desktops
New on the block: Desktops as a Service (DaaS)
What is an Enterprise desktop well served?
Deploying Desktops as a Service (and other hosted virtual desktop solutions)
Technical challenges
Recommendations
The future for Enterprise desktops
Agenda
3

From Cloud to ...as a Service
4

5

6
IT services are available all around us, with common examples across the industry:
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Storage
Backup
Data
‘Everything’ as a Service

7
IT services are available all around us, with common examples across the industry:
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Storage
Backup
Data
‘Everything’ as a Service

Desktops as a Service
8
‘New’ is Desktops as a Service (DaaS)
Outsourced virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
Looks like VDI but isn’t
Cloud Genes:
Universal access (Internet, WAN, LAN)
‘Pay as you go’
Scale (Elasticity)
Resilient (reliability in many Nines)
Multi-tenant architecture
Desktops are common flavors of Windows or Linux, not yet truly web based

What is an Enterprise Desktop Well Served?

A great desktop for a user:
Has a consistent and intuitive UI which appears to run very, very fast
Has all the applications you need (or want), with all the settings to make them run as expected
Feels like their own
A great desktop for an administrator:
Is easily managed on a user, OS and application level
Enabled by clicking a button
Is secure
A Desktop Well Served
10

An Enterprise Well Served
11
Every company has its ‘own’ way of doing their desktops and applications.
Every company has its ‘own’ reasons for outsourcing and centralising their desktops.
Security, Scalability, OpEx vs CapEx, Windows 7 migration and application testing, Helpdesk outsourcing, ...
Moving desktops out to the Cloud is a consultative process.

An Enterprise Well Served
12
Virtual desktops can be hosted in-house, at a service provider, or using a hybrid model.
Moving from physical edge computing to hosted virtual is often more complicated than expected.
Don’t expect to move the desktops ‘to the cloud’ by doing a straightforward physical-to-virtual (P2V) conversion. It is not the same as server virtualisation.

Desktops as a ServiceChallenges and Recommendations

DaaS Challenges
14
To deliver Desktops as a Service well, it must be planned the right way. The major challenges can be grouped into six key areas:
Networking – ensure that each customer can use their desktops securely in ‘their’ subnet
Remoting(part of networking) – ensure that each customer gets the required desktop functionality (e.g. VoIP device support, printing)
Storage – ensure that each desktop gets fast access to their harddisk (on central or local server storage)
Servers – ensure that you get the desktop numbers per rack right while maintaining flexibility
Offline Access – Management of users requiring offline access (not necessarily for required for mobile users)
Users – The consumers of this new way of delivering desktops are often are overlooked. Ensure existing use cases are well understood before starting.

DaaS Challenges - Networking
15
Networking
Challenges:
The OS usually has low latency access to the harddisk over the PCI bus. With desktop hosting, multiple desktops are accessing the same storage cluster, often over the network.
Every user is accessing their desktop over the network. The user interface (UI) is very sensitive to latency.
Some recommendations:
Separate customer facing networks from storage network and make them redundant
Use low latency storage switching gear
Minimise UI latency by choosing the right remoting protocol and network caching equipment appropriate.
Separate each customer inside their own VLAN and use VRF tags to correctly route traffic.

DaaS Challenges - Storage
16
Storage
Challenges:
Each desktop consumes harddisk space and requires I/O to the storage cluster. Common practices require updating of the OS, anti-virus signature files and applications at fixed times, which cause central storage problems.
Don’t use storage geared for server workloads but get dedicated storage for the desktop hosts. High IOPS (75%/25% write/read) and deduplication are required.
Traditional storage vendors don’t deliver optimal IOPS/$ performance. Look into new vendors delivering SSD-only or hybrid solutions and Cloud characteristics. Ensure performance 24/7, also in degraded state. Assume 15-25 IOPS/desktop.
Align virtual desktop storage with the hypervisor: http://tiny.cc/bo151 (EMC), http://tiny.cc/79y87 (VMware), http://tiny.cc/73i3q (Virtuall - recommended)
Optimise the desktop image for virtual delivery by disabling unwanted services and functionality: http://tiny.cc/6yz2l (Virtuall Blog), http://tiny.cc/nq570 (Microsoft TN - recommended), http://tiny.cc/bo151 (EMC). Measure IOPS/desktop during pilots.
Think virtual (outside the box): Use dynamic desktop pools with frequently updated golden images, combined with application and user state virtualisation. Use anti-virus appliances on the desktop hosts

DaaS Challenges - Servers
17
Servers
Challenges:
Each virtual desktop consumes CPU cycles. Desktop density per server is dependent on resident services and applications on each desktop, similar to thinking about storage. One server = 100 desktops, so reliability is key.
Pilot to gauge virtual desktop density per physical server core. Normal figures are 6 to 10 hosted desktops per physical core, translating to ~96 desktops per dual socket, 12 core server
Depending on power and cooling restrictions, density > 8000 desktops per 46U rack is possible (e.g. SGI Rackable, HP Blades)
From a reliability and networking density perspective, blade technology makes sense
Smarter to build desktop infrastructure Lego style:
Each rack has its own storage appliances, networking gear, and server nodes
Rackbased storage speed is ample to deliver bulk of storage I/O to local desktops
Larger customers will require storage replication across these Lego blocks (elements)
Use Green IT management solutions to turn off desktop nodes or even complete elements when not in use

DaaS Challenges – Offline
18
Offline Desktop Access
Challenges:
(Inter)networking has become universal and hosted desktop access should be possible everywhere, also for mobile users. However, in certain cases access might be impossible, or very expensive.
Define which corporate applications work offline (no backend requirements)
Define which user groups need those applications when offline
Ensure there’s control of the device (no BYO, real-time interface management, remote destroy)
Choose a solution that:
Supports your desktop OS and strategy
Is scalable to the required numbers
Requires low bandwidth
Makes desktop restore quick @ WAN speeds
Offline ≠Mobile

DaaS – my thoughts
19
Moving to the cloud can be daunting.
Current datacenter practices at the SP and Enterprise are not geared to DaaS.
Storage is important, invest intelligently.
Explicitly think through a company’s own desktop practice. Analyse which desktops, user groups, applications can move out to hosted cloud.
Don't do direct P2V - disasters can happen that way.
Multi-tenancy is the way forward for large scale DaaS for both the service provider and large clients.

DaaS – Moving forward
20
When everything comes together ...
With the development of web technologies like Rich Internet Applications (RIA), we can be certain that DaaS will move away from delivering a true desktop OS.
Further development is however needed:
Applications and cloud services need to integrate and communicate seamlessly and securely. Technologies are there and expected to expand quickly from 2014 (Gartner http://tiny.cc/yhlzb)
Multimedia and rich display technologies need to be established and agreed upon (HTML 5, Ajax, Silverlight, Flash, ..)
Web browsers must become reliable platforms to deliver the needed functionality
The state and place of company data must be known and visible
Not only self-servicing but also central management is required

DaaS – Moving forward
21
When everything comes together ...
With the development of web technologies like Rich Internet Applications (RIA), we can be certain that DaaS will move away from delivering a true desktop OS.
Further development is however needed:
Applications and cloud services need to integrate and communicate seamlessly and securely. Technologies are there and expected to expand quickly from 2014 (Gartner http://tiny.cc/yhlzb)
Multimedia and rich display technologies need to be established and agreed upon (HTML 5, Ajax, Silverlight, Flash, ..)
Web browsers must become reliable platforms to deliver the needed functionality
The state and place of company data must be known and visible
Not only self-servicing but also central management is required

Q & A
22
Questions?

Ivo Murris
www.moltentechnologies.com
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ivomurris
Enterprise Desktops Well Served Technical Review

Enterprise Desktops Well Served - a technical perspective on virtual desktops

by Molten Technologies on Feb 02, 2011

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Enterprise Desktops Well Served - a technical perspective on virtual desktops — Presentation Transcript