Propalms Centralized Computing Solution Document

Centralized Computing Solution Document

CENTRALIZED COMPUTING SOLUTION DOCUMENT

03rd March 2011

Copyright © 2011, Propalms Network Private Limited


Contents
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3

REQUIREMENTS ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4

ABOUT PROPALMS TSE ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Propalms TSE - Completing the Terminal Services Experience ............................................................................................ 5

What is Server Based Computing? .............................................................................................................................................. 5

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Deployment: ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Access Scenario: .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Management Scenario: ................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Infrastructure Requirements: ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

BENEFITS OF THE SOLUTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

ABOUT PROPALMS VDI......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Key Features ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Deployment: .................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Access Scenario: ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11

Management Scenario: ............................................................................................................................................................... 11

CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPONENTS .......................................................................................................................................... 12

PARALLELS VIRTUOZZO CONTAINERS BASED VDI .................................................................................................................... 12

VMWARE vSPHERE BASED VDI ..................................................................................................................................................... 13

REDHAT KVM BASED VDI ............................................................................................................................................................... 14

BENEFITS OF THE VDI ........................................................................................................................................................................... 16

WHEN TO CHOOSE VDI OVER TERMINAL SERVICES (TSE) .......................................................................................................... 17

WHY PROPALMS VDI ........................................................................................................................................................................... 17

VMWARE VDI vs PROPALMS VDI ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

2.
Copyright © 2011, Propalms Network Private Limited.


ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
This document is a solution document for centralized computing requirements of organization of any size using
Application Presentation Virtualization and Desktop Virtualization technologies.

REQUIREMENTS
The solution document is applicable for organizations having LAN/WAN/Roaming users who needs access to
business critical, office productivity and general applications within the corporate LAN/WAN as well as while
roaming outside office network.

Typically an organization is faced with following challenges when it comes to making applications available to
their users:

1. Information Security: With traditional computing, every user has a full capacity PC where the user can
create and store corporate and business information. This information, even though the user do not
intend to, is prone to under utilization, corruption, misuse and leakage.

2. Data Consolidation: With data on end user’s machine, it is not easy to make the same data available to
all users in real time. The information sharing is on one to one basis. Also it is difficult to track which data
is latest or is modified. There is a need to centralize the data so that it can be shared by users in real time
and there is a versioning control system which can deliver latest contents to users.

3. Access Control Inside Network: Since all users have full PC, every user has access to almost all corporate
applications and they can create, modify or access any data on the network. This poses security threat
to the company information as an unauthorized user can have access to classified information and
network areas. There is need to implement role based access to information and application.

4. Under Utilized Resources and Licenses: Application With every user having full access to their local
desktop, it is difficult for IT to maintain the application license inventory and usage information. It is
found by the IT team that there are application licenses which are locked on end user machines but the
users are not using those application licenses. This puts the corporate resources to less utilization and
more cost in terms of application licensing. There is a need to dynamically allocate licenses to user as
they need to access the applications.

5. Application Performance: Most of the legacy and corporate applications are not designed to work
over slow and high latency networks like ISDN, dialup, VSAT and even lease lines and RF links, The slow
performance of the application over such networks results in under utilization of the application
capabilities and the employee productivity capacity. Organizations needs to deliver applications to
their users at blazing speeds to maximize the productivity

6. Support Issues and Administration: In multi-branch office scenarios, IT teams spend lot of time managing
the resources at branch offices. Either the organization needs to have local IT teams at branch offices or
they need to support users from a central location. In worst cases, the problematic machines need to
be brought to IT department and is then fixed which results in loss of productivity and higher
3.


administration costs. There is a need to reduce the end user support issues by eliminating maximum of
resources from user side but making them available from a central location on demand.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Propalms Network offers two different solution architectures.

 APPLICATION DELIVERY PLATFORM OVER TERMINAL SERVICES USING PROPALMS TSE

 VIRTUAL DESKTOP INFRASTRUCTURE USING PROPALMS VDI

4.


SOLUTION 1: APPLICATION DELIVERY PLATFORM OVER TERMINAL SERVICES USING
PROPALMS TSE

ABOUT PROPALMS TSE
Propalms TSE is a complete Server Based Management solution that extends Microsoft Terminal Services
2000/2003 and 2008, offering features such as Application Publishing, Virtual Desktop Broker, Seamless Windows,
Resource based Load Balancing, Simple Web based Management, Session Management, Server Health
Monitoring, Reporting, Virtual IP, Single Port Relay, Universal Print Driver, Application Access via Desktop
Shortcut, Windows Start Menu or Browser-based Application LaunchPad.

Propalms TSE - Completing the Terminal Services Experience
Microsoft Windows Terminal Services (also known as Server Based Computing or Thin Client architecture) is the
most cost effective method of application delivery for small-medium sized businesses up to Enterprise Level
organizations. Propalms TSE is designed to make the most of your Windows® Terminal Services deployment by
leveraging the most recent enhancements to the Microsoft® Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Propalms TSE
adds indispensable management capabilities and scales to accommodate growing numbers of users,
applications and servers, securely, reliably, and cost-effectively.

What is Server Based Computing?
Server Based Computing (SBC) is an architecture in which applications are installed and configured centrally
on servers. The applications run 100% on the central servers with only mouse clicks, keystrokes and screen
updates travelling across the network between the servers and client devices. From a users perspective, the
applications appear as though they are running locally where as they are actually being executed on the
servers. Due to this fact, client devices are independent from the applications and can include desktop PCs
and thin client devices (Windows and Linux based), Macintosh computers, and handheld devices.

Server Based Computing provides many business benefits including:

Simplified Management – all application management is performed centrally.
Ease of Deployment – applications can be instantly delivered to end user’s devices without visiting them.
Security – all data is kept centrally on the datacenter with no data left on laptops or PCs.
Availability – applications can be load balanced to ensure they are always available to users.
Support – support costs can be reduced as all users and applications can be managed centrally.
Remote Working – easily provide access to applications from remote locations with local network type
performance.
Lower TCO – Total Cost of Ownership can be reduced dramatically and productivity can be increased.

5.


SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Deployment:
Propalms TSE Server will be installed on server class hardware at the datacenter where the application servers
are hosted. The applications used by end users will be installed on Propalms TSE server. Propalms TSE server will
be accessible to all users across the locations over corporate backbone. Optionally access to Propalms TSE
server can be provided over Internet to roaming users who need to access the application when outside of
office.

Access Scenario:
Using Propalms TSE, all corporate applications will be delivered to end users from the datacenter. Users can use
their existing PCs, Mobile devices or thin clients to access Propalms Server. Users access Propalms server using a
Internet Explorer browser and must authenticate before they can login into Propalms TSE server. Once logged
in, the users will be displayed icons of the applications on the browsers. User will have access to the application
which are assigned to the user or to the group the user belongs to. User can click on application icons on
browser and the application will be launched on the Propalms TSE server. At this time, application presentation
will be displayed on user’s screen. The mouse movements and keyboard clicks will sent from users machine to
Propalms TSE server and the application screen refreshes will be sent back to user’s machine. User can now
start interacting with the application in similar fashion as the user will use locally installed applications.

Management Scenario:
The administrator for Propalms TSE can be done using a web based management console. Using the Propalms
management console, administrator can publish applications to different groups of users and do the required
access control. Administrator can give access to some user but deny access to applications to other users.
6.


Administrator then defines the local device sharing parameter which will define how the users will share the
data from their local machine to server. For e.g., administrator may allow users to map their local PC drive to
the Propalms TSE server so that they can download the data generated by applications. This will also include
setting up parameters for printing so that users can print to their local printers from hosted applications.

Administrator can monitor the application licensing usage and monitor the users activity. Administrator can
provide remote support to users by shadowing their session on Propalms TSE server.

Infrastructure Requirements:
Software Requirements:

 Propalms TSE Solution 6.5
 Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition or Windows 2008 Server 64 bit Enterprise Edition

Hardware Requirements:

There is no simple formula to calculate the hardware size. Essentially we will have to calculate the memory
footprint and CPU utilization nature of the applications.

For an approximation purpose, for 500 concurrent users, each user session consuming 200 MB of RAM, we will
need to setup a server farm with following configuration:

7 Servers with following configuration:
Windows 2003/2008 server 64 bit Enterprise Edition
RAM : 16 GB
CPU: Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0 GHz or higher 64 bit processor

For adding reliability to the server farm, there should be at least 1 additional (recommended 2) servers.

Licensing Requirements:

 Microsoft Windows Server License x no. of servers (7 here)

 Microsoft TS CALs – Per Seat/Per User (approx 500 here)

 Propalms TSE License x 500 (concurrent users)

 Microsoft SQL Express (Free)

7.


BENEFITS OF THE SOLUTION

Simplified Management
 All application management is performed centrally.
 No application installation required on end user machine.
 Application upgrades required only on the servers.
 Ability to rollout application upgrades in phases
Ease of Deployment
 Applications can be instantly delivered to end user’s devices without visiting them.
 No client device or operating system dependencies
 Quick rollout of new applications
Security
 All data is kept centrally on the datacenter with no data left on laptops or PCs.
 Role based access to application; better application license utilization
 Control over how data is shared among users and applications
 Ability to monitor application access and record user’s session
Availability
 Applications can be load balanced to ensure they are always available to users.
 Server Team enables easy addition or removal of server without effecting live users.
 System scales easily when scaling-out
Support
 Support costs can be reduced as all users and applications can be managed centrally.
 Shadow remote user sessions to provide remote support
 Avoids all application install/upgrade and maintenance issues
Remote Working
 Easily provide access to applications from remote locations with local network type performance.
 Converts 2 tier high bandwidth applications to 3 tier applications; Avoid application bandwidth
constraints
 Secure access from network or device
Lower TCO
 Total Cost of Ownership can be reduced dramatically and productivity can be increased.
 Reduce application license requirements by dynamically allocating application to users rather than
installing application license on each end user machine
 Better hardware utilization
 Go Green with thin clients and save on power and reduce carbon footprint

8.


SOLUTION 2: VIRTUAL DESKTOP INFRASTRUCTURE USING PROPALMS VDI

ABOUT PROPALMS VDI
Propalms VDI is a Management and Connection Brokering solution for Virtual Desktop deployment across the
enterprise.
Propalms VDI provides an end to end solution to virtual desktop and application delivery. Using Propalms VDI
you can deliver virtual desktops to users, deliver applications to virtual desktops, automate tasks inside virtual
desktops and have full monitoring and management control from a central management console.
The current version of VDI has been developed as a hypervisor agnostic solution which supports virtualization
platforms from VMWare, Parallels and Redhat.

Key Features

 High Density VDI Solution: Propalms VDI support Parallels Virtuozzo container virtualization platform which
can fit in more no. of virtual desktops per hardware machine. Propalms VDI Supports VMWare
Hypervisors like vSphere and Redhat KVM as well.
 Desktop Pools: Administrator can pool virtual desktops from one or multiple virtualization hosts to apply
similar settings to the member desktops.
 Automated Desktop Creation: Virtual Desktops can be created from VDI management console or they
can be created whenever a new user comes in. Avoids the headache and time consuming process of
pre-creating the desktops for all users.
 Flexible Destop Allocation: Propalms VDI provides highly flexible desktop allocation policies. A single
desktop pool can be shared between users from different roles or OUs or even devices part of specified
subnets. A single group, OU or set of devices can be assigned multiple desktop pools. The persistence of
the machines assigned to the users can be set to temporary or permanent. A temporary fallback
machine is made available to the user if the user's permanent machine is not available.
 Application Delivery: Propalms VDI solution make use of Parallels's built in application delivery solution to
deliver applications to virtual desktops. The applications on the virtual desktops can be made available
based on the role of the user or based on the connecting device network parameters. Applications on
the virtual desktops can be assigned and unassigned dynamically without requiring user intervention..
 Desktop Power Management: Propalms connection broker monitors the usage of virtual desktops and
turn off the desktops which are found idle for specified period of time, thus increasing efficiency of the
virtual infrastructure..
 Client Support: Users use Propalms VDI client to login to get to their virtual desktop. Propalms VDI client
support Windows, linux and MAC OS X platforms.

9.


SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Deployment:
Propalms VDI Server will be installed on server class hardware at the datacenter where the application servers
are hosted. Using Propalms VDI, virtual desktops will be created for each user. The applications used by end
users will be delivered to these users using the Propalms VDI application delivery solution. Propalms VDI server
will be accessible to all users across the corporate network over existing backbone. Optionally access to
Propalms VDI server can be provided over Internet to roaming users who need to access their
desktop/application when outside of office.

The Propalms VDI server will have a following architecture

Shown below is the deployment scenario:

10.


Access Scenario:
Using Propalms VDI, full blown virtual desktops loaded with required corporate applications will be delivered to
users from the datacenter. Users can use their existing PCs, Mobile devices or thin clients to access Propalms
VDI Server and then their virtual desktop. Users access Propalms server using Propalms VDI client running on their
machine and must authenticate before they can login into Propalms VDI server. Once logged in, the users will
directly logged into the virtual desktop assigned for the user. Propalms VDI solution will make sure the virtual
desktop is up and running and is loaded with the set of applications assigned to the user. Over this virtual
desktop session, user will have access to the applications which are assigned to the user or to the group the
user belongs to. User can now start interacting with the virtual desktop. The keyboard clicks and mouse
movements are sent over the wire to the virtual desktop and the desktop refreshes are sent back to user
machine. All the data created by the user resides inside the virtual desktop of the user.

Management Scenario:
The administrator for Propalms VDI can be done using a centralized management console. Using the Propalms
management console, administrator can schedule virtual desktop creation, assign desktops to users or groups,
assign applications to desktops or to users, manage and monitor active users and do virtual desktop
management.

Administrator can monitor the application licensing usage and monitor the users activity. Administrator can
provide remote support to users by shadowing their session on Propalms TSE server.

11.


CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPONENTS
Propalms VDI supports multiple hypervisor platforms namely:

a) Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.5

b) VMWare vSphere 4.0 (ESX)

c) RedHat KVM

Each hypervisor platform has its own performance criteria’s to decide how much hardware is required to setup
a good VDI environment. You should consider following points before choosing the hypervisor technology for
the VDI setup.

PARALLELS VIRTUOZZO CONTAINERS BASED VDI
Parallels is a global leader in OS virtualization based solutions. Parallels Virtuozzo solution is the de-factor
software used for web hosting purposes where thin containers are required for virtual server hosting. Parallels
has now improved their solution to act as the lightest VDI solution.

1. Parallels is OS virtualization technology, I,e, it requires a host OS, namely Windows server platform.
Parallels uses the host OS and create independent light containers out of the same OS binaries.

2. Parallels containers are very light, starts from 100 MB RAM and 200 MB HDD space per container.

3. Parallels has built-in application streaming facility such that you need to install application once and
then you can share the application among other containers.

4. Parallels use requires Windows server platform as host OS and produce virtual desktops which are
running the same server OS and not Windows 7 or Windows XP desktops. Though themes are available
to make the desktops look like Windows 7 and Windows XP.

5. Desktop management , storage requirement and resource requirement is minimal in case of Parallels.

6. Applications that change time of systems or applications which are not terminal services friendly are not
supported on Parallels based VDI solution.

7. Windows Terminal services licenses are required for Parallels solution.

8. Parallels is highly recommended for simple task based applications. All applications must be tested fully
to verify the application compatibility.

Requirements for setting up VDI using Parallels solution


 Propalms VDI Solution,
 Parallels Virtuozzo Container Server
 Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition or Windows 2008 Server 64 bit Enterprise Edition

12.




For an approximation purpose, for 100 concurrent users, each user session consuming 200 MB of RAM, we will
need to setup a server farm with following configuration:

Windows 2003/2008 server 64 bit Enterprise Edition
RAM : 16 GB
CPU: Intel Xeon Processor 2.0 GHz or higher, 64 bit processor

Each server would be capable of support 50 virtual containers. So even if one server goes down, other two
serves can support total 100 users.


 Microsoft Windows Server License x no. of servers (3 here), Datacenter edition
 Microsoft Terminal Services CALs – per Seat/Per User (100 here)
 Propalms VDI License x 100 (concurrent users)
 Parallels Virtuozzo Container Server License (3 here, per socket based) OR go for 100 user VDI license
pack

VMWARE vSPHERE BASED VDI
VMWare is the global leader in hypervisor technology. The hypervisor platform of VMWare is named as vSphere
(earlier ESX).

1. VMWare creates virtual hardware and then OS needs to be installed separately in each virtual
machine. Though automation like golden images and cloning is available to avoid installation time of
OS for each virtual machine.

2. Each virtual machine required independent OS license key, Antivirus and firewall solution.

3. It is possible to install any OS in virtual machine created on VMWare.

4. VMWare based machines requires at least 1 GB RAM per machine and 10GB+ of HDD space. Hence
the RAM and storage requirements are very high.

5. With VMWare you get actual Windows 7 and Windows XP desktops and hence no application
compatibility issue.

Requirements for setting up VDI using VMWare solution


13.


 Propalms VDI Solution
 VMWare vSphere
 VMWare vCenter (Optional, for managing multiple VMware servers from single console)
 VMWare Composer (Optional, for advanced storage management like cloning)
 Windows Desktop OS – Windows 7 or Windows XP



For an approximation purpose, for 100 concurrent users, each user running Windows 7 machine with at least 1
GB of RAM and 20 GB HDD space, we will need to setup a server farm with following configuration:

RAM : 32 GB
Storage: 2 Terabytes (total)

Each server would be capable of support 40 virtual containers. So even if one server goes down, other three


 Microsoft VECD licenses for VDI
 Microsoft Desktop OS licenses (could be part of SA agreement)
 VMWare vSphere per server license
 VMWare Virtual Center license (optional)
 VMWare Composer license (optional) (if taken, this will save on administration and storage)

REDHAT KVM BASED VDI

KVM is an open source hypervisor solution. It is currently actively developed by Redhat.

1. Like VMWare, KVM creates virtual hardware and then OS needs to be installed separately in each
virtual machine.

2. Each virtual machine required independent OS license key, Antivirus and firewall solution.

3. It is possible to install any OS in virtual machine.

14.


4. KVM based machines requires at least 1 GB RAM per machine and 10GB+ of HDD space. Hence the
RAM and storage requirements are very high.

5. With KVM you get actual Windows 7 and Windows XP desktops and hence no application compatibility
issue.

6. KVM is a free and open source hypervisor.

Requirements for setting up VDI using KVM solution


 Propalms VDI Solution
 Fedora 12 with KVM
 Windows Desktop OS – Windows 7 or Windows XP



For an approximation purpose, for 100 concurrent users, each user running Windows 7 machine with at least 1
GB of RAM and 20 GB HDD space, we will need to setup a server farm with following configuration:

RAM : 32 GB
Storage: 2 Terabytes (total)

Each server would be capable of support 30 virtual containers. So even if one server goes down, other three


 Microsoft VECD licenses for VDI
 Microsoft Desktop OS licenses (could be part of SA agreement)

15.


BENEFITS OF THE VDI
Highly Agile Desktops
 Ability to create new desktops in seconds
 No OS license required for desktops, Propalms VDI takes care of OS licenses
 Shutdown, standby idle desktops , save resources
 Ability to control resource allocation like RAM, HDD, CPU on per user basis
 Ability to change desktop hardware configuration with rebooting or effecting live user
 Ability to add/delete applicationsto a desktop with effecting live user
 Do not install applications, deliver applications to desktops without installing applications
Simplified Management
 All application management is performed centrally.
 No application installation required on end user machine.
 Ability to rollout application upgrades in phases
 Dynamic hardware resource management for virtual desktops
Ease of Deployment
 Applications can be instantly delivered to end user’s devices without visiting them.
 No client device or operating system dependencies
 Application template technology makes application deployment very easy
 Ability to run different version of same applications
Security
 All data is kept centrally on the datacenter with no data left on laptops or PCs.
 Role based access to application and desktops; better application license utilization
 Control over how data is shared among users and applications
Availability
 Possibility to make desktops highly available.
 A desktop refresh will take seconds rather than hours
Support
 Support costs can be reduced as all users and applications can be managed centrally.
 Avoids all application install/upgrade and maintenance issues
Remote Working
 Easily provide access to applications from remote locations with local network type performance.
 Converts 2 tier high bandwidth applications to 3 tier applications; Avoid application bandwidth
constraints
 Secure access from network or device
 Deliver corporate desktops to users from anywhere
Lower TCO
 Total Cost of Ownership can be reduced dramatically and productivity can be increased.
 Reduce application license requirements by dynamically allocating application to users rather than
installing application license on each end user machine
 Avoid full PC to end users, save on OS license, AV license, and application licenses
 Better hardware utilization
 Go Green with thin clients and save on power and reduce carbon footprint

16.


WHEN TO CHOOSE VDI OVER TERMINAL SERVICES (TSE)
Most of the application delivery needs can be satisfied using terminal services (Proaplms TSE) only. There
are specific reasons to go for VDI based desktop delivery. Here are few:

 One of more Applications are not supported over terminal services because of following reasons
o Application require only desktop OS like XP/Vista. This is very rare as no application binds itself to
the desktop OSes. The application vendor may not have officially supported terminal services.
o Only one instance of the application can be invoked on a single OS
o Application requires administrator rights for operations
o Application is high resource intensive hence not feasible to have multiple users logged on to
same machine and running multiple instances of the application.
 Organizations really want to cut down on desktop management and move to virtual desktops
 Mobile users who use non-Windows OS like tablet PCs, mobile OS devices like iPad, Android, etc.
 Organization wants to go complete centralized computing for compliance reasons and terminal
services is no enough as users do want to have their own desktop.

WHY PROPALMS VDI
Propalms VDI is the most cost effective hypervisor agnostic solution. Propalms as a single vendor provides three
different solutions for all application access needs:

1. VDI for Virtual desktop delivery

2. TSE for application delivery over terminal services

3. VPN for secure remote access to network services and application servers

With these three products organizations can deliver any application to any type of users working from any
location.

VDI being a capital intensive solution, Propalms offers highly cost effective management solution.

VMWARE VDI vs PROPALMS VDI
Propalms VDI is a replacement solution for VMWare’s VDI offering VMWare View. Customer already using
VMWare platform tend to go for VMWare View solution which adds significantly to the cost of implementing
VDI. With Propalms VDI, customers can save huge cost by avoiding to buy VMWare View.

17.


About Propalms Network Private Limited
Propalms Network Private Limited is a software product development and IT solutions provider that offers next
generation application delivery and remote access infrastructure to organizations of any size. Propalms
Network is currently the only IT solutions provider which offers a complete stack of application, desktop &
network virtualization and delivery infrastructure that helps organizations to securely and efficiently deliver
applications & desktops to their corporate and mobile users, partners and extranet users.

Propalms Network specializes in helping telecom companies and enterprises to setup managed services and
SaaS based offerings leveraging on application virtualization and remote access products offered by Propalms
Network.

Propalms Network is a spinoff from Propalms Ltd. a UK based company listed on NASDAQ in US (Stock Symbol:
PRPM.PK). Propalms Network distributes Propalms products in India along with managing support and
engineering operations for Propalms Ltd. Propalms currently has terminal services management product, a SSL
VPN solution and a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution.

Propalms Network also has several other products n their portfolio including V-Clouds, a cloud based email
management solutions and EZMCOM, a cloud based two factor authentication solutions.

Contact us:

Email: info@propalmsnetwork.com

Web: www.propalmsnetwork.com

18.

Propalms Centralized Computing Solution Document

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

En vedette

En vedette (20)

Similaire à Propalms Centralized Computing Solution Document

Similaire à Propalms Centralized Computing Solution Document (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Propalms Centralized Computing Solution Document