VMware Horizon with View Reference Implementation Including Architecture for Global Access to Hardware and Acceleration of 3D Graphics Workloads TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER
Table of Contents Introduction... 3 About VMware Reference Implementation Case Studies.... 4 Executive Summary.... 4 Implementation Overview....................................................4 Project Overview...5 Lessons Learned...6 Architecture Overview.......................................................6 Conclusion...6 About VMware Horizon.... 6 VMware Horizon with View Solution Components...7 SSOE Group Reference Implementation Overview.... 8 Business Drivers, Business Case, and Benefits.... 8 Business Drivers...8 Business Case...8 Business Benefits...9 Project Overview.... 9 VMware Expertise...9 Implementation Timing...9 Lessons Learned.... 10 Architecture Overview... 11 SSOE Group VDI Solution Elements... 11 VMware Infrastructure... 12 User Access... 13 End User Persona, Session, and Device Design... 14 Devices... 15 External Access... 15 Conclusion.... 15 About the Author.... 16 References.... 16 Additional Resources.... 16 About VMware.... 16 TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 2
Introduction This document provides a reference implementation case study for VMware Horizon with View at SSOE Group, an international architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) management firm. This case study covers the deployment of a 3D computing environment accessible by 1,500 users, including outside employees and authorized contractors with access to the network. The intended audience for this document is the technical decision-maker who is considering deploying View at scale. The Executive Summary and Business Drivers, Business Case, and Benefits sections of this document are also suitable for non-technical decision-makers. The purpose of this document is to illustrate how this technical solution can provide tangible business benefits. The document includes an overview of business benefits and cost savings (where possible), an architectural overview and its bill of materials, and key configurations used to deploy the solution. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 3
About VMware Reference Implementation Case Studies A reference implementation case study shows how specific customers in a variety of locations and industry verticals have deployed and benefited from View. A reference implementation describes in detail the project approach, architecture, and business benefits at a real customer site, and provides lessons learned for that particular deployment. These implementations are often built on reference architectures validated by VMware. While a reference implementation is often built on best practices, sometimes tradeoffs are made to meet project requirements or constraints. When a reader references these implementations, it is critical to understand where the architecture has deviated from best practices, and where improvements can be made. This is easily achieved by comparing a reference implementation to reference architecture documentation provided by VMware. For further information regarding this and other technical reference architectures, visit Horizon with View design resources on the VMware Web site. This case study is intended to help customers IT architects, consultants, and administrators involved in the early phases of planning, design, and deployment of View solutions. The purpose is to provide an example of a successful architecture that represents specific industry vertical challenges met, and the benefits gained from the solution. Executive Summary SSOE Group is an international AEC firm that provides design and engineering services to organizations in the Government, Automotive, Healthcare, Food and Consumer Products, and Science and Technology industries. In 2012, SSOE decided to set up a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) that could accommodate demanding 2D drafting and 3D modeling applications. This would allow engineers, designers, and expert consultants at locations remote from each other to collaborate on the same project. Implementation Overview SSOE Group viewed VMware technology as the cornerstone of its VDI solution. SSOE first deployed VMware vsphere in July 2008, and VMware Horizon with View in March 2011. To serve its clients better across North America and the world, SSOE deployed a VMware solution that integrates Cisco Servers and NVIDIA graphics cards. SSOE, with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, USA, is focused on delivering great service to clients through a full range of EPCM (engineering, procurement, and construction management) services. The firm prides itself on making its clients successful by saving time, trouble, and money. SSOE is the tenth largest AEC firm in the US (2013, Building Design + Construction magazine), with 1,200 employees deployed across 29 offices in seven countries. SSOE Group had enjoyed past success with deploying VMware for server virtualization, which allows users to access and share data in the cloud. The SSOE IT organization started testing View with version 5.0, in order to virtualize 2D and 3D design projects and make them available on virtual desktops. But they quickly found that View was limited in deploying 2D and 3D graphics. When VMware made Software 3D available, SSOE tested it, but found it also fell short for all but the most basic 3D workloads. SSOE had an interest in common with VMware to make 3D graphics with VDI a success. SSOE participated in a View beta program to test and provide feedback about deploying virtual shared graphics acceleration (vsga) and virtual dedicated graphics acceleration (vdga) in the cloud. This collaboration between VMware and SSOE helped to solidify their partnership. SSOE identified several bugs in the early code, and provided benchmarks for software 3D, vsga, vdga, and physical PCs. VMware resolved the identified issues, including artifacting in Autodesk, and problems with 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator USB redirection. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 4
Project Overview The VMware VDI solution for SSOE enables its designers and engineers to increase collaboration with remote experts across the globe, while reducing IT management costs. View centralizes design processes and models. The solution functions well in a graphically intensive environment. In the past, SSOE had found it difficult to transfer large data files from site to site, as their connections were slow and unsecured. The View solution increases efficiency by centralizing data and eliminating the need to send files back and forth. It also allows SSOE to meet client security requirements, and their own requirements for protecting intellectual property. With the VDI solution, users in the US can access 2D drafting and 3D modeling technology from four locations: Birmingham, Alabama; Troy, Michigan; Hillsboro, Oregon; and Brentwood, Tennessee. The solution provides access to 2D drafting technology at six locations around the world, including Sao Paulo, Brazil; Ontario, Canada; Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Penang, Malaysia; and Singapore. Users can access certain design applications, depending on their location, as detailed in Table 1. 2D DRAFTING 3D MODELING Autodesk AutoCAD Autodesk Inventor Autodesk Navisworks BIM/CAD Autodesk Plant 3D SolidWorks 3D CAD Autodesk Revit Bentley ProjectWise Web/Content Filtering Websense TRITON Security Micro Station Autodesk Design Suite Table 1: Design Applications Available TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 5
Lessons Learned The View solution s combination of software 3D, vsga, and vdga enables SSOE to provide the right level of performance at the most cost-effective price point, and pass on efficiencies and savings to its clients. Virtualizing applications and accessing them from remote locations internationally also has implications for end-user license agreements (EULAs). Architecture Overview The SSOE solution is a hosted model, where virtualized desktops run on VMware vsphere servers hosted in Toledo, Ohio datacenters. View is the software component that brokers client requests, and authenticates and allocates virtual desktops to users. The SSOE implementation originated with View 5.0. SSOE later architected the VDI solution to accommodate View 5.2, a release that provided enhanced scalability and functionality over previous versions, such as the ability to use multiple tiers of storage to run the virtual desktops. Conclusion The VDI solution brings all the members of a project team together virtually, increasing efficiency while protecting client and SSOE intellectual property. Collaboration with talent around the world is one of SSOE Group s central business models. View enables employees, authorized contractors, and outside experts from Toledo and Tennessee to Mumbai, Shanghai, and Singapore to securely work together on graphically intense centralized designs and 3D models. About VMware Horizon VMware Horizon is a family of desktop and application virtualization solutions that delivers Windows and online services from any cloud. Horizon provides closed-loop manageability and hybrid-cloud flexibility. Horizon 6 leverages desktop virtualization with View and builds on these capabilities, allowing IT to manage virtual desktops and virtual applications, including hosted apps, packaged apps, software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps, and virtualized apps from Citrix. Horizon 6 supports the following key functionalities: Desktop and application virtualization Expands Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and supports the delivery of hosted virtual apps, locally executed virtual apps, Web apps, SaaS apps, and virtualized apps from Citrix. Unified workspace Securely delivers desktops, applications, and online services to end users through a unified workspace, and provides a consistent user experience across devices, locations, media, and connections. Closed-loop manageability Consolidates control, delivery, and protection of user compute resources with cloud analytics and automation, cloud orchestration, and self-service. Optimization with the Software-Defined Data Center Allocates resources dynamically with virtual storage, compute, and networking to manage and deliver desktop services on demand. Hybrid-Cloud flexibility Provides an architecture built for onsite and cloud-based deployment. For more details, see VMware Horizon. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 6
VMware Horizon with View Solution Components Typical View deployments consist of several common components, shown in Figure 1, which represent a typical architecture. The solution includes View components as well as other components commonly integrated with it. Figure 1: View Solution Components TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 7
SSOE Group Reference Implementation Overview SSOE Group planned and implemented a VDI solution that serves 1,500 total users globally, including members of SSOE s permanent staff of 1,200 and additional authorized contractors. SSOE s IT organization chose a VDI solution to resolve slowness and lack of security, and issues with US and international EULAs. The VDI solution also provides robust 2D and 3D environments for users to work in collaboratively. The following Reference Implementation Study tells how the VDI solution selected by SSOE successfully addressed each of the issues and requirements, while providing robust virtual workspace environments. It shows how SSOE and VMware were able to plan and implement a VDI solution that serves demanding software and application needs for 1,500 users around the world, efficiently and cost-effectively. It also describes key lessons learned along the way valuable information and insights for other companies contemplating their move to VDI. Business Drivers, Business Case, and Benefits SSOE IT managers undertook an assessment of the business drivers, business case, and business benefits of a VDI solution for their global offices. The assessment captured current costs and technical issues, and modeled the costs and advantages of a VDI solution. Business Drivers During the solution assessment, SSOE s IT organization identified the key business drivers for launching the View solution for 2D and 3D design and modeling applications. SSOE saw the opportunity to dramatically improve the way their staff collaborated on projects, improve security for intellectual property, and solve EULA issues. The drivers identified were: Increase collaboration with remote experts Reduce IT management costs Meet client and SSOE security requirements for protecting intellectual property Increase efficiency by improving 3D graphics performance Business Case The solution defined costs for various workflows including the costs for users accessing their desktops through their own devices (BYOD) rather than through company-supplied computers. Use of VMware vsphere to recover from hardware failure Scalability of solution Rapid deployment of additional guests to fit unexpected situations Availability of desktops anytime from any location BYOD Employees and contractors use their own devices TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 8
Business Benefits The benefits of the VDI solution include the ability for the design teams to work together in ways they couldn t before. With the VDI implementation, it is technically feasible for an expert in one region to work with colleagues on a team in another area. The team produces a better solution for the client, because they can share more knowledge while SSOE operates more efficiently. Increased collaboration of design teams Increased participation by more employees and outside experts SSOE serves clients with better solutions Centrally control desktop configuration for remote or non-employee users SSOE operates more efficiently Project Overview The SSOE Group VDI solution was a typical implementation, with multiple partners involved in the overall deployment. The prime contractor was Cisco, which provided blade and rack mount servers and Nexus core switches; Dell/Wyse, which provided the zero clients; NVIDIA, which provided graphics cards; and Microsoft, which provided antivirus software. Many other partners were involved as well. VMware Expertise Implementation of the solution was conducted primarily by SSOE alone. Josh Spencer (Pre-Sales SE) was involved throughout the various version testing. During the 5.2 beta test, VMware EUC product managers and resources from the VMware EUC Global Architecture group were involved to ensure success. Implementation Timing SSOE first deployed VMware vsphere in July 2008, and first deployed View 4.6 in March 2011. The company implemented each View 5.x version as it became available. Each version of View improved over the previous version, including in the areas of PCoIP performance and bandwidth. Software 3D capabilities (before physical GPU) allow for simple 2D graphics workloads, but were not ready for production use when the VDI solution was launched. SSOE participated in View 5.2 beta testing in the fourth quarter of 2012, to test its vsga and vdga capabilities. By March 2013 Space Navigator was working in the solution, and most performance bugs had been resolved. The solution was rolled into production in the second quarter of 2013 when View 5.2 went into general availability. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 9
Lessons Learned When planning for the VDI solution deployment, the SSOE IT organization faced new challenges to work through and discovered problems they had not anticipated, outlined in Figure 2. Project In some countries, SSOE must secure additional licensing for certain applications The proof of concept grew faster than they expected They had to purchase additional hardware sooner than planned Technical The server model supported only a single, physical GPU card, creating a bottleneck in the GPUs Various workload pressures of 2D and 3D created a bottleneck Adding too many vcpus to virtual machines increases CPU ready time Optimal vcpu count is one to two per virtual machine, especially for applications that are single-threaded Operations Before they implemented their solution, the IT managers should have been better prepared They should procure connectivity on both ends, based on number of users from each location, and graphic intensity and workflow per user Data storage amount and speed should be based on floating versus dedicated, and persistent versus non-persistent Figure 2: Key Lessons Learned TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 10
Architecture Overview SSOE selected a VDI hosted solution that has virtualized desktops that run on Type 1 hypervisors hosted in two data centers. View is tightly integrated into VMware vsphere, providing ease of management and less complexity than comparable VDI solutions. For this implementation, SSOE IT management designed a building block based desktop solution capable of supporting at least 4,000 virtual desktops. The building block is based on a single VCE Type 2 Vblock containing 64 ESX hosts. The SSOE solution includes the typical components necessary to integrate 10,000 users into a View pod. IT manages the pod as a single unit, leveraging the 4,000-user building block as the single replicated entity. This architecture uses common components and a standardized design across the building blocks, which reduces the overall cost of implementing and managing the solution. SSOE Group VDI Solution Elements The following elements are integrated into the SSOE VDI solution: Dell/Wyse zero clients (P20, P45) Lenovo/Dell PCs and laptops (primarily Windows 7) Cisco UCS blade and rack mount servers, with Fusion-io iocontrol SAN Hosts both servers and desktops Cisco Nexus core switches Microsoft Active Director 2012 Domain Controllers File servers for redirected My Documents and network storage Microsoft print servers Deltek Vision Microsoft Lync Microsoft Office Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 11
VMware Infrastructure Table 2 shows how the solution elements are organized in the SSOE VDI solution. Figure 3 shows how the technology elements are integrated. ITEM DESCRIPTION VMware vsphere server cluster hosts Four Cisco C240 servers Dual 8-core Xeon E5-2690 2.9GHz processors per host 384GB RAM per host Dual 10GB physical uplinks per host iscsi boot from SAN for ESXi One NVIDIA GRID K1 GPU per host, with a maximum of one per host with this server model. Hyperthreading is disabled as a result of performance testing results. ESXi 5.1 U1, with Cisco UCS. AD/DNS/DHCP The VDI solution is based on VMware View 5.2 VMware vcenter is single for both desktops and servers The solution does not use View Storage Accelerator vcenters are linked for servers across the globe X4 Virtual machine template Windows 7 x64 uses 1 to 2 vcpus, depending on the application set 40 120GB hard drives Four sets of 48GB RAM per virtual machine Table 2: VDI Solution Elements TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 12
Nexus 7010-1 40GB Peerlink Nexus 7010-2 40GB SAN 40GB Fiber Interconnect 6246-1 20GB Fusion IO IO Control 20GB Fiber Interconnect 6246-2 40GB 40GB Fiber Extender 2232-1 Fiber Extender 2232-2 2x 10GB Uplinks Cisco Rackmount C240-1 Cisco Rackmount C240-1 Cisco Rackmount C240-1 Cisco Rackmount C240-1 Figure 3: Integration of VDI Solution Elements User Access SSOE grants user access to the View VDI solution in three classes: 1. Contractor (non-employee) 2. Employee with external access 3. Employee with internal access The View server cluster (Cisco C240s) resides in SSOE s data center in Toledo, Ohio. All access to View desktops is brokered through this location. 1. Contractor class Contractors from outside SSOE can access a virtual desktop through a View Connection Server and View Security server pair. View Connection Server integrates with RSA Authentication Manager to provide two-factor authentication for contractors. The solution has multiple pools of desktops for contractors, which are based on job function or application requirements. Network access control lists (ACLs) restrict access to network shares and the internet. Contractors have access to basic Windows desktops, and non-3d workloads. There are approximately 25 virtual machines available for contractors. 2. External employee class External employees access their desktops through a View Connection Server and View Security server pair. View Connection Server does not integrate with RSA, as two-factor authentication is not required for external employees. The solution has multiple pools of desktops for employees, based on job function or application requirements. A combination of 3D-enabled and non-3d-enabled desktop pools are available. Approximately 100 virtual machines use View Connection Server tagging to deliver specific pool(s) to users. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 13
3. Internal employee class Internal employees access their virtual desktop through a dedicated View Connection Server. View Connection Server does not integrate with RSA, as two-factor authentication is not required for internal employees. Multiple pools of desktops are available for employees, based on job function or application requirements. Internal employees have access to a combination of 3D-enabled and non-3denabled desktop pools. There are approximately 100 virtual machines, which use View Connection Server tagging to deliver specific pool(s) to users. Note: Internal and external employees might connect to the same pools, though View Connection Server tagging permits the ability to isolate users to specific pools depending on their location. Figure 4 shows how various user classes access their respective virtual desktops. Contractor Virtual Desktop Pool Internal Virtual Desktop Pool RSA CS CS CS Auth Mgr Pair 1 Pair 2 AD Auth Contractors SS SS Employees External Figure 4: Virtual Desktop Access by User Class End User Persona, Session, and Device Design In the SSOE VDI solution, virtual machines are managed in the same way as physical PCs. The solution uses Microsoft Configuration Manager for imaging the virtual machine template and distributing software packages. It uses Microsoft Operations Manager for monitoring the environment. Antivirus and other core software applications are included in the base image. Each user s My Documents folder is redirected to a network share. Otherwise, the virtual machines do not use persona management technology. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 14
Devices The SSOE solution employs Wyse zero clients. Users of Apple ios devices such as ipads and iphones have the ability to do a site review while physically on location, of 2D and 3D drawings, via View desktop. End users can also access their desktop by Windows 7 and Mac OSX PCs and laptops. All user access is granted by PCoIP Horizon Client access. There is no HTML access at the time of this writing. External Access SSOE desktops are available on a BYOD (bring your own device) basis through the View solution. Contractors use their own devices over external networks to gain secure access to SSOE virtual machines. External employees can use a combination of corporate-owned and personal devices over external networks to gain secure access to SSOE virtual machines. For example, in January 2014 a Level 3 weather emergency cut communications networks in Ohio, Alabama, and other states throughout the US. SSOE VDI users, however, were able to work from home, and continued to connect with their desktop from a variety of personal devices. Conclusion SSOE Group has succeeded in passing on a spectrum of benefits to their global clients with the implementation of the View VDI solution. The solution is accessible from any location, through a variety of devices, by 1,500 employees globally, including internal staff and external contractors. The benefits include: Increased capabilities The VDI solution enables users to access 2D and 3D graphics and design applications, in a collaborative environment, from many geographically distant locations. Reduced costs The VMware VDI solution for SSOE reduces IT management costs by virtualizing desktops and providing access to applications in the cloud. Centralized security By placing applications and data on servers in a centralized data center, SSOE is able to secure company and client intellectual property, and to control international EULA licensing. Access to expertise The solution enables designers and engineers to increase collaboration with remote experts. TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER / 15
About the Author Geoff Murase is a Sr. Product Line Manager at VMware End-User Computing. VMware would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to this paper and the project, as well as for providing information relating to the project approach, architecture, design, and implementation: VMware Josh Spencer, Sr. Systems Engineer SSOE Brian Seibenick, Sr. Systems Engineer References VMware Horizon 6 with View Documentation VMware Horizon Product VMware Documentation VMware vsphere Documentation VMware SSOE YouTube Video VMware SSOE Case Study Additional Resources For more information or to purchase VMware products, call 1-877-4VMWARE (outside North America dial +1-650-427-5000), or visit www.vmware.com/products, or search online for an authorized reseller. For detailed product specifications and system requirements, please refer to the VMware Horizon with View documentation. About VMware VMware, the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, delivers customer-proven solutions that accelerate IT by reducing complexity and enabling more flexible, agile service delivery. VMware enables enterprises to adopt a cloud model that addresses their unique business challenges. VMware s approach accelerates the transition to cloud computing while preserving existing investments and improving security and control. With more than 250,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware solutions help organizations of all sizes lower costs, increase business agility and ensure freedom of choice. VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax 650-427-5001 www.vmware.com Copyright 2014 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Item No: VMW-TWP-VIEWREFIMPLEMSSOEGRP-USLET-20140624-WEB.indd