Desktop Virtualization @ U-M
September 28, 2011
Ryan Henyard
ITS – Desktop Infrastructure
Overview
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Introduction to Desktop Virtualization
MyDesktop Service
How We Got There
Use Cases
Takeaways
Future Plans
Our Mission
Provide a campus service to:
-  Access applications and/or
customized desktops
remotely
-  Increased security
-  Manage desktops more
efficiently
-  Potentially save on energy,
equipment, and physical
space
-  Develop distributed
administration model which
allows admins to manage
their own desktop images
and settings.
A number of intersecting efforts…
Server
Virtualization
(VaaS)
Virtual
Sites
VDI
Enterprise
Storage
Shared
Desktop
Image
…and other incentives
•  Reducing redundancy
–  Momentum on campus towards VDI; various
units already considering/piloting VDI
technologies
–  Centrally provided service would save
University money; units could benefit from
more buying power for new infrastructure
–  Saving effort by providing shared
infrastructure
Create new VDI
network
We provision a
Network for each
new customer; some
customers have
more than one
network to meet
different security
needs
Add VDI Base
Image
Customers have
options for their base
images:
- Create new blank VM
(for existing
provisioning systems)
- Copy of U-M Shared
Desktop image
- Import existing image
file
- Customer chooses
specs for machines (#
of processors, RAM,
HDD)
Create Pool of
VMs based on
image
Customers can
create multiple pools
from one base image
Customers are billed
based on pool size;
per machine cost
determined via
formula partially
based on specs
VDI Pools
Non-Persistent Pools
–  “floating” pools of machines
–  Users are connected to a random clone,
which can be reverted back to your last
snapshot after logout
Persistent Pools
–  Dedicated 1-to-1 user assignment
–  Machines are permanently assigned to a user
after the first connection; can be paired with
separate disk for user data
How Did We Get There?
Project Summary
•  Service officially in production after 10
months of project/pilot : 9/09-6/10
•  Short exploratory phase to select a vendor
•  Relied on existing expertise with various
components
Choosing VMWare
•  Previous expertise on campus with their
products
•  Existing VMWare ESX infrastructure
•  Relatively compact server architecture
required
•  Wide compatibility with thin client devices
•  Active Directory integrated access
management
Choosing VMWare
•  Significant disk savings using Linked
Clone technology
•  Connection software available for
Windows, OSX and Linux
•  Important new features available in View
4.5 (delegated administration, viable
persistence
Initial Use Cases
Virtual Sites
•  ITS-managed environment
•  A virtualized desktop nearly
identical to our campus
computing labs
•  Provides common and
specialized software to
windows users on an as
needed basis
•  Give Mac users a way to use
Windows-only course
software
•  Available to students, faculty
& full-time staff
Virtual Desktop Hosting
•  Unit-managed environment
–  Allows units to maintain management &
control of the OS
–  Units can use existing resources (images,
deployment systems, group policy, network
shares, etc.)
–  Units control availability
Virtual Classrooms
•  Specialized Virtual Sites image
•  Gives units the ability to reserve large
blocks of Virtual Sites machines through
the MyDesktop service
Rates
1 Base Virtual Machine
$21.35/month ($256.20 annually)
Includes 1 CPU, 2GB RAM, 40GB Disk
Additional 1GB storage space
$0.28/month ($3.36 annually)
Additional 1GB RAM
$3.11/month ($37.32 annually)
Additional 1 CPU
$3.11/month ($37.32 annually)
VDI machines are ‘fully costed’ – includes staff time, hardware, power, etc.
The biggest impetus for moving to VDI is not that virtual machines are cheaper
than physical hardware; the savings come from easier management,
provisioning, user continuity & remote access.
Streamlining the
Process
•  Campus Admin Pool
–  A pool of desktops that Unit admins use to work on
and manage their base images.
–  Users new to virtualization can learn by doing:
building their VDI images using the system itself
•  Trial Network
–  Trial network allows units to start working on their
base images almost immediately, and then transfer
them once their unit s network is available.
Campus Examples
ICPSR
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social
Research
•  Deploys pools of non-persistent desktops to
allow secure access to sensitive datasets
•  Limits access to desktops based on IP
•  Provides strictly licensed applications on VMs to
reduce potential costs
•  Uses roaming profiles & network shares to store
user data
ITS Desktop Support
•  Provides remote access to common
loadset for Business & Finance along with
ITS
•  Uses roaming profiles & CIFS Storage to
store user data
•  Aids in transition to Windows 7
School of Social Work
•  70 Dell Latitude E5520 laptops with SSD
hard drives and extended batteries
•  Homegrown software thin-client,
configured with automatic logins and pool
connections
•  Connects to a Virtual Classroom pool of
customized Virtual Sites machines
What we learned
•  VDI can be an invaluable tool for testing
–  Test environments can be grown and
decommissioned quickly
–  snapshots enable easy rollback of unintended
changes
•  Many of the quick win use cases involved nonpersistent desktops
–  Admins liked being able to ensure the integrity of a
machine, knowing it is deleted after first use
What we learned
•  Users want a solution that works on a wide
variety of devices
–  Our pilots have connected via traditional desktops,
laptops, Macs, netbooks, thin clients, iPads and
iPhones
–  USB Redirection grants the possibility of using
location-specific peripherals in conjunction with
remote desktops
Future Plans
•  Expansion of Virtual Sites
•  Upgrade to View 5.0
–  Enables more delegated administration of
desktop pools, improved bandwidth
usageprofile management
•  Application Virtualization
Questions?
Contact
•  MyDesktop Service
http://mydesktop.umich.edu
•  Desktop Virtualization Website
http://www.itcs.umich.edu/virtualization/desktop
•  Desktop Virtualization Team
vdi.requests@umich.edu