VMware ThinApp
A Guide for Enterprise VMware ThinApp Deployments
REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE
VMware
ThinApp Reference Architecture
Contents
About This Guide............................................................................................ 1
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
Goals .............................................................................................................. 1
Reference Architecture Components.............................................................. 2
ThinApp Packaging Framework.............................................................................................................................................................2
Sour ce F older ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
UAT Folder .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Production F older ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Application Packaging Considerations............................................................................................................................................2
De ter mining the Execution M ode ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Up date Me cha nis m ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Application Depe nde ncies ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Active Directory Integration......................................................................................................................................................................4
Active Dire ctor y Gr oup Policy Ma na ge me nt........................................................................................................................................ 4
Active Dire ctor y-Bas ed A ccess C ontr ol ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Active Dire ctor y S cr ipt- base d Applica tion Re gistration................................................................................................................ 5
Storage Layer Design Considerations...............................................................................................................................................5
Be nefits of DFS ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Utilizing DFS with VM war e T hinApp ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Network Layer Design Considerations.............................................................................................................................................6
Using C ompre ssion with Strea ming E xe cution M ode .................................................................................................................... 6
VMware View Integration............................................................................................................................................................................6
Des ktop Per siste nce .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Vie w Comp oser C onsidera tions .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Inte gration of VMwa re View C omp ose r a nd T hinApp .................................................................................................................... 8
Reference Architecture Design ....................................................................... 8
Use Case Descriptions and Diagrams................................................................................................................................................8
VMware ThinApp Test Bed......................................................................................................................................................................12
Vir tua l Inf rastr uctur e ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Physica l Se rver C onf iguration ................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Physica l Ne twor k Details .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Vir tua l Des ktop C onf iguration .................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Application C onf iguration .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Stora ge C onfiguration................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Workload Description..................................................................................................................................................................................16
User Simula tion Workloa d........................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Contents
ii
VMware
ThinApp Reference Architecture
Unit Tes t Workload.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Validation Testing ........................................................................................ 16
Summary of Unit Testing Procedure...............................................................................................................................................16
Unit Tes ting Res ults ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Summary of Scalability Testing Procedure.................................................................................................................................18
Scalab ility Tes ting Res ults ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 21
About the Author ......................................................................................... 21
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 21
Resources ..................................................................................................... 21
Contents
iii
About This Guide
This docu men t provides th e design co nsideratio ns and architectu re that cu sto mers and partn ers
need f o r enterprise implemen tatio ns of VM ware® ThinApp, f o r bo th phy sical and VM ware V iew
deskto p environ men ts. P lease co n su lt bo th this document and the VMw are View Ref erence
Arc h itec ture wh en implemen ting VM ware ThinApp in a VM ware View enviro nment.
Introduction
VMware Thin App is an agentless application virtu alizatio n so lu tion that allo ws IT o rganizatio ns to
provide applicatio ns to en d u sers with ou t managing the co mplex ity of applicatio n conf licts and
prerequ isites o r operatin g system dependencies. V Mware virtu al machine techno logy deco u ples
the o peratin g sy stem fro m h ardware. Similarly, VM ware ThinApp techno lo gy decou ples the
applicatio n f ro m th e o peratin g sy stem, fo r flex ibility, po rtability , and isolatio n. VM ware ThinApp
plu gs directly in to ex istin g IT too ls and pro cesses, enabling corporate IT o rganizatio ns and ISVs to
deliver encapsu lated applicatio n con tainers across a variety o f o perating sy stems withou t
co mplex con figuratio n an d in stallation requ irements.
VMware Thin App integrates n atively with Active Directo ry as well as with many o ther third-party
so lutions f o r desk to p man agemen t. All the f unctio ns discussed in this docu ment u tilize native
featu res and fu nction s o f th e gen erally available VM ware ThinApp techno lo gy. V Mware ThinApp
also has partn ered with specific vendo rs to deliver cu sto mized and integrated f unctio nality fo r
deploy ment, discovery, in ven to ry, an d license u tilization. This integratio n can fu rther increase
operational an d admin istrative ef f icien cies fo r o rganizations u tilizing application virtu alizatio n.
By abstractin g application s f rom th e u nderlying o perating sy stems, applicatio n virtu alizatio n
au gments bo th traditio nal an d virtu al desk to p so lu tions. Many cu sto mers have deplo y ed
applicatio n virtualization to th eir phy sical devices as a f irst step toward a transitio n to virtu al
deskto ps as h ardware ref resh cycles o ccu r o r o perating sy stem migrations are mandated. VM ware
ThinApp tech no lo gy delivers th e same benef its f o r phy sical desk tops, virtu al desk to ps, and
terminal services-based platf o rms. Th e use of ex isting inf rastructu re fo r distribu tio n, update, and
registratio n o f virtualized applicatio n s to end users allo ws custo mers to leverage the benefits o f
applicatio n virtualization rapidly acro ss the enterprise.
Goals
The go al o f th is guide is to provide a scalable mo del fo r deploy ment of virtu alized application s in
the enterprise, addressin g mu ltiple use cases fo r physical and virtual desk to ps, with design
co nsideratio n s of mu ltiple co mpon en ts fo r each u se case.
The architectu re u ses common co mpo nents and standardization to redu ce the co mplex ity of
implementatio n an d design. M an y o f the inf rastru ctu re co mpo nents u sed to validate the
ref erence arch itecture are in terch an geable, so yo u can u se components fro m yo u r vendo r o f
choice to incorporate u n iqu e f eatu res that enhance the valu e o f the o verall so lu tion. This VM ware
ThinApp ref eren ce arch itecture specif ically fo cu ses o n integration with Active Directo ry, the u se
of Distribu ted File System techn o lo gy f o r f ile shares, and V iew Co mpo ser consideratio ns. A more
co mprehensive discu ssio n of th e VM ware View so lu tion is described in the VMware Vie w Re fe renc e
Arc h itec ture.
All desk top instances cited in th is docu ment and the acco mpany ing validation testing were
virtu al mach in es. Given th e fo cu s on the architectural design rather than the WAN perf o rmance,
we did no t measu re th e display latency fo r the V Mware V iew desk to ps. The metrics gathered
ref lect the perfo rman ce o f th e virtualized application inside the virtu al machines, no t the display
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
from the V iew clien t at th e en dpo in t. A more co mprehensive discussio n o f WAN design fo r th e
VMware V iew so lu tion is described in the VMwa re View W AN Refe re nce Arch itec tu re.
Reference Architecture Components
This docu men t co n tains design gu idance fo r mu ltiple u se cases and reco mmends specif ic
co nf igu ration appro ach es. Th e f irst section reviews the basic stru ctu re o f the packaging process
and consideratio ns fo r virtualizin g applicatio ns f o r distribu tio n. Su bsequ ent sections discu ss
co nsideratio n s specific to V Mware Th inApp co nf igu rations with mu ltiple lay ers of inf rastru ctu re.
ThinApp Packaging Framework
VMware Thin App packages are created as part of the Setu p Captu re process. Du ring this process,
the application f iles and registry are co mbined with administrative settings that are embedded
into the final package f or distribu tion . As applicatio ns are u pdated and co nf igu rations are
changed, the packages are rebu ilt to embed the changes into the package. The So urce, U AT, and
Pro du ctio n fo lders, described belo w, provide a co mmo nly used f ramewo rk fo r stru ctu ring the
process o f application packagin g.
Source Folder
The So u rce Fo lder co n tains th e pro ject directo ries created by the VM ware ThinApp Setu p Captu re
process. The pro ject directo ries co n tain what can be considered the ‘so urce co de’ of these
applicatio n pack ages an d admin istrative settings. M aintain these pro ject directo ries in a locatio n
that is back ed up regu larly an d h as access co ntro l mechanisms that allo w o nly administrative
access.
UAT Folder
The Unit Acceptance Testing Fo lder pro vides an intermediary locatio n to perf orm testing and QA
procedures. To en sure qu ality testing, this lo catio n shou ld represent the f inal end-user
co mmu nity as clo sely as po ssible.
Production Folder
The P ro du ctio n Folder is a read-o n ly f ile-share made available to end u sers f o r V Mware ThinApp
pack ages that are run in streaming ex ecu tion mo de. End u sers run the virtualized applications
directly f rom th is location . Since th e Produ ction Fo lder is critical and u ser-f acing, it sho u ld be
mo nito red fo r availability and perf o rmance. DFS o r o ther techno logies that provide high
availability are h igh ly reco mmen ded. The V Mware ThinApp R ef erence Architectu re implemen ts
Micro so f t DFS, wh ich is available to most cu sto mers witho u t additional co st and provides an
adequ ate so lu tion with co mmo n components. Figure 1 illu strates the ro le of each fo lder and
basic f lo w o f th e pack aging pro cess.
Application Packaging Considerations
Bef o re virtu alizin g application s with th e Setup Captu re pro cess, IT o rganizations shou ld determine
so me specif ics o f th e scen ario in to which the pack age will be deploy ed. Fo r a co mprehensive
discu ssion of th ese co n sideration s an d their implementation, see the VMwa re Th in App Dep lo ymen t
Guid e and VMware Th in App Use r’s Man ua l.
Reference Architecture Compo nents
2
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Figur e 1. Thi n Ap p P ackagi ng Fol d er Framewor k
Determining t he Execution Mode
VMware Thin App allo ws IT o rgan izatio ns to determine whether to use strea m ing or d ep lo yed
ex ecu tio n mo de o r to ado pt a hy brid appro ach that lets them manage a standard set of
applicatio ns cen trally wh ile distribu tin g o thers in deploy ed mo de. The same virtu alized
applicatio n pack ages can be used f or either ex ecu tion mode.
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Strea m ing E xecu tion mode allo ws the application to be sto red centrally and accessed by
mu ltiple u sers. Th is on e-to -many mo del provides centralized deploy ment and u pdate of an
applicatio n packa ge to mu ltiple en d u sers f o r ex ecu tio n via a Windows deskto p sho rtcu t. The
user laun ch es th e application f rom the central netwo rk lo cation where the applicatio n resides
and streams data as n eeded wh ile the applicatio n is in use.
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Dep lo yed E xecu tion mo de distribu tes the virtualized applicatio n pack ages to the end u ser’s
sy stem, o n th e local f ile system o r on a U SB device. In this distribu ted mo del, each client
device receives and ex ecu tes th e p ackage locally and theref ore can ru n the applicatio n
regardless of n etwo rk co nn ectivity. End-user devices that are occasionally o r alway s o ff line
requ ire deploy ed ex ecu tio n mo de.
Update Mechanism
There are two primary metho ds fo r u pdating virtu alized applicatio ns:
•
Th e Side-by-Side (ak a In teger) u pdate method fo r applicatio n pack ages can be u sed either fo r
streamin g o r f or deploy ed ex ecu tio n mo de. There is no requ irement f o r application do wn time.
This metho d places th e n ew applicatio n pack age in the same directo ry as the original
applicatio n pack age an d in cremen ts the f ilename ex tension to an integer nu mber.
Su bsequ en t updates can be placed in the directo ries with ex tensio ns .2, .3, etc. Fo r example,
Reference Architecture Compo nents
3
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
placing M o zilla Firefox .1 in the same directo ry with M o zilla Firefo x wou ld au to matically u pdate
users to ex ecu te th e Mo zilla Firef ox.1 package.
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Application Sy nc is a fu nction ality that can be embedded into VM ware ThinApp applicatio n
pack ages. Applicatio n Syn c provides u pdates to u nmanaged machines that connect over
netwo rk s th at are k no wn to h ave so me degree o f latency . AppSy nc pro vides a mechanism fo r
a dif f eren tial tran sf er over HT TP to the endpo int, so it is o nly used f or application pack ages in
deploy ed ex ecu tio n mode. Applicatio n Sync can o ptio nally u tilize a U NC po int to retrieve
updates f rom locatio ns with in a co rpo rate enviro nment. When an applicatio n starts,
Application Sy nc can qu ery a Web server o r f ile share to see if an u pdated version of the
pack age is available.
Application Dependencies
Application Link is a VM ware Th in App f eatu re that allows the administrato r to bu ild relationships
between pack ages, creatin g mo du lar pack ages that link together instead o f larger pack ages that
are mo re diff icu lt to distribu te an d u pdate. Administrato rs can use Applicatio n Link to create
relatio nships between lo cal o r remote applicatio n pack ages co ntaining co mponents o r
dependencies. Admin istrato r can con figure the o riginating applicatio n pack age to loo k f irst in a
lo cal directo ry an d th en in a remo te directo ry if the requ ired or o ptional co mponent canno t be
fou nd. To pro vide a lo gical link to th e remote directo ry y ou can u se a domain -based DFS
namespace. Fu rth er detail is provided in the Sto rage Layer Design Co nsideratio ns sectio n.
Application Link pro vides th e f o llo win g f unctio ns:
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Link s ru n time co mpo n en ts, su ch as .NET, JR E, o r ODB C drivers, with dependent applications.
Fo r example, y ou can link .NET to an application even if the lo cal machine fo r the application
do es no t allo w f o r th e in stallatio n o f .NET o r already has a dif f erent versio n of .NET.
•
Allo ws admin istrato rs to deploy applicatio n -specific co mpo nents and plu g-ins separately fro m
the base applicatio n. Fo r ex ample, yo u might separate Adobe Flash Play er or Ado be R eader
from a base Firefo x application an d link the components.
Active Directory Integration
VMware Thin App su ppo rts native Active Directo ry integratio n to manage co nf igu ratio n of u ser
data lo cation s, dy namic applicatio n ch anges, registratio n of applicatio n pack ages, and access
co ntrol.
Active Directory Group Policy Management
Fo lder R edirectio n gro u p po licies can be u sed to redirect sto rage of a u ser’s applicatio n settings
and u ser data. Th e locatio ns can be redirected to a user’s ro aming pro f ile o r home directo ry o r
View Co mpo ser U ser Data Disk. Note: F ol de rs wi t hi n vi rt uali ze d a ppli cat ions ca nnot be
re di re cte d t o UNC-sty le pa t h l oca ti ons. (see KB article 1013933)
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Application Data
This lo catio n h ou ses th e sandbo x, lo cated in the u ser’s prof ile by def au lt, to store runtime
changes to th e virtu alized applicatio ns registry, fo lders, and f iles. This lo cation ho u ses the
info rmation that gives u sers a persistent application experience f or thing lik e to o lbar settings
an d custo mized o ptio n s within th e applicatio ns.
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My Do cu men ts
Redirectio n o f th is locatio n to a u ser’s ho me drive o r o ther conf igured lo cation ensu res that
user data is well man aged. V irtu alized and natively installed applicatio ns defau lt to saving
do cu men ts in th is locatio n.
Reference Architecture Compo nents
4
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Active Directory-Based Access Control
Administrato rs can use Active Directo ry grou ps to contro l access to virtu alized applicatio ns. The
setup ca pture pro cess allo ws administrato rs to enumerate and assign Active Directo ry gro u ps.
Those assignmen ts are embedded in to the package du ring the bu ild process. This process
po pu lates the P ermittedG ro u ps parameter in the Pack age.ini and restricts usage of a pack age to a
specif ic set o f Active Directo ry u sers. Administrato rs can o ptionally cu sto mize the erro r message
to u sers if th ey are no t allowed to lau nch the applicatio n. Fo r a desk to p that is of fline, the
PermittedG rou ps fu nction u tilizes cached credentials to determine whether the user has
permission to laun ch th e application .
Active Directory Script- based Application Registration
Registration of virtu alized applicatio ns to end u sers creates sho rtcu ts o n the desk to p, f ile-type
asso ciations, an d en tries in th e Add/R emove programs applet of the Contro l P anel. The Thinreg
utility helps to auto mate th e registration pro cess. Thinreg.ex e can be run f rom a lo gin script, a
lo cal script, or a co mmand line. Since the registration pro cess can enumerate which u sers have
access to applicatio n pack ages, th e ThinR eg process can be ru n against an entire directo ry o f
applicatio n pack ages; ho wever, it o n ly registers the applications to which the u ser is entitled. Two
co mmo n metho ds o f implemen tation are described brief ly belo w.
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Login Script based
Implemen tation o f th e Th in reg ex ecu table can be inco rporated into an ex isting lo gin script
with standard metho ds su ch as .bat, WSH, KIX, o r vbScript. See ex ample belo w;
%lo go n server%\ n etlo go n\ thin reg.ex e \\ co mpany.com\applications\ *.ex e / Q
•
Local Script via R egistry R un Key
IT o rganizatio ns can ch oo se to implement the application registration pro cess lo cally o n the
wo rk station s in stead of in co rpo rating it into the login script. The R un k ey of the registry can
call the Th in reg.ex e f ile to perf o rm the nec essary fu nctions o n lo gin. P lacing the Thinreg.ex e
in the Win do ws directo ry simplif ies the ex ecu tion of the script and requ ires no thing mo re
than the ex ecu table to fu n ction .
Storage Layer Design Considerations
When u sers lau nch applicatio ns in streaming mo de, they mu st have read access to the sto rage
lo cation of th e application package th at the Windo ws sho rtcu t ref erences. The sto rage lo cation
that ho sts the Prod fo lder sho uld be made highly available so that do wntime o f a ho st o r sto rage
device do es no t impact th e en viro nment. Since end u sers only read the pack age fro m the central
lo cation, the disk u sage pattern is en tirely read-o riented, so the sto rage sho u ld be co nf igu red f o r
optimal read perf o rman ce. Th e u se o f any nu mber of SAN, DFS, o r f ile replicatio n techno lo gies is
su ff icient to mak e th e f ile sh are h igh ly available and redu ndant.
Benefits of DFS
Many IT o rgan izatio ns u tilize Micro so f t DFS o r Micro so f t Windo ws Server 2003 o r 2008 to ho st f ile
services. DFS o ff ers su bstan tial ben ef its in terms of lower administrative overhead f o r fo lder
management, bu ilt-in replicatio n, an d the co nvenience of centrally administered DFS do main
namespaces. Fo r detailed M icro so f t DFS co nf igu ration and implementatio n gu idance see:
http:// www.micro so f t.co m/ win dowsserver2003/ techno logies/ sto rage/dfs/defau lt.mspx
Utilizing DFS wit h VMware ThinApp
Reference Architecture Compo nents
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VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
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Do main -based Namespaces
Administrato rs can leverage th e capabilities o f DFS to create a single lo gical ref erence to a
fo lder th at h ou ses virtualized applications, f o r example, \ \co mpanyco m\ Applications. Use
do main -based n amespaces fo r DFS links, which are placed into the Active Directo ry schema.
Do main -based n amespaces are th en natively replicated throu ghou t the Active Directo ry
inf rastru ctu re, pro vidin g f au lt tolerance f or the DFS namespace.
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DFS Targets an d R eplicatio n
DFS Namespaces can be con figured to po int to mu ltiple locatio ns, called Targets, which ho u se
the f ile shares. M ultiple targets pro vide the needed redundancy fo r enterprise deploy ments.
Additio nally , custo mers can con figu re replicatio n to branch o ff ices and determine failo ver
link s to remo te targets based on Active Directo ry site design. The DFS targets will be readonly shares so con figu re th e replication link s appropriately .
•
DFS Namespaces fo r AppLin k Lo cations
When admin istrato rs pack age applications they can specif y U NC based locatio ns fo r requ ired
or optional application depen den cies. Administrators c an configure the o riginating
applicatio n pack age to loo k f irst in a lo cal directo ry and then in a remo te directo ry if the
requ ired o r option al co mpon en t canno t be f ou nd. The u se of a DFS do main namespace su ch
as \\ co mpany.co m\ Applink s co uld be u tilized in the pack aging pro cess to direct u sers to the
nearerst DFS target f o r th e requ ired co mponent. An ex ample line f ro m a pack age.ini f ollows,
the f irst lo cation is lo cal, th e seco nd ref ers to the DFS link :
Requi red AppL ink s=c: \Ap pLin ks\ *.ex e;\ \com pan y.co m\A ppL inks \*. exe
Network Layer Design Considerations
The path throu gh th e n etwo rk between the client device and the Applicatio ns fo lder sho u ld be
highly available an d ro bu st. Con sider bo th aggregate bandwidth and latency when
implementing f ile share with applications launched in streaming mo de. These applicatio ns use
the standard SMB pro to co l to tran sf er the blo ck s o f data to the end-user sy stem fo r ex ecu tio n.
The amo unt o f n etwork traf f ic varies based on the application and u sage pattern, co nsider o nly
lo w-latency LAN enviro nmen ts fo r streaming ex ecu tio n mode. See the VMwa re Th in App S trea ming
Inf orma tion Gu ide.
Using Compression with Streaming Execut ion Mode
VMware Thin App pro vides th e option of u sing co mpression to reduce the sto rage fo o tprint of the
applicatio n pack ages. Application s launched in streaming mo de requ est only the f iles and
registry necessary to perf orm th e specif ic applicatio n f unctio n, which means that the pack age is
never streamed in its en tirety. With compressio n enabled, the qu antity of data transf erred acro ss
the netwo rk is greatly redu ced (by abou t 50%), bu t there is slightly higher memo ry u sage fo r an
applicatio n and sligh tly lo n ger lau nch times when larger blo ck s sizes are u sed. This presents the
qu estio n of wh eth er it is mo re ben ef icial to redu ce the amou nt o f netwo rk u tilizatio n o r ensure
optimal end-user perf o rmance.
VMware View Integration
Desktop Persistence
Persistent desk to ps are assign ed to individual users and remain so assigned until an administrator
mak es a chan ge. P ro perly en titled u sers may also check their desk to ps ou t fo r o ff line use.
Persistent desk to ps are best f or u sers who want to custo mize their desk to ps by installing
additio nal applicatio ns an d sto rin g lo cal data. Non -persistent desk to ps are allo cated to users
Reference Architecture Compo nents
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VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
tempo rarily an d u sed o n ly f o r th e cu rrent sessio n. Once the u ser has logged of f a no n -persistent
desktop, it go es back in to th e desk to p po o l where it o riginated and becomes available fo r the
nex t u ser. Non -persisten t desk to ps sho u ld be u sed where each u ser sessio n requ ires a clean
machine o r in h igh ly co n tro lled en viro nments where there is no need to sto re custo mizatio n o n
the virtu al desk top.
VMware Thin App applicatio n pack ages can be u sed with either persistent o r no n -persistent
deskto ps. Admin istrators can u tilize fo lder redirection fo r the applicatio n sandbox, which lets end
users save th eir cu sto mized application settings, such as to o lbars and options settings, to a static
lo cation . Th is allows f or persisten t applicatio n settings regardless of whether the desk to p is
persistent o r no n -persisten t.
Administrato rs can also cho ose wh eth er to deploy virtu alized applications into the desk to p
instance o r provide u sers access to th e applicatio n o n a f ile share thro ugh the au tomated ThinR eg
registratio n process. Deploy men t in to the desk to p instance pro vides mo re predictable
perf ormance becau se all ex ecu tio n is local, bu t it requ ires application packages to be u pdated on
the desk to ps in dividu ally an d pack ages will have a sto rage f oo tprint in the VM. P ro viding
applicatio ns via streamin g mo de makes greater demands on the netwo rk and can aff ect
perf ormance, bu t it allows applicatio ns to be u pdated with greater eff icien cy du e to the o ne-tomany model o f streaming mode, and there is no disk f oo tprint within the VM.
View Composer Considerations
VMware V iew Co mpo ser pro vides the capability to create desk to p images rapidly fro m a parent, or
standard, virtual mach in e image. In additio n, VM ware V iew Co mpo ser redu ces the to tal amo unt of
sto rage requ ired to deploy virtu al desk to p images (see Figu re 2). By leveraging link ed clo nes, it
intro duces a streamlin ed process fo r u pgrading patches acro ss mu ltiple desk tops by simply
apply ing the patch to th e paren t image and reco mpo sing the link ed clo nes.
VMware V iew Co mpo ser also pro vides the ability to separate u ser data and prof ile settings,
allowing sof tware updates an d patch es to be applied to the parent image and inherited by th e
link ed clo nes. Af ter a lin k ed clo n e h as been u pdated, the user’s personal settings f ro m the u ser
data disk are also applied to th e u pdated image.
Figur e 2. P ar ent I mag e with Li nked Clo nes
Reference Architecture Compo nents
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VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Integration of VMware View Composer and ThinApp
There are two aspects of th e in tegratio n between V Mware V iew Co mpo ser and ThinApp, the
intersection of u pdates f or th e o perating sy stem and applications, and the use of the U ser Data
Disk fo r sto rage of th e Application san dbox .
•
There are ben efits to deploy ing applicatio n s pack ages into the V iew Composer base image.
View Co mpo ser pro vides a streamlined mechanism to ref resh and recompose the base
operatin g system, which can also be used as an update vehicle fo r ThinApp application
pack ages. Th is o peration wo uld allo w fo r a mass update of applicatio n pack ages alo ng with a
deskto p reco mpo se o peration . Th e only caveat o f this approach is that the administrato r will
be combinin g o peratin g sy stem reco mpo se events with applicatio n u pdates. Administrato rs
shou ld compare th e f requ ency o f application updates with that o f OS u pdates and determine
the appropriate locatio n fo r Th in App pack ages. A co mpro mise can be achieved by using
streamin g mo de fo r f requ en tly u pdated applications while deplo y ing less f requ ently u pdated
applicatio ns in to the o peratin g sy stem image.
•
ThinApp packages can also be located on the U ser Data Disk s, ho wever this requ ires ano ther
means to u pdate tho se pack ages su ch as a so f tware distribu tion solu tio n and this wo u ld need
to occu r f o r each individual u ser data disk .
•
When u sed in con jun ctio n with V iew Co mpo ser, administrato rs have the o ptio n of u tilizing
User Data Disk s to logically separate application and u ser sto rage f ro m the o perating sy stem.
By defau lt, VM ware Th in App places the application sandbox in w hatever locatio n the
%AppData% variable reso lves to in the operating system. U ser Data Disks auto matically
receive th e dyn amic ch an ges of th e applicatio ns and u ser-specific settings sto red in the
sandbox an d main tain th ese th ro ugh a ref resh of the o perating sy stem. Administrators can
choo se to redirect My Do cumen ts to a sto rage locatio n o r allo w that user data to also be
ho used in th e U ser Data Disk .
Reference Architecture Design
The ref erence arch itecture design pro vides u se cases which are designed to represent a nu mber
of co mmo n scen ario s fo r co nf igu ration. The use cases o u tline the diff erent of co nf igu ration items
in a table f ormat an d th en illu strate th e environment in a diagram.
Use Case Descriptions and Diagrams
Fo r the VM ware Th in App R ef eren ce Architectu re, we provide three u se cases that are
representative o f many cu sto mer scen ario s:
•
Use Case 1— M o bile U sers
•
Use Case 2 — R emote U sers
•
Use Case 3 — Co rpo rate U sers
Use Case 1: Mobile Users Configuration Table
Use r Ty pe
Mobile Users
Link Type
Public Internet, Corp VPN or Offlin e
Des kto p Co nf igura tion
Corporate Laptop, Ho me PC, O fflin e View Persi stent Full Clone (Exp erimental ), VM running on
the Client Virtualized Plat form (Future)
Applic atio n Re gis tratio n
Registry Run Key or User-initiated script on USB k ey or local d evic e (Ho me PC’ s)
Reference Architecture Design
8
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Me thod
Fo lde r Re direc tio n
None
De plo yme nt Me thod
Deployed Mode (USB, Local File Syst em)
U pdate Me tho d
AppSync
Com pres sio n
Not Enabled
Figur e 3. Mo bil e U ser s (Use C ase 1)
Reference Architecture Design
9
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Use Case 2: R emote Users Configuration Table
Use r Ty pe
Remote u ser s connecting to VMware View d esktop s
Link Type
Corporate VPN or WAN
Des kto p Co nf igura tion
View Non-p ersist ent Desktop without User Dat a Disk
Applic atio n Re gis tratio n Me tho d
Login Script
Fo lde r Re direc tio n
Application Dat a is redirected to users roamin g profile or home drive
My Documents i s redir ected to u sers home drives
De plo yme nt Me thod
Deployed Mode for MS Office Suite
Streamin g Mod e for LOB and ancillary a pplications
U pdate Me tho d
Side-by-Sid e for Str ea ming Mod e Appli cations
View Co mpo ser for Deploy ed Mod e Applications
Com pres sio n
Enabled for Ap plications u sing Streamin g mod e
Figur e 4. R emot e U ser s (U se Case 2)
Reference Architecture Design
10
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Use Case 3: Corporate Users Configuration Table
Use r Ty pe
Corporate Kno wl edge Worker s with PCs and /or VMware View D esktop s
Link Type
Corporate LAN or WAN
Des kto p Co nf igura tion
Persistent D esktop with U ser Data Disk or Physic al PC
Applic atio n Re gis tratio n Me tho d
Login Script
Fo lde r Re direc tio n
View Ba sed D esktop s
Application Dat a automatically redir ected via View Co mpo ser User Data Di sks
My Documents automatic ally redirected vi a View Co mposer User Data Di sks
Physical PC’s
Application Dat a redirect ed to users ho me drives
My Documents r edirect ed to users ho me driv es
De plo yme nt Me thod
Deployed Mode for MS Office Suite
Streamin g Ex ecution Mod e for LOB and ancillary a pplications
U pdate Me tho d
Side-by-Sid e for Str ea ming Mod e Appli cations
View Co mpo ser for Deploy ed Mod e Applications
Com pres sio n
Enabled for Ap plications u sing Streamin g mod e
Figur e 5. C orp orat e U sers (U se C ase 3)
Reference Architecture Design
11
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
VMware ThinApp Test Bed
Virtual Infrastruct ure
The virtu al inf rastructure used f o r th is ref erence architectu re included o ne chassis of 16 blades to
ho st the virtu al desk to ps and two blades in a separate chassis fo r the inf rastru cture co mpo nents.
Physical Server Configuration
The design of th e virtu al desk to ps uses the building block approach described in the VMw are View
Re ference Arc hite cture . Th e virtu al desk tops are ho sted by two 8-no de VM ware ESX 3.5 U 2 clu sters.
Each 8-no de cluster is design ed to ho st 500 virtu al desk to ps. B o th clu sters were co nf igu red as HA
clu sters and managed by a sin gle V Mware V irtual Center 2.5 U 4 server.
A separate blade ch assis was u sed to ho st the co mmon inf rastru ctu re co mponents needed f o r an
enterprise desk to p en viron men t, su ch as Active Directo ry, DNS, DHCP, DFS, and SQL. This chassis
also hosted VM ware View Manager and vCenter with View Co mpo ser. The V Mware vCenter server
database an d V iew Co mpo ser database were ho sted o n a single M icrosof t SQL 2005 server. Each
deskto p inf rastructu re service was implemented as a virtual machine ru nning Windows 2003 SP 3,
with the exceptio n of th e DFS Servers, which ran Windows 2003 R 2.
See the f o llo win g diagram an d tables f or detailed inf o rmatio n regarding the testing environment.
Figur e 6. P hysi cal Testing En viron ment b ased on VMware Vi ew B uildi ng Blo ck
Infrastructure Servers
QT Y
Des c ription
1
16 Slot Blade Chassis
Reference Architecture Design
12
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
4
Blade Servers - ESX 3.5 Update 2
4 – Infrastructure Services AD, DNS, DHCP, DFS
2
Quad C ore 2.66 GHz Pr ocess ors
32GB
RAM
1
x 56GB SAS Drive
4
Broadcom Gigabit Ether net Adapters
4
4 Port Gigabit Uplink M odules
1
VMware vCenter Vir tual Machine with View Composer
Windows 2003 Server SP3
2 – vCPU
4GB – RAM
20GB Virtual Disk
1
VMware View Ma nager
Windows 2003 Server SP3
2 – vCPU
4GB – RAM
20GB Virtual Disk
1
Micr osoft SQ L 2005 Server
Windows 2003 Server SP3
2 – vCPU
4GB – RAM
20GB Virtual Disk
1
Micr osoft A ctive Dire ctory, DNS, DHCP
Windows 2003 Server SP3
2 – vCPU
4GB – RAM
20GB Virtual Disk
2
Micr osoft DFS Targets
Windows 2003 Server R2
2 – vCPU
4GB – RAM
20GB Virtual Disk
VMware View Desktop Building Block A
QT Y
Des c ription
1
16 Slot Chassis – Cluster A/B
8
Blade Servers - ESX 3.5 Update 2
2
Quad C ore 2.66 GHz Pr ocess ors
32GB
RAM
1
x 56GB SAS Drive
6
Broadcom Gigabit Ether net Adapters
6
4 Port Gigabit Uplink M odules
Reference Architecture Design
13
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
VMware View Desktop Building Block B
QT Y
Des c ription
8
Blade Servers - ESX 3.5 Update 2
2
Quad C ore 2.66 GHz Pr ocess ors
32GB
RAM
1
56GB SAS Drive
6
Broadcom Gigabit Ether net Adapters
6
4 Port Gigabit Uplink M odules
NOTE: Two M irrore d 56 GB drives are r ecommende d for production.
Reference Architecture Design
14
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Physical Network Details
VMware View Pod Core Networking Co mponents
QT Y
Des c ription
1
Modular C ore Networking Switch
1
10 Gigabit Etherne t Modules
1
Loa d Balancing Module
Building Block Network Components
1
48 Port Ne twork S witch
VLAN Configuration
VLA N ID
Des c ription
16
VMware View Desktops – Infrastr ucture - 802.11q Tagged
20
Manageme nt – 802.11 q Tagge d
23
Storage – iSCSI – 802.11q Tagged
24
vMotion – 802.11q Tagged
Virtual Desktop Configuration
Virtu al desk to ps were deploy ed as persistent link ed clo nes with and witho u t u ser data disks,
based o n the u se case.
•
One virtu al CPU
•
1 G B o f R AM
•
8GB hard disk
•
Micro so f t Win do ws XP gu est operating system with Service Pack 3
Application Configuration
•
The primary virtu alized applicatio n set included M S Wo rd2007, M S Po werPo int2007, M S
Excel2007, In tern et Ex plorer7, an d Ado be R eader9.
•
The virtu alized applicatio n set was u sed in deploy ed mode and streaming mo de via a drive
mapping in th e login script. Th inreg was u sed to register applicatio ns locally and remo tely .
Storage Configuration
Validation testin g fo r th e storage lay er u sed the f o llo wing sto rage platf orms:
•
500 Virtu al Desk tops ru nn ing on iSCSI sto rage ho sted by an EM C NS20
•
2 Virtu al Win do ws Server 2003 R 2 servers ho sting DFS Targets f o r Do main -based namespaces
with their virtual disks located on an EM C CLAR iiON CX4-240 Fibre Channel sto rage array
Reference Architecture Design
15
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Workload Description
User Simulation Workload
Fo r validation testin g, virtu al desk to ps were equ ipped to ru n a work lo ad that simu lates typical
user behavior with an applicatio n set commonly fo und and u sed across a bro ad array o f desk top
enviro nmen ts. Th e wo rk lo ad, wh ich is described below, has a set of rando mly ex ecuted f unctio ns
that perf orm operatio ns on a variety of applicatio ns. Several other f acto rs can be implemented to
increase the lo ad o r adjust th e u ser behavio r — fo r ex ample, configu ratio n o ptio ns include
changing th e nu mber of wo rds per minu te that are ty ped and the delay between the times
applicatio ns are lau n ch ed.
The wo rklo ad co nf igu ration used f o r this validation included M icrosof t Wo rd, Ex cel, Po werPo int,
Internet Ex plo rer, an d Ado be Acro bat. The wo rk lo ad contro ller o pened mu ltiple applications at
the same time an d min imized and max imized their windo ws as the wo rklo ad pro gressed,
rando mly switch ing amo ng applicatio ns. Individu al applicatio n o peratio ns that the controller
perf ormed rando mly in clu ded:
•
Micro so f t Wo rd — Open, min imize, and clo se the applicatio n; write random wo rds and
nu mbers; save mo dif icatio n s.
•
Micro so f t Excel — Open, min imize, and close the application; write rando m numbers; insert
and delete co lu mns an d ro ws; co py and paste fo rmu las; save modif ications.
•
Micro so f t Po werP oin t — Open, minimize, and close the application; condu ct a slide show.
•
Ado be Acro bat R eader — Open, minimize, and close the application; browse pages in a P DF
do cu men t.
•
Internet Ex plo rer — Open , min imize, and clo se the applicatio n; bro wse a page.
Based on the th in k time an d words per minu te u sed fo r this validatio n, this wo rk load can be
co mpared to th at o f a high -en d task wo rk er o r lower-end knowledge work er.
Unit Test Workload
A second wo rk load, Off iceB en ch , is a classic linear test script that u ses OLE Au to matio n to drive
Micro so f t Wo rd, Excel, P owerPo in t, an d Internet Ex plorer throu gh a series o f simu lated bu siness
pro du ctivity tasks. This wo rk load was u sed to derive precise measu rements of the eff ects of
co mpression and laten cy wh en ru nn ing virtu alized applicatio ns in streaming ex ecu tio n mo de.
Validation Testing
The ref erence arch itecture validation testing resu lts f irst measu re the ef f ect of co mpression on
netwo rk u tilization f o r a sin gle repeatable wo rk lo ad, and seco nd, quantif y storage and netwo rk
utilization fo r a given n umber o f u sers running a rando m wo rklo ad.
Summary of Unit Testing Procedure
The sections belo w o utlin e th e resu lts f o r the unit testing of the eff ect o f co mpressio n and
latency f o r virtu alized applicatio n s ex ecu ted in streaming mo de. Two virtu al desk to ps were
co nf igu red to run th e Of f iceB ench wo rk load, with three iteratio ns u tilizing virtu alized applicatio ns
ru nning fro m a DFS share in streamin g ex ecu tio n mo de. Thinreg was u sed to register the
applicatio ns fro m th e remo te drive. No native applicatio ns were installed in the VM s.
Validatio n Testing
16
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Unit Testing Result s
The eff ect of VM ware Th in App n ative co mpressio n o n applications ru nning in streaming ex ecu tion
mo de is sho wn in th e f ollowing table:
Tes t
Of f ic eBenc h
Com ple tio n Time
(Sec o nds)
To ta l Ne tw o rk Pay loa d
(MB)
Application Package Size o n
File Share (MB)
Uncompressed Iteration 1
50.16
202.146
1,162,999
Uncompressed Iteration 2
49.75
201.591
“
Uncompressed Iteration 3
52.44
200.754
“
Compressed Iteration 1
53.38
112.765
858,943
Compressed Iteration 2
51.61
106.523
“
Compressed Iteration 3
54.33
112.311
“
The resu lts of th e testin g sh owed n egligible dif f erences in Off iceB ench co mpletio n time, CP U and
Memo ry U tilizatio n. Ho wever, th e n etwo rk transf er sho wed substantial improvement f ro m
co mpression . Th e average decrease in the netwo rk paylo ad betw een u nco mpressed and
co mpressed was 45%. Th e desk to p was rebo o ted between the tests to empty the disk cache and
ensure accu rate resu lts. Figu re 7 graphs the pattern o f netwo rk u tilizatio n.
Network Utilization
10000
9000
With Co mpressio n
8000
7000
KBps
6000
Withou t Co mpressio n
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Time
Network Usage…
Figur e 7. Net wor k Utiliz ation for Co mpr essed an d Un co mpr essed P ackag es
Validatio n Testing
17
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Summary of Scalability Testing Procedure
The validation testin g fo r scalability made u se of the user simu lation wo rk load, which pro vides a
rando m wo rk lo ad to simu late real users. Five hu ndred virtu al desk to ps were conf igu red to use
streaming ex ecu tio n mo de and run a series of three iteratio ns. The applications were lau nched
fro m a pair o f M icrosof t DFS server’s which were the DFS targets f or the do main namespace
\\co mpany.co m\application s. B o th DFS servers were located on the same phy sical ESX ho st.
Scalability Testing Results
Di sk Util iz ati on
Figu re 8 illustrates th e disk utilization fo r each of the DFS servers.
Disk Utilization
900
800
700
KBps
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Time
Disk Usage (Average) - DFS2
Disk Usage (Average) - DFS1
Figur e 8. Disk Utili zati on fo r Mi cr o so ft D FS Vir tu al Mach in es
Validatio n Testing
18
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Net wor k Ut ili zat ion
Figu re 9 illustrates th e n etwo rk u tilizatio n f or the VM ware ESX ho st, which co ntained bo th DFS
servers.
Network Performance
120000
100000
KBps
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
Time
Network Usage (Average)
Figur e 9. Net wor k Utiliz ation for ESX Ho st with Mi cro so ft DFS Virt ual Machi nes
Validatio n Testing
19
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
CP U Util iz ati on
Figu re 10 illustrates th e CPU u tilizatio n fo r the M icro sof t DFS virtu al machines.
CPU Performance
100
90
80
70
Percent
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Time
CPU Usage (Average) - DFS1
Figur e 10. CPU Utili zati on for Mi cro so ft D FS Vi rtu al Machin es
Validatio n Testing
20
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
Conclusion
VMware Thin App greatly simplif ies th e pro cess o f application distribu tion and management f o r
bo th phy sical an d virtu al desk tops. Custo mers can leverage agentless application virtu alizatio n to
reduce operatio nal ex pense incurred by installation rebo o ts, application co nf licts, and
dependencies. B y u tilizin g th e design co nsiderations and u se case co nf igu ratio ns pro vided in th is
do cu ment, custo mers can con fiden tly design and implement VM ware ThinApp in their own
enviro nmen ts.
The design co n sideration s sectio n provides specific gu idance f o r Active Directo ry integration ,
View Co mpo ser in tegration , an d th e u se o f DFS to eff iciently manage f ile shares f o r virtualized
applicatio ns an d th eir depen den cies. The validatio n resu lts help characterize the netwo rk and
sto rage lo ad fo r a gro u p of 500 virtu al machines when u tilizing streaming mode f o r V Mware
ThinApp applicatio n pack ages. Th e u n it test scenarios sho w the diff erence in netwo rk lo ad when
co mpression is u sed fo r applicatio n pack ages. The f ollowing k ey reco mmendatio ns emerge f ro m
this validatio n:
•
U tilize a stru ctu red process and standardized f older lay o ut fo r applicatio n pack aging.
•
U tilize Active Directo ry gro u p po licy to redirect Application Data and M y Do cu ment to th e
appro priate lo cation s depen din g o n the u se case.
•
U tilize ThinR eg th rou gh a script based mechanism to au to mate the registration of ThinApp
applicatio n pack ages.
•
Deploy virtu alized applicatio ns via a standard pro cess that relies o n lo gical DFS link s that
provide redun dan cy an d manageability.
•
Determin e wh ich application s to run in streaming mo de, based o n bandwidth needs and
applicatio n density go als. U tilize co mpressio n to reduce the netwo rk pay lo ad.
About the Author
Aaro n Black is a Sen io r Techn ical M ark eting Manager at VM ware, fo cu sing primarily o n develo ping
technical co n ten t to aid in th e evaluation and implementatio n of V Mware ThinApp techno logy .
Aaron’s backgro un d in clu des ro les as a sy stems engineer and so lu tion s consultant in the Technical
Services o rgan izatio n. B ef o re jo in ing VM ware, he wo rk ed as a sy stems engineer with Citrix
Sy stems, lead a techn ical co rpo rate IT team at Sprint, and designed so lu tio ns f o r custo mers o f
Cho ice Solu tio ns, a platinu m reseller of V Mware pro ducts.
Acknowledgements
The au tho r wo uld lik e to ackn o wledge J ohn Do dge, Radhak rishnan Manga, P ak -Shun Lei, Fred
Schimscheimer, and Maso n U y eda f or their co ntribu tio ns to this ref erence architectu re.
Resources
•
VMware Th in App Deplo ymen t G u ide
http:// www.vmware.co m/ reso urces/ techresou rces/ 1098
•
VMware Th in App Streamin g In fo rmation Gu ide
http:// www.vmware.co m/ reso urces/ tec hresou rces/ 10027
•
VMw are View Man age r Adm inistra tion Gu ide
http:// www.vmware.co m/ pdf /view31_ manu al.pdf
Conc lusion
21
VMware T hinA pp Refere nce Arc hitec ture
•
VMw are View Compo se r De sign Con sideratio ns
http:// www.vmware.co m/ f iles/pdf /view_ co mpo ser_design_ co nsiderations_ bp.pdf
•
VMw are View Ref erence Arc hite ctu re
http:// www.vmware.co m/ f iles/pdf / resou rces/vmware-view-ref erence-architectu re.pdf
Resources
22
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax 650-427-5001 www.vmware.com
Copyright © 2010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at
http://www.vmware.com/go/patents. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be
trademarks of their respective companies. Revision: 20090706 Item: RA-096-SLN-01-01-LC