Tips on myvirtualcloud.net

5 Reasons Datrium helps CIOs during an Economic Downturn

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:21:15 +0000

CIOs are advised to have plans in place in advance of a time of economic uncertainty or a possible downturn. However, IT organizations do not always have stable budgets to operate in a business-as-usual-mode, and in many cases, headcount reduction or deferral of IT projects is a reality.

Valar Morghulis - Myth and Fact of Single Failure Tolerance

Mon, 09 Oct 2017 07:35:40 +0000

"Valar Morghulis" is the tenth and final episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. Valar Morghulis is a common greeting in Braavos, meaning "all men must die" in High Valyrian. It is meant in the sense of "all men must (eventually) die," sooner or later.

Securing Nutanix PRISM for Alexa Skill with NGINX Container

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 17:42:18 +0000

I recently published the Alexa Skill for Nutanix and the skill is available now for all countries where Amazon allow Alexa to be used. In my article Getting Started with Alexa Skill for Nutanix, I explain how to get it up and running with your Nutanix cluster. Here is a demo posted by one of the first users.

Are PoC and Pilot no longer required for VDI deployments?

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 20:30:11 +0000

Back in 2011, in the world of SAN, I wrote an article called “VDI USER EXPERIENCE and USER ACCEPTANCE”. The article iterated through my experiences reviving failed VDI deployments due to poor technical design; mostly driven by storage performance complications.

The New Nutanix Workload Sizer is better than my VDI Calculator, but...

Sat, 15 Nov 2014 19:28:53 +0000

For many years my VDI Calculator has been the source of truth for many VDI deployments, and still is. The calculator went through many iterations and had many features included overtime to support Horizon View and XenDesktop deployments to its full extent, including some very specialized features such as the use of Content Based Read Cache, Dedicated Replica Datastore, 3D Graphics and others. On average the VDI calculator helps 2,272 architects, system administrators and consultants every month. That's a staggering number and I feel very proud providing a free tool that many find very useful and love.

How to enable Nutanix De-duplication per VMDK/VHD/RAW

Sun, 28 Sep 2014 08:23:34 +0000

The Nutanix performance tier de-duplication allows the sharing of VM data on premium storage tiers (RAM and SSD). Performance of guest VMs suffers when active data can no longer fit in these premium tiers. Nutanix also provides de-duplication for the capacity tier (HDD) for greater VM density.

Powershell Script to Mass Clone and Power VMs via vCenter using VAAI

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 17:12:57 +0000

After publishing the Cloning and Powering VMs on Nutanix with VAAI video I was asked if I could share the PowerShell scripts used for the demo. I want to thank Steven Poitras (@StevenPoitras) for creating and allowing me to share the scripts with the broader community.

The scripts utilize vCenter Server to create clones and it's likely that vCenter will be the bottleneck during the provisioning process. I recommend assigning more RAM and vCPU as needed. My vCenter server ended up with 8GB RAM and 4 vCPU.

Additionally, I recommend increasing the maximum number of concurrent operations vCenter will allow. To do that one must increase the maxCostPerHost advanced setting to 24.

PCoIP Log Viewer for Horizon View 5.3 Available

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 07:06:15 +0000

My dear VMware friend Chuck Hirstius @rexremus and blogger at http://mindfluxinc.net released a new version of his PCoIP Log Viewer tool for Horizon View 5.3.

I have been using his tool for a long time and it has definitely helped me to understand PCoIP behaviors for a given virtual desktop based on complex logging information and WMI stats provided in Horizon View.

Here is why your Horizon View deployment is not performing to it's max!

Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:30:32 +0000

In Horizon View 5.1, VMware introduced a feature called PhoneHome. PhoneHome is an opt-In option for anonymous usage statistics collection. All data is anonymized and untraceable, and phonehome will collect information on versions, features used, system architecture choices and deployment scale. This information is used by VMware to provide better support and enhance to the most popular features. In addition to that VMware can use this data collection to better align research and development priorities to match the way customer are actually using Horizon View.

How to Launch Horizon View Standalone sessions via vmware-view URI

Tue, 10 Dec 2013 08:00:47 +0000

Launching Horizon View Client and pointing it to different Connection Servers despite unsupported by VMware is somewhat well known at this point in time. I blogged about it a while back in my article VMware View 4.5 Command Line Usage.

However, the '-standalone' switch can only be issued from the Windows command-line, and I recently have been asked about launching multiple sessions against different Horizon View environments using the vmware-view URI. Coincidentally, there was at similar timeframe an internal VMware thread discussing the subject.

In order to change the Horizon View client when launching it via URI just add the '-standlone' switch to the Windows registry entry responsible for launching the client via URI. On the client device look for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\vmware-view\shell\open\command] and change make the appropriate changes as described below.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\vmware-view\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VMware\\VMware View\\Client\\bin\\wswc.exe\" \"%1\""
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VMware\\VMware View\\Client\\bin\\wswc.exe\" \"%1\" \"-standalone\""

Now all you have to do is launch the desktop using the vmware-uri with your favorite browser. Below you will find an example, but if you are not familiar with Horizon View Client URI I recommend reading VMware View Client URI Scheme by Simon Long.

vmware-view://administrator@BROKER_IP_ADDRESS/management?action=startsession

This article was first published by Andre Leibovici (@andreleibovici) at myvirtualcloud.net.

How to enable vCOps Manager functionality with Windows Server 2008 R2 Desktops

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 09:00:32 +0000

Windows Server 2008 R2 is now supported as desktop operating system with Horizon View 5.3 (here). As most of you probably know Microsoft does not provide SPLA licensing model (Service Provider Level Agreement) for Windows desktop operating systems (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1) to allow enterprise customers and service providers to create Desktop-as-a-Service offerings using enterprise grade VDI solutions such as Horizon View. However, Windows Server 2008 does provide SPLA licensing model enabling alignment with Microsoft licensing terms.

Getting Deeper with View Agent Direct-Connection [Video]

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 08:40:15 +0000

In this new 24 minute video VMware Senior Staff Engineer Mark Benson, describes View Agent Direct-Connection in Horizon View 5.3. VADC allows any View Client to connect to a View desktop without using a View Connection Server.

This can be useful for some specific use cases where the use of View Connection Server is either not possible or not practical. Examples include branch office deployments, DaaS multi-tenancy deployments and simple 1:1 cases where full brokering is not needed.

Using View Agent Direct-Connection Video

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 10:41:56 +0000

VMware Sr. Staff Engineer, Mark Benson, has just published a very informative blog post about using View Agent Direct-Connection in Horizon View 5.3; here is the link to the article. I have also previously written about VADC in details, VMware View Agent Direct-Connection Plugin Explained (here) and VMware View Agent Direct-Connection Plugin NAT/PNAT (here).

PernixData FVP accelerate your Horizon View deployment

Mon, 11 Nov 2013 12:02:10 +0000

I recently spent couple days testing PernixData FVP caching solution in my home lab. Before I talk about FVP let me talk about my home lab. My home lab is not very fancy if compared to some of my vExpert colleagues, especially since it’s three years old hardware. It’s a white-box with a Gigabyte X58A-UD5 motherboard, 12GB RAM Kingston DDR3 2000Mhz and a Intel iCore7 960 processor clocked at 3.20 GHz. For internal storage I have a SSD Kingston 128GB SSDNow V+ and an external IOmega IX4-200 2TB. I boot ESXi 5.1 from a USB stick.

Don’t dismiss the huge benefits of Linked Clones!

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 17:21:34 +0000

Did you know that the quote ‘With great power comes great responsibility” is not an original quote crafted by Ben, the uncle of our Spidey friend? In fact, the quote was first coined by François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) in 1832.

PowerCLI for the VDI geek with Andre Leibovici - Automate ALL the things #vBrownBag

Sat, 02 Nov 2013 10:41:37 +0000

Last week the team over at vBrownBag invited me to talk about VMware Horizon View and the PowerShell integration during their webcast. During the live session I was able to cover the basic architecture, the PowerCLI implementation and also provide some simple examples. Thanks to the vBrownBag crew for having me over.

VMware Horizon View: Using Webcams and Microphones

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:59:05 +0000

With release of Horizon View 5.2, VMware announced support for Real-Time Audio-View as part of the Feature Pack 2 (find the release notes here). Peter Brown and Tarique Chowdhury provided some quick tips, guidance and configuration tips in their article Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV) for Horizon View. I also wrote an article entitled Understanding Horizon View Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV) a little while back that I recommend reading.

PoSh automation for Horizon View manual pools

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 07:42:28 +0000

Automation is system administrator’s best friend. Automating repetitive tasks is a key enabler in most IT environments. Whilst many of the desktop pool administrative tasks in Horizon View can be made via PowerShell, not all objects are exposed.

The POSH scripts below were created by VMware's Jedi Master Engineer Mike Pryor and they allow administrators to manage a Horizon View Manual Pool via PoSh, providing methods to add and remove desktops.

How to improve VDI with Hardware Accelerated 3D Graphics

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 08:57:31 +0000

I am constantly receiving questions about graphic performance in virtual desktops. This blog post will help you to better understand the 3D graphics state of affairs for VMware Horizon View 5.2.

Broadly speaking most leading VDI solutions on the market today are all talking about delivering new advanced 3D capabilities. VMware was the first company to virtualize 3D graphics with VMware Workstation and Fusion and in recent years has introduced this 3D technology in vSphere to be leveraged for VDI use cases.

F5 PCoIP Proxy for VMware Horizon View

Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:54:52 +0000

I want to share this excellent F5 video that demonstrate hot quick and easily you can configure Horizon View and F5 BIG-IP APM to natively support PCoIP proxy, bypassing requirements for Horizon View Security Servers. The PCoIP proxy combined with the BIG-IP platform will deliver hardened security and increased scalability according to F5. Thanks to Paul Pindell for the explanations.

Jack's VMware OS Optimization Tool

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:30:28 +0000

VMware colleague Jack McMichael has released the a tool that helps to optimize Windows 7 desktops for use with VMware Horizon View and VDI in general. The optimization tool includes customizable templates to enable or disable Windows system services and features, per VMware recommendations and best practices, across multiple systems. Since most Windows system services are enabled by default, the optimization tool can be used to easily disable unnecessary services and features to improve performance.

Samsung disrupts VDI and DaaS architecture models

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:00:16 +0000

It is just amazing when a new technology comes together to disrupt deployment and architecture models. I have previously stated that I am a supporter of persistent desktops, just because it is easier to manage, admins can use the tools they are familiar with, and make sense nowadays. Non-persistent desktops, linked clones, and alternative image and app management solutions are not a requirement for the vast majority of VDI and DaaS use-cases since now it is possible utilize fully provisioned persistent clones without the capacity and performance penalties due to the recent storage technology advancements. I recommend reading my article “Open letter to non-persistent VDI fanboys…”.

Horizon View now creates a folder for your replicas

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:30:26 +0000

Sometimes small changes and improvements can go unnoticed by me until I actually get hands on and deploy the new release of the product in my lab. Today I noticed something that you may have already noticed if you are a Horizon View administrator. I'm not sure if this improvement has been included in Horizon View 5.1 or 5.2; but it is quite handy and help to keep things organized.

Deployment Options for vCenter Server in a Horizon View Pod [video]

Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:10:30 +0000

Starting in Horizon View 5.2, you can use a single vCenter Server to manage up to 10,000 desktops in a single Horizon View pod. VMware delivered this innovation in response to multiple requests from customers and partners.

Using a single vCenter Server, you can build a simple infrastructure that provides a single place to manage master images, fewer back-end databases and database servers, and a single vSphere Web interface to match the View Administrator interface. A single vCenter Server deployment drastically simplifies management.

Welcome to the new Transient Desktop deployment model

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:56:37 +0000

Last week there was lots of attention to my article entitled “Open letter to non-persistent VDI fanboys…”. There was a wave of comments. Twitter discussions went frantic, and the LinkedIn Desktop Superhero discussion board was the stage for a continued discussion on the subject.

Linked Clone Ad hoc space reclamation from allocated unused disk space

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:13:32 +0000

Horizon View 5.2 leverages a new vSphere capability that implements a new disk format for VMs on VMFS that allow for grain reduction size & more efficiently utilization of allocated blocks by filling it with real data. Unused space is reclaimed and Linked Clone desktops stay small.

Introducing the New VDI Calculator!

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:19:47 +0000

The wait is over... and you can now get access to my new VDI calculator clicking on the link below.

The new calculator is built on Java framework instead of Flash, and run on Windows and Mac computers. There will also be a version specifically built for Android devices that uses native device capabilities. The Android version is coming a bit later.

How to: Windows Server 2012 RDS with Horizon View

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:20:53 +0000

Horizon View Connection Server authenticates users through Windows Active Directory and directs the request to the appropriate virtual machine, physical or blade PC, or Windows Terminal Services server. You can use Microsoft Terminal Servers to provide Terminal Services sessions as desktops to View clients.

Troubleshooting: MS Lync 2013 with View Integration

Wed, 29 May 2013 13:38:34 +0000

Following up on the announcement for Microsoft Lync 2013 with Horizon View support I have been asked to cover a little bit more on how to stand up and troubleshoot the solution. If you are not yet familiar with the solution make sure you read my article How It Works – Microsoft Lync 2013 with View Integration.

Horizon View Offline VDI Calculator (Sneak Peek)

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:44:45 +0000

If you are wondering why my blog posting frequency has slowed down in the last couple weeks - worry not!

Many consulting professionals and architects asked for a portable - offline - version of my well-known VDI Calculator. I'm happy to say that the new tool finally coming and I've been busy trying to reach code complete.