Deakin University
Deakin Desktop Project
Nov 1 - 2011
David Schwarz
Technical Architect
Presentation Structure
• History of the Managed Operating
Environment
Core Principles
• Issues and Constraints
• The Deakin Approach
• Lessons Learned
• The End product
Terminology / Versions
Phoenix Desktop
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Windows 2K
XP
Radia
Kix (login script)
Deakin Desktop
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Windows 7 x64
App-V
SCCM
Software deployment solution for PC and Mac!
– App-V
• Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6
– SCCM
• Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager 2007 R3
SOE/MOEs @ Deakin
• Phoenix Desktop first deployed 1999
• Operating System
Nt 4.0
1999-2000
Win2k
2000-2004
WinXP
2002-2012
Win7
2011-?
MOEs @ Deakin
Deployment Method
Ghost Image
1995-2000
Novadigm EDM
4.0
2000-2001
Radia
2001-2011
SCCM / App-V
2011-?
Current State
• University highly centralized
• Distributed support staff supportive of MOE
• Considerable expertise in desktop
management.
• Long-term senior management support of
the MOE.
• Central and consistent AD domain.
• Central SMB file storage
Core Principles
• Ensure all solutions are designed to address
valid business needs or issues.
• Use best practice for all infrastructure
decisions.
• Reduce complexity in the infrastructure.
• Virtualize where clear benefits exist.
Issues
• Phoenix Desktop Aging
– Designed in 2000 – best practice has changed.
– Users ran as Power User, Not Admin
– 4% of fleet were laptops – Now 40%
• 25,000 line login script
– Printing was peer-to-peer
• HP bought Radia, lost focus for ~4 years on
desktops.
Issues - Radia limitations
Total lifecycle management map
Doesn’t do this
Drivers for change
• Reduce costs / Increase efficiency
• Better user experience
• Increase flexibility of staff, especially those
on Laptops.
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
• Strategic decision to move to full PC lifecycle
management
Deakin Desktop Pre-Project Analysis
Mid 2009
• Small project to:– Request a solution that manages entire PC
life-cycle.
– Compare HP with Microsoft.
– Made a clear decision as to the way forward.
• Microsoft won – clearly, on cost and
business benefits.
• Budget bid for 2010-2011 project
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Late 2009 – Early 2010
Five-day engagement with Microsoft.
• Integration of Microsoft technology with
Deakin infrastructure.
• Investigation of technology options.
• Deliverable of “Configuration Manager
Conceptual Design and Discussion Paper”
Any Questions ?
• Next Section is much more technical
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Early 2010
• Using output from Microsoft engagement
and local staff knowledge.
• Created:– Project brief,
– PID
– Technical Specification
• Started looking for staff with appropriate
skills
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Early 2010
Visited UTas and Tasmanian Polytechnic
• Tas Poly extremely positive experience of
App-V
• Decided to change App-V to not be
integrated with SCCM.
• Re-wrote significant part of TechSpec
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid 2010
• Designed and built:– SCCM servers
• Investigated using Isilons as distribution points
– PXE booting
• University wide network reconfiguration
– Windows 7 core image
• Certified workstations that would run Windows
7 (and made a mistake, more later)
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid 2010
• Deployed SCCM client to all University
workstations.
– Turned on hardware and software inventory
– Got a BA to start analyzing data.
– Had heart attack as software inventory
identified 4000 different versions of apps.
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid 2010
• Designed and built:• App-V servers
• Investigated using Isilons as streaming servers
• Naming schemes for:• SCCM
• Packages
• Collections
• Advertisements
• App-V
• Packages
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid – Late 2010
• Built interface between App-V and Identity
and Access management system to allow
user and group based software provisioning.
• Designed new printer management
infrastructure.
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid-Late 2010
• Designed a new five-stage packaging
process
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–
–
–
–
Sourcing
Packaging
QA
UAT
Deployment
• Identified all core software and packaged
using new process into SCCM.
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Mid-Late 2010
• Packaged ~100 labs apps into App-V as a
test.
– Vast majority worked as expected
– Significantly faster than Radia to package.
– Worked as advertised
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Late 2010
• Load tested
– SCCM Servers
• Couldn’t overload the SCCM servers
– App-V servers
• Worst case scenario, 1500 workstations
stream SPSS 17 (870 MB package)
(That’s 1.3 TB of data to move)
• Deployed to all workstations in under 10
minutes (Isilons peaked at 8Gb/s)
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Late 2010
• Infrastructure build finished, and signed off
by board.
• What did we end up with?
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
Started 2011 Teaching spaces build
• Ran for four months Nov -> Feb
• One month requirements gathering
• Three months packaging
• One month debug and performance tuning
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
2011 Labs
• Requests for ~160 teaching packages
– ~80 App-V
– ~80 SCCM
• Upgraded
– 2124 lab workstations
– 317 presentation workstations
• Win7 deployment over two weekends
– ~50% per weekend
Stage 3: Faculty, Institutes and Other
Areas Deployment
Originally planned each deployment to the Faculties, Institutes
and Other Areas to be run as a project:
• Project Brief
• Project Board (Executive, Senior User & Supplier), Project
Assurance and Project Team with detailed roles and
responsibilities
• Project Plan
• Configuration Document
• Training Plan
• Communication Plan
• Sign-off for each phase, go/no-go point and checkpoint
Stage 3: Faculty, Institutes and Other
Areas Deployment
• Staff project had deliverables changes
– Zero data loss demanded
– Project had to review and change migration
process
• Realised that we don’t have budget to
deploy to FOIA’s using original plan high
touch plan.
• Moved to a pull methodology, pending more
budget made available
Stage 3: Faculty, Institutes and Other
Areas Deployment
• New Process
– Pre qualify FOIA by ensuring
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On Exchange 2010
All Software is available
Printers configured & tested
Shares identified and setup in GP
Early adopters have run the environment
– Then staff schedule there own deployment
via a webpage.
Deakin Desktop Project Approach
• Now onto rollout for Staff……..
• Jimmy you can go here…..
Lessons Learned
• Acer Veriton 1000’s do not run Windows 7
– Not supported by Acer
– Passed the MS hardware compatibility test
– Caused massive pain, when they randomly
hit 100% processor time.
• Vmware ESX is good
– Much faster packaging (high disk IO)
– Quicker to reset to a known state
– Multiple tasks on the go at once (well….)
Lessons Learned
• Test all driver packages thoroughly, work
driver packages into a regular maintenance
schedule.
• Contractors are magnificent.
• Be adaptive as possible or you will be left
behind
Things to keep in mind
• Ensure that your first major deployment
doesn’t have a hard deadline like our Labs
rollout.
• Don’t complicate the deployment with nonmandatory additions (ie. 802.1x).
• Only deploy to Windows 7 certified
hardware.
• Create master plan at the beginning and
stick to it.
And a demo of it all working together
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App-V launch
SCCM deployment
Allocating software for App-V
Folder redirection
Etc,etc
Contact details
• David Schwarz
– Ph 03 52278938
– Email: david.shwarz@deakin.edu.au