Enhancing the User Experience for Multi-Pod

VMware View Deployments

Bruno Germain, F5 Networks

#vmworldsponsor

2

F5 & VMware

• F5 & VMware are active, global partners

• 4 years of history as managed partners

• Primary partnership goals

Compatibility / Interoperability testing

New Solution Development

New Solution Documentation

• Across all major F5 and VMware products

• Ongoing cooperative solution development

• Coordinated back-end customer support

3

Application Delivery Networking Services

• Glue between end users and application workloads

• Policy-driven traffic management

• Dynamic configuration and automation of policies

L4-L7

4

4 Key Functions of Application Delivery Networking

Local

Scaling &

Availability

Securing

Global

Scaling &

Availability

Accelerating

© VMware, Inc.

5

Our Objective Today

Explain how to provide…

A. A single URL

B. With user to pod session affinity

C. With the ability to failover to a backup pod

…for large and/or distributed VMware View deployments

6

4 Use Cases – 4 Designs

Use Case Datacenter(s) Pod(s) Entitlement(s)

1 Single Multiple Single

2 Multiple Multiple Single

3 Multiple Multiple Multiple

4 Multiple Multiple Dynamic

7

Use Case #1 – Multi Pod, Single Site

• Customer Acme has 16,000 View Users at their HQ

• Provide a Single URL with intelligent routing to users

cluster/pool

• Simplify Pool/User management through load balancing

8

SSL Clarification

GTM

LTM/APM

Connection /

Security

Servers

GTM

LTM/APM

1. DNS Request to

GTM for View

Service

2. SSL View

Connection

3. Non SSL View

Connection

Connection /

Security

Servers

9

10

Use Case #2 – Multi Pod, Multi Site

• Customer Acme has two primary sites with 8000 users per

location, they provide DR services for critical workloads

• Users travel, work from home and require a single intelligent

access point into their View desktop

Chicago Dallas

view.acme.com

11

Multiple Sites, Multiple Pods, 1 Name Space

view_east.company.com

view_north.company.com

view_south.company.com

view.company.com

view_west.company.com

12

Persistence = Happy Users

A New Server Creates a Fresh Desktop

Pre-Existing Server, Pre-Existing Desktop

View

Connection

Servers

Lost Connection

Reconnect!

Pod 1

Pod 2

Persistence based on the Username,

ensures that anytime a user disconnects

and soon thereafter reconnects, they will

be assigned to the same connection

server, and will see the same desktop

layout they had prior to the disconnect.

13

14

view.company.com

15

DNS Query:

view.company.com

16

iQuery

Health Check to

Both Pods:

East & West

10.1.1.20

192.168.2.20

17

User has lowest latency

to West Pod. DNS Answer:

“view.company.com. IN A 192.168.2.20”

192.168.2.20

18

Password is cached using

256 bit encryption

PW

19

User Name Current

Pod?

Bob Smith West

Fran Kelly East

Jim Adams None

etc…

LTM looks up User. <Current Assignment>

20

APM queries

Active Directory.

Domain

UN

PW

AD User’s

Group

Membership

APM Obtains User’s Current

Pod & Pool Member Username & Password

are sent to AD.

DomainDomain

Active

Directory

21

Based on the Pod & Pool info in

AD, LTM sends the user to the

correct View server

View

Servers

22

The View Server replies with a user

token.

View

Servers

Client uses that token to automatically

reconnect directly to the View server.

23

Use Case #3 – Multi Pod, Multi Site, Multi Desktop

• Customer Acme has three sites with 6000 users per location,

they provide DR services for critical workloads with

secondary entitlements to backup desktops

Chicago Dallas

view.acme.com

New York

24

25

Use Case #4 – Multi Pod, Multi Site, Smart Desktop

• Customer Acme has three sites with 6000 users per location,

they provide optimized user experience and DR services for

their desktop workloads.

Chicago Dallas

view.acme.com

New York

26

27

How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?

• Local Traffic Management

• Secure Access / AAA Integration

• Global Traffic Management

• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View

BIG-IP

Access Policy Manager

Add-On Module

28

29

30

F5 BIG-IP iApp for View Created Objects

31

How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?

• Local Traffic Management

• Secure Access / AAA Integration

• Global Traffic Management

• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View

• iRules for Intelligent Traffic Routing

BIG-IP

Access Policy Manager

Add-On Module

32

F5 BIG-IP iRules (a.k.a. Flexability Engine)

33

How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?

• Local Traffic Management

• Secure Access / AAA Integration

• Global Traffic Management

• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View

• iRules for Intelligent Traffic Routing

• Also Leverages

– Powershell

– AD

BIG-IP

Access Policy Manager

Add-On Module

34

35

Future….

– F5 and Teradici signed agreement

– PCoIP proxy

– We will be the Security Server

Enhancing the User Experience for Multi-Pod VMware View Deployments

Bruno Germain, F5 Networks

#vmworldsponsor