XenDesktop 5.5 Hyper-V Proof of Concept Guide
Introduction
A successful XenDesktop 5.5 Proof-of-Concept (PoC) begins with simple preparation. Although XenDesktop supports many different technologies and provides support for desktop, server, and application virtualization, this document focuses on a deployment of XenDesktop 5.5 using Microsoft’s Windows 2008 R2 SP1 with Hyper-V code base for delivering hosted virtual desktops. Hosted VDI virtual desktops demonstrate the brokering technology and the benefit of the HDX protocol. This level can be used to quickly compare the end-user experience and allow basic desktop remoting. This approach is good to validate user requirements with the technology. The PoC environment is expected to be isolated from the production environment, although the production Active Directory domain could be used to contain the computer and user accounts for testing. Preparation for the PoC will include hardware, operating systems, Active Directory accounts, and software licensing.
Windows 7, Server 2008R2, and SCVMM Service Pack 1 Support
Citrix XenDestop5 SP1 and now 5.5 support the use of the Windows 7 client and Windows Server 2008R2 SP1. Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 provides major new features for VDI focusing around key areas such as Dynamic Memory for Hyper-V (see Microsoft Deployment Guide for Dynamic Memory), RemoteFX for assigning virtual GPU’s to XenDesktop Windows 7 virtual machines(see Microsoft Deployment Guide For RemoteFX), and System enter Virtual Machine Manager SP1 for managing VM’s with Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX GPU’s assigned to them (see Migrating to SCVMM 2008R2 SP1). More information about enabling RemoteFX for XenDesktop can be found here. XenDesktop 5 SP1 and 5.5 Quick Deploy support the use of Dynamic Memory configuration and RemoteFX adapters in the master Windows 7 SP1 image. This enables the administrator to create specific feature enabled desktops instantly from a VM template master image using the Quick Deploy Wizard. These new VM guest features should be enabled via the SCVMM 20008R2 SP1 administrative console on the master image prior to using Quick Deploy. Virtual machines currently running as a guest operating system already have the R2 integration services enabled by default. These existing virtual machines will run normally with the host upgraded to SP1. The newer features such as Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX, do require the SP1 version of integrations services applied to those existing virtual machines to take advantage of newer updates and enhancements. For more information on this see http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/cc732470(WS.10).aspx
Read the entire whitepaper, you can find it under Sources in this article. Enjoy /Poppelgaard.
Sources
Download Whitepaper – XenDesktop 5.5 Hyper-V Proof of Concept Guide here
