Welcome to Kraft Kennedy

Why is VDI as a desktop replacement a non starter for so many law firms?  I attempt to answer this question pointedly in this post based on my experience over the last 18 months when talking to different law firms about VDI.  However, let me take a step back and frame the question.  While I don’t have actual statistics, I would make the statement that most law firms are still on Windows XP and have thought about or are planning a Windows 7 desktop in the near future.   Invariably, this will result in the firm entertaining a VDI (for desktop replacement) solution for their planned Windows 7 desktop.  The conversation usually doesn’t get far after that….  Why is that?  This post is a look at why VDI environments are non starters in law firms or specifically, why they have not seen the traction that the industry (Citrix, VMware, Gartner) would have you to believe.  I’ll preface once again that VDI might be seeing traction in other industries, however I’ll focus on the five reasons why I feel VDI is not gaining traction in the legal space.

(As an aside, this post is only talking to VDI and in particular as a desktop replacement and not other use cases that may include, but are not limited to training rooms, war rooms, remote access, etc.)
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Recently I’ve been asked by a number of clients to help size and implement Citrix NetScaler VPX virtual appliances.  Citrix positions the NetScaler devices as a ‘high-speed load balancing and content switching, data compression, content cashing, SSL acceleration, network optimization, application visibility and application security’ platform.  With it’s high number of functions firms find themselves trying to size which VPX (sold in 200, 1000, and 3000 Mbps models) they’ll need.

Typically I’ve seen firms start small and grow the functions leveraging their NetScalers over time.  They might replace their Secure Gateways with virtual Access Gateways running on the VPX with the idea to add Exchange 2010 traffic to it down the road.

If you find yourself in a similar situation you can use the chart below to size the needed VPX based on some of the most common traffic types.  Also note that it’s very easy to purchase a small model and upgrade later should you have bandwidth requirement changes.

For a copy of the quick-and-dirty Excel spreadsheet I’ve used to calculate bandwidth needs feel free to email me: Clinton Gates

I was recently involved in a project to improve performance in a XenDesktop 4 / Provisioning Server 5.6 environment where users were reporting slow logon times and sluggish performance, and SAN statistics showed higher IOPS than we would have liked. The environment consists of two Desktop Delivery Controllers (DDCs) on Windows 2003 R2 and two Provisioning Servers (PvSs) on Windows 2008 R2, all virtual and spread across two Dell R710 vSphere 4.1 hosts that also host approximately 25 other servers, and 125 production and a handful of test/pilot Windows 7 VMs spread across four additional R710 vSphere 4.1 hosts. All hosts utilize a single EqualLogic PS6000X. Both the vDisk and write cache were located on a file cluster that had one node on each of the same two hosts as the DDCs and PvSs. The cluster’s sole purpose was to facilitate high availability in the event of a single PvS failure.

As I investigated the performance issues I reviewed quite a bit of product documentation, best practice guides, forum posts, etc. and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Citrix technical support. Still, the issues remained. I then attended a VDI summit at Microsoft and was fortunate enough to speak to a Citrix engineer who happened to be presenting. As we took a walk down the hall I described the issues and environment, and by the time we got back he’d identified the problem and the solution. Though at first blush locating the vDisk and write cache on a highly available network share appears to make sense, doing so eliminates PvS’s use of the Windows system cache.
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Back in February I read a blog post from Andre Leibovici (VDI and Microsoft Outlook, analysing the variables), a very well known and respected expert in the virtualization and VDI community.  His article discussed the challenges in dealing with Outlook in VDI environments, including how to address OST/PST files and how searching is affected.  Although I’m a little late to the party here I thought I’d add my thoughts on this and make sure folks aren’t seeing this as a barrier to adopting VDI.

I recommend reading Andre’s post to get more information on this topic.  The short version is this – Exchange/Outlook best practices do not necessarily work in a VDI environment.

When using Outlook in an Exchange environment, it is recommended to use Cached Exchange Mode.  In this mode a copy of the user’s mailbox is downloaded into an OST file and stored offline on the user’s desktop.  This mode offers better performance for the end user and reduces utilization on the Exchange environment as well.  In addition, using Cached Exchange Mode allows users to use Outlook Instant Search for fast searching of items in their mailbox.  Instant Search works by indexing the contents of the OST file so all searches occur locally and not on the Exchange server, further improving performance and reducing utilization on Exchange.

VDI environments that we see at our clients are typically configured as non-persistent or floating pools of desktops.  That is, each user connects to a pool of identical desktops and grabs whatever desktop is available.  When the user logs off, any changes written to the VDI desktop are discarded and the desktop returns to a pristine state.  There are mechanisms and tools in place to make sure user data is retained at logoff.

So if user data is retained at logoff, why can’t we use Cached Exchange Mode in non-persistent VDI environments?
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Kraft Kennedy’s Niraj Patel and Jeff Silverman have recently achieved the Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) for Virtualization certification. This industry recognized certification demonstrates technical expertise with products such as Citrix XenDesktop and Citrix XenApp.

The Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer for Virtualization certification is designed to certify breadth of knowledge across Citrix virtualization solutions. The CCEE offers experienced IT professionals the opportunity to develop and validate their ability to combine the coordination of operational planning efforts with tactical design expertise and integration know-how.

Niraj and Jeff have a well established reputation for helping law firms adopt thin-client technologies and best practices around enterprise desktop and application management. It is exciting to watch server-based computing strategies mature as new virtual desktop solutions, such as VDI and application virtualization, have become more mainstream. Not only are these new tools offering firms technical improvements, but also significant operational efficiencies and flexibility over traditional desktop and server-based approaches.

On behalf of the team, Congratulations to Niraj and Jeff on your accomplishments!

This week at VMware’s Partner Exchange conference in Orlando, Florida, VMware announced three new certifications aimed at desktop virtualization.  They range from the entry level VMware Certified Associate 4 – Desktop, to a new VMware Certified Professional – Desktop aimed specifically at desktops (the VCP has been around for many years but only focused on the company’s infrastructure technology).  Finally, they’ve announced a VMware Certified Advanced Professional – Desktop certification as a new high level certificate.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to eventually see a VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) certification aimed specifically at desktop virtualization architects in the future.

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I was recently given a unique opportunity to take a test drive of Unidesk’s tools for managing virtual desktops.  Unidesk is working on an externally facing customer experience lab and I was given the chance to take a look at the lab and play with a fully functioning version of the product.  I wish all vendors offered a fully functioning demo lab of their product as this was a great way to get my hands dirty without needing my own infrastructure.

Unidesk offers a smart approach to managing virtual desktops – they break down each component into a layer and then allow you to update and manage each layer separately.  One of the great benefits of VDI in general is the ability to separate the operating system from the applications and from the user’s personality, but that typically involves different tools or different processes to update each component.  Unidesk’s key benefit (in my opinion) is that all of that is now centrally managed in one location and updated through one set of tools.
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Last week, I installed the Citrix XenClient on a test laptop and got a chance to play around with it further.   To recap, this is Citrix’s Type 1 client side hypervisor to solve the offline VDI problem that currently exists for XenDesktop.  I posted six months ago when the product was announced at Synergy, but last month Citrix released the 1.0 version of the product, so I figured I would give it a whirl.
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The rumors have been going on for years.  The Citrix Secure Gateway is no longer going to be developed or supported.  This rumor was prevalent four years ago when XenApp 4.5 was released and continues to be bounced around today.  ‘No’, Citrix has not stopped developing the CSG and the rumors have never been substantiated.  Citrix has actually been incrementally updating it with updated releases of XenApp and XenDesktop.

So why do I think is this rumor relevant again?  Last week, Citrix released the Citrix Access Gateway VPX 5.0.  Along with this release came a significant licensing change that cuts into the CSG’s value.  The Access Gateway’s “Platform License” ($995 retail) includes unlimited connections to XenApp/XenDesktop through the Access Gateway.  The “Universal” CALs (Access Gateway licenses) still exist, but now differentiate the VPN, Smart Access other traditional AG features.
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This week at Citrix Summit/Synergy, Citrix finally revealed details behind their much anticipated client (bare metal) hypervisor.  To recap, for the folks who are not following, this will finally bring “offline VDI” to XenDesktop.  It will also match (and potentially beat) VMware’s current offline VM checkin/check out functionality currently available in View.

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