Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense · 4 appsense.com Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense Target audience Architects interested in setting up a proof-of-concept

Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense

Whitepaper

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Introduction 03

Target audience 04

Quick start guide to AppSense 04

AppSense workspace management 05 Enterprise-scalable workspace management 05

Key concepts 05

Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DVS) 07

Integrating AppSense with Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions 07 Pre-installation checklist 07

Server virtual machines 07

Database solution 07

Installing AppSense workspace management 08

Architecture optimization 08

AppSense configuration management 08

Tested and validated 09

Summary 11

Contents


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Introduction


Dell’s Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DVS) offer industry-leading virtual desktop architectures built on high performance Dell Blade Servers and Dell Equal Logic storage. This architecture is designed to deliver a consistent, predictable desktop experience to users while ensuring the highest levels of availability and performance.

The manageability, performance, and user experience of a DVS environment can be further optimized through the use of workspace management technology. By decoupling the user-specific components of a desktop from the underlying fabric, workspace management enables a personalized experience even when the user is running on a standardized and highly scalable DVS technology fabric.

Dell and AppSense have partnered to test, validate and certify AppSense workspace management for use with the Dell DVS architecture. This implementation guide will detail the requirements for integrating AppSense with Dell DVS, provide a working knowledge of how to set up the AppSense workspace management components to support the DVS-delivered desktops and their users, and provide resources for architects and administrators to obtain more information.

AppSense workspace management ushers in a new era for IT with the first complete solution to unlock the user layer from devices, operating systems, and apps. For the first time, IT needs to manage only a single instance of the user, eliminating the arduous task of running unique configurations on every device.

This transformative technology profoundly simplifies the management of today’s mobile workers, migrations, and the exploding number of user devices. Isolating the user layer lets IT precisely administer users without impairing their experience. Tens or hundreds of thousands of users can now be easily managed with policy templates, and automatically reconfigured by device, location, or application. The user experience remains secure, predictable, and personalized, with bullet-proof reliability. Lockdown policies meant to constrain configurations are no longer necessary. IT can give users complete freedom of choice to use whichever devices suit them, and deploy a user-specific desktop to any device in any location at any time. Furthermore, AppSense reduces operation costs as managing desktop configuration is now automated, and fewer desktop images are required as standardized components can be configured and personalized for each individual user.

AppSense solves user complexity by satisfying three essential requirements:

DE-COUPLE: Isolate the user layer and all user-specific information from applications, operating systems, and devices

MANAGE: Centrally store and manage all aspects of the user, including user-based corporate policy, personalization settings, user rights, and user-introduced applications

DEPLOY: Share each unique user instance on-demand with any device in any location and delivered by any method

Please note that this architecture guide is not designed to provide step-by-step instructions for the installation of AppSense workspace management. Installation guidance can be found in the relevant AppSense Installation and Administration Guides. This architecture guide is designed to provide guidance on the proper way to configure each component, including prerequisites, storage placement, server sizing, and performance expectations after setup is complete.

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Target audience

Architects interested in setting up a proof-of-concept project featuring AppSense workspace management solutions should logon to appsense.com/evaluate

Access credentials to myAppSense.com will be delivered as part of this evaluation. myAppSense.com is the AppSense portal, where customers and partners can acquire AppSense software, log trouble tickets, browse the knowledgebase, and download whitepapers and other technical information.

An AppSense Proof-of-Concept Guide is available from myAppSense.com, which will guide the user through the individual steps to rapidly and reliably get AppSense product solutions up and running.

The Dell DVS and AppSense workspace management Architecture Guide is designed to give Systems Administrators, Architects, and Deployment Consultants an overview and introduction to the technical workings of the joint solution. A general familiarity with server, storage, and operating system concepts is expected. This architecture guide can be combined with the AppSense Enterprise Design Guide (EDG) to provide for high availability and multi-site solutions.

Quick start guide to AppSense

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Enterprise-scalable workspace managementAppSense is uniquely capable of meeting the performance and scalability requirements of even the most demanding Dell DVS environments through enterprise-class capabilities such as:

nThree-tier backend architecture based on proven technologies such Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft SQL Server.

nComprehensive management controls that allow policies and automated actions to be specified at global, group, or individual user levels through a straightforward graphical user interface.

nOn-demand streaming of user personalization information to DVS desktops on an “as needed” basis, minimizing network traffic and accelerating user logon times.

nIntegrated self-healing and user personalization snapshot and rollback capabilities to minimize demands on help desk staff.

nSeamless user roaming between DVS and native Dell Desktop and Laptop machines.

By combining the high-performance infrastructure provided by Dell DVS with the deployment flexibility of AppSense, IT organizations can deliver a high quality user experience without maintaining tight control over IT operations and infrastructure costs.

Key conceptsAppSense workspace management includes a full suite of user-centric management capabilities that address diverse capabilities such as:

nUser personalization and policy management

nApplication and network access control, including granular user rights management

nPerformance assurance on shared server-based computing infrastructure

The initial focus of Dell DVS and AppSense workspace management integration and testing is on user personalization and policy management, so the technical details in the following sections specifically refer to this element of AppSense workspace management.

The components introduced in this section should be well understood before beginning an AppSense installation. More information can be found it the relevant Installation and Administration Guide available from www.myAppSense.com (credentials can be obtained by contacting your local AppSense sales representative, or requesting a product evaluation from www.appsense.com).

The AppSense product set has been designed as a three-tier architecture to scale to meet the needs of the most demanding enterprises. Depending upon the features being enabled, one or more agents are installed on a managed endpoint device. In the case of DVS, these agents will be installed in the base desktop image. An Application Server based on Microsoft IIS serves as a communication tier, responsible for sending information between a product agent on an endpoint and the third tier, a database based on Microsoft SQL Server that is responsible for data storage and optimization.

This architecture offers tangible benefits to the enterprise. Microsoft SQL Server and IIS are in widespread use, and industry best practices can be applied directly to an AppSense infrastructure to provide for performance optimizations, high-availability, and disaster recovery. Additionally, by investing in highly scalable solutions such as SQL Server, an AppSense infrastructure can comfortably handle tens of thousands of concurrent users, and reliably manage the deployment of tens of thousands of desktop sessions.

Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense

AppSense workspace management

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This architecture guide focuses on the AppSense Environment Manager and AppSense Management Center products. The key components of this infrastructure are as follows:

1. AppSense Management Server: The AppSense Management Server (AMS) provides centralized administrative functions for AppSense workspace management. The AMS is responsible for the deployment of AppSense product agents and configurations, and if configured serves as a central repository for AppSense event logging.

2. AppSense Personalization Server: The AppSense Environment Manager Personalization Server (EMPS) delivers personalization settings into a running desktop session. When a user opens an application managed by AppSense Environment Manager, the Personalization Server retrieves any settings for that user related to the application, and streams them into the desktop session via HTTP or HTTPS.

3. Client Communications Agent: The CCA allows for communication between a managed endpoint device and the Management Server. The CCA ensures that the latest AppSense Environment Manager Agent and configuration are correctly deployed and installed on the endpoint. The CCA is also used to deploy other AppSense product agents and configurations required for AppSense functionality added in the future. The CCA communicates with the Management Server over either HTTP or HTTPS on standard defined ports. The CCA can be deployed in several ways; please consult the Administration guide for guidance on proper deployment of the CCA.

4. AppSense Environment Manager Agent: The EM Agent is responsible for the delivery of both policy and personalization. Policy actions are stored in a local configuration (XML file), which is processed by the agent to carry out the necessary actions such as drive mappings or printer mappings. The EM Agent is also responsible for delivering personalization when a user runs a managed application. EM Agents are stored in the Management Database so that they can be downloaded to managed end points via the Management Server, or the EM Agent can be pre-installed in a gold build. Every managed endpoint needs to have the agent installed. The EM Agent once installed runs, amongst other processes, a primary service called EMAgent.exe

5. AppSense Environment Manager Configuration: The AppSense Environment Manager Configuration (EM Config) is a user-generated XML file that defines the behavior of the Environment Manager product. A Config is generated by an administrator via the EM Console, and deployed to an endpoint machine via the AMS. The EM Agent uses the EM Config to enforce policy actions and to enable Personalization for the logged-in user.

See Figure 1 below for a graphical representation of an AppSense Environment Manager infrastructure. Each of the key concepts above are identified in the picture.


Figure 1: AppSense Environment Manager infrastructure

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The Dell Integrated Solution Stack (ISS) is a completely configured and tested solution constructed from Dell hardware, software and services, including PowerEdge™ servers, EqualLogic™ storage, PowerConnect™ networking and Dell validated OEM software from Citrix® and VMware®. You can use the validated ISS configurations to reduce the complexity that goes into transitioning to a desktop virtualization environment, simplify solution deployment, create solution stability and accelerate your return on investment.

The Dell Integrated Solution Stack (ISS) maps over 50,000 hours of testing and validation into optimized Dell virtual remote desktop (VRD)/virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) configurations that address both IT and user requirements.1

To integrate AppSense workspace management into the Dell DVS architecture, first ensure that the DVS architecture is configured to meet Dell best practices.

Organizations using DVS may elect to use foundational desktop virtualization software from leading partners such as Citrix and VMware. The AppSense workspace management environment is designed to work with heterogeneous desktop environments. Whether an organization deploys Citrix, VMware, or even a combination of the two, AppSense will function seamlessly even as users roam across disparate elements of the DVS environment or even to and from native PCs.

Pre-installation checklistAn AppSense infrastructure requires two virtual machines to support the Management Server and Personalization server roles. Additionally, each server requires a dedicated database. The prerequisites for these systems are listed below.

Server Virtual MachinesnWindows 2003 or later; Windows 2008 R2 or later Recommended

nIIS and ASP.Net features

nWindows Authentication Extensions for IIS

nBITS Extensions for IIS

nMicrosoft .NET 3.5 SP1 installed

n2 vCPUs

n4GB of RAM (or greater)

nInfrastructure Datastore (SATA)

In this configuration, the AppSense Personalization Server will support up to 5,000 concurrent users based on internal testing. The AppSense Management Server, configured as above, will support the management of 5,000 desktops without logging centralized enabled, or 2,500 desktops with centralized event logging enabled.

Database solutionn2 Databases required

nPersonalization Server database

nManagement Server database

nDedicated database server is not a requirement

nDedicated database server instance is not a requirement

nUser account with SA-level rights to the database server, for database creation during AppSense Server Install2

nService account with login permissions to database servers, for AppSense agent and service use

nDatabase Server VM on Infrastructure Datastore (SATA)

nTwo additional virtual disks available to Database Server VM

nVMDK or RDM for SQL Database files

nVMDK or RDM for SQL Transaction Log files

nThese VMDK / RDM disks should be on dedicated volumes as per DVS best practices for databases

Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DVS)

Integrating AppSense with Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions

1http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/d/flexible-computing/vdi-integrated-solution-stack.aspx


2To create the databases without providing SA-level credentials, see the document titled Installing AppSense Personalization Server with Limited Database Privilege.pdf, available from AppSense

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Installing AppSense workspace managementThe installation process requires the following general steps:

1. Install Microsoft SQL Server (if required)

2. Create service account for SQL communication within Active Directory

3. Install AppSense Management Server into provisioned machine

4. Configure AppSense Management Server

5. Install AppSense Personalization Server into provisioned machine

6. Configure AppSense Personalization Server

7. Deploy Client Communications Agent to managed endpoint

8. Deploy AppSense Environment Manager Agent to managed endpoint

9. Create AppSense Environment Manager configuration via AppSense Environment Manager console

10. Deploy AppSense Environment Manager to managed endpoint

Architecture optimizationAs previously discussed, AppSense can deliver benefits to any desktop infrastructure, including virtual machines managed by Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View. Test results covered in this architecture were obtained during tests performed on Citrix XenDesktop, and this section covers the best practices for enabling that architecture with workspace management. Testing with VMware View is planned, and best practices for workspace management with that infrastructure will be published separately.

Both Citrix XenDesktop and AppSense Environment Manager leverage several HTTP-based network services for the delivery of desktop and user information. It is pertinent for stability to not overload the default HTTP port 80. Architects should make the following changes to the relevant services, following the steps laid out in the relevant product administration guide.

AppSense configuration managementThe AppSense Environment Manager solution processes the instructions contained in the Environment Manager Configuration assigned to a desktop to enforce policy management actions on the desktop and to setup personalization functionality. One key capability available when using AppSense Policy Management is the ability to apply policy actions at Computer Startup. This allows an enterprise to drastically condense the number of unique images that are managed, while still allowing for disparate use cases by dynamic configuration of the desktop at startup. For instance, assuming the proper language packs are installed into the image, an AppSense Computer Startup action could be configured to provide desktops in different languages to different users connecting from different countries, all based off of a single desktop image. To accomplish this, AppSense recommends installing both the Environment Manager Agent and the Environment Manager Configuration into the private image that will be used for desktop deployment.

Service Recommended Port

Method

AppSense Environment Manager Agent Service

8080 AppSense Environment Manager Personalization Server Console

AppSense Client Communications Agent (CCA) Service

8080 AppSense Management Center Console;

AppSense CCA Installer


The sizing of an AppSense database is an inexact science, and requirements vary from customer to customer. Specific requirements related to user count, expected number of managed applications, and existing Microsoft SQL Database solutions could all change the database solution.

AppSense best practice recommends that existing SQL best practices be applied to the Management and Personalization databases. Existing backup policies, replication policies, and HA/DR policies can be applied to provide these benefits to the AppSense infrastructure.

Should a new database server be required to support a SQL solution specific to the DVS architecture, that machine should be provisioned on the Infrastructure Datastore similar to the Management and Personalization Server machines. Additionally, two separate datastores should be made available to this machine. One datastore should be used for the databases themselves, and one should be used for transaction log files.

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Dell and AppSense have collaborated to test and validate the AppSense Architecture Guide. The AppSense solution was configured according to the best practices outlined in this architecture guide. The Dell DVS solution built on Citrix XenDesktop 5.0 was configured according to Dell best practices. The LoginVSI™ 3.0 tool was used to simulate load across user sessions to test performance and capability. Results of that test effort are summarized in this section.

Testing revealed that this architecture guide resulted in no impact to expected user counts on the Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions infrastructure. Workspace management benefits can be delivered to users at full DVS densities and operational efficiencies. Testing was performed at 120% of expected per-server load (in terms of the number of active user desktops under test), and the LoginVSI tool reported no significant degradation of response times for application usage within each session. See Figure 2 below, VSIMax for Dell DVS, and Figure 3, Dell DVS and AppSense workspace management, on the following page.

Figure 2: VSIMax for Dell DVS

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Tested and validated

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Baseline testing with the LoginVSI tool leverages Microsoft Roaming User Profiles to keep track of user personalization and per-user settings. The personalization server functionality within AppSense workspace management replaces the need for roaming user profiles and allows organizations to deploy locked-down, optimized, read-only mandatory profiles, which greatly speeds user logon time as well as environment stability. The joint test project revealed an 83% reduction in disk space needed for user information for the AppSense Personalization Server solution versus roaming profiles, which represents a dramatic cost savings for storage and user management infrastructure.

During full-load testing, the Dell DVS infrastructure provided ample computational and storage resource to support the AppSense workspace management solution. The Dell EqualLogic storage arrays and Dell M610 Blade Saervers, as configured for the DVS solution, provide an ideal solution with which to integrate the workspace management feature set. AppSense supports approximately 5,000 concurrent users per personalization server and approximately 5,000 managed desktops per management server, with both AppSense servers designed as in Section 6. Full-load testing confirmed that the AppSense infrastructure specified in this architecture guide will provide ample capacity for the DVS solution.


Figure 3: Dell DVS and AppSense workspace management

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Dell DVS and AppSense workspace management

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Dell’s Desktop Virtualization Solutions take the guesswork out of VDI deployments by providing fully tested and integrated solutions that enable anytime, anyplace access to productivity resources without exposing those resources to outside threats. AppSense workspace management allows for a fully personal user experience built on top of standardized, high-performing Dell DVS architectures, resulting in improved security, high user acceptance, and successful virtual desktop implementations.

Summary

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Nordic regionAppSense ASTærudgata 12004 LillestrømNorwayT +47 41 43 23 [email protected]

© 2014, AppSense Limited. AppSense is a registered trademark of AppSense Limited in the US, UK and other countries worldwide. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information in this document is believed to be correct at time of printing but no representation or warranty is made as to its accuracy or completeness.

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Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense · 4 appsense.com Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions and AppSense Target audience Architects interested in setting up a proof-of-concept