Architecture Planning

Pools for Knowledge Workers and Power Users
Knowledge workers must be able to create complex documents and have them persist on the desktop.
Power users must be able to install their own applications and have them persist. Depending on the nature
and amount of personal data that must be retained, the desktop can be stateful or stateless.
Because power users and knowledge workers, such as accountants, sales managers, marketing research
analysts, must be able to create and retain documents and settings, you create dedicated-assignment
desktops for them. For knowledge workers who do not need user-installed applications except for
temporary use, you can create stateless desktop images and save all their personal data outside of the virtual
machine, on a file server or in an application database. For other knowledge workers and for power users,
you can create stateful desktop images. Use the following pool settings:
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Use dedicated assignment pools so that each knowledge worker or power user logs in to the same
desktop every time.
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Use the Persona Management feature so that users always have their preferred desktop appearance and
application settings, as with Windows user profiles.
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Use vStorage thin provisioning so that at first, each desktop uses only as much storage space as the disk
needs for its initial operation.
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For power users and knowledge workers who must install their own applications, which adds data to
the operating system disk, create full virtual machine desktops. Use Mirage to deploy and update
applications without overwriting user-installed applications.
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If knowledge workers do not require user-installed applications except for temporary use, you can
create View Composer linked-clone desktops. The desktop images share the same base image and use
less storage space than full virtual machines.
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If you use View Composer with vSphere 5.1 or later virtual desktops, enable the space reclamation
feature for vCenter Server and for the desktop pool. With the space reclamation feature, stale or deleted
data within a guest operating system is automatically reclaimed with a wipe and shrink process.
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If you use View Composer linked-clone desktops, implement View Persona Management, roaming
profiles, or another profile management solution.
Configure persistent disks so that you can refresh and recompose the linked-clone OS disks while
keeping a copy of the user profile on the persistent disks.
Pools for Kiosk Users
Kiosk users might include customers at airline check-in stations, students in classrooms or libraries, medical
personnel at medical data entry workstations, or customers at self-service points. Accounts associated with
client devices rather than users are entitled to use these desktop pools because users do not need to log in to
use the client device or the remote desktop. Users can still be required to provide authentication credentials
for some applications.
Virtual machine desktops that are set to run in kiosk mode use stateless desktop images because user data
does not need to be preserved in the operating system disk. Kiosk mode desktops are used with thin client
devices or locked-down PCs. You must ensure that the desktop application implements authentication
mechanisms for secure transactions, that the physical network is secure against tampering and snooping,
and that all devices connected to the network are trusted.
As a best practice, use dedicated View Connection Server instances to handle clients in kiosk mode, and
create dedicated organizational units and groups in Active Directory for the accounts of these clients. This
practice not only partitions these systems against unwarranted intrusion, but also makes it easier to
configure and administer the clients.
Chapter 4 Architecture Design Elements and Planning Guidelines for Remote Desktop Deployments
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