Hi, Max Herrmann here again from the Remote Desktop Services team at Microsoft. Lots of news and activity this week at VMworld in San Francisco, including Microsoft’s open letter to VMware customers. Today, I wanted to discuss a question that is important to our large base of session virtualization customers: How do you decide between virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and session virtualization? And if you have already successfully deployed session virtualization, should you replace it with VDI?
Session virtualization is a centralized desktop computing architecture where multiple users share a single operating system and application image within individual sessions on a Windows Server host. Some key benefits of this architecture are streamlined desktop management, flexible access, and simplified regulatory compliance, all realized by routing the end users to a single desktop image in the datacenter. This sounds a lot like the promise of VDI, specifically of what some vendors, including Microsoft, refer to as (virtual) desktop pools.
This one-to-many relationship between a (more or less) static desktop image and a user population is possible today both with identically configured virtual desktop pools and with session virtualization. Both approaches make the most sense when personalization of the desktop or administrative access to the desktop is not critical for the user’s tasks, or not desirable from an IT support standpoint. This is often the case with so-called task workers, where high user productivity and providing users with a consistent and appropriate user experience specific to their task are important. So which technology—VDI with virtual desktop pools or session virtualization—should a customer deploy? The white paper that we recently published, Achieving Business Value through Microsoft VDI Together with Session Virtualization, provides you with some criteria to consider in your decision. Please also check out Michael’s blog on this subject; he argues that “… pooled VDI can be expensive and painful” – certainly when compared with session virtualization.
Now, what about “personal” virtual desktops: virtual desktops that are dedicated to specific users? What about those customers who deploy a combination of VDI and session virtualization? Well, with desktop virtualization, it always comes down to the use case and the worker profile you are targeting; there is really no one size fits all, and the white paper will actually provide some good, common sense guidance there as well.
The main point is that with Remote Desktop Services you don’t have to choose a single model. Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2 provides customers with a comprehensive platform to explore and deploy these different scenarios, while a whole ecosystem of Remote Desktop Services software and hardware partners provides powerful solutions designed to meet a much broader set of customer requirements. For example, while you could deploy Microsoft's inbox solution for virtual desktop pools on its own in low complexity environments, environments with higher complexity scale virtual desktop pools on top of Hyper-V should be implemented in conjunction with partner solutions such as Citrix XenDesktop. And, because a blog from me without the mention of Microsoft RemoteFX wouldn’t be complete, let me add that you can use products such as vWorkspace from Quest Software or PowerTerm WebConnect from Ericom today with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (now in beta) to experience and enhance a VDI or session virtualization environment with RemoteFX. Check out Ericom’s solution for managed access to RemoteFX desktops; you can find more information on their offering here. Or take a look at this RemoteFX demo which shows some of the work Quest have done to accelerate RemoteFX for the WAN.
If you haven’t already done so, I suggest that you download the beta of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and familiarize yourself with the new virtualization capabilities in it. And make sure you give our partners’ solutions consideration as well, as they will undoubtedly make your life easier as you try and scale up your planned server-hosted desktop environment. As you conduct your evaluation, remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Sessions scale, while personal virtual desktops let you give your users more control. Use your own needs—not the limitations of a technology—to decide which model(s) fit(s) your business best.
The Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster is available in PDF format on the Microsoft Download Center (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=200520).
This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Remote Desktop Services technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2. It explains the functions and roles of Remote Desktop Session Host, Remote Desktop Virtualization Host, Remote Desktop Connection Broker, Remote Desktop Web Access, Remote Desktop Gateway, and Remote Desktop Licensing and RemoteFX.
As part of the RDP Client Licensing program, RDP licensees are now able to get reference source code for an implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol and its extensions.
Important to note:
The following table outlines the functionality included in the RDP client reference code.
Feature
Details
Connectivity and capability, including codec negotiation
Maintains connectivity stages and client capability exchange
Bitmap remoting
Enables bitmap remoting over Remote Desktop Protocol
Bitmap compression
Includes multiple bitmap decoding codecs, including the basic RLE and latest RDP 7.1 RemoteFX codec
Bulk compression
Includes multiple bulk compressors, including the most recent RDP 7 era decompressors
Clipboard redirection
Supports copy and paste of content and files between remote sessions or between local and remote sessions
Audio playback redirection
Enables audio remoting over RDP and played on the client device
This code will be made available as an amendment to the existing RDP Client License. For more information, contact Dick Greeley (dickg@microsoft.com) or iplicreq@microsoft.com.
The RD Gateway Capacity Planning in Windows Server 2008 R2 is now available on the download center. This document contains scalability results, testing methodologies, analysis, and guidelines for RD Gateway. It describes the most relevant factors that influence the capacity of a given deployment, methodologies to evaluate capacity for specific deployments, and a set of experimental results for different combinations of usage scenarios and hardware configurations.
The Remote Desktop Services Migration Guide is now live on TechNet. This document provides guidance for migrating the Remote Desktop Services role services in Windows Server® 2008 R2 and for Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 to Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2.
This migration guide contains step-by-step instructions for migrating the following role services:
The migration guide provides an overview of the Remote Desktop Services migration and what will be migrated for Remote Desktop Services role services, tasks that apply to migrating all the role services, and the migration process.
In March, Microsoft announced RemoteFX and how it enables a rich desktop experience for endpoint devices ranging from traditional PCs to the most lightweight of thin client devices. Customers have since been eager to get their hands on the code. Yesterday, at WPC, we announced that RemoteFX is available to the public through Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta! We want to make sure that your testing of RemoteFX for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and session virtualization goes smoothly. Therefore, in this blog, we provide additional guidance on the documentation we’ve created for your beta testing.
To get started with RemoteFX, first identify the server and hardware that you’ll use. In the RemoteFX for RD Virtualization Host (RDVH) (VDI) scenario, the server must meet the requirements identified in the hardware considerations guide for Windows Server 2008 SP1. This includes CPU support for SLAT and up to 4 GPUs. (We discuss more about GPUs below.) For the RemoteFX for RD Session Host (session virtualization, formerly known as the Terminal Server) scenario, the server CPU must support SSE2 but GPUs are not required.
Our partners have blogged about GPUs that will work with RemoteFX in SP1 beta. For details, see Max’s blog post. The list of GPUs will continue to grow and evolve as we near our final release. To evaluate the beta, we recommend that you select GPUs from this list. We recommend the following drivers available from our partners: Nvidia drivers version 195.62 and 196.21, and ATI driver versions 8.720 and 8.723. We continue to work closely with all our partners to ensure that customers can reliably access drivers for their RemoteFX solutions, including through our participation in the next Logo kit.
At this time we are also publishing a set of documentation, listed below. We recommend that you start with the hardware considerations guide when beta-testing the VDI scenario, in order to understand server requirements and capacity planning for your virtual machines. We recommend that customers test the RemoteFX Beta with up to 12 users for each Enterprise class GPU. You can then learn how to configure a single server in the Deploying a Single RemoteFX Server Step-by-Step Guide. For the session virtualization scenario with RD Session Host, you can jump directly into the Using RemoteFX with “Classic” Remote Desktop Services Step-by-Step Guide. The other documents provide overviews for the technology and detailed steps for configuring RemoteFX based on each scenario.
We appreciate your interest in RemoteFX and invite you to download and evaluate the beta. Please try out your use cases and scenarios by using this beta and post your feedback. Please post your queries on http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en/winserverTS/threads or send an email to remotefx@microsoft.com
The following list includes all the new documents available with the SP1 Beta:
Hi, Max Herrmann here again, and today I am writing to you from our Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington D.C. where we are talking to 9,000+ partners about the public beta release of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Check out Oliver's blog about SP1 beta and download the code to evaluate the new features and benefits that SP1 can provide for server and desktop installations.
Partner support and momentum for Microsoft RemoteFX is heating up. Back in March, when we first disclosed Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, a number of hardware and software partners expressed their future support for this exciting, new set of technologies that will enable a local-like, media-rich desktop experience for users of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment. Since then, software and hardware partners have accelerated their RemoteFX-related developments, and today several partners made statements around products that you can use today to set up and experience RemoteFX in your own beta test environment:
With the help of our partners, RemoteFX is coming along nicely, and really offer great value-add for folks looking to deploy server-hosted desktops in the datacenter. I would strongly encourage you to download the SP1 bits and take RemoteFX for a ride - I am sure you will like what you will see. And please make sure you check the RDS blog site tomorrow where we will provide additional guidance for beta deployments of RemoteFX.
Max
The RD Virtualization Host Capacity Planning in Windows Server 2008 R2 is now live on the Download Center. This white paper is intended as a guide for capacity planning of RD Virtualization Host in Windows Server 2008 R2. It describes the most relevant factors that influence the capacity of a given deployment, methodologies to evaluate capacity for specific deployments, and a set of experimental results for different combinations of usage scenarios and hardware configurations.
In April, Max Herrmann posted a blog article announcing our newest device redirection feature for Remote Desktop Virtualization Host: RemoteFX USB redirection. In this three-part series, we’ll take a closer look at the feature and how it helps close the gap between the user experience of a local user sitting at their physical desktop and that of a remote user connected to a virtual desktop. The first part of the series gives an overview of the feature and what it can do, and how to set up a basic deployment of the feature.
Feature OverviewThe goal of RemoteFX USB redirection is simple: the user should be able to use any device they want, and have it just work. RDP has numerous high-level redirections that allow specific types of devices to be used effectively in a remote session, such as:
However, there are many devices which are not covered by these redirections, such as scanners, multifunction printers, webcams, and more. RemoteFX USB redirection acts as a catch-all mechanism that redirects these USB devices! Unlike high-level redirections such as drive redirection, RemoteFX USB redirection happens at the port protocol (USB request block or URB) level, and is similar to how one can redirect serial or parallel ports via RDP. This provides some unique advantages, as you’ll see below. However, RemoteFX USB redirection is meant to supplement high-level redirections, not to supplant them. By combining RemoteFX USB redirection with RDP high-level device redirections, you can have the best of both worlds. Here is a table that compares and contrasts the two forms of redirection.
RemoteFX USB Redirection…
RDP High-Level Device Redirection…
Does not require drivers on the client
Requires drivers for the device to be installed on the client
Requires the device driver to be installed on the server
Generally does not require drivers on the server
Uses one redirection method for many types of devices
Uses a specific, unique method for each type of device being redirected
Forwards URBs to and from the device over the RDP connection
Exposes high-level device functionality in the remote session by using an optimized protocol for the device type
Enables only one session to use a device at a given time; the local client cannot use the device while an RDP session is using it
Enables any number of sessions to access the device simultaneously, including the local client
Is optimized for the LAN, like the rest of RemoteFX
Works with both LAN and WAN
Setting up a Basic DeploymentNow that you’ve seen what RemoteFX USB redirection can do, let’s take a look at how to set up the feature.
PrerequisitesYou will need the following:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first part in our series of blogs about RemoteFX USB redirection. In Part 2, we’re going to talk about some deployment-related topics, including setting up publishing and RD Web Access for rich and thin clients, and server device security. If you have any questions or comments, please post them to the blog, or send us an e-mail at rfxusb@microsoft.com . We look forward to hearing from you.
Hello there,
I’m Nelly Porter, Group Program Manager at Microsoft, and I'm working on the coolest remoting technology: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and RemoteFX.
This week I’m attending TechEd 2010 in New Orleans discussing RDP and RemoteFX in depth and show some very interesting demos.
For all of you who are planning to come to TechEd this week, we’ll see you during our breakout sessions and in our booth. Please keep in mind that some of the sessions are scheduled at inconvenient times like 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. I know that it will be a heroic act for you to join these sessions, but without you—our RDP supporters, fans, and critics—all of our efforts will be wasted.
Track
Title
Speakers
Date/Time
VIR317
Desktop Virtualization: You Have a Choice
Robin Brandl
Monday, 6/7
2:45 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
VIR07-INT
Solving the VDI Licensing Puzzle
Robin Brandl
Monday, 6/7
4:30 p.m.–5:45 p.m.
VIR305
Microsoft RemoteFX: Rich Windows Desktop Experience for VDI and Session Virtualization
Karthik Lakshminarayanan
Tuesday, 6/8
9:45 a.m.–11:00 a.m.
VIR311
Planning and Deploying Microsoft VDI with Management Technologies
Michael Kleef
Tuesday, 6/8
1:30 p.m.–2:15 p.m.
WSV309
WSV309 - Microsoft RemoteFX: USB and Device Support
Nelly Porter
Wednesday, 6/9
8:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m.
VIR313
VDI from Microsoft and Citrix: What is it? How do I manage it? What benefits does it provide?
Robin Brandl
Wednesday, 6/9
11:45 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
WSV205
Remote Desktop Services: Virtual and Session-Based Desktops and Applications Architecture with Partners
Michael Kleef
Thursday, 6/10
9:45 a.m.–11:00 a.m.
WSV13-INT
Next Generation VDI with Microsoft RemoteFX
Karthik Lakshminarayanan; Michael Kleef
Thursday, 6/10
8:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m.
I hope you can make it! See you there.
Hi everyone,
We have two important announcements to make:
1. RDS Management Pack
The Remote Desktop Services Management Pack enables proactive health monitoring of the following role services:
This management pack can be downloaded from the following locations:
Some of the key features of the pack include:
a. Health monitoring of all Remote Desktop Services role services (RD Session Host, RD Virtualization Host, RD Connection Broker, RD Web Access, RD Gateway, and RD Licensing)
b. Detailed troubleshooting knowledge content
c. Dashboard view of session statistics and performance
You can also customize the management pack to add your own health monitoring scenarios or override the behavior of the built-in health monitoring scenarios. Refer to the management pack guide for additional information.
2. Best Practices Analyzer update for Remote Desktop ServicesThe Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Server 2008 R2. BPA can help you reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations.
We have released a Windows update that adds new best practices to the list of best practices that are available with Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM. The update is available through Windows Update and can be downloaded from the Download Center.
In addition, you can access online articles about these best practices at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd391873(WS.10).aspx.
Thanks, and we hope you find this useful.
Companies that are creating an implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol set can license the Intellectual Property(IP) rights they need from Microsoft by signing the RDP Client License. Products that might need these rights to interact with Windows Remote Desktop Servers (Sessions or VM based) include:
To understand if you might need the patent rights associated with the protocols, Microsoft has also published a map of which patents are associated with each protocol.
http://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/patent-rights/mcpp-licensing/
The copyrighted documentation for the protocols has been available for free on MSDN for over two years:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc216517(v=prot.10).aspx
To learn more about the license and other benefits of being a licensee, please contact Dick Greeley (dickg@microsoft.com) or iplicreq@microsoft.com.
Other Benefits of the RDP Client LicenseIn addition to receiving a license to the patent rights you need, companies that have taken the RDP Client license will also enjoy:
The Remote Desktop Services Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 is now live on the Download Center and on TechNet. This guide is intended for use by system administrators and system engineers who are responsible for deploying the role services and features for Remote Desktop Services for the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment. It provides detailed guidance for deploying a Remote Desktop Services design that is preselected by you, an infrastructure specialist, or a system architect in your organization.
The Terminal Services Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 is now live on the Download Center and on TechNet. This guide is intended for use by system administrators and system engineers who are responsible for deploying the role services and features for Terminal Services. It provides detailed guidance for deploying a Terminal Services design that is preselected by you, an infrastructure specialist, or a system architect in your organization.