Peer to Peer Magazine

of touch with reality. We were seeing two per core on our pre-Nehalem host server hardware. As a result, our original cluster hardware plans were off by at least 50 percent! Ouch! No pain, no gain... Also, beware of the boot storm! Rebooting all 90 virtual desktops at the same time on a single cluster server is not a good thing. They'll all be competing for the same memory, CPU and disk IO resources and it's not going to happen quickly. It's like being one of 48,000 people all trying to get out of the parking lot of a stadium at the same time. It's going take a while. No pain, no gain... Early versions of VMware View had a lot of issues with USB device compatibility. This created significant issues for us with respect to the use of USB foot pedals for digital dictation. We're a BigHand customer, and since our early deployment targeted assistant desktops, we were having issues with this in all offices. There were issues with various model external CD and DVD drives as well. This certainly put a strain on our VDI deployment efforts and actually caused us to begin to question whether or not we chose the right VDI platform. No pain, no gain... Video quality issues plagued us early on in our deployment pretty much across the board. Experiencing "build to lossless" video pain (blurred video that becomes clear over a period of seconds) was a problem for us until we made all of the proper QoS and CoS adjustments for the WAN-based PCoIP traffic. It's not an issue anymore, but it took some time to resolve. No pain, no gain, right? The three most critical factors to any VDI deployment are: • The user experience • The user experience • The user experience Test, assess performance, adjust and improve, and then "rinse and repeat." If you don't get the user experience right, you'll most definitely know pain. KNOW GAIN … We pressed ahead in a mode of "learn as we go and go as we learn" for about the first 12 months of our deployment, making many adjustments along the way. With PCoIP, QoS and CoS configured optimally, expanded data-center WAN circuits, a new centralized print cluster in place, and a new Nehalem-based VDI cluster in place delivering a slightly better density of about four virtual desktops per processor core, we were making important progress. However, nothing had a more significant impact on our VDI deployment than the release of View 4.6 in late February of this year. We began testing the new version of View as soon as we got our hands on it. The improvements were quickly validated, and we had a new View 4.6 cluster in place and online by early April. The release of View 4.6 marked an important turning point in our deployment. The new version of the product resolved all of the USB digital dictation foot pedal problems and most CD/DVD drive issues we had been experiencing up to that point. With all of the major issues resolved, we had finally reached a point where we could truly begin to deliver the desktop-as-a-service to our users. Finally, less pain, more gain! Fast forward to today. While the journey is not over, we're certainly at a much better place with our VDI deployment. Efforts are now underway to have 1,200 virtual desktops deployed by February and a total of 2,000 deployed by the end of 2012. Know gain! I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the efforts of VMware over the past two years. They've been with us every step of the way and have been unwavering in their commitment to ensure the success of Foley's VDI deployment. Bugs and issues identified early on in the deployment process were tackled very aggressively. They even flew in experts on their nickel on multiple occasions to ensure that the most critical issues were addressed as quickly and effectively as possible. The true measure of a great business partner is not how they treat you when things are going well, but rather how quickly and effectively they respond when things are not. The relationship between Foley and VMware is one of great mutual respect and dual ownership of this critical deployment. I can't stress enough how important this is. REALIZING THE BENEFITS OF VDI The benefits of leveraging VDI are undeniable. • Extended Thin-Client/Zero-Client Hardware Lifecycle: The lifecycle of a thin or zero client can extend a couple of years beyond that of a typical computer. • Centralized Desktop Management: Expect less disruptive and more effective desktop patching, antivirus and antimalware scanning, software distribution and other maintenance. • Fewer "Tech Touches": Budget cuts and economic uncertainty over the past couple of years forced many law firms to reduce staff. Delivering the desktop-as-a-service eliminates much of the time-consuming upkeep that a typical physical PC requires, freeing up staff to focus on other tasks, projects and initiatives. Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 97

• Cover
• contents