Using my iPad for work!

After much pressure from the MD and Marketing Manager, and now also having my own iPad, I decided to investigate iPad access to our network.

My first port of call was configuring a server to run Neocoretech, which is a VDI solution that does not require a SAN or massively complicated infrastructure prior installing (unlike some of the alternative solutions).  With the Neocoretech server running and configured on our network, I had to build a Windows 7 image.  The image I created was a “read only “image, so that the user cannot change the image.  Some minor configuration was carried out to make the virtual machine a member of the domain, as well restricting some functions of the operating system in order to improve performance.   

Testing was carried out from a laptop to ensure the VDI infrastructure was working, before connecting my iPad to the wireless network and browsing the VDI landing page.  I had to install a free RDP client onto my iPad, and I chose Remote Desktop – Universal App by Evolve Networks, as these gave me the option to create more than one RDP session unlike the Wyse free application.

On network, it gave me a very good user experience, where the Windows 7 desktop was useable on the iPad.  The only gripe I had was that scroll bars were a pain, and where you would expect to press and drag them, you had to click to jump to the scroll bar on.

My next challenge was getting this to work remotely.  As you can see from other posts, we use Microsoft UAG hosted on a Celestix appliance as our remote access, but this solution does not offer an iOS client to allow the iPad to fully integrate with the features of the UAG, so I am unable to use the UAG to give me VDI access on the iPad.

As an alternative, I configured a Cyberoam UTM appliance to give me an L2TP VPN.  Following these instructions provided from Cyberoam will give the right result: http://kb.cyberoam.com/default.asp?id=1891

As did not have alternative route out to the internet, I create a hotspot on my iPhone, and used Bluetooth to connect my iPad to the hotspot.  Using 3G, I connected my iPad to the L2TP VPN, and from there started up my RDP client, and connected to my VDI server.  I was surprised as the latency was not as bad as I had expected, but it gave me my Windows 7 desktop on my iPad via the 3G network!

Very impressed how quickly this was configured and running, but now I need to customise my Windows 7 VDI image to optimise it for our network.

iOS and Android in the workplace (aka Replacing your computer with an iPad/Android Tablet?)

With iOS and Android becoming more popular in the home environment, I am often asked how these devices can be used as the endpoint to connect to a work network.  I would like to separate the use of these devices as a work device, rather using them as an access point for the occasional remote access session.

Irrespective of whether the tablet or mobile is a company or personal device, the issue with connecting it to your network is software support, so we have to look at what applications are required in the workplace.  With email, most mobile and tablet devices will support Exchange, and most of these devices will have the ability to create, read and edit Microsoft Office documents.  There may be some issues with legacy applications, or Windows only applications, which would render the device useless for those applications.

I’ve read in some places, where the solution is the replace the applications with something that will work on these mobile devices, or on other computer operating systems.   This seems a little bit extreme, especially in the current economic climate, where IT budgets are being cut and hardware refresh rates being increased from three years to up to five years.  Embracing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) will also bring the same challenges, as the organisation may save hardware costs in not having to purchase and maintain devices, but will have to alter the backend infrastructure to support these new devices.

I’ve always liked the concept of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) but in the past, it has been both complicated and expensive.  There are now solutions which can give you a virtual desktop for less than the cost of a new PC.  By manipulating budgets, it would be possible to deploy a VDI solution, instead of carrying out a hardware refresh of the desktop/laptop infrastructure.  The VDI solution would be able to create a Windows desktop environment that can run on any endpoint that supports RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol).  This would enable the old hardware, the mobile devices, the tablets, the BYOD equipment and home devices to connect to the VDI solution using RDP.  This solution can run on the network, and allow these devices to connect assuming they are on the network. 

The next challenge would be allowing these devices to connect to the VDI solution when they are away from the office.  If there is an SSL-VPN solution in place, you may be out of luck!  Most SSL-VPN solutions allow you to connect to your office, via an internet browser.  By installing some software components, via ActiveX or Java, it will give your Windows and Apple (and sometimes Linux) computers the ability to connect to the network and allow your applications to run remotely.  The issue comes as most of these solution providers have not written software components for the mobile and tablet devices to connect natively to the network.  Although web applications will work on these devices, any application requiring more than a web browser will not run.

The way to allow these devices onto the network will be to use a “traditional” VPN, utilising PPTP, L2TP or IPSEC.  This type of connectivity is normally configured on a firewall or VPN concentrator and once configured with the appropriated settings and authentication (we will have to think about security); these devices will connect and can interact with your network as if they were a computer on the network.

Once connected, the VDI solution will be available to the device, and then allow your Windows desktop to run, even though the device is not in the office and may not be running a traditional operating system!

Neocoretech – Reduce your VDI project cost and improve performance!

When I talk about the Neocoretech NDV VDI solution, the common question I’m asked by VMware View engineers is “How do I size the SAN?”

There is normally a confused look, when I suggest there is no need for a SAN!

We first of all have to understand that VMware View is built on the VMware ESX infrastructure, where the Storage Area Network (SAN) is a requirement for server virtualisation. 

For VMware View, the backbone of the solution is shared storage, where SANs are often used to provide this. The underlying VMware ESX infrastructure has to be configured to use logical unit number (LUN) addresses in order to give high availability.  This means they reserve a LUN on a SAN for 2 servers, so if one server goes down the other still points to the same disk. Using direct attached storage cannot work with this approach as Direct Attached Storage (DAS) by definition cannot be shared.

Neocoretech provides a different approach based on clusters, utilising direct attached storage. A dedicated Ethernet interface links two servers to that disk cluster and the disks are mirrored over the LAN. This also improves performance as there are more disks and therefore more spindles are available to deliver disk IOs.

In combination with utilising read-only desktops on the Neocoretech NDV solution, means that the VDI infrastructure is only delivering the desktop, which means dedicated network storage can (and should) be used to manage the data and storage.

With correct sizing and infrastructure, Neocoretech NDV will not only lower the TCO giving quicker ROI, but it also means there is no need to endure the SAN IOPS storm in the morning!

Why use VDI, when I can use Terminal Services?

Working with Neocoretech NDV VDI solution, I see many advantages for using it over VMWare View or Citrix XenDesktop, due to the way it utilises RAM and negates the need for SAN solutions by using “Read only” desktops.  A common question when discussing virtual desktop solutions, is why use VDI when I can use Terminal Services. 

These points were addressed by Christophe Rettien, CTO of Neocoretech.

Architecture

• Neocoretech NDV is a 1:1 connection between 1 Thin Client and 1 Hosted PC (in this case a Virtual PC)
• Terminal Services is a 1:n connection between n Thin Clients and 1 Hosted Server (could be a physical virtual Server)

Protocol

• Neocoretech NDV is not tied to RDP and can use any available protocol including rich multimedia support, bi-directional sound and USB redirection. Available protocols are RDP, UXP, NX, RDP TCX...
• Terminal Services IS RDP so no protocol choice here. If Terminal Services does not provide sufficient performance, nothing can solve that!

Supported OSs

• Neocoretech NDV supports any x86 OS, which allows a user to run a Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux, with 32-bit or 64-bit distributions.
• Terminal Services is only supported by Microsoft servers, so the end user can run a remote session on a Windows 2003 or 2008 Server. Some tweaks exist to create a Windows 7 look and feel from a Windows 2008 session.

Supported Software

• Neocoretech NDV runs a single computer for each user, which means any application available on the OS used will be available to the user.
• Terminal Services runs multiple shared instances of a unique program within the same server (2003 or 2008) and only applications allowed to be shared are available to the end user.

Summary

Neocoretech NDV provides:

• Operating system choice
• All applications are supported
• Different applications installed according to user profile
• All protocols supported
• High availability options

NDV consequences:

• Requires powerful servers

Terminal Services provides:

• High density - good ratio server sizing/number of users

Terminal Services consequences:

• CAL licensing cost per session and per application
• Poor multimedia performance
• Complex GPO settings, if different desktops are to be presented based on user profiles (all applications need to be installed)

Conclusion

As with all solutions, it is more important to understand the requirement, rather than push a technology.  We need to understand when one solution would fit better than the other.

Terminal Services works well in environments with budget constraints or require a “vanilla” suite of applications.  VDI solutions such as Neocoretech NDV offer greater flexibility, management, operating system choice, supports a greater number of clients, and can be easily managed.