Virtual Access Suite™ for VDI - Feature Details

Virtual Access Broker Architecture

• Highly scalable Windows service designed to run inside a virtual machine appliance.
• Communicates with the VMware VirtualCenter via the Web Service Interface.
• For high availability, an unlimited number of brokers are allowed per virtual infrastructure.
• Responsible for all VM pool management tasks.
• Responds to client connectivity requests and redirects the client to the appropriate VM.

VM Pool Management Tasks

• Wizard-based VM pool creation allowing the VDI Administrator to specify the following parameters:
  • Number of VMs in the pool.
  • Number of VMs to create simultaneously.
  • Target VMware ESX host or resource pool for creating VMs.
  • Auto-answer file.
  • Date and time to start the VM pool creation process.
• VM pool deletion.
• VM pool suspension.
• VM pool power-down.
• VM status reporting (powered down | running | suspended, resource utilization.)
• VM session status reporting (logged-on user, logon time, running processes.)

VM Pool Policies

• Access is granted or denied via ACLs.
• Permanently/temporarily assign a free VM to the user upon logon. If VM assignment is permanent, optionally grant the user additional privileges to the VM:
  • Add user to the Administrators or Power Users group.
  • Allow user to take and revert to VM snapshot.
• Upon user logoff, the VM may be suspended or powered down.
• A VM pool expiration date may be specified. When the VM pool expires, the following action(s) may be performed:
  • Suspend VM pool.
  • Power off VM pool.
  • Delete VM pool.
• Specify access hours (by day and hour.)

VM Policies

Optionally, an individual VM may be permanently pre-assigned to a user (i.e., assigned prior to the user’s first logon). In this case, VM-level policy settings may be specified, overriding the VM pool policy settings.

• Upon user logoff, the VM may be suspended or powered down.
• A VM expiration date may be specified. When the VM expires, the following action(s) may be performed:
  • Suspend VM.
  • Power off VM.
  • Delete VM.
• Specify access hours (by day and hour.)
• Add user to the Administrators or Power Users group.
• Allow user to take and revert to VM snapshot.

Virtual Channel Policies

• Grant or deny access to the following client-side resources:
  • Drives.
  • Printers.
  • Handhelds.
  • Serial ports.
  • Smartcards.
  • Audio.

Application Publishing

• Full desktops and/or individual applications may be published.
• Desktops and applications are published to VM pools.
• Access is granted or denied to applications via ACLs.

Access Control Lists

• Containers of user accounts, groups, and organizational units.
• Used to grant or deny access to VM pools and published resources.

Resource Management and High Availability

• Provision’s Virtual Access Suite leverages the resource pooling and high availability foundations of a VMware virtual infrastructure.

Fault Management

• If for any reason the user’s permanent VM fails to start, the user is temporarily assigned a free VM from the same pool. Should the original VM become available again, the user is redirected to it on subsequent logons.

Client Connectivity

• Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP.)
• RDP-over-SSL.

Client Device Support

• Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP.
• Windows CE.
• Java client (Q1 2007.)
• Linux-based PXE client (Q1 2007.)

User Experience / Last-Mile Features

• Seamless Windows - Remote applications appear on the user's screen as if they're running locally.
• Session Sharing - Allows multiple published applications to share the same VM session.
• Up to 4096 x 2048 Screen Resolutions.
• Multi-Monitor Support.
• Kerberos Authentication - Supports user credentials pass-through and smartcard logons.
• AppPortal Client Interface - Similar to the Citrix Program Neighborhood.
• AppPortal (Desktop-Integrated) - Similar to the Citrix PN Agent.
• Web Interface - Allows users to log in and access their VM-based desktops and published applications using a standard Web browser.
• RDP-over-SSL connectivity – Allows users to access their VM-based desktops and published applications using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
• Universal Print Driver - Eliminates the need to install and maintain vendor-specific print drivers on each VM.
• USB PDA Rredirection - Allows users to access their client-side USB handheld devices using the BlackBerry Desktop, HotSync, and ActiveSync software running inside the VM.
• CPU Utilization Management - Runs inside the VM to ensure all running applications receive their fair share of CPU resources.
• Access Control - Prevents users from accessing unauthorized programs and TCP/IP-based resources such as hosts and URLs.
• Remote Password Reset - Allows users to reset their expired passwords prior to logging on.

Next: Scalability and High Availability