Daniele Tosatto
Application delivery and virtualization news
Microsoft VDI – High Availability Deployment Options
2 mar
The Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (Microsoft VDI) involves multiple role services. To develop a true high availability solution for this setup, you need to understand the high availability solution for each role service. This blog post identifies the key pieces of the Microsoft VDI solution and provides details on the high availability options available.
Key Microsoft role services that should be made highly available
- Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) in redirection mode
- Remote Desktop Connection Broker (RD Connection Broker)
- Remote Desktop Virtualization Host (RD Virtualization Host)
- Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web Access)
- Remote Desktop Licensing (RD Licensing) and Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway)
High availability options for each role service
1. RD Session Host in redirection mode
A high availability solution for the RD Session Host server consists of high availability of the hardware, as well as high availability of the Remote Desktop Session Host role service. You can use multiple RD Session Host servers and round robin DNS to provide high availability at both levels. High availability is obtained by virtue of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client trying all the IP addresses returned by the DNS server. All the RD Session Host servers should be running in active-active mode.
2. RD Connection Broker
Similar to RD Session Host, the RD Connection Broker role service can be made highly available at both the hardware and the service level by clustering multiple servers running the RD Connection Broker role service. Failover clustering guarantees that in the event of hardware or software (service) failure on the active node, a failover is triggered. In other words, a new active node would be selected at that time. A step-by-step guide about how to configure an RD Connection Broker server in active-passive mode for high availability will be available soon on TechNet.
3. RD Virtualization Host
The Microsoft VDI solution supports highly available Hyper-V virtual machines. Setting up a failover cluster environment with multiple Hyper-V hosts will ensure that in the event of a hardware failure on a Hyper-V host, the virtual machines will fail over to another Hyper-V host and automatically start. If the Remote Desktop Virtualization Host Agent service fails, this service is configured to restart automatically. Thus all the Hyper-V virtual machines would be available all the time.
4. RD Web Access
High availability of the RD Web Access role service is achieved by deploying it in an active-active mode. Multiple RD Web Access servers can be configured as part of a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster to achieve this. You could also use round robin DNS in place of an NLB cluster to make the RD Web Access role service highly available.
5. RD Licensing and RD Gateway
For high availability of RD Licensing and RD Gateway, see the following:
· Deploying Remote Desktop Licensing Step-by-Step Guide (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd983943(WS.10).aspx)
· Improving TS Gateway availability using NLB (http://blogs.msdn.com/rds/archive/2009/03/24/improving-ts-gateway-availability-using-nlb.aspx)
Unsupported high availability deployment configurations
There are two deployment configurations that are not supported:
- Clustering RD Connection Broker servers on RD Virtualization Host servers.
- An active-active RD Connection Broker installation.
More information about setting up highly available VDI
A step-by -step guide for high availability of all the components mentioned above will be published soon.
Glossary
· Active/Active failover cluster model. All nodes in the failover cluster are functioning and serving clients. If a node fails, the resource will move to another node and continue to function normally, assuming that the new server has enough capacity to handle the additional workload.
· Active/Passive failover cluster model. One node in the failover cluster typically sits idle until a failover occurs. After a failover, this passive node has enough capacity to serve the new application without any performance degradation.
Full release version of Windows Server Migration Tools update lets you migrate Hyper-V and RRAS
25 feb
The full release version of the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Utilities is now available. The update allows you to use the Windows Server Migration Tools-a set of Windows PowerShell cmdlets that shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2- to migrate Hyper-V and RRAS. And the detailed guides that take you through Hyper-V and RRAS migration, one step at a time, are now complete and live.
Full release versions of other guides (for migrations that do not require the Tools) have also gone live. Check out the Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 Migration Guide, and guides for the other role services of Network Policy and Access Services (NPAS), Health Registration Authority and Network Policy Server.
Plenty of other Migration resources are available with the new guides; you’ll find everything on the Migration Portal for Windows Server 2008 R2.
Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft App-V 4.6 Now Available!
25 feb
The Solution Accelerator team has released an updated guide: Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6.
This free guide, now updated for App-V 4.6, provides actionable guidance for planning your application virtualization infrastructure. With App-V, your organization can respond to the complex challenge of managing applications. This guide simplifies your App-V planning process. Updates now include information on how App-V supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, including such features as BranchCache; support for 64-bit clients; and server-sizing data.
Strategically planning your infrastructure can help you avoid problems before they begin, allowing you to serve your customers more accurately and reliably, as well as saving you time and money.
Next Steps
· Download the IPD Guide for App-V 4.6. Learn more about IPD Guides for Virtualization.
· Download other best practices from the Infrastructure Planning and Design series for products such as Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, SQL Server 2008, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, System Center, and much more at the IPD home page on TechNet.
· Check out other Solution Accelerators for Virtualization.
App-V 4.6 Documentation now available on TechNet
25 feb
The documentation for Application Virtualization 4.6 is now available on the App-V TechCenter Library at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc843848.aspx. In addition to the App-V 4.6 feature information, in this documentation release App-v Team added a new Getting Started Guide which contains the Release Notes as well as the detailed procedures for installing and upgrading the system. New Deployment and Upgrade Checklists have also been added to guide you through the correct sequence of steps necessary to install and test a new installation, and also to upgrade from a prior version.
Note: The main App-V 4.5 & 4.6 documents have been combined with any functionality that is specific to one release or the other called out as such.
The core documentation set now includes:
Application Virtualization Deployment and Upgrade Checklists
Online Help for Client, Server and Sequencer
In addition, on the Application Virtualization TechCenter home page you’ll find links to other information resources including the “Upgrading FAQ”, White Papers and links to blogs.
App-V 4.6 is now available
25 feb
Microsoft just announced that App-V 4.6 is now publicly available via MDOP 2010!
In the update to the App-V Resource Kit, Microsoft are announcing two new tools for you.
Application Virtualization SFT View Tool
Use the SFT View Tool to provide scanners and automated tools with read-only access to .sft files. For example, you can install SFT View on App-V Management Servers to allow vulnerability scanners and file-based asset inventory tools to scan .sft files. You can also use App-V SFT View to interactively inspect .sft file contents by using any shell interface, for example, Windows Explorer or the command line.
Application Virtualization MSI Compat Transform
Unpack and use this to upgrade an .msi from 4.5 RTM or earlier packages, on the 4.6 client. We will explain more about this transform in an upcoming blog entry so watch this space.
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The App-V Resource Kit is a set of free tools and resources aimed at enabling IT administrators to unlock the full potential of App-V 4.5 and 4.6. The full list of Resource Tools is listed below”
Application Virtualization Dynamic Suite Composition Tool
Use the Dynamic Suite Composition tool to edit the Open Software Descriptor (.osd) file associated with a virtual application package to create the inter-package dependencies.
Application Virtualzation Application Listing Tool
Use the Application Listing Tool to display a list of virtualized applications that are currently running.
Application Virtualization SFT Parser Tool
Use the SFT Parser Tool to extract the following information from SFT files:
- Validation of SFT files
- XML export of contents of SFT
- Listing of all of the files in the SFT
- Statistics about properties of the SFT metadata
- Get relevant information on a file in the package
- Ability to skip processing of file data if using functionality that requires only the metadata
Application Virtualization Client Log Parser Utility
Use the Client Log Parser utility to extract log entries from one or more application virtualization client logs.
Application Virtualization Cache Resizing Tool
Use the Cache Configuration Tool to configure settings associated with App-V client cache.
Application Virtualization SFT View Tool
Application Virtualization MSI Compat Transform
XenDesktop Modular Reference Architecture
9 feb
Citrix published a new architecture blueprint for its VDI platform XenDesktop.
The 38-pages document provides guidance to design scalable virtual desktop infrastructures based on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005, Citrix Provisioning Server 5.1 and of course XenDesktop 4.0 (which includes the hypervisor and XenApp 5).
For more information, go to http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX124087
Announcing the Remote Desktop Protocol Performance Improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 white paper
8 feb
With the growing trend toward desktop virtualization, it is Microsoft’s goal to provide enterprises with a flexible model for centralized computing, whereby the broadest range of client devices can help securely access company data and applications from any location on the network.
As with Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, virtual machine-based desktop virtualization faces increasing performance challenges when enterprises attempt to use this technology to support a globally distributed workforce. A key consideration of performance relates to Remote Desktop protocol efficiency which continues to present an issue for bandwidth constrained environments. This limitation can manifest itself by limiting the number of users who can access virtualized desktops (user density) over available bandwidth, and with a degraded user experience. Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 7.0, similar to previous RDP versions, provides a competitive experience for low bandwidth (e.g. 56 Kbps) connections. After bandwidth requirements, network latency is the second fundamental challenge for customers and partners that wish to deploy virtualized desktops for a broad range of end-users and applications.
With the release of the Windows Server® 2008 R2 and Windows® 7 operating systems, RDP 7.0 is even more feature-rich than its predecessors—enabling new remoting functionality such as accelerated bitmap rendering, multi-media redirection streaming, and network topology awareness. In short, RDP 7.0 is better able to support today’s ever increasingly complex and rich multi-media environment.
To improve the user experience when connecting over high latency networks, RDP 7.0 added “client hint” functionality. “Client hint” can be enabled by using the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 7.0 client UI to set the connection speed on the Experience tab.
The same setting can be configured via .rdp files by selecting WAN (10 Mbps or higher with high latency) or Satellite (2 Mbps–16 Mbps with high latency) with connection type:i:5 or connection type:i:3 respectively.
As these features become integrated into the enterprise environment, it is important to analyze and understand their impact on enterprises’ current network infrastructure and end-user experience. The Remote Desktop Protocol Performance Improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 white paper details RDP features and the potential for improvements to usability and the quality of the end-user remoting experience, as well as system deployment metrics.
Note: You should not interpret the performance characteristics presented in the white paper as benchmark measurements that all systems can support. Only empirical testing on the target system can provide an accurate benchmark of your specific scenario.
Hotfix Package 1 for Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Service Pack 1: January 2010
5 feb
Microsoft recently released a new Knowledge Base article documenting a hotfix package for January 2010 that contains the latest hotfixes for Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
You can get all the details on the specific issues that are fixed as well as download the hotfix here:
KB978480 – Hotfix Package 1 for Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Service Pack 1: January 2010
Error message when you try to publish a Windows Installer package for a virtual application from a network share to an App-V Client: xxxxxx-xxxxxx0A-000001D1
5 feb
After you sequence an application that uses the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Sequencer version 4.5 or a later version, you have the option of generating a Windows Installer package to publish the application. If you try to publish a Windows Installer package that is located on a network share, you may receive the following error message:
The Application Virtualization Client could not complete the operation.
The Application Virtualization Client is operating in disconnected mode and cannot perform the operation requested. Ensure that you can connect to the Application Virtualization Server, and then retry the operation. If the problem persists, report the following error code to your System Administrator.
Error code: xxxxxx-xxxxxx0A-000001D1
Additionally, the corresponding Sftlog.txt file contains several additional errors that have a result code (also known as rc) of xxxxxx2A-00000005. Also, the Windows Installer log file contains logs that resemble the following:
=== Logging stopped: date time ===MSI (c) (3C:68) [11:53:01:145]: Note: 1: 1708 MSI (c) (3C:68) [11:53:01:145]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038 MSI (c) (3C:68) [11:53:01:145]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038 MSI (c) (3C:68) [11:53:01:145]: Product: msitest — Installation failed.
For details on the cause and how to fix this issue please see the following new Knowledge base article:
KB979598 – Error message when you try to publish a Windows Installer package for a virtual application from a network share to an App-V Client: “xxxxxx-xxxxxx0A-000001D1″
Deciding Between Blades and Rack Servers for XenDesktop Environments
3 feb
There are several pros and cons when choosing between blade or rack servers related to power consumption, consolidated networking, manageability and cost. These comparisons are readily available over the Internet, but what makes one preferable to the other in a XenDesktop deployment? Let’s take a look at a few of the differences.
Higher Density XenServer Resource Pools
Rack servers offer more quad-socket models compared to blades and also offer greater memory capacity and the latest processors. This translates into higher VM density per server which is important because the size of a XenServer resource pool is limited by the number of XenServer hosts and not by the number of VMs. So by using quad-socket rack servers you can have a greater number of virtual desktop VMs per XenServer resource pool. In a large XenDesktop environment this means fewer resource pools to manage.
Advantage: Rack Servers
Isolated OS Streaming Traffic
Streaming the OS from the PVS host to the virtual desktop VMs can take significant network bandwidth especially when the virtual desktops are booting. This OS streaming traffic can be isolated per blade chassis. Each VM server would use the PVS host located in the same blade chassis but could failover to alternate PVS hosts in another chassis if needed. Setting up an isolated network with rack servers is possible but is much more complex.
Advantage: Blades
Lower Storage Costs
Each virtual desktop VM needs a cache to temporarily store the “writes” while streaming a PVS standard image. Depending on your environment this could require 1GB to 5GB or more of storage per virtual desktop VM but could also be used for storing EdgeSight user performance data or any persistent data such as anti-virus definition files. Fast RAID storage options with local hard disks are possible with rack servers which is important because local storage is much less expensive than SAN storage even when using thin provisioning on the SAN. Having this write back cache located on the same server will usually be easier to configure rather than putting all the write back caches on the SAN. One downside is that dynamic load balancing of the running virtual desktop VMs is not available since the storage for the virtual desktops are local to the VM server.
Advantage: Rack Servers
Summary
In conclusion both choices offer benefits in a XenDesktop environment. I personally prefer rack servers because of their ability to use several local hard disks. Keep in mind that your choices for network switches and network storage could significantly swing your decision one way or the other.