VMware View - 4 - Eric Sloof

Monday, January 27. 2014

VMware ThinApp + Liquidware Labs FlexApp = App Nirvana for Horizon View

ThinApp is a leader in application virtualization for the power it brings to the desktop, especially Horizon View. Once an app has been ThinApp’ed you never have to worry about it being part of the base image. It literally takes a load off the administrator to know that a particular app is now in a bubble and no longer has to be regression tested and threaten any conflicts in the golden image.

Yes, ThinApp is great but unfortunately not every application can be virtualized with ThinApp. Some apps have dependencies with other apps that make them incompatible with ThinApp, while others have a deeper level of interaction that needs to take place with the OS or system drivers to perform properly. Still other challenges come because every application virtualized with ThinApp must undergo an administrative packaging process. The process is really easy but when dozens or even hundreds of users call the help desk with “one off” application requests for apps they “need” to be productive.

It’s daunting to think you should task an administrator with packaging each and every app – even if just one user needs it. These challenges have left administrators with few options except to modify the base image or a child image to deliver “Difficult App” to users. These challenges have also knocked several users with “one off” application requests out of the VDI pool. Enter Liquidware Labs and FlexApp technology. FlexApp is included with their ProfileUnity User Management solution. FlexApp is application virtualization for both User and Department level installed apps.

It supports VMware Horizon View in non-persistent implementations but will also soon support Persistent desktops as well. ProfileUnity delivers full User Management which is very beneficial in a product that centralizes user persona delivery with application delivery because it simplifies things and makes the end-user experience seamless.

Continue reading "VMware ThinApp + Liquidware Labs FlexApp = App..." »

Thursday, May 16. 2013

Windows 7 and Windows 8 Optimization Guide for Horizon View Virtual Desktops

This guide provides guidelines for configuring a standard Windows image for use in a VMware Horizon View infrastructure. It gives administrators the information necessary to create a standard Windows image, whether by leveraging the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) or by utilizing a script-based approach to optimize traditionally installed Windows virtual machines.

The recommended configuration settings optimize the operating system to enhance overall scalability and performance in a Horizon View implementation. The procedures described in this guide apply to the Windows 7 andWindows 8 operating systems. Scripts and task sequences to optimize both operating systems are included.

Horizon View 5.2 supports Microsoft Windows 8 and the Metro style user interface. Windows 8 offers more options for security and personalization as well as new built-in desktop virtualization capabilities. The new Group Policy templates for Windows 8 enable more control and consistency for desktop users and greatly enhance the Horizon View virtual desktop experience. Horizon View also supports basic gestures in a View Client running on Intel-based Surface tablets.

In Windows 8 there is now a services state change where only the necessary services are running at system startup, with most services marked as Manual (Triggered Start). In this scenario, services are started only when the user accesses a component that requires the triggered service to be started. This improves Windows performance

Windows 7 and Windows 8 Optimization Guide for Horizon View Virtual Desktops

Friday, May 3. 2013

New Technical White Paper - Storage Considerations for VMware View

VMware View is an enterprise-class virtual desktop manager that securely connects authorized users to centralized virtual desktops. It allows you to consolidate virtual desktops on datacenter servers and manage operating systems, applications and data independently for greater business agility while providing a flexible high-performance desktop experience for end users, over any network.

Storage is the foundation of any VMware View implementation. This document is intended for architects and systems administrators who are considering an implementation of View. It outlines the steps you should take to characterize your environment, from determining the type of users in your environment to choosing storage protocols and storage technology.

The paper covers the following topics:

• Windows Disk I/O Workloads

• Base Image Considerations

• Storage Protocol Choices

• Storage Technology Options

• Storage Array Decisions
• Increasing Storage Performance

Technical White Paper - Storage Considerations for VMware View

Friday, April 26. 2013

Monitoring VMware View Users with Stratusphere UX Adapter for VMware vCenter Operations Manager

Stratusphere UX provides properly related KPIs for over 40 critical desktop metrics for both physical and virtual machines. These metrics can be fed by the Stratusphere UX Adapter into vCenter Operations Manager’s superior analytics engine to provide fast root-cause analysis by correlating user desktop events with other events across the virtualization layers and other supporting systems, including vSphere host and storage layers. Desktop performance can be monitored through customer dashboard in the vCenter Operations console and desktop administrators receive rapid at-a-glance alerts through custom dashboards.

Stratusphere UX provides over 40 metrics to vCenter Operations Manager from physical or virtual windows desktops, along with several unique KPI’s not available in other competing solutions including:

Login Delay
Application Load Time
Non-Responding Applications
GPU Utilization
CPU Queue Length
Disk Queue Length
Disk Read vs. Write IOPS
Network Latency
Network Failed Connections

New vCops Feeds Introduced in Stratusphere UX 5.4

Saturday, March 23. 2013

Video - Horizon View HTML Access vs PCoIP

This video is recorded by Gunnar Berger, it shows the difference between Horizon View HTML Access and PCoIP. The new HTML Access is part off the recently released feature-pack. It allows users to connect to virtual desktops from their Web browsers without having to install Horizon View Client software on their client systems. The HTML Access Agent, which runs on Horizon View desktops, is the component that enables users to use HTML Access to connect to their desktops. You must install the Remote Experience Agent with the HTML Access Agent on the desktops that you want to be accessed via HTML Access.

Friday, March 15. 2013

VMware Horizon View 5.2 Feature Pack 1 Released

Horizon View 5.2 Feature Pack 1 provides the following features and components:

Remote Experience Agent installer - The Remote Experience Agent installs Feature Pack components on Horizon View desktops, enhancing the remote desktop experience provided by View Agent 5.2. In Feature Pack 1, the installation program installs Unity Touch and the HTML Access Agent on Horizon View desktops. Both components are installed by default when you run the installer.

HTML Access Agent - HTML Access allows users to connect to virtual desktops from their Web browsers without having to install Horizon View Client software on their client systems. The HTML Access Agent, which runs on Horizon View desktops, is the component that enables users to use HTML Access to connect to their desktops. You must install the Remote Experience Agent with the HTML Access Agent on the desktops that you want to be accessed via HTML Access.

Unity Touch - Unity Touch enhances the way that mobile client users access a desktop. Instead of trying to manipulate a full desktop image on a small device screen, users can browse between apps and documents in a native mobile user interface without seeing the desktop. The VMware Horizon View Client documents for mobile devices provide more information about end user features provided by Unity Touch.

HTML Access installer - This installer configures View Connection Server instances to allow users to select HTML Access to connect to desktops. After you run the HTML Access installer, the View Portal displays an HTML Access icon in addition to the View Client icon.

You must run this installer if you want to use HTML Access to connect to desktops in a Horizon View deployment. Running this installer is also required if your users go through Horizon Workspace and select HTML Access to connect to desktops.

VMware Horizon View 5.2 Feature Pack 1 Release Notes

VMware Horizon View Clients for Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Linux, iOS, and Android allow you to connect to your VMware Horizon View virtual desktop from your device of choice giving you on-the-go access from any location.

Download VMware Horizon View Clients 2.0

Tuesday, March 12. 2013

VMware Horizon View 5.2 Reviewer’s Guide

The VMware Horizon Suite 1.0 is designed for today’s mobile workforce. Users want to access business assets from anywhere, anytime, and from any device. IT needs to keep assets secure. With the Horizon Suite, IT has control, and users have choice.

The Horizon Suite includes VMware Horizon Workspace, VMware Horizon View, and VMware Horizon Mirage. Horizon Workspace provides secure, single sign-on to applications, data, and virtual desktops from any mobile device or computer.

Horizon View provides users with remote access to secure virtual desktops stored in the datacenter. End users can access their Horizon View desktops through Horizon Workspace. Horizon Mirage centrally manages desktop images of physical computers at the same time as it provides end users with local execution power and user personalization of the desktop. Users on Mirage-managed desktops can access their business assets through Horizon Workspace.

The purpose of this document is to support a selfguided, hands-on review of VMware Horizon View 5.2. You’ll learn how easy it is to configure and use a VMware Horizon View 5.2 environment so you can evaluate both new and core capabilities.

This document assumes you have basic knowledge of VMware vSphere ESXi and VMware vCenter and are comfortable configuring networking and storage in a virtual environment.

VMware Horizon View 5.2 Reviewer’s Guide

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