Objective 3.1 - Create and Configure Horizon Desktop Pools

This Post will cover Objective 3.1 of the VCAP-DTM Deployment Exam

Tools and References for Objective 3.1

Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View
View Administration
View Administrator

Skills and Abilities:

Determine appropriate pool configurations based on a deployment plan

When using Horizon View you can create the following pool types:

• Desktop Pools - there are 3 types of devices that can be used to make up a desktop pool virtual machine based desktops, Session-based desktops, and Physical Computers.
• 3 types of desktop pools:
• Automated: Use a vCenter server VM template or a snapshot to create a group of identical VMs.
• Dedicated-Assignment Pools: Each user is assigned a particular remote desktop and returns to the same desktop at each login. Users can personalize their desktops, install applications, and store data.
• Stateful Desktop Images: Users who need a stateful desktop image have data in the operating system image itself that must be preserved, maintained, and backed up. Also require install of their own applications.
• Floating-Assignment Pools: The remote desktop is optionally deleted and re-created after each use, offering a highly controlled environment.
• Stateless Desktop Images: The desktop will return to the original gold image and user data will not be stored on the VM.
• Manual: a collection of existing vCenter Server VMs, Physical Computers, or third-party VMs
• Stateful Desktop Images: Users who need a stateful desktop image have data in the operating system image itself that must be preserved, maintained, and backed up. Also require install of their own applications.
• RDS Farms: provide users with desktop sessions on RDS hosts. Multiple users can have desktop sessions on an RDS host simultaneously
• Application Pools - Allows you to deliver users applications installed on a RDS Host.

Pools for Task Workers:

• User Definition: Perform repetitive tasks and have a small application set. Also most of the time do not require saving of user data.

• Recommendations: 
• Pool Type: Automated Pool
• Assignment Type: Floating Assignment (Will lower the number of desktops needed to support user pool.
• View Composer Linked Clones: Yes (Will lower storage space requirements over full desktops)
• Use Persona Management: Maybe (this is only needed if you need to keep the desktop appearance or user profile)

Pools for Knowledge Workers and Power Users:

• User Definition: Users that need to be able to keep data, application settings, and appearance always the same. Users also might require the need to be able to install applications.

• Recommendations: 
• Pool Type: Automated or Manual Pool
• Assignment Type: Dedicated Assignment
• View Composer Linked Clones: Yes for users that do not require user installed applications. If users require user installed applications then no.
• Use Persona Management: Yes if not using full VMs

Pools for Kiosk Users:

• User Definition: Users include customers at airline check-in stations, students in classrooms or libraries, medical personnel at medical data entry workstations, or customers at self-service points. Accounts associated with client devices rather than users are entitled to use these desktop pools because users do not need to log in to use the client device or the remote desktop. Users can still be required to provide authentication credentials for some applications.

• Recommendations: 
• Pool Type:  Automated Pool
• Assignment Type: Floating Assignment
• View Composer Linked Clones:  Yes
• Use Persona Management: No
• Additional Recommendations:
• Refresh policy at every user logoff
• GPO for location-based Printing
• GPO for disabling USB devices
• Use dedicated view connection server(s)

When to use Application Pools:

• Accessibility - Users can access applications from anywhere on the network. You can also configure secure network access.
• Device independence - With application pools, you can support a range of client devices, such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, thin clients, and personal computers. The client devices can run various operating systems, such as Windows, iOS, Mac OS, or Android.
• Access control - You can easily and quickly grant or remove access to applications for one user or a group of users.
• Accelerated deployment - With application pools, deploying applications can be accelerated because you only deploy applications on servers in a data center and each server can support multiple users.
• Manageability - Managing software that is deployed on client computers and devices typically requires significant resources. Management tasks include deployment, configuration, maintenance, support, and upgrades. With application pools, you can simplify software management in an enterprise because the software runs on servers in a data center, which requires fewer installed copies.
• Security and regulatory compliance - With application pools, you can improve security because applications and their associated data are centrally located in a data center. Centralized data can address security concerns and regulatory compliance issues.
• Reduced cost -  Depending on software license agreements, hosting applications in a data center can be more cost effective. Other factors, including accelerated deployment and improved manageability, can also reduce the cost of software in an enterprise.

Create/Configure Linked/Full clone desktop pools with Dedicated/Floating Assignments 

To build a new desktop pool login to View Admin Console, under Inventory > Catalog select Desktops Pool and click Add button to start Add Desktop Pool wizard (GUI).

First select what type of pool we want to create, for this I have selected Automated Desktop Pool click Next.

For User Assignment select how user will be assigned to machines

Select View Composer Linked Clones to create Machines with shared base image and select vCenter Server. Or select Full Virtual Machines to create full clones. click Next to continue 


Enter ID name for the pool that will identify the pool in View Admin Console, Display name is name which user will see while login to View Client. Access group controls the security of who can manage specific Desktop pool in the organization. Click Next

Desktop Pool Settings:

After selecting the below settings click Next

General:

• State - Enabled / Disabled
• Connection Server restrictions - What connection server to use when connecting

Remote Settings:

• Remote Machine Power Policy - Will view keep VM powered on all the time
• Automatically Logoff after disconnect - set a amount of time if you want the session to logoff after user disconnects
• Allow users to reset there machines - Allow users to reset their own desktops without administrative assistance.
• Allow users to intiate sparate sessions from different client devices - allow more then one session per pool per user
• Delete or refresh machine on logoff - Delete will remove the VM from vCenter and refresh will revert the system back to the state after a recompose

Remote Display Protocol:

• Defualt Display Protocol - PCoIP or RDP
• Allow users to choose protocol - Allow users to override the default display protocol for their desktops by using Horizon Client.
• Max number of monitors - Sets max moniotor for PCoIP
• Max resolution of any one monitor - sets max resolution for PCoIP
• HTML Access - Select Enabled to allow users to connect to remote desktops from within their Web browsers.

Adobe Flash Settings for Session:

• Adobe Flash Quality - Determines the quality of Adobe Flash content that is displayed on Web pages.
• Adobe Flash Throttling - Determines the frame rate of Adobe Flash movies. If you enable this setting, you can reduce or increase the number of frames displayed per second by selecting an aggressiveness level.

Mirage Settings:

• Override global mirage settings - To specify the same Mirage server for all desktop pools, use the global View configuration setting rather than this pool-specific setting.
• Mirage Server Configuration - Allows you to specify the URL of a Mirage server, using the format mirage://server-name:port or mirages://server-name:port.

Provisioning Settings:

After selecting the below settings click Next

Basic:

• Enable Provisioning -  enables or disables provisioning
• Stop Provisioning on Error - You can direct View to stop provisioning or continue to provision virtual machines in a desktop pool after an error occurs during the provisioning of a virtual machine. If you leave this setting selected, you can prevent a provisioning error from recurring on multiple virtual machines.

Virtual Machine Naming:

• Specif names manually - If you specify names manually, prepare a list of machine names and, optionally, the associated user names.
• Use a naming pattern - If you use this naming method, provide the pattern. The pattern you specify is used as a prefix in all the machine names, followed by a unique number to identify each machine.

Desktop Pool Sizing:

• Max Number of Machines - If you use a naming pattern, specify the total number of machines in the pool.
• Number of Spare (Powered on) Machines - If you specify names manually or use a naming pattern, specify a number of machines to keep available and powered on for new users.
• Maximum number of ready (provisioned) machines during view composer maintenance operations: machines left running during the composer maintenance operations

Provision Timing:

• Provision Machines on demand - provision machines as you need them
• Min number of machines - If you use a naming pattern and provision machines on demand, specify a minimum number of machines in the pool.
• Provision all machines up-front - builds the pool to the size set

View Composer Disks:

After selecting the below settings click Next

Disposable File Redirection:

• Redirect disposable files to a non-persistent disk - You can set size and drive letter
• Do not redirect disposable files - Keeps disposable files on the C drive

Storage Optimization:

After selecting the below settings click Next

Storage Policy Management:

• Use VMware vSAN - Use vSAN for view pool
• Do not use VMware vSAN - don't  use vSAN for view pool 
• Select separate datastores for replica and OS disk - it is recommended to keep the replica disk on a high performance storage platform.

vCenter Setting:

After selecting the below settings click Next

Default Image

• Parent VM: Select the parent VM to be used to create the VDI pool.
• Snapshot: Select the snapshot of the VM to be used to create the VDI pool.

Virtual Machine Location

• VM folder location: Select the VMware vCenter folder to store the VDI pool.

Resource Settings

• Host or Cluster: Select the host or cluster to be used as the compute resource for the VDI pool.
• Resource Pool: Select the resource pool to be used for the VDI pool.
• Linked Clone Datastores: Select the datastore(s) to store the OS disk of the VDI pool.
• Replica Disk Datastores: Select the datastore(s) to store the replica disk of the VDI pool.

Advanced Storage Options:

After selecting the below settings click Next

• Use view storage accelerator - uses caching on hosts to store desktop pool data.
• other options:
• Use native NFS snapshots (VAAI) -uses the native array snapshots to build pool
• Disk space reclamation - allows for space to be reclaimed based on a value set
• Blackout times - allows you to create a maintenance window so that the above settings do not impact user performance 

Guest Customization:

After selecting the below settings click Next

• Domain - Domain and user account used to add VDIs to AD
• AD container - set the AD OU you want to store the VDI pool in
• Allow reuse of pre-existing computer accounts
• Use quickprep
• Use a customization specification (Sysprep)

After this the pool configuration will be completed and you will be able to start giving users access to the pool.

Configure/Manage Remote Desktop Services (RDS) pools

To build a new desktop pool login to View Admin Console, under Inventory > Catalog select Desktops Pool and click Add button to start Add Desktop Pool wizard (GUI).

First select what type of pool we want to create, for this I have selected RDS Desktop Pool click Next.

Desktop Pool Identification:

• Enter ID name for the pool that will identify the pool in View Admin Console, Display name is name which user will see while login to View Client.  Click Next

Desktop Pool Settings:

General:

• State - Enable or disable the pool
• Connection Server restrictions - What connection server to use when connecting

Adobe Flash Settings for Sessions:

• Adobe Flash Quality - Determines the quality of Adobe Flash content that is displayed on Web pages.
• Adobe Flash Throttling - Determines the frame rate of Adobe Flash movies. If you enable this setting, you can reduce or increase the number of frames displayed per second by selecting an aggressiveness level.

Select an RDS Farm:

• Create a new RDS Farm - creates a new RDS fram
• Select an RDS farm for this desktop pool - select an existing one from the list

After this the pool configuration will be completed and you will be able to start giving users access to the pool.