VMware View

VMware Mirage conceptually splits the PC into layers, combining a centrally managed Base Image (OS and core applications) with two layers from the endpoint: user-installed applications and machine state, and end user data and settings. These three components form an individually managed, centrally-stored Centralized Virtual Desktop (CVD). CVDs are hardware-agnostic, and can be easily migrated from one desktop (physical or virtual) to another, creating a wide range of use cases. The VMware Mirage Client runs a local cache of this CVD directly on the endpoint (virtual or physical) hardware, using local compute resources to enable offline productivity and ensure predictable, native PC performance regardless of network connectivity.

VMware Mirage’s Distributed Desktop Virtualization architecture includes VMware Mirage Server in the data center to centralize desktop management, protection, and support; Mirage Client to create a local cache for optimal user experience at the endpoint, and advanced DDO technology to optimize bi-directional synchronization and fast desktop streaming over the WAN.

More videos:

In-Place Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration using VMware Mirage - Watch a Windows XP endpoint get upgraded in-place to Windows 7 with zero touch by IT, and without affecting user files or profiles, by using the VMware Mirage solution.

Single Image Management with VMware Mirage - See how VMware Mirage can solve your singe image management needs for physical laptops and desktops, and un-managed virtual machines.

Nimble Storage offers a flash-enabled hybrid storage solution that combines MLC flash with high capacity disk.  CASL (Cache Accelerated Sequential Layout) - the architecture backing Nimble arrays, is a log structure file system. In other words CASL coalesces random writes coming into the system and writes them out in a full RAID stripe to disk. There is an efficient garbage collection mechanism at the back end that ensures that full stripes are available to write to at all times (unlike hole-filling file systems such as ZFS and WAFL).

Nimble uses flash as a read cache (no writes are staged here even though some writes go to cache based on the IO profile) - this allows us to eliminate the overhead of RAID protecting flash. Also the metadata is always stored in cache so even if there is a cache miss, the access is accelerated. In addition, compression is turned on at all times. This is a LZ variant and natively supports variable sized blocks. So there's no need to incur the read-modify-write overhead that comes with space saving techniques typically.

So what does the above mean for VDI? There are a lot of read path enhancements for VDI including the more recent VSA accelerator from VMware. This is all good. In addition, VDI places higher loads on the storage array to address write demands and that is where CASL shines. The read storms are addressed using the flash cache and the write peaks using the coalescing techniques outlined above. 

With the launch of the CS420-x2 array, Nimble expects to be able to support north of 2000 users within a single array (3U form factor) for a moderate workload profile (12-16 IOPS steady state), delivering very competitive storage cost/desktop as well as desktop density.

In this session we explore the complete, end-to-end architecture for the Mobile Secure Desktop, built on best of breed compute, networking, storage, security and collaboration technologies. This blueprint provides a prescriptive guide to removing the "guesswork" from delivering unified workspaces that embrace BYOD along with enterprise-grade collaboration and virtual desktops, built on a compute architecture that offers streamlined management with high performance for hundreds, to hundreds-of-thousands of users.

Speaker -- Arshad Saeed, Tech Marketing Manager, Cisco

VMware Mobile Secure Desktop Bootcamp