Virtual Desktops theory questions

Hello!
Help me please clarify several questions on Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual remote desktop infrastructure.
Having read the following artcile http://windowsitpro.com/virtualization/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-part-2-finally-vdi
"The Remote Desktop Connection Broker role service is really the brains of the VDI environment. It communicates with and controls the other components, working particularly closely with the Remote Desktop Session Host in redirection mode, which
is why the Remote Desktop Connection Broker and Remote Desktop Session Host
in redirection mode are frequently placed on the same OS instance. However, when you start having more than 250 simultaneous connections, you might need to consider breaking the roles onto separate servers.
Remote Desktop Session Host in Redirection Mode
The concept of using a Remote Desktop Session Host in redirection mode isn’t new.
Remote Desktop Virtualization Host
The Remote Desktop Virtualization Host role service is installed on any Hyper-V host that will be participating in a VDI pool. This role service lets the Remote Desktop Connection Broker
role service communicate with the Hyper-V hosts, start and stop VMs, and gather internal information to enable client connections."
...I've concluded that RDSH and RDVH are the two separate roles that can be (and should be - according to the Figure1 !) installed onto the two separate OS instances (RDCB + RDSH in Redirection mode on one server and the RDVH on the other).
But when it comes to deploying VDI in practice I don't see how it's possible to separate RDSH in Redirection mode and RDVH services. Moreover, if we look at the following screenshots...
http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2013/04/25/step-by-step-deploying-virtual-desktops-with-windows-server-2012.aspx
...we'll see that on step 1 Add the Roles and features wizard "wants" to deploy the
RDSH service while on step 3 the RDSH service transforms to the
RDHV service.
Q1) What does this service transformation means?
Q2) Is it possible to have RDSH in Redirection mode and
RDVH services on separate servers in Win2012?
Q3) Is it possible when using pooled virtual desktop collection to set, for example, 2 cores per virtual desktops wich based on Template1 and 1 core per virtual desktops based on Template2?
Thank you in advance,
Michael

"With RDSH, you will get RemoteApp, the "terminal sessions". Have you been around during Windows
Server 2003 Tarminal Server? That´s it, but with additional RDWeb. RDSH is pretty much the same as Citrix XenApp overall." -
yes, I understand.
"You can setup VDI infra with only one server, you will need
RDVH, RDWeb and RDConnector roles, that´s all. You don´t need RDSH role for running VDI. -
I'm agree... but if I have VDI up and running without RDSH why its item is present on Deployment Overview diagram??? Can't find corresponding documentation anywhere... :(
Regards,
Michael

Similar Messages

What licenses do I need to get a virtual desktop environment up and running?

I’m trying to figure out what licenses I need to get a full Windows Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) up and running with the Remote Desktop Service (RDS) roles.
I have Win.Server 2012 running Hyper-V, which has about 10 different virtual machines (VM) with either Win.7 or Win.8 installed on it. These VMs will act as virtual desktops (VD) for about 200 people to remotely access and use.
My question is, what licenses do I need to support this scenario?
So far, I’m planning to purchase a few Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition with 10 Client Access Licenses ( $1414.19 each). I’m assuming that’s 1 license for the server and 10 Client Access Licenses (CAL) for users who will access the VDs. I’m also planning
to buy about 200 RDS CALs ($149 each) for the rest of the users to access the VDs. Do I need to buy additional licenses for each VM image I create (the 10 images I mentioned earlier)? These VMs are in a pooled virtual desktop collection, so they reset themselves
when users disconnect from them. If I have personal desktop collections which give unique desktops to each user and saves their settings, will my license have to change if I have that too?
At first I thought just buying the RDS CALs will allow me to install windows where ever I want, how many times I want and all I have to worry about is paying for the client access, but do I need to pay for the OS as well? So essentially I’m doubling the
license?
A side question not really related is, if I have Windows Thin PC, (which was said to come free if I have SA with another product) and bought the Windows Server license, does that come with SA and I can install Windows Thin PC as many times as I want
on which ever desktop I have that will connect to this VDI system?

The 10 server licenses are fine, but they don't help you with VDI or remote desktops. I you want to install the Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as Terminal Server) role on all your servers und provide remote desktops for your 200 users, 200 RDS
CALs are the right choice (per user or per device).
But if your 200 users have access to virtual desktops, you need 200 VDI licenses. It doesn't matter if you only have 10 virtual desktops if potentially all your 200 users have access to them. VDI licensing is not based on a concurrent model, so every client
that can connect to a VM needs its own license. If Windows 8 Enterprise with SA is on all your client devices, you're set because SA gives users access rights to up to 4 Win8 or Win7 VMs concurrently (local or remote). In addition
it gives them a so-called companion subscription license for personally owned, non-primary devices.
For those primary corporate devices that are without SA, you'll need to purchase a single VDA license for each device that connects to any number of your Win7 or Win8 VMs. The same applies to personally owned devices of users who don't have a primary
corporate device with SA. In other words, BYOD is supported if your primary device is under SA.
For neither VDI/SA nor VDA it does matter if users are connecting to different VM images or only one. Typically, they cannot connect to more than 4 VMs at the same time in order to stay within the licensing limits.
Benny

Remote desktop virtualization setup - can't identify virtual desktop state

I'm experimenting with MS's vdi offering and have hit a problem when selecting the Remote Desktop template virtual machine.
The Error (translated from spanish)
'Cannot identify the virtual desktop state. Verify that the remote desktop virtualization host server hypervsrv is available on the network and that the virtual desktop VDIBaseWin7 is closed'
What I've got:
A Windows 2012 R2 with hyper-v
A Windows 2012 Std on which I am trying to configure Remote desktop virtualization
A virtual machine with Windows 7 pro. The machine is basic win 7, patched and has been sysprepped.
How I get there:
From server manager I open Remote Desktop Services > from the wizard área above I click on (3) Create remote desktop collection
This opens the wizard where I choose a name for the collection
I then select 'personal virtual desktop collection' and 'créate and adminístrate virtual desktops automatically'
The wizard then presents me with a list of virtual machines. I then select the sysprepped wind 7 pro machine (which is shut down naturally). I've tried generating the win7 machine as a generation 1 and generation 2 - the result is the same.
The wizard pauses for a few moments and then displays:
'Cannot identify the virtual desktop state. Verify that the remote desktop virtualization host server hypervsrv is available on the network and that the virtual desktop VDIBaseWin7 is closed'
Neither the event log of the hyper-v server, nor the rds server, report anything.
So, my question is, whats failing? Its obvious that its trying to perform some action and is failing. The question is, whats it trying to do. If I knew what it was doing then I could investigate the cause, but the error doesn't say much.
Anyone have any ideas?

strange, This question has been moved to the remote desktop forum. I would have thought this forum was more for the traditional terminal server type questions.
Anyway, I found a solution to my own problem. It turns out to be the mix of 2012R2 for hyperv and 2012 std for the broker, etc.
I set up another server with 2012r2 and followed the same sequence to configure it with the rds roles and it worked perfectly.

Dell Precision T5810 Core options and GPU config? Running CC on virtual desktops?

Hi, two questions really but didn't want to start multiple threads.
I tried searching for answers to my questions but was not very successful so am trying to post. I am looking at buying some computers for our office which will be using the CC subscription for their workflow. Predominately this is short form video editing on Premiere (3-10min, AVCHD & DSLR mix, 2-3 camera steams, 50/50 just as straight streams/multicam), some light to mid graphics on After Effect and Photoshop then compression through Media Encoder.
Our media will be stored on a Small Tree shared storage server across a dedicated gigabit network.
As Dell have just launch their new workstations using the new version of the Xeon 16 series with DDR4 RAM I was thinking of going down that road. Would I be better getting the Hex Core 1650v3, 500GB HDD, 16GB DDR4 2133 RAM with either a Quadro K2200 or Firepro W5100, or Quad Core 1620v3, 500GB HDD, 16GB DDR4 2133 RAM with Quadro K4200?
As I understand it is important make sure systems are balanced between CPU, GPU, RAM and discs. Which of the above configs would perform better for our work, as I am not sure if the hex core will be more so with a lower GPU, or if the quad with a faster/more expensive GPU will perform better?
I know when it comes to GPU's a kick off would be to say ditch the workstation line for a GTX to save money, but we have a business deal with Dell as a business their 3 year support is an important consideration to us something they do not support if we chop and change out unsupported components such as a GTX card.
The other option I have been made by our IT department is that we could buy Dell servers, add graphics cards and run virtual desktops for the editors on them instead of buying stand alone towers. I have not really seen this being done before for video editing which suggests to me that this does not work for one reason or another, but I have not been able to find out much with my Google-fu (which again is probably a bad sign). Is this as bad an idea as I am assuming or is this a potential avenue.
Hopefully that has all made sense and apologies if I have not followed any forum etiquette, (first time so be kind!)
Thanks in advance for all and any help.
Ed

Hi,
Thank you for the replies. Having looked at the virtual option more closely I have discounted it as an option. Was never really something I wanted but our IT insisted I evaluated it as part of the process.
Regarding the workstations I had decided to go with the hex core E5 1650 option so it is good to hear I am heading down the right road! My reasoning for look at the new T5810 (DDR4 RAM) over the previous T3610 which had the 1650v2 (DDR3 RAM) was based on the fact the the cost difference on the website was only about 70-80 pounds. For that little difference it seemed like a good idea to buy the latest offering for future proofing. I will however get Dell to quote me for the two systems and see what the end result is after adding in 32GB of RAM.
I will also speak to them about their warranty as I was under the impression that by putting a non approved card in the system that if there were issues that involved the card in anyway then they would not assist. Either way I had decided to go Nvidia after reading up about the Firepro computability. Sadly I don't think I would have budget for the K4200 but the K2200 looks like it might be a decent performer as it is based on the maxwell architecture so I would expect it punch a bit above its weight. Would this act as the bottle neck in such a system or would it be fast enough to balance out a E5 1650 and 32GB RAM?
If it is only the card itself that will not be supported then I guess this is lesser risk and I could consider a consumer card. If I did go down the GTX route then looking at the price of GTX 770 (ideally I would want the 4GB version as the 2GB could be limiting for the future), there does not seem to be a lot in it between them and the GTX970. I would expect due to the maxwell architecture that this would offer better performance at a lower power draw so I would expect the be better temps than the previous gen. If so then would this be a better option to go for?
For drives I will look at putting the media cache onto separate drives (we currently do this with our systems that run local storage), though will probably have to be HDD rather than SDD as I have them spare and fast running out of budget!
Thanks again for all comments.

Adobe Reader 9.4.5 & Virtual Desktop Infrastructure compatibility ?

I am seeking following information on Adobe Reader 9.4.5 in regards to MS Virtual Desktop Infrastructure compatibility, below are questions:
1. Is the application – Adobe Reader 9.4.5 supported on Windows 7 x64 desktop virtualised on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V presented by Citrix XenDesktop 5.5/5.6 ?
2. Is the virtualization of the application supported ? [We are Planning to virtualize the Application using Microsoft App-V/Citrix ] ?
3. Is the application supported if installed on Virtual Machines [VDI] ?
4. Does the Application’s current License Policy support if the Application is virtualized ?
5. Does the Application’s current License policy support the Application on Virtual Machines?
If not is there any license policy that supports the Application on Virtual Machines ?

You can remove the corrupted installation using the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

Looking to Set Up Multiple Virtual Desktops

Hi, I'm a newb looking to set up multiple virtual desktops for my employees. What would be the best windows image to use and how do I install Chrome onto the machines?

Hi Shru84;
Welcome to Azure. Azure Virtual Machine as the name suggest are Virtual Server which function as your regular server but does not have a physical presence but is hosted on Azure Platform.
We have a variety of OS flavors, there is nothing which is good or bad, its more of a question of your requirement. Please note that the desktop Version of Windows 7/ 8
are at the moment only available for MSDN subscriber.
As for Chrome Installation its the same as installing it on a regular machine, that is opening up a web browser, loggin into chrome download site and installing it. ( http://www.google.com/chrome/ )
Here is an example:
his tutorial shows you how easy it is to create an Azure virtual machine (VM). This tutorial uses a Windows Server image, but that's only one of the many images available through Azure. This includes Windows operating systems, Linux-based operating systems,
and images with installed applications. The images you can choose from depend on the type of subscription you have. For example, desktop images may be available to MSDN subscribers.
You can also create Windows VMs using
your own images as templates. To learn more about Azure VMs, see
Overview of Azure Virtual Machines.
NOTE:
You need an Azure account to complete this tutorial:
You can
open an Azure account for free: You get credits you can use to try out paid Azure services, and even after they're used up you can keep the account and use free Azure services, such as Websites. Your credit card will never be charged, unless you explicitly
change your settings and ask to be charged.
You can
activate MSDN subscriber benefits: Your MSDN subscription gives you credits every month that you can use for paid Azure services.
How to create the virtual machine
This section shows you how to use the From Gallery option in the Management Portal to create the virtual machine. This option provides more configuration choices than the
Quick Create option. For example, if you want to join a virtual machine to a virtual network, you'll need to use the
From Gallery option.
NOTE:
You can also try the richer, customizable Azure Preview Portal to create a virtual machine, automate the deployment of multi-VM application templates, use enhanced VM monitoring and diagnostics features, and more. The
available VM configuration options in the two portals overlap substantially but aren't identical.
Sign in to the Azure Management Portal. Check out the
Free Trial offer if you don't have a subscription yet.
On the command bar at the bottom of the window, click New.
Under Compute, click Virtual Machine, and then click
From Gallery.
The first screen lets you Choose an Image for your virtual machine from one of the lists in the Image Gallery. (The available images may differ depending on the subscription you're using.) Click the arrow to continue.
The second screen lets you pick a computer name, size, and administrative user name and password. If you just want to try out Azure Virtual Machines, fill in the fields as shown in the image below. Otherwise, chose the tier and size required to run your
app or workload. Here are some details to help you fill this out:
New User Name refers to the administrative account that you use to manage the server. Create a unique password for this account and make sure to remember it.
You'll need the user name and password to log on to the virtual machine.
A virtual machine's size affects the cost of using it, as well as configuration options such as the number of data disks you can attach. For details, see
Virtual Machine and Cloud Service Sizes for Azure.
The third screen lets you configure resources for networking, storage, and availability. Here are some details to help you fill this out:
The Cloud Service DNS Name is the global DNS name that becomes part of the URI that's used to contact the virtual machine. You'll need to come up with your own cloud service name because it must be unique in Azure. Cloud services are important
for scenarios using
multiple virtual machines.
For Region/Affinity Group/Virtual Network, use a region that's appropriate to your location. You can also choose to specify a virtual network instead.
NOTE:
If you want a virtual machine to use a virtual network, you must specify the virtual network when you create the virtual machine. You can't join the virtual machine to a virtual network after you create the VM. For more information, see
Azure Virtual Network Overview. - For details about configuring endpoints, see
How to Set Up Endpoints to a Virtual Machine.
The fourth configuration screen lets you configure the VM Agent and some of the available extensions. Click the check mark to create the virtual machine.
NOTE:
The VM agent provides the environment for you to install extensions that can help you interact with or manage the virtual machine. For details, see
Using Extensions.
After the virtual machine is created, the Management Portal lists the new virtual machine under
Virtual Machines. The corresponding cloud service and storage account also are created and are listed in those sections. Both the virtual machine and cloud service are started automatically and the Management Portal shows their status as
Running.
Click Virtual Machines, and then select the appropriate virtual machine.
On the command bar, click Connect.
Click Open to use the Remote Desktop Protocol file that's automatically created for the virtual machine.
Click Connect to continue.
Type the credentials for the administrative account on the virtual machine, and then click
OK.
TIP:
In most cases, you'll use the user name and password that was specified when the virtual machine was created. Check the user name to make sure it has the correct domain information:
If the VM belongs to a domain at your organization, make sure the user name includes the name of that domain.
If the VM doesn't belong to a domain, either remove any domain information by starting the line with '\' or use the VM name as the domain name. For example,
\MyUserName or MyTestVM\MyUserName.
If the VM is a domain controller, type the user name and password of a domain administrator account for that domain.
Click Yes to verify the identity of the virtual machine.
You can now work with the virtual machine remotely.
Regards;
Prasant

How to specify Host Server for Replicated Virtual Desktops within RDVH Collection

My question about how to specify Host Server for Replicated Virtual Desktops within Collection.
I know there is a aswered thread on this, but that solution (wait a week) didn't work for me.
So i have 2 servers, RDS01 and RDS02 with both 15 Hyper-V VM's and replicating to eachother. That part works fine.
Now I wanted to make it easy for my users I build a Connection Broker: RDCB
All went fine in that setup, but when I want to add the existing VM's from RDS01 and RDS02 to the collection it just radomly adds running ones and replicated ones.
So both RDS01 and RDS02 have 15 VM's running and 15 replica's in stopped state, but when I look in my collection, it says RDS01 has 23 and RDS02 has 7 VM's. When I add them all, I see he wants to add a lot of stopped states replica's from RDS01 instead of
the running ones from RDS02.
How can I specify which one he should use? Or need I disable replication first, setup the whole RDCB collection thing, and then turn replication back on? Or does Hyper-V replication not work at all when used in a collection?
I hope someone can help out here. I'm googling and trying for 1,5 week now, but i can;t get it right.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Robin,
Thanks for your patience.
After you removed Replication from 1 machine on both RDS01 and RDS02, please restart that machine. After that, please add this machine to the RD collection again to test how the issue goes.
As we know, Hyper-V Replica provides asynchronous replication of Hyper-V virtual machines between two hosting servers. It is simple to configure and does not require either shared storage or any particular storage hardware. Any server workload that can be
virtualized in Hyper-V can be replicated. Replication works over any ordinary IP-based network, and the replicated data can be encrypted during transmission. Hyper-V Replica works with standalone servers, failover clusters, or a mixture of both. The servers
can be physically co-located or widely separated geographically. The physical servers do not need to be in the same domain, or even joined to any domain at all.
Currently, would you please add only running state VMs to the RD CB collection? And would you please capture some screenshots of the error message? Thanks very much for your cooperation.
Best regards,
Sophia Sun
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Licensing help needed for datacenter server with vm running windows server 2012 essentials and ten virtual desktops for remote access

NPO wants to get windows server 2012 r2 datacenter as the main operating system and then windows server 2012 r2 essentials plus 10 windows 8.1 as virtual desktops. Each desktop for one remote user running office 2013. Is there a better configuration?
In either case what licenses does the NPO need to purchase?
Bob

Hi,
For license related questions we recommend you contact Microsoft licensing specialist.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/141850/en-us
Regards.
Vivian Wang

'Virtual Desktop'?

I am looking at upgrading from a PC to a MAC soon. I am debating between an iMac and MacBook Pro. My fiancée and I were discussing the iMac and iPad and we wondered whether there was an app that would allow me to essentially run my iMac from the iPad? Kind of like a 'virtual desktop' application.
I apologize if this isn't the correct forum spot to ask this question...I'm simply trying to get answers before spending a lot of money on a new system. if I can run my iMac from an iPad, for instance, then I wouldn't necessarily need the portability that a MacBook offers...and I'd have the power of the iMac that I desire.
Thanks for your time!

Thanks...did the search. All I can say is AWESOME! Look out MAC here I come!

How to run Windows 7 over a virtual desktop in a Blackberry Smartphone?

Hi,
Thank you for posting your question in Microsoft Community. I understand that you want to know whether you can run Windows 7 over a virtual desktop in a Blackberry Smartphone.
The issue you posted would be better suited in Blackberry Support Community Forums.
I would suggest you to post your question in the below link:

Hi and Welcome to the Community...and apologies for the delay!
Hopefully you already have this resolved, but just in case...
Do I understand that you wish to, on a BB itself, run a virtual Windows 7 environment? Or do you instead desire to activate a remote control session over a Windows 7 computer from your BB device?
Please clarify (though I don't think either are actually possible...).
Good luck!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
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VDA licensing for Virtual Desktops

Hi,
I always seem to browse thru the VDA Faq everytime I need to do up a proposal for a Desktop Virtualization solution. Can anyone clarify some things that are vague for me right now.
1) If current environment all users use OEM machines with Windows XP, say VDI is rolled out using Windows 7. We know we would need to get the VDA license per device that is about to access the Virtual Desktops. But how about the Windows 7 Base
OS license itself? Is there a need to buy 1 Volume License Windows 7 media when preparing the master image using that OS?
2) How does the VDA usage rights extend when the users primary using it, goes home and uses their own home PCs to connect back to their virtual desktops? Do we need to get another VDA license for that use?
Thanks,

Hi,
Please check the following link:
Licensing Windows
for Virtual Desktops Whitepaper
Licensing Windows for VDI Environments
Hope it helps.
Alex Zhao
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SPLA & Virtual Desktops

My goal here is to get feedback from other experts regarding Microsoft's current policy on Licensing Windows 7 as a virtual guest under SPLA licensing.
I am a consultant who encourages my small/medium business clients to seek out hosted remote office providers. In many cases, their core business applications do not work in Terminal server, Citrix, and PCoIP. There is a school of thought that virtually
all of these problems can be overcome by modifications and workarounds, there are still some softwares that simply won't work. Also, sometimes the issue is not technical but rather licensing. In summary, many software vendors simply won't provide support
or allow for their software inside these environments. This is indisputable.
Nevertheless, many businesses that use "terminal unfriendly software" would still benefit immensely from a hosted virtual office solution. One obvious option is to create virtual machines running an OS and configuration supported by the software vendor.
This is less elegant, and less efficient (resource wise) than a simple terminal server configuration, however it would be supported which is critical. It also carries several other advantages.
The bottom line is that Microsoft currently allows for this with windows licensing if the company does it in house. However, it specifically forbids that such a solution be hosted by a third party, as third party hosts are restricted specifically to the
SPLA terms for virtualization hosting which is documented here.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/5/8/F58E786D-529D-438A-8625-4948205D8BA5/Windows_Hyper_V_Licensing_Whitepaper_v2_0.docx
<quote>
Scenario 5: Running Desktop Systems as Hyper-V Guests
This scenario is currently not allowed under SPLA.
</quote>
Questions:
Does anyone else see the value in the virtual desktop model?
Does anyone else see the value in having it hosted by a third party?
Can anyone think of a reason why they would outright deny this functionality like this only for SPLA?
Can anyone suggest a method for making a request to Microsoft to have this policy revisited?
I understand that maybe it seems like a waste of time, and I do respect Microsoft's right to permit/deny the use of their software as they see fit. I just think they've specifically cut out a good idea and business model here, and basically said "If terminal
server or citrix won't do it, then it won't be hosted in remote office (by a third party)". I'd at least like to make my point and be heard.
Thanks for anyone who provides their opinion:
-Jerry

Below are copies of two emails l I sent in October 2010 to an individual at Microsoft who works directly with the Director of U.S. Licensing, who in turn reports to the VP of Operations that manages Volume Licensing for North America. The ONLY response
I've received to this and subsequent messages is that they're talking about it internally:
<!-- [if gte mso 10]> <mce:style> <!-- [if gte mso 10]> <mce:style>
October 2011:
At the joint Microsoft/Citrix Virtualization Licensing webinar back on September 14, 2010, I asked about SPLA licensing for virtual Windows desktops hosted in an ITaaS model, and you said Microsoft has no plan on their licensing roadmap to provide for this.
You indicated in your brief response that you were unclear as to why this would be an issue.
It is, in fact, a critical and serious issue for ITaaS (HaaS/SaaS) providers – a business model that we are intent on implementing. Please allow me to explain:
At present, Microsoft SPLA licensing enables provider-hosted licensing for EVERY component of a Microsoft-centric SMB network environment
EXCEPT the Windows desktop licenses . VDA licensing (or Software Assurance added to Windows OEM, Retail or Open licenses) provides for CLIENT-OWNED VDI licensing, but
makes no provision for provider-owned VDI licensing, and in fact, FORBIDS such licensing in a SPLA environment. SPLA licensing forbids mixing with non-SPLA licensing, and yet no SPLA license EXISTS for virtual desktops. Surely,
you see how that leaves us stymied.
This is an impossible licensing disparity for ITaaS providers that leaves us, effectively “dead in the water.”
We can’t successfully implement a fully-hosted hardware/software environment WITHOUT virtual desktop licenses, yet Microsoft provides no way for us to implement such an environment WITH virtual desktop licenses! If I’m missing
something here, please let me know.
I understand that SPLA is the fastest-growing license category at Microsoft. I can assure you that it would grow even faster if you make the rules consistent across your product line so that ITaaS providers aren’t having to figure out how to
do magic in order to arrive at compliance with Microsoft’s arcane, self-contradictory licensing approach.
I and every other Microsoft Partner I’ve talked with about this (which is a sizeable number of Partners)
are completely baffled by this situation , and we need some kind of intelligible response from Microsoft so we’ll know how to proceed . This is now a pervasive topic of discussion among your Partners, so I hope
you see it as important for Microsoft to address with something more than the “Here’s what you CAN’T do” responses we’ve gotten thus far.
Here’s my question to you in a nutshell , and I would earnestly appreciate it if you would help me to get an answer from someone at Microsoft:
Does Microsoft have ANY license model or combination of license models that allows an ITaaS provider to do the following:
1.
Host the Microsoft server-side products on equipment owned by the ITaaS provider
(which is already straightforward to do with SPLA);
2.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, Host Windows Virtual Desktops and Microsoft Office running on equipment owned by the ITaaS provider.
If not, is there any plan at Microsoft to make this possible. And finally, if not, why not.
I’m sending this follow-up to our emails from last week in an effort to further pin down some of the detail regarding the Microsoft licensing hurdles we’re encountering for fully-hosted ITaaS in Virtual Desktop environments. If you can
forward this internally in either HTML or Rich Text format, it’ll ensure that my colored highlighting is preserved (but I’m sure you already knew that!).
I have no confidence that I’m reading and interpreting all the licensing requirements and restrictions exactly correctly, so I wanted to try to explain my own feeble understanding of those requirements and restrictions as they apply to the ITaaS scenario,
and to let you and your team correct whatever I’m misunderstanding.
But first, let me describe our objectives with regard to ITaaS
– how this would work in a perfect world – so your team will understand as clearly as possible what we (and MANY other longstanding Microsoft Partners) are hoping to arrive at:
1.
We, the ITaaS provider, will own the server hardware infrastructure (a high-performance, highly-available server environment) and
will locate the physical server-side equipment either at the client site (what we call Local Cloud Computing)
or at an offsite data center .
2.
We will “own” (be the license-holder for) all licensing for the Microsoft server operating systems and Microsoft server-side applications
used by our customer’s end-users (e.g. Windows Server, SBS, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, etc.)
and we will charge a predictable monthly fee to our customer for the use of this licensing . [I realize that software licensing isn’t technically “owned” by anyone other than the software creator, but allow me to use the term
“own” for purposes of this discussion, so we’ll be clear about who holds the licenses.]
3.
We will own all licensing for the Microsoft Desktop operating systems
(e.g. Windows 7 Pro) and Microsoft client-side applications (e.g. Microsoft Office, etc.)
and will charge a predictable monthly fee to the client for the use of these licenses.
4.
We will host, and run on our server infrastructure, all the Desktop VMs accessed by our customer’s end-users .
5.
The end-users will access the Desktop VMs hosted by us EITHER from existing PCs/laptops
owned by the customer , OR from dedicated thin clients, PCs or laptops
owned by us . THIS IS WHERE IT GETS REALLY STICKY WITH MICROSOFT’S CURRENT LICENSING RESTRICTIONS, particularly SPLA restrictions about mixing license types in a given network environment.
Over time, we expect that all existing PCs/laptops owned by the client will be replaced by thin clients, PCs and laptops
owned by us , since the ultimate goal here is to convert everything to a hosted model. But in the beginning, we expect that many of the desktop endpoints accessing hosted Desktop VMs will be PCs or laptops that are already in place and are
owned by the end customer . We can conceivably buy these existing devices from the client to arrive at a 100% provider-owned equipment model, but that will have some real challenges, especially where a given user’s primary device for accessing
a VM is a handheld device (iPhone, iPAD, etc.) rather than a PC or laptop. And it also creates an additional capital cost for us that will make it tougher to get an ITaaS approach in place.
As I see it, a straightforward solution
to the existing Microsoft Desktop VM licensing restrictions that would resolve all the issues above would be to create a true SPLA license for Desktop VMs, and to
tie the SPLA VM license to the Desktop Virtual Machine itself rather than to a primary physical endpoint. To my mind, what is making this whole thing
so excessively complicated is Microsoft’s intransigent insistence on tying Desktop operating system licenses to PHYSICAL devices.
Isn’t it time to truly open the door to a licensing approach that matches the reality of Virtualized operating systems by tying the OS licenses to the VMs? Let the physical OSes (including
embedded Windows for thin client terminals) be tied to the physical devices, and let the virtual OSes be tied to the VMs.
6.
We will provide comprehensive (all-in) managed services for our clients under this model, including troubleshooting and remediation, Help Desk, patch management, malware protection, and consulting.
ALL of the above deliverables will be included as a predictable monthly fee to our customers . Since Microsoft SPLA licensing includes constant eligibility for the latest versions of the Microsoft products (as well as downgrade
rights for users that aren’t yet ready to move to latest versions), one of the huge business benefits to this ITaaS model will be “latest and greatest” versions of Microsoft product. Because SPLA licensing and server/desktop virtualization
make it so much easier to do software upgrades/migrations, we plan to also include labor for major version upgrades of Microsoft products within the monthly ITaaS fees paid to us by the customer. We will also include scheduled hardware refreshes as part
of the monthly fee paid to us by the customer under this model.
That’s our vision – now we have to figure out how to make it work with Microsoft licensing, if at all possible.
IF Microsoft allowed us to use SPLA for Windows 7 VMs accessed by desktop endpoints
that WE OWN , that gives us one possible solution. It would mean that if we want to let the end-users continue to use the PCs/laptops they currently have in place for accessing the Desktop VMs we’re hosting on our servers,
we would have to BUY all of those end-customer’s user endpoints (PCs and laptops) in order to be able to be covered by SPLA for the VMs accessed by those machines. That creates a financial hurdle in terms of our capital costs to
implement ITaaS, but it’s not necessarily insurmountable.
However, the problem with that scenario is that SPLA licensing presently
includes specific prohibitions against MIXING SPLA licensing with other licensing models in the same environment
. So even if we DO BUY ALL the customer’s endpoint equipment AND we provide and own all the server equipment, we STILL can’t use SPLA licensing if there’s
any other license type installed on any equipment in the environment. This appears to be what the SPLA licensing says at this point, to the extent that I can understand it. I’m anxious to be told that I have this wrong!
Again, it seems to me that ONE MODIFICATION would solve a multitude of different complications :
In effect, TIE THE DESKTOP WINDOWS VM LICENSE TO THE VM ITSELF, not to the endpoint device
. Since existing VDA licensing ALREADY allows for unlimited secondary endpoints (e.g. PDAs, traveling laptops, kiosks, etc.) to access a given VM, I don’t see where it materially
changes the “spirit” of the licensing if you create a SPLA VM license and tie that license to the hosted VM itself rather than to the primary physical endpoint.
As things stand right now, this much is clear: Microsoft currently
considers the Desktop VM license to be tied to the primary physical
ENDPOINT (Desktop device), NOT to the VM running on the server
. So the only way we can possibly use SPLA for Windows Desktop VMs is if WE OWN the actual Desktop devices along with all other Microsoft endpoints that run any version of Windows, Office, or any other MS software.
Again, I’m more than willing to be proven wrong about my assessment of the hurdles involved with Microsoft’s existing licensing options for hosted Desktop VMs!
I remain hopeful that you’ll be able to get the right people involved at MS to identify one or more workable approaches for implementing a comprehensive ITaaS model, and if necessary, to modify SPLA licensing as it applies to hosted Desktop VMs so
that it is simpler and more viable for ITaaS providers to cover all the bases.
Please keep me posted on what you hear from your team.
And thanks again so much for your assistance!

VMWare View or Sun Virtual Desktop Access Kit?

Hello Everybody,
I'm in the process of deciding which way to go with the back-end of a new Sun Ray deployment and would appreciate any input. I already have a VMWare VI3 farm in place for servers so I'm familiar with this sort of technology.
I have looked into the functionality of VMWare View and it's VM recycling looks really good.
I've also seen that Sun have the Virtual Desktop Access Kit which appears, on the surface, to do much the same but without a few of the twiddly bits.
Is there any reason why I should/shouldn't use one over the other (other than cost!)? - particularly since I can't find any reference to the Sun VDA Kit anywhere on the UK site (is it still used or is it now included in the VDI 3 software?).
Many thanks.
Chris

Angus,
To be clear on your second question. Sun Ray Technology is a thin client (Appliance) access option for Sun VDI. It is not used as a desktop provider, but as a method to display and interact with a VDI hosted desktop on a Sun Ray Appliance. One big benefit of the Sun Ray Server as a access tier is it can use client code on the server for different connection options (I call these plugins for different services based upon a user's profile) such as VDI Desktops (Virtual Machines Instances on VBox, VMware, Hyper-V), Traditonal Solaris and Linux Multi-user Server Based Computing, Citrix Services, Mainframe emulation, a browser as Kiosk applications for locked down displays, and much more.
In the Sun Ray world there are many desktop provider options available beyond just VDI hosted desktop.
Jeff

Fail to create a VD Collection with error "The Virtual desktop template does not meet the provisioning requirements."

I get the following error when I try to create a Virtual desktop
collection;
"The Virtual desktop template does not meet the provisioning requirements."
although I'm specifing a sysprep'd VM installed WS2012 for a virtual desktop template.
Is there any way to resolve?
Or, is there any couses of this message?
thanks.

I realize this is an old thread. I'll post and see if I get a response. If not, I'll create a new thread. My question is how does Microsoft suggest SPLA partners create VDI pools since they cannot license Windows 7 or 8 via SPLA? Why
would you restrict the provisioning to only the desktop operating systems that you won't allow partners to license for deployment?
Are there any plans to change this to include 2008 R2 or WS2012 as the base OS for a VD template?
Rob

Hi i am a teacher and am looking to buy an iPad - we use SIMS (this isnt compatable with an IPad) but i can log into it via a virtual desktop. What wold be the best iPad to buy?

hi there
im looking to buy an ipad- we use SIMS at school and i need to be able to log into it. I can via a virtual desktop via the college wireless netork. I also have work on the network. What would be the best IPAD to buy?

You have the choice of a full size iPad or the iPad Mini...both come as either WiFi only or WiFi+cellular data service. With the cellular data model you can see if there is a SIM available that is appropriate. Either model is capable of attaching to a wireless network to give you access. Neither is capable of a wired connection, must be wireless.
So, the question is which size is the best for your personal use, and do you want cellular data access - great thing to have. Then the decision is which storage capacity do you want...keep in mind that the iPad is not upgradable after purchase so get the storage you really want to start out.

Virtual Desktops theory questions

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