VMware Horizon View - 7.0 Architecture Planning

View Architecture Planning

VMware Horizon 7

Version 7.0

This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is
replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions
of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-001993-00

View Architecture Planning

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

[e-mail]

Copyright © 2009–2016 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.

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www.vmware.com

2 VMware, Inc.

Contents

View Architecture Planning 5

Introduction to View 7

1

Advantages of Using View 7

View Features 10

How the Components Fit Together 11

Integrating and Customizing View 15

Planning a Rich User Experience 21

2

Feature Support Matrix for Horizon Agent 21

Choosing a Display Protocol 23

Using Hosted Applications 27

Using View Persona Management to Retain User Data and Settings 28

Using USB Devices with Remote Desktops and Applications 29

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones 30

Using 3D Graphics Applications 30

Streaming Multimedia to a Remote Desktop 31

Printing from a Remote Desktop 31

Using Single Sign-On for Logging In 32

Monitors and Screen Resolution 32

Managing Desktop and Application Pools from a Central Location 35

3

Advantages of Desktop Pools 35

Advantages of Application Pools 36

Reducing and Managing Storage Requirements 37

Application Provisioning 43

Using Active Directory GPOs to Manage Users and Desktops 46

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Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines for Remote Desktop

4

Deployments 49

Virtual Machine Requirements for Remote Desktops 50

View ESXi Node 54

Desktop Pools for Specific Types of Workers 55

Desktop Virtual Machine Configuration 59

RDS Host Virtual Machine Configuration 59

vCenter Server and View Composer Virtual Machine Configuration 60

View Connection Server Maximums and Virtual Machine Configuration 61

vSphere Clusters 63

Storage and Bandwidth Requirements 65

View Building Blocks 73

View Pods 73

3

View Architecture Planning

Advantages of Using Multiple vCenter Servers in a Pod 76

Planning for Security Features 79

5

Understanding Client Connections 79

Choosing a User Authentication Method 82

Restricting Remote Desktop Access 84

Using Group Policy Settings to Secure Remote Desktops and Applications 85

Using Smart Policies 86

Implementing Best Practices to Secure Client Systems 86

Assigning Administrator Roles 86

Preparing to Use a Security Server 87

Understanding View Communications Protocols 92

Overview of Steps to Setting Up a View Environment 99

6

Index 101

4 VMware, Inc.

View Architecture Planning

View Architecture Planning provides an introduction to VMware Horizon™ 7, including a description of its
major features and deployment options and an overview of how the components are typically set up in a
production environment.

This guide answers the following questions:

Does the product solve the problems you need it to solve?

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Would it be feasible and cost-effective to implement this solution in your enterprise?

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Not all features and capabilities of VMware Horizon 7 are available in all editions. For a comparison of
feature sets in each edition, see

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/horizon-view/VMware-Horizon-View-Pricing-Licensing­FAQ.pdf.

To help you protect your installation, this guide also provides a discussion of security features.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for IT decision makers, architects, administrators, and others who need to
familiarize themselves with the components and capabilities of this product. With this information,
architects and planners can determine whether View satisfies the requirements of their enterprise for
efficiently and securely delivering Windows desktops and applications to their end users. The example
architecture helps planners understand the hardware requirements and setup effort required for a large­scale deployment.

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View Architecture Planning

6 VMware, Inc.

Introduction to View 1

With View, IT departments can run remote desktops and applications in the datacenter and deliver these
desktops and applications to employees as a managed service. End users gain a familiar, personalized
environment that they can access from any number of devices anywhere throughout the enterprise or from
home. Administrators gain centralized control, efficiency, and security by having desktop data in the
datacenter.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Advantages of Using View,” on page 7

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“View Features,” on page 10

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“How the Components Fit Together,” on page 11

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“Integrating and Customizing View,” on page 15

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Advantages of Using View

When you manage enterprise desktops with View, the benefits include increased reliability, security,
hardware independence, and convenience.

Reliability and Security

Desktops and applications can be centralized by integrating with VMware vSphere® and virtualizing server,
storage, and networking resources. Placing desktop operating systems and applications on a server in the
data center provides the following advantages:

Access to data can easily be restricted. Sensitive data can be prevented from being copied onto a remote

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employee's home computer.

RADIUS support provides flexibility when choosing among two-factor authentication vendors.

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Supported vendors include RSA SecureID, VASCO DIGIPASS, SMS Passcode, and SafeNet, among
others.

Integration with VMware Identity Manager means that end users have on-demand access to remote

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desktops through the same Web-based application catalog they use to access SaaS, Web, and Windows
applications. Inside a remote desktop, users can also use this custom app store to access applications.

The ability to provision remote desktops with pre-created Active Directory accounts addresses the

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requirements of locked-down Active Directory environments that have read-only access policies.

Data backups can be scheduled without considering when end users' systems might be turned off.

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View Architecture Planning

Remote desktops and applications that are hosted in a data center experience little or no downtime.

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Virtual machines can reside on high-availability clusters of VMware servers.

Virtual desktops can also connect to back-end physical systems and Microsoft Remote Desktop Services
(RDS) hosts.

Convenience

The unified management console is built for scalability so that even the largest View deployments can be
efficiently managed from a single management interface. Wizards and dashboards enhance the workflow
and facilitate drilling down to see details or change settings. Figure 1-1 provides an example of the browser­based user interface for View Administrator.

NOTE In Horizon 7, View Administrator is named Horizon Administrator. This document refers to Horizon
Administrator as View Administrator.

Figure 1‑1. Administrative Console Showing the Dashboard View

Other features that increase convenience are the VMware remote display protocols, PCoIP (PC over IP) and
Blast Extreme. These display protocols deliver an end-user experience equal to the current experience of
using a physical PC:

On LANs, the display is faster and smoother than traditional remote displays.

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On WANs, the display protocols can compensate for an increase in latency or a reduction in bandwidth,

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ensuring that end users can remain productive regardless of network conditions.

Manageability

Provisioning desktops and applications for end users is a quick process. No one is required to install
applications one by one on each end user's physical PC. End users connect to a remote application or a
remote desktop complete with applications. End users can access their same remote desktop or application
from various devices at various locations.

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Chapter 1 Introduction to View

Using VMware vSphere to host virtual desktops and RDS host servers provides the following benefits:

Administration tasks and management chores are reduced. Administrators can patch and upgrade

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applications and operating systems without touching a user's physical PC.

Integration with VMware Identity Manager means that IT managers can use the Web-based

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VMware Identity Manager administration interface to monitor user and group entitlements to remote
desktops.

Integration with VMware App Volumes, a real-time application delivery system, enables enterprises to

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deliver and manage applications at scale. Use App Volumes to attach applications to users, groups, or
target computers, even when users are logged into their desktop. Applications can also be provisioned,
delivered, updated and retired in real time.

With View Persona Management, physical and virtual desktops can be centrally managed, including

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user profiles, application entitlement, policies, performance, and other settings. Deploy View Persona
Management to physical desktop users prior to converting to virtual desktops.

With VMware User Environment Manager, end users get a personalized Windows desktop that is

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adapted to the user's situation, meaning that access to the required IT resources is based on aspects
such as role, device, and location.

Storage management is simplified. Using VMware vSphere, you can virtualize volumes and file

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systems to avoid managing separate storage devices.

With vSphere 6.0 or a later release, you can use Virtual Volumes (VVols). This feature maps virtual

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disks and their derivatives, clones, snapshots, and replicas, directly to objects, called virtual volumes,
on a storage system. This mapping allows vSphere to offload intensive storage operations such as
snapshoting, cloning, and replication to the storage system. The result, for example, is that a cloning
operation that previously took an hour might now take just a few minutes using Virtual Volumes.

With vSphere 5.5 Update 1 or a later release, you can use Virtual SAN, which virtualizes the local

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physical solid-state disks and hard disk drives available on ESXi™ hosts into a single datastore shared
by all hosts in a cluster. You specify only one datastore when creating a desktop pool, and the various
components, such as virtual machine files, replicas, user data, and operating system files, are placed on
either SSD disks or hard drive disks, as appropriate.

You manage virtual machine storage requirements, such as capacity, performance, and availability, in
the form of default storage policy profiles, which get created automatically when you create a desktop
pool.

With the View storage accelerator, the IOPS storage load is dramatically reduced, supporting end-user

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logins at larger scales without requiring any special storage array technology.

If remote desktops use the space-efficient disk format available with vSphere 5.1 and later, stale or

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deleted data within a guest operating system is automatically reclaimed with a wipe and shrink
process.

Hardware Independence

Remote desktops and applications are hardware-independent. For example, because a remote desktop runs
on a server in the data center and is only accessed from a client device, a remote desktop can use an
operating system that might not be compatible with the hardware of the client device.

Remote desktops run on PCs, Macs, thin clients, PCs that have been repurposed as thin clients, tablets, and
phones. Remote applications run on a subset of these devices. New device support is added quarterly.

If you use the HTML Access feature, end users can open a remote desktop or application inside a browser,
without having to install any client application on the client system or device.

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View Architecture Planning

View Features

Features included in View support usability, security, centralized control, and scalability.

The following features provide a familiar experience for the end user:

On certain client devices, print from a virtual desktop to any local or networked printer that is defined

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on the client device. This virtual printer feature solves compatibility issues and does not require you to
install additional print drivers in a virtual machine.

On most client devices, use the location-based printing feature to map to printers that are physically

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near the client system. Location-based printing does require that you install print drivers in the virtual
machine.

Use multiple monitors. With the PCoIP and Blast Extreme display protocols, multiple-monitor support

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means you can adjust the display resolution and rotation separately for each monitor.

Access USB devices and other peripherals that are connected to the local device that displays your

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virtual desktop.

You can specify which types of USB devices end users are allowed to connect to. For composite devices
that contain multiple types of devices, such as a video input device and a storage device, you can split
the device so that one device (for example, the video input device) is allowed but the other device (for
example, the storage device) is not.

Use View Persona Management to retain user settings and data between sessions even after the desktop

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has been refreshed or recomposed. View Persona Management has the ability to replicate user profiles
to a remote profile store (CIFS share) at configurable intervals.

You can also use a standalone version of View Persona Management on physical computers and virtual
machines that are not managed by View.

View offers the following security features, among others:

Use two-factor authentication, such as RSA SecurID or RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User

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Service), or smart cards to log in.

Use pre-created Active Directory accounts when provisioning remote desktops and applications in

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environments that have read-only access policies for Active Directory.

Use SSL/TLS tunneling to ensure that all connections are completely encrypted.

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Use VMware High Availability to ensure automatic failover.

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Scalability features depend on the VMware virtualization platform to manage both desktops and servers:

Integrate with VMware vSphere to achieve cost-effective densities, high levels of availability, and

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advanced resource allocation control for your remote desktops and applications.

Use the View storage accelerator feature to support end-user logins at larger scales with the same

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storage resources. This storage accelerator uses features in the vSphere 5 platform to create a host
memory cache of common block reads.

Configure View Connection Server to broker connections between end users and the remote desktops

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and applications that they are authorized to access.

Use View Composer to quickly create desktop images that share virtual disks with a master image.

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Using linked clones in this way conserves disk space and simplifies the management of patches and
updates to the operating system.

10 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction to View

Use the Instant Clone feature, introduced in Horizon 7, to quickly create desktop images that share

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virtual disks and memory with a parent image. Instant Clones not only have the space efficiency of
View Composer linked clones, they also eliminate the need to refresh, recompose, rebalance, thus
further simplifying management of patches and updates to the operating system. Instant clones
eliminate the desktop maintenance window altogether.

The following features provide centralized administration and management:

Use Microsoft Active Directory to manage access to remote desktops and applications and to manage

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policies.

Use View Persona Management to simplify and streamline migration from physical to virtual desktops.

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Use the Web-based administrative console to manage remote desktops and applications from any

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location.

Use View Administrator to distribute and manage applications packaged with VMware ThinApp™.

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Use a template, or master image, to quickly create and provision pools of desktops.

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Send updates and patches to virtual desktops without affecting user settings, data, or preferences.

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Integrate with VMware Identity Manager so that end users can access remote desktops through the user

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portal on the Web, as well as use VMware Identity Manager from a browser inside a remote desktop.

Integrate with Mirage™ and Horizon FLEX™ to manage locally installed virtual machine desktops and

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to deploy and update applications on dedicated full-clone remote desktops without overwriting user­installed applications.

How the Components Fit Together

End users start Horizon Client to log in to View Connection Server. This server, which integrates with
Windows Active Directory, provides access to remote desktops hosted on a VMware vSphere server, a
physical PC, or a Microsoft RDS host. Horizon Client also provides access to remote applications on a
Microsoft RDS host.

NOTE View supports the following Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain functional levels:

Windows Server 2003

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Windows Server 2008

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Windows Server 2008 R2

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Windows Server 2012

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Windows Server 2012 R2

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View does not support Novell DSFW (Domain Services For Windows).

Figure 1-2 shows the relationship between the major components of a View deployment.

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tablet

ESXi hosts running
Virtual Desktop virtual machines

View

Connection

Server

View

Administrator

(browser)

VMware vCenter Server

with View Composer

network

Windows client

Thin Client

Virtual desktops

ESXi host

VM VM VM

VM VM VM

VM

Virtual machine

Desktop OS

app app app

View Agent

Microsoft

Active Directory

RDS hosts

physical PCs

non-vCenter VMs

View Agent

ThinApp

Mac client

View Architecture Planning

Figure 1‑2. High-Level Example of a View Environment

Client Devices

A major advantage of using View is that remote desktops and applications follow the end user regardless of
device or location. Users can access their personalized virtual desktop or remote application from a
company laptop, their home PC, a thin client device, a Mac, or a tablet or phone.

End users open Horizon Client to display their remote desktops and applications. Thin client devices use
View thin client software and can be configured so that the only application that users can launch directly
on the device is View Thin Client. Repurposing a legacy PC into a thin client desktop can extend the life of
the hardware by three to five years. For example, by using View on a thin desktop, you can use a newer
operating system such as Windows 8.x on older desktop hardware.

If you use the HTML Access feature, end users can open a remote desktop inside a browser, without having
to install any client application on the client system or device.

12 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction to View

View Connection Server

This software service acts as a broker for client connections. View Connection Server authenticates users
through Windows Active Directory and directs the request to the appropriate virtual machine, physical PC,
or Microsoft RDS host.

View Connection Server provides the following management capabilities:

Authenticating users

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Entitling users to specific desktops and pools

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Assigning applications packaged with VMware ThinApp to specific desktops and pools

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Managing remote desktop and application sessions

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Establishing secure connections between users and remote desktops and applications

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Enabling single sign-on

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Setting and applying policies

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Inside the corporate firewall, you install and configure a group of two or more View Connection Server
instances. Their configuration data is stored in an embedded LDAP directory and is replicated among
members of the group.

Outside the corporate firewall, in the DMZ, you can install and configure View Connection Server as a
security server, or you can install an Access Point appliance. Security servers and Access Point appliances in
the DMZ communicate with View Connection Servers inside the corporate firewall. Security servers and
Access Point appliances ensure that the only remote desktop and application traffic that can enter the
corporate data center is traffic on behalf of a strongly authenticated user. Users can access only the resources
that they are authorized to access.

Security servers offer a subset of functionality and are not required to be in an Active Directory domain. You
install View Connection Server in a Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 server, preferably
on a VMware virtual machine. For more information about Access Point appliances, see Deploying and
Configuring Access Point.

IMPORTANT It is possible to create a View setup that does not use View Connection Server. If you install the
View Agent Direct Connect Plugin in a remote virtual machine desktop, the client can connect directly to the
virtual machine. All the remote desktop features, including PCoIP, HTML Access, RDP, USB redirection,
and session management work in the same way, as if the user had connected through View Connection
Server. For more information, see View Agent Direct-Connection Plugin Administration.

Horizon Client

The client software for accessing remote desktops and applications can run on a tablet, a phone, a Windows,
Linux, or Mac PC or laptop, a thin client, and more.

After logging in, users select from a list of remote desktops and applications that they are authorized to use.
Authorization can require Active Directory credentials, a UPN, a smart card PIN, or an RSA SecurID or
other two-factor authentication token.

An administrator can configure Horizon Client to allow end users to select a display protocol. Protocols
include PCoIP, Blast Extreme, and Microsoft RDP for remote desktops. The speed and display quality of
PCoIP and Blast Extreme rival that of a physical PC.

Features differ according to which Horizon Client you use. This guide focuses on Horizon Client for
Windows. The following types of clients are not described in detail in this guide:

Details about Horizon Client for tablets, Linux clients, and Mac clients. See the Horizon Client

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documentation at https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

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View Architecture Planning

Details about the HTML Access Web client, which allows you to open a remote desktop inside a

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browser. No Horizon Client application is installed on the client system or device. See the
Horizon Client documentation at

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Various third-party thin clients and zero clients, available only through certified partners.

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View Open Client, which supports the VMware partner certification program. View Open Client is not

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an official client application and is not supported as such.

VMware Horizon User Web Portal

From a Web browser on a client device, end users can connect to remote desktops and applications through
the browser, automatically start Horizon Client if it is installed, or download the Horizon Client installer.

When you open a browser and enter the URL of a View Connection Server instance, the Web page that
appears contains links to the VMware Downloads site for downloading Horizon Client. The links on the
Web page are configurable, however. For example, you can configure the links to point to an internal Web
server, or you can limit which client versions are available on your own View Connection Server.

If you use the HTML Access feature, the Web page also displays a link for accessing remote desktops and
applications inside a supported browser. With this feature, no Horizon Client application is installed on the
client system or device. For more information, see the Horizon Client documentation at

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Horizon Agent

You install the Horizon Agent service on all virtual machines, physical systems, and Microsoft RDS hosts
that you use as sources for remote desktops and applications. On virtual machines, this agent communicates
with Horizon Client to provide features such as connection monitoring, virtual printing, View Persona
Management, and access to locally connected USB devices.

If the desktop source is a virtual machine, you first install the Horizon Agent service on that virtual machine
and then use the virtual machine as a template or as a parent of linked clones. When you create a pool from
this virtual machine, the agent is automatically installed on every remote desktop.

You can install the agent with an option for single sign-on. With single sign-on, users are prompted to log in
only when they connect to View Connection Server and are not prompted a second time to connect to a
remote desktop or application.

View Administrator

This Web-based application allows administrators to configure View Connection Server, deploy and
manage remote desktops and applications, control user authentication, and troubleshoot end user issues.

When you install a View Connection Server instance, the View Administrator application is also installed.
This application allows administrators to manage View Connection Server instances from anywhere
without having to install an application on their local computer.

NOTE In Horizon 7, View Administrator is named Horizon Administrator. This document refers to Horizon
Administrator as View Administrator.

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Chapter 1 Introduction to View

View Composer

You can install this software service on a vCenter Server instance that manages virtual machines or on a
separate server. View Composer can then create a pool of linked clones from a specified parent virtual
machine. This strategy reduces storage costs by up to 90 percent.

Each linked clone acts like an independent desktop, with a unique host name and IP address, yet the linked
clone requires significantly less storage because it shares a base image with the parent. Because linked-clone
desktop pools share a base image, you can quickly deploy updates and patches by updating only the parent
virtual machine. End users' settings, data, and applications are not affected.

You can also use View Composer to create automated farms of linked-clone Microsoft RDS hosts, which
provide hosted applications to end users.

Although you can install View Composer on its own server host, a View Composer service can operate with
only one vCenter Server instance. Similarly, a vCenter Server instance can be associated with only one View
Composer service.

IMPORTANT View Composer is an optional component. If you plan to provision instant clones, you do not
need to install View Composer.

vCenter Server

This service acts as a central administrator for VMware ESXi servers that are connected on a network.
vCenter Server provides the central point for configuring, provisioning, and managing virtual machines in
the datacenter.

In addition to using these virtual machines as sources for virtual machine desktop pools, you can use virtual
machines to host the server components of View, including View Connection Server instances, Active
Directory servers, Microsoft RDS hosts, and vCenter Server instances.

You can install View Composer on the same server as vCenter Server or on a different server.
vCenter Server then manages the assignment of the virtual machines to physical servers and storage and
manages the assignment of CPU and memory resources to virtual machines.

You can install vCenter Server either as a VMware virtual appliance or install vCenter Server in a Windows
Server 2008 R2 server or a Windows Server 2012 R2 server, preferably on a VMware virtual machine.

Integrating and Customizing View

To enhance the effectiveness of View in your organization, you can use several interfaces to integrate View
with external applications or to create administration scripts that you can run from the command line or in
batch mode.

Integrating with Other Components

VMware Identity
Manager

You can integrate VMware Identity Manager with View to provide the
following benefits to IT managers and end users:

End users have on-demand access to remote desktops and applications

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through the same user portal on the Web that they use to access SaaS,
Web, and Windows applications, with the same single sign-on
convenience.

With the True SSO feature, users who authenticate using smart cards or
two-factor authentication can access their remote desktops and
applications without supplying Active Directory credentials.

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View Architecture Planning

End users can access VMware Identity Manager on the Web from inside

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a remote desktop for applications they need.

If you also use HTML Access, end users can open a remote desktop

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inside a browser, without having to install any client application on the
client system or device.

IT managers can use the browser-based administration console of

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VMware Identity Manager to monitor user and group entitlements to
remote desktops.

VMware Mirage and
Horizon FLEX

App Volumes

You can use Mirage and Horizon FLEX to deploy and update applications on
dedicated full-clone remote desktops without overwriting user-installed
applications or data.

Mirage provides a better offline virtual desktop solution than the Local Mode
feature that was previously included with View. Mirage includes the
following security and management features for offline desktops:

Encrypts the locally installed virtual machine and prevents a user from

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modifying virtual machine settings that affect the integrity of the secure
container.

Provides policies, including expiration, available in VMware Fusion™

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Professional and VMware® Player Plus™, that are comparable to the
polices provided with the previous Local Mode feature. Fusion Pro and
Player Plus are included with Mirage.

Eliminates the need for users to check in or check out their desktops to

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receive updates.

Enables administrators to utilize the Mirage layering capability, backup

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features, and file portal.

VMware App Volumes is an integrated and unified application delivery and
user management system for Horizon 7 and other virtual environments.
Applications and data managed by App Volumes are kept in specialized
VMDKs or VHDs called AppStacks, which are attached to each Windows
user session at login or reboot. This strategy ensures that the most current
applications and data are delivered to the user. App Volumes also provides a
different container for persistent user-installed applications and settings
called a writable volume, which is also loaded at login or reboot time. User
profile and policy settings can also be managed using the App Volumes
platform.

VMware User
Environment Manager

You can use the Smart Policies feature to create policies that control the
behavior of the USB redirection, virtual printing, clipboard redirection, client
drive redirection, and PCoIP display protocol features on specific remote
desktops. User Environment Manager allows IT to control which settings
users are allowed to personalize, and also maps environmental settings such
as networks and location-specific printers. With Smart Policies, you can
create policies that take effect only if certain conditions are met. For example,
you can configure a policy that disables the client drive redirection feature if
a user connects to a remote desktop from outside your corporate network.

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Integrating with Popular Video Conferencing Software

Chapter 1 Introduction to View

Flash URL Redirection

Streaming Flash content directly from Adobe Media Server to client
endpoints lowers the load on the datacenter ESXi host, removes the extra
routing through the datacenter, and reduces the bandwidth required to
simultaneously stream live video events to multiple client endpoints.

The Flash URL redirection feature uses a JavaScript that is embedded inside
a Web page by the Web page administrator. Whenever a virtual desktop user
clicks on the designated URL link from within a Web page, the JavaScript
intercepts and redirects the ShockWave File (SWF) from the virtual desktop
session to the client endpoint. The endpoint then opens a local VMware Flash
Projector outside of the virtual desktop session and plays the media stream
locally.

NOTE With Flash URL Redirection, the multicast or unicast stream is
redirected to client devices that might be outside your organization's
firewall. Your clients must have access to the Adobe Web server that hosts
the ShockWave Flash (SWF) file that initiates the multicast or unicast
streaming. If needed, configure your firewall to open the appropriate ports to
allow client devices to access this server.

This feature is available only on some types of clients. To find out whether
this feature is supported on a particular type of client, see the feature support
matrix included in the "Using VMware Horizon Client" document for the
specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Microsoft Lync 2013

You can use a Microsoft Lync 2013 client on remote desktops to participate in
Unified Communications (UC) VoIP (voice over IP) and video chat calls with
Lync certified USB audio and video devices. A dedicated IP phone is no
longer required.

This architecture requires the installation of a Microsoft Lync 2013 client on
the remote desktop and a Microsoft Lync VDI plug-in on the Windows 7 or 8
client endpoint. Customers can use the Microsoft Lync 2013 client for
presence, instant messaging, Web conferencing, and Microsoft Office
functionality.

Whenever a Lync VoIP or video chat call occurs, the Lync VDI plug-in
offloads all the media processing from the datacenter server to the client
endpoint, and encodes all media into Lync-optimized audio and video
codecs. This optimized architecture is highly scalable, results in lower
network bandwidth used, and provides point-to-point media delivery with
support for high-quality real-time VoIP and video. For more information, see
the white paper about VMware Horizon 6 and Microsoft Lync 2013, at

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmware-horizon-view­microsoft-lync-install-configure.pdf.

NOTE Recording audio is not yet supported. This integration is supported
only with the PCoIP or Blast Extreme display protocol.

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View Architecture Planning

Integrating View with Business Intelligence Software

You can configure View Connection Server to record events to a Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle database.

End-user actions such as logging in and starting a desktop session.

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Administrator actions such as adding entitlements and creating desktop pools.

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Alerts that report system failures and errors.

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Statistical sampling such as recording the maximum number of users over a 24-hour period.

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You can use business intelligence reporting engines such as Crystal Reports, IBM Cognos, MicroStrategy 9,
and Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System to access and analyze the event database.

For more information, see the View Integration document.

You can alternatively generate View events in Syslog format so that the event data can be accessible to
analytics software. If you enable file-based logging of events, events are accumulated in a local log file. If
you specify a file share, the log files are moved to that share. For more information, see the View Installation
document.

Using View PowerCLI to Create Administration Scripts

Windows PowerShell is a command-line and scripting environment that is designed for Microsoft
Windows. PowerShell uses the .NET object model and provides administrators with management and
automation capabilities. As with any other console environment, you work with PowerShell by running
commands, which are called cmdlets in PowerShell.

The View PowerCLI provides an easy-to-use PowerShell interface to View. You can use the View PowerCLI
cmdlets to perform various administration tasks on View components.

Create and update desktop pools.

n

Configure multiple network labels to greatly expand the number of IP addresses assigned to virtual

n

machines in a pool.

Add datacenter resources to a full virtual machine or linked-clone pool.

n

Perform rebalance, refresh, or recompose operations on linked-clone desktops.

n

Sample the usage of specific desktops or desktop pools over time.

n

Query the event database.

n

Query the state of services.

n

You can use the cmdlets in conjunction with the vSphere PowerCLI cmdlets, which provide an
administrative interface to the VMware vSphere product.

For more information, see the View Integration document.

Modifying LDAP Configuration Data in View

When you use View Administrator to modify the configuration of View, the appropriate LDAP data in the
repository is updated. View Connection Server stores its configuration information in an LDAP compatible
repository. For example, if you add a desktop pool, View Connection Server stores information about users,
user groups, and entitlements in LDAP.

You can use VMware and Microsoft command-line tools to export and import LDAP configuration data in
LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) files from and into View. These commands are for advanced
administrators who want to use scripts to update configuration data without using View Administrator or
View PowerCLI.

18 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction to View

You can use LDIF files to perform a number of tasks.

Transfer configuration data between View Connection Server instances.

n

Define a large number of View objects, such as desktop pools, and add these to your View Connection

n

Server instances without using View Administrator or View PowerCLI.

Back up a configuration so that you can restore the state of a View Connection Server instance.

n

For more information, see the View Integration document.

Using SCOM to Monitor View Components

You can use Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) to monitor the state and performance of
View components, including View Connection Server instances and security servers and the services
running on these hosts.

For more information, see the View Integration document.

Using the vdmadmin Command

You can use the vdmadmin command line interface to perform a variety of administration tasks on a View
Connection Server instance. You can use vdmadmin to perform administration tasks that are not possible from
within the View Administrator user interface or that need to run automatically from scripts.

For more information, see the View Administration document.

VMware, Inc. 19

View Architecture Planning

20 VMware, Inc.

Planning a Rich User Experience 2

View provides the familiar, personalized desktop environment that end users expect. For example, on some
client systems, end users can access USB and other devices connected to their local computer, send
documents to any printer that their local computer can detect, authenticate with smart cards, and use
multiple display monitors.

View includes many features that you might want to make available to your end users. Before you decide
which features to use, you must understand the limitations and restrictions of each feature.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Feature Support Matrix for Horizon Agent,” on page 21

n

“Choosing a Display Protocol,” on page 23

n

“Using Hosted Applications,” on page 27

n

“Using View Persona Management to Retain User Data and Settings,” on page 28

n

“Using USB Devices with Remote Desktops and Applications,” on page 29

n

“Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones,” on page 30

n

“Using 3D Graphics Applications,” on page 30

n

“Streaming Multimedia to a Remote Desktop,” on page 31

n

“Printing from a Remote Desktop,” on page 31

n

“Using Single Sign-On for Logging In,” on page 32

n

“Monitors and Screen Resolution,” on page 32

n

Feature Support Matrix for Horizon Agent

When planning which display protocol and features to make available to your end users, use the following
information to determine which agent (remote desktop and application) operating systems support the
feature.

The types and editions of the supported guest operating system depend on the Windows version.

Table 2‑1. Operating Systems for Linked-Clone and Full-Clone Remote Desktops

Guest Operating System Version Edition Service Pack

Windows 10 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise None

Windows 8.1 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise and

Professional

VMware, Inc. 21

Latest update

View Architecture Planning

Table 2‑1. Operating Systems for Linked-Clone and Full-Clone Remote Desktops (Continued)

Guest Operating System Version Edition Service Pack

Windows 8 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise and

Windows 7 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise and

Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit Datacenter Latest update

Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Datacenter SP1

Table 2‑2. Operating Systems for RDS Hosts, Providing Remote Desktops or Applications

Guest Operating System Edition Service Pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and

Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter None

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter Latest update

Table 2‑3. Operating Systems for Instant-Clone Remote Desktops

Guest Operating System Version Edition Service pack

Windows 10 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise None

Windows 7 64-bit and 32-bit Enterprise and Professional SP1

None

Professional

SP1

Professional

SP1

Datacenter

Table 2‑4. Features Supported on Windows Operating Systems Where Horizon Agent Is Installed

Microsoft RDS­Windows
Server

Windows 7

Feature

USB redirection X X X X USB flash drives and

Client drive redirection X X X X X

Real-Time Audio-Video
(RTAV)

Scanner redirection X X X X X

Serial port redirection X X X X

RDP display protocol X X X X Session-based

Blast Extreme X X X X X

PCoIP display protocol X X X X X

Persona Management

(For full clones and
linked clones)

Windows Media MMR X X X

Location-based printing X X X X X

Virtual printing X X X X X

Smart cards X X X X X

Desktop

X X X X

X X X X

Windows 8.x
Desktop

Windows 10
Desktop

2008/2012 R2
Desktop

Hosted Desktops

and Apps on

Windows Server

2008/2012 R2

hard disks on

Windows Server 2012

R2 RDS hosts

desktops only

22 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Planning a Rich User Experience

Table 2‑4. Features Supported on Windows Operating Systems Where Horizon Agent Is Installed
(Continued)

Microsoft RDS­Windows
Server

Windows 7

Feature

RSA SecurID or
RADIUS

Single sign-on X X X X X

Multiple monitors X X X X X

Desktop

X X X X X

Windows 8.x
Desktop

Windows 10
Desktop

2008/2012 R2
Desktop

Hosted Desktops

and Apps on

Windows Server

2008/2012 R2

NOTE For information about which features are supported on the various types of client devices, see the
Horizon Client documentation at

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

In addition, several VMware partners offer thin and zero client devices for View deployments. The features
that are available for each thin or zero client device are determined by the vendor and model and the
configuration that an enterprise chooses to use. For information about the vendors and models for thin and
zero client devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide, available on the VMware Web site.

Choosing a Display Protocol

A display protocol provides end users with a graphical interface to a remote desktop or application that
resides in the datacenter. Depending on which type of client device you have, you can choose from among
Blast Extreme and PCoIP (PC-over-IP), which VMware provides, or Microsoft RDP (Remote Desktop
Protocol).

You can set policies to control which protocol is used or to allow end users to choose the protocol when they
log in to a desktop.

NOTE For some types of clients, neither the PCoIP nor the RDP remote display protocol is used. For
example, if you use the HTML Access client, available with the HTML Access feature, the Blast Extreme
protocol is used, rather than PCoIP or RDP. Similarly, if you use a remote Linux desktop, Blast Extreme is
used.

VMware Blast Extreme

Optimized for the mobile cloud, VMware Blast Extreme supports the broadest range of client devices that
are H.264 capable. Of the display protocols, VMware Blast offers the lowest CPU consumption for longer
battery life on mobile devices. VMware Blast Extreme can compensate for an increase in latency or a
reduction in bandwidth and can leverage both TCP and UDP network transports.

The VMware Blast display protocol can be used for remote applications and for remote desktops that use
virtual machines or shared-session desktops on an RDS host. The RDS host can be a physical machine or a
virtual machine. The VMware Blast display protocol does not operate on a single-user physical computer.

VMware Blast Extreme Features

Key features of VMware Blast Extreme include the following:

Users outside the corporate firewall can use this protocol with your company's virtual private network

n

(VPN), or users can make secure, encrypted connections to a security server or Access Point appliance
in the corporate DMZ.

VMware, Inc. 23

View Architecture Planning

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption is supported and is turned on by default. You

n

can, however, change the encryption key cipher to AES-192 or AES-256.

Connections from all types of client devices.

n

Optimization controls for reducing bandwidth usage on the LAN and WAN.

n

32-bit color is supported for virtual displays.

n

ClearType fonts are supported.

n

Audio redirection with dynamic audio quality adjustment for LAN and WAN.

n

Real-Time Audio-Video for using webcams and microphones on some client types.

n

Copy and paste of text and, on some clients, images between the client operating system and a remote

n

application or desktop. For other client types, only copy and paste of plain text is supported. You
cannot copy and paste system objects such as folders and files between systems.

Multiple monitors are supported for some client types. On some clients, you can use up to 4 monitors

n

with a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 per display or up to 3 monitors with a resolution of 4K (3840 x

2160) for Windows 7 remote desktops with Aero disabled. Pivot display and autofit are also supported.

When the 3D feature is enabled, up to 2 monitors are supported with a resolution of up to 1920 x 1200,
or one monitor with a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160).

USB redirection is supported for some client types.

n

MMR redirection is supported for some Windows client operating systems and some remote desktop

n

operating systems (with Horizon Agent installed).

For information about which client devices support specific VMware Blast Extreme features, go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Recommended Guest Operating System Settings

1GB of RAM or more and a dual CPU is recommended for playing in high-definition, full screen mode, or
720p or higher formatted video. To use Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration for graphics-intensive
applications such as CAD applications, 4GB of RAM is required.

Video Quality Requirements

480p-formatted video

720p-formatted video

You can play video at 480p or lower at native resolutions when the remote
desktop has a single virtual CPU. If you want to play the video in high­definition Flash or in full screen mode, the desktop requires a dual virtual
CPU. Even with a dual virtual CPU desktop, as low as 360p-formatted video
played in full screen mode can lag behind audio, particularly on Windows
clients.

You can play video at 720p at native resolutions if the remote desktop has a
dual virtual CPU. Performance might be affected if you play videos at 720p
in high definition or in full screen mode.

24 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Planning a Rich User Experience

1080p-formatted video

If the remote desktop has a dual virtual CPU, you can play 1080p formatted
video, although the media player might need to be adjusted to a smaller
window size.

3D rendering

You can configure remote desktops to use software- or hardware-accelerated
graphics. The software-accelerated graphics feature enables you to run
DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 applications without requiring a physical graphics
processing unit (GPU). The hardware-accelerated graphics features enable
virtual machines to either share the physical GPUs (graphical processing
unit) on a vSphere host or dedicate a physical GPU to a single virtual
machine desktop.

For 3D applications, up to 2 monitors are supported, and the maximum
screen resolution is 1920 x 1200. The guest operating system on the remote
desktops must be Windows 7 or later.

For more information about 3D features, see “Using 3D Graphics

Applications,” on page 30.

Hardware Requirements for Client Systems

For information about processor and memory requirements, see the "Using VMware Horizon Client"
document for the specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

PCoIP

PCoIP (PC over IP) provides an optimized desktop experience for the delivery of a remote application or an
entire remote desktop environment, including applications, images, audio, and video content for a wide
range of users on the LAN or across the WAN. PCoIP can compensate for an increase in latency or a
reduction in bandwidth, to ensure that end users can remain productive regardless of network conditions.

The PCoIP display protocol can be used for remote applications and for remote desktops that use virtual
machines, physical machines that contain Teradici host cards, or shared session desktops on an RDS host.

PCoIP Features

Key features of PCoIP include the following:

Users outside the corporate firewall can use this protocol with your company's virtual private network

n

(VPN), or users can make secure, encrypted connections to a security server or Access Point appliance
in the corporate DMZ.

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption is supported and is turned on by default. You

n

can, however, change the encryption key cipher to AES-192 or AES-256.

Connections from all types of client devices.

n

Optimization controls for reducing bandwidth usage on the LAN and WAN.

n

32-bit color is supported for virtual displays.

n

ClearType fonts are supported.

n

Audio redirection with dynamic audio quality adjustment for LAN and WAN.

n

Real-Time Audio-Video for using webcams and microphones on some client types.

n

Copy and paste of text and, on some clients, images between the client operating system and a remote

n

application or desktop. For other client types, only copy and paste of plain text is supported. You
cannot copy and paste system objects such as folders and files between systems.

VMware, Inc. 25

View Architecture Planning

Multiple monitors are supported for some client types. On some clients, you can use up to 4 monitors

n

with a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 per display or up to 3 monitors with a resolution of 4K (3840 x

2160) for Windows 7 remote desktops with Aero disabled. Pivot display and autofit are also supported.

When the 3D feature is enabled, up to 2 monitors are supported with a resolution of up to 1920 x 1200,
or one monitor with a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160).

USB redirection is supported for some client types.

n

MMR redirection is supported for some Windows client operating systems and some remote desktop

n

operating systems (with Horizon Agent installed).

For information about which desktop operating systems support specific PCoIP features, see “Feature

Support Matrix for Horizon Agent,” on page 21.

For information about which client devices support specific PCoIP features, go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Recommended Guest Operating System Settings

1GB of RAM or more and a dual CPU is recommended for playing in high-definition, full screen mode, or
720p or higher formatted video. To use Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration for graphics-intensive
applications such as CAD applications, 4GB of RAM is required.

Video Quality Requirements

480p-formatted video

720p-formatted video

1080p-formatted video

3D rendering

You can play video at 480p or lower at native resolutions when the remote
desktop has a single virtual CPU. If you want to play the video in high­definition Flash or in full screen mode, the desktop requires a dual virtual
CPU. Even with a dual virtual CPU desktop, as low as 360p-formatted video
played in full screen mode can lag behind audio, particularly on Windows
clients.

You can play video at 720p at native resolutions if the remote desktop has a
dual virtual CPU. Performance might be affected if you play videos at 720p
in high definition or in full screen mode.

If the remote desktop has a dual virtual CPU, you can play 1080p formatted
video, although the media player might need to be adjusted to a smaller
window size.

You can configure remote desktops to use software- or hardware-accelerated
graphics. The software-accelerated graphics feature enables you to run
DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 applications without requiring a physical graphics
processing unit (GPU). The hardware-accelerated graphics features enable
virtual machines to either share the physical GPUs (graphical processing
unit) on a vSphere host or dedicate a physical GPU to a single virtual
machine desktop.

For 3D applications, up to 2 monitors are supported, and the maximum
screen resolution is 1920 x 1200. The guest operating system on the remote
desktops must be Windows 7 or later.

For more information about 3D features, see “Using 3D Graphics

Applications,” on page 30.

26 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Planning a Rich User Experience

Hardware Requirements for Client Systems

For information about processor and memory requirements, see the "Using VMware Horizon Client"
document for the specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Microsoft RDP

Remote Desktop Protocol is the same multichannel protocol many people already use to access their work
computer from their home computer. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) uses RDP to transmit
data.

Microsoft RDP is a supported display protocol for remote desktops that use virtual machines, physical
machines, or shared session desktops on an RDS host. (Only the PCoIP display protocol and the VMware
Blast display protocol are supported for remote applications.) Microsoft RDP provides the following
features:

RDP 7 has true multiple monitor support, for up to 16 monitors.

n

You can copy and paste text and system objects such as folders and files between the local system and

n

the remote desktop.

32-bit color is supported for virtual displays.

n

RDP supports 128-bit encryption.

n

Users outside the corporate firewall can use this protocol with your company's virtual private network

n

(VPN), or users can make secure, encrypted connections to a View security server in the corporate
DMZ.

To support TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 connections to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you must apply
Microsoft hotfix KB3080079.

Hardware Requirements for Client Systems

For information about processor and memory requirements, see the "Using VMware Horizon Client"
document for the specific type of client system. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

NOTE Mobile client 3.x devices use only the PCoIP display protocol. Mobile client 4.x clients use only the
PCoIP display protocol or the VMware Blast display protocol.

Using Hosted Applications

You can use Horizon Client to securely access remote Windows-based applications, in addition to remote
desktops.

With this feature, after launching Horizon Client and logging in to a View server, users see all the remote
applications they are entitled to use, in addition to remote desktops. Selecting an application opens a
window for that application on the local client device, and the application looks and behaves as if it were
locally installed.

For example, on a Windows client computer, if you minimize the application window, an item for that
application remains in the Taskbar and looks identical to the way it would look if it were installed on the
local Windows computer. You can also create a shortcut for the application that will appear on your client
desktop, just like shortcuts for locally installed applications.

VMware, Inc. 27

View Architecture Planning

Deploying remote applications in this way might be preferable to deploying complete remote desktops
under the following conditions:

If an application is set up with a multi-tiered architecture, where the components work better if they are

n

located geographically near each other, using remote, hosted applications is a good solution.

For example, when a user must access a database remotely, if large amounts of data must be
transmitted over the WAN, performance is usually affected. With hosted applications, all parts of the
application can be located in the same data center as the database, so that traffic is isolated and only the
screen updates are sent across the WAN.

From a mobile device, accessing an individual application is easier than opening a remote Windows

n

desktop and then navigating to the application.

To use this feature, you install applications on a Microsoft RDS host. In this respect, View hosted
applications work similarly to other application remoting solutions. View hosted applications are delivered
using either the Blast Extreme display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, for an optimized user
experience.

Using View Persona Management to Retain User Data and Settings

You can use View Persona Management with remote desktops and with physical computers and virtual
machines that are not managed by View. View Persona Management retains changes that users make to
their profiles. User profiles comprise a variety of user-generated information.

User-specific data and desktop settings, which allow the desktop appearance to be the same regard less

n

of which desktop a user logs in to.

Application data and settings. For example, these settings allow applications to remember toolbar

n

positions and preferences.

Windows registry entries configured by user applications.

n

To facilitate these abilities, View Persona Management requires storage on a CIFS share equal or greater
than the size of the user's local profile.

Minimizing Logon and Logoff Times

View Persona Management minimizes the time it takes to log on to and off of desktops. During logon, by
default, View downloads only the files that Windows requires, such as user registry files. View takes recent
changes in the profile on the remote desktop and copies them to the remote repository at regular intervals.

With View Persona Management, you can avoid making any changes to Active Directory in order to have a
managed profile. To configure Persona Management, you specify a central repository, without changing the
user's properties in Active Directory. With this central repository, you can manage a user's profile in one
environment without affecting the physical machines that users might also log on to.

With View Persona Management, if you provision desktops with VMware ThinApp applications, the
ThinApp sandbox data can also be stored in the user profile. This data can roam with the user but does not
significantly affect logon times. This strategy provides better protection against data loss or corruption.

Configuration Options

You can configure View personas at several levels: a single remote desktop, a desktop pool, an OU, or all
remote desktops in your deployment. You can also use a standalone version of View Persona Management
on physical computers and virtual machines that are not managed by View.

By setting group policies (GPOs), you have granular control of the files and folders to include in a persona.
You can specify whether to include the local settings folder, which files to load at login time, which files to
download in the background after a user logs in, and which files within a user's persona to manage with
Windows roaming profiles functionality instead of View Persona Management.

28 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 Planning a Rich User Experience

As with Windows roaming profiles, you can configure folder redirection. You can redirect the following
folders to a network share.

Contacts My Documents Save Games

Cookies My Music Searches

Desktop My Pictures Start Menu

Downloads My Videos Startup Items

Favorites Network Neighborhood Templates

History Printer Neighborhood Temporary Internet Files

Links Recent Items

Limitations

View Persona Management has the following limitations and restrictions:

This feature is not supported on instant clone desktop pools.

n

You must have a View license that includes the View Personal Management component.

n

View Persona Management requires a CIFS (Common Internet File System) share.

n

Using USB Devices with Remote Desktops and Applications

Administrators can configure the ability to use USB devices, such as thumb flash drives, cameras, VoIP
(voice-over-IP) devices, and printers, from a remote desktop. This feature is called USB redirection, and it
supports using the Blast Extreme, PCoIP, or Microsoft RDP display protocol. A remote desktop can
accommodate up to 128 USB devices.

You can also redirect locally connected USB thumb flash drives and hard disks for use in RDS desktops and
applications. Other types of USB devices, including other types of storage devices, are not supported in RDS
desktops and applications.

When you use this feature in desktop pools that are deployed on single-user machines, most USB devices
that are attached to the local client system become available in the remote desktop. You can even connect to
and manage an iPad from a remote desktop. For example, you can sync your iPad with iTunes installed in
your remote desktop. On some client devices, such as Windows and Mac OS X computers, the USB devices
are listed in a menu in Horizon Client. You use the menu to connect and disconnect the devices.

In most cases, you cannot use a USB device in your client system and in your remote desktop or application
at the same time. Only a few types of USB devices can be shared between a remote desktop and the local
computer. These devices include smart card readers and human interface devices such as keyboards and
pointing devices.

Administrators can specify which types of USB devices end users are allowed to connect to. For composite
devices that contain multiple types of devices, such as a video input device and a storage device, on some
client systems, administrators can split the device so that one device (for example, the video input device) is
allowed but the other device (for example, the storage device) is not.

The USB redirection feature is available only on some types of clients. To find out whether this feature is
supported on a particular type of client, see the feature support matrix included in the "Using
VMware Horizon Client" document for the specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

VMware, Inc. 29

View Architecture Planning

Using the Real-Time Audio-Video Feature for Webcams and Microphones

With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, you can use your local computer's webcam or microphone on
your remote desktop. Real-Time Audio-Video is compatible with standard conferencing applications and
browser-based video applications, and supports standard webcams, audio USB devices, and analog audio
input.

End users can run Skype, Webex, Google Hangouts, and other online conferencing applications on their
virtual desktops. This feature redirects video and audio data to the remote desktop with a significantly
lower bandwidth than can be achieved by using USB redirection. With Real-Time Audio-Video, webcam
images and audio input are encoded on the client and then sent to the remote desktop. On the remote
desktop the stream is decoded and played by a virtual webcam and virtual microphone, which can be used
by the third-party application.

No special configuration is necessary, although administrators can set GPOs and registry keys for the
remote desktop to configure frame rate and image resolution, or to turn the feature off altogether. By default
the resolution is 320 by 240 pixels at 15 frames per second. Administrators can also use client-side
configuration settings to set a preferred webcam or audio device if needed.

NOTE This feature is available only on some types of clients. To find out whether this feature is supported
on a particular type of client, see the feature support matrix included in the "Using VMware Horizon Client"
document for the specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to

https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.

Using 3D Graphics Applications

The software- and hardware-accelerated graphics features available with the Blast Extreme or PCoIP display
protocol enable remote desktop users to run 3D applications ranging from Google Earth to CAD and other
graphics-intensive applications.

NOTE This feature is not available to instant clones.

NVIDIA GRID vGPU
(shared GPU hardware
acceleration)

AMD Multiuser GPU
using vDGA

Virtual Dedicated
Graphics Acceleration
(vDGA)

Available with vSphere 6.0 and later, this feature allows a physical GPU
(graphical processing unit) on an ESXi host to be shared among virtual
machines. Use this feature if you require high-end, hardware-accelerated
workstation graphics.

Available with vSphere 6.0 and later, this feature allows multiple virtual
machines to share an AMD GPU by making the GPU appear as multiple PCI
passthrough devices. This feature offers flexible hardware-accelerated 3D
profiles, ranging from lightweight 3D task workers to high-end workstation
graphics power users.

Available with vSphere 5.5 and later, this feature dedicates a single physical
GPU on an ESXi host to a single virtual machine. Use this feature if you
require high-end, hardware-accelerated workstation graphics.

NOTE Some Intel vDGA cards require a certain vSphere 6 version. See the
VMware Hardware Compatibility List at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php. Also, for Intel

vDGA, the Intel integrated GPU is used rather than discrete GPUs, as is the
case with other vendors.

30 VMware, Inc.