VMWare 4 rant...

Matt D. · 12-16-2009

We are going through the same thing where I work, we are getting to the size that one person (myself) can not manage 200+ desktops on top of all the other responsibilities I have and they (executives outside of IT) refuse to let us hire more people.

We already have a hefty VMware environment, so we are set on using VMware's VDI. Right now we're testing different hardware and boot options. We have a couple different boxes from WYSE, a diskless barebones Shuttle box from our consultant, and we've even tested it with our current Lenovo desktops. All work great, but as Tom said the PCOIP option doesn't exist, they are still using the old RDP.

My friend/coworker is the network admin and VMware guy, he just discovered a linux boot option that will connect to the virtual desktop, it worked as well as expected.

Tom, are you replacing desktop hardware with thin clients or are you leaving everything in place? If you are not touching the desktops, have you tried that client that you install and run from Windows to connect to the virtual desktop? It works slick and allows PCOIP, Flash and everything runs smooth. I can get you more info if you want.

Spaz, virtual desktops provide one thing that Windows never did well without a ton of headaches: roaming profiles. You can log into any machine on the network and there is your stuff. Granted, it costs disk space, but enterprise-grade SANs aren't exactly expensive these days.

**cmspaz** · 12-16-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D.

Spaz, virtual desktops provide one thing that Windows never did well without a ton of headaches: roaming profiles. You can log into any machine on the network and there is your stuff. Granted, it costs disk space, but enterprise-grade SANs aren't exactly expensive these days.

Fair enough. I've never had huge issues with roaming profiles in Active Directory, but then again I've never dealt with them on a large scale. Max I've supported has been 40 locally with 15 coming in over RDP.

tpunx99GSX · 12-16-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmspaz

Fair enough. I've never had huge issues with roaming profiles in Active Directory, but then again I've never dealt with them on a large scale. Max I've supported has been 40 locally with 15 coming in over RDP.

Roaming Profiles in theory are a great thing. But in reality SUCK ASS. We have a smaller client with only 4-6 people in their office. The CEOs laptop got dropped and went kaput, She had over 26 gb in photos in her profile, damn near halted all network traffic in their office when she signed into the new computer, and was taking over 2 hours to load the profile. So i ended up taking her off roaming profiles and loaded it up manually.

**cmspaz** · 12-16-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpunx99GSX

Roaming Profiles in theory are a great thing. But in reality SUCK ASS. We have a smaller client with only 4-6 people in their office. The CEOs laptop got dropped and went kaput, She had over 26 gb in photos in her profile, damn near halted all network traffic in their office when she signed into the new computer, and was taking over 2 hours to load the profile. So i ended up taking her off roaming profiles and loaded it up manually.

What business do personal photos have on her work laptop?

Yes, I'm one of those admins. She wants a personal computer, she can buy her own personal computer. I strongly disagree with personal machines being work machines as well as the reverse. She wants to have stuff like that on her laptop, she can keep it in a separate profile or not save to the server. If she needs to be on the server, she can buy a second laptop for personal use. Just causes problems on the daily, and huge (possibly compromising) issues when something goes wrong. It's just not a good practice.

But I'm not disagreeing on transferring them to new machines being a hassle, it definitely sucks.

tpunx99GSX · 12-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmspaz

What business do personal photos have on her work laptop?

Yes, I'm one of those admins. She wants a personal computer, she can buy her own personal computer. I strongly disagree with personal machines being work machines as well as the reverse. She wants to have stuff like that on her laptop, she can keep it in a separate profile or not save to the server. If she needs to be on the server, she can buy a second laptop for personal use. Just causes problems on the daily, and huge (possibly compromising) issues when something goes wrong. It's just not a good practice.

But I'm not disagreeing on transferring them to new machines being a hassle, it definitely sucks.

Regardless of whether your one of those admins or not. its the CEO of the company. They ultimatly decide if you have a job or not, so therefore i really dont GAF what she has on her laptop, she signs the checks.
Secondly, The pictures and videos are from her trips to India and paris, which is where her products are made. She travels the world finding good products to put her name on. and therefore needs to have the pictures of the manufacturing process on the server and backed up.
I would however LOVE to see a video of you Telling the CEO of the company you work for that he cannot have any personal information and pictures on his computer, then you being escorted out of the building.

Matt D. · 12-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpunx99GSX

Regardless of whether your one of those admins or not. its the CEO of the company. They ultimatly decide if you have a job or not, so therefore i really dont GAF what she has on her laptop, she signs the checks.
Secondly, The pictures and videos are from her trips to India and paris, which is where her products are made. She travels the world finding good products to put her name on. and therefore needs to have the pictures of the manufacturing process on the server and backed up.
I would however LOVE to see a video of you Telling the CEO of the company you work for that he cannot have any personal information and pictures on his computer, then you being escorted out of the building.

I am one of those IT guys, but you don't fuck with the jeebus.

I put the fear of god in people so they don't make mistakes like that, but I don't flat out tell someone that they shouldn't have done it and I'm not going to help.