Enhancing the User Experience for Multi-Pod VMware View Deployments

1. Enhancing the User
Experience for Multi-Pod
VMware View
Deployments
Bruno Germain, F5 Networks
#vmworldsponsor

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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. 3
Application Delivery Networking Services
L4-L7
• Glue between end users and application workloads
• Policy-driven traffic management
• Dynamic configuration and automation of policies

4. 4
4 Key Functions of Application Delivery Networking
Local Global
Scaling & Scaling &
Availability Availability
Accelerating Securing
© VMware, Inc.

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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

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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

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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

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SSL Clarification
1. DNS Request to
3. 2. SSL View
Non SSL View
GTM for View
Connection
Service
GTM GTM
LTM/APM LTM/APM
Connection / Connection /
Security Security
Servers Servers

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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
view.acme.com
Chicago Dallas

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Multiple Sites, Multiple Pods, 1 Name Space
view_north.company.com
view_east.company.com view.company.com
view_west.company.com view_south.company.com

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Persistence = Happy Users
A New Server Creates a Fresh Desktop
View
Connection
Servers
Pod 1
Lost Connection
Reconnect!
Pod 2 Pre-Existing Server, Pre-Existing Desktop
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.

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view.company.com

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DNS Query:
view.company.com

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iQuery
Health Check to
Both Pods:
East & West
10.1.1.20


192.168.2.20

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User has lowest latency
DNS Answer: to West Pod.
“view.company.com. IN A 192.168.2.20”
192.168.2.20

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Password is cached using
256 bit encryption
PW

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User Name Current LTM looks up User.
Pod? <Current Assignment>
Bob Smith West
Fran Kelly East
Jim Adams None
etc…

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APM Obtains User’s Current
APM queries Pod & Pool Member
Active Directory.
Username & Password
are sent to AD.
AD User’s
Group
Membership
Domain
Active
Directory UN
PW
Domain

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View
Servers
Based on the Pod & Pool info in
AD, LTM sends the user to the
correct View server

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View
Servers
The View Server replies with a user
token.
Client uses that token to automatically
reconnect directly to the View server.

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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
view.acme.com
Chicago New York Dallas

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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.
view.acme.com
Chicago New York Dallas

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How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?
• Local Traffic Management
• Secure Access / AAA Integration
• Global Traffic Management BIG-IP
Access Policy Manager
• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View Add-On Module

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F5 BIG-IP iApp for View Created Objects

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How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?
• Local Traffic Management
• Secure Access / AAA Integration
• Global Traffic Management BIG-IP
Access Policy Manager
• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View Add-On Module
• iRules for Intelligent Traffic Routing

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

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How Does F5 Fulfill these View Designs?
• Local Traffic Management
• Secure Access / AAA Integration
• Global Traffic Management BIG-IP
Access Policy Manager
• BIG-IP iApp Wizard for View Add-On Module
• iRules for Intelligent Traffic Routing
• Also Leverages
– Powershell
– AD

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Future….
– F5 and Teradici signed agreement
– PCoIP proxy
– We will be the Security Server

36. Enhancing the User
Experience for Multi-Pod
VMware View
Deployments
Bruno Germain, F5 Networks
#vmworldsponsor