IT SERVICES Microsoft SoftGrid at Leicester Paul Crow –Systems Architect (Windows) Susan Preston –Service Support Manager (Software)

Why change software packaging and deployment? Conflicts between packages Software requests process / schedule Software updates / security Over sized profiles User testing

Why choose SoftGrid? Complete solution Easy to use & train support staff 100+ applications It is a Microsoft product!

What is Microsoft SoftGrid? Software Virtualisation –SoftGrid Bubble Flexible Licence monitoring Easy management

Streaming Sequencing / FB1 / VFS / Cache Users not clients Management / support What do you know about SoftGrid?

SoftGrid 4.1 One server Five SoftGrid clients Five Applications Where did we start?

Taking SoftGrid from Test to Live Hang on everybody I’ve had a great idea!

Windows Service at Leicester 6000 clients users peak concurrent logins 100 applications Active Directory, SMS 2003 Roaming Profiles No folder redirection

What is a Softgrid Infrastructure Softgrid Client on PCs Virtual Application Servers (VAS) SQL Server Database Management Server

Infrastructure

Server Sizing 2x DL380 (2x Xeon 3.2 GHz 2GB RAM) 1x VServer (1x 2GHz 2GB RAM) Servers running at less than 10% Microsoft Guidelines – us/library/bb608286(TechNet.10).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/library/bb608286(TechNet.10).aspx

Key Decisions Where to hold the Users’ SoftGrid data What publishing path to use How to present the applications to the end users

Problems with SoftGrid at Leicester 4.1 SP1 – corrupt cache Swapping icons Load on network – pre-caching & locking large applications. Fileserver performance during a user log in.

Network Bandwidth Usage Application Streaming –Efficient\Aggressive Student Labs –Many concurrent application launches –10-50 PCs on 100Mb link –5 concurrent launches saturated the link (But that was ArcGIS)

Possible Solutions Local VAS –Per Lab or at key points in Network –Management Overhead Pre-cache large applications –Deploy SoftGrid Cache with Machine –Lock Large Applications in Cache –Lose some flexibility

Our Solution Precache Large Applications –Deploy within Image –Copy cache file in after imaging (unsupported) –Large App > 350Mb –Active Upgrade Re-Streams all of FB1

Fileserver Performance Problem –Poor performance of fileservers as usage increased at start of term Cause –Users’ Icon Cache overwriting at each login

Key Factors DC Refresh set to “At Logon” Users’ SoftGrid data held in their Home Directory Icon Cache approx 10 Mb in size Many files in Icon Cache

Possible Solutions Reduce Frequency of DC Refresh –Problems with File Type Associations Relocate the Data –Limited Options Reduce Icon Cache Size –Size of Icons –Number of Icons

Our Solution Reduced the Size of icons –“Vista Style” icons 250k -> 2-30k Filtered Applications by Active Directory Group Membership –Initially: Manual Assignment –Now: Utility for users to self select

Living with SoftGrid Was it all worth it?

Advantages of SoftGrid Active Upgrade Some applications available > 2 hours Enhanced testing abilities Applications can be introduced all year round Virtually zero application conflicts 2 versions of software running side by side

Disadvantages of SoftGrid Network bandwidth usage Interaction with some applications Not all applications can be sequenced –NVivo, Tortoise Registry enumerations calls in ArcGIS Space needed on a users file store Licence issues e.g. FileMaker Our predicament with SoftGrid 4.1 support

The future for Leicester The next 12 months… –Upgrade to SoftGrid 4.5 ready for the academic year 09/10 –Continue to use SoftGrid and aim for a majority sequenced application environment. –Investigate SoftGrid on a terminal server At some point in the future… –Helping departments with software installations –Restricting Licences –Laptop software service

Q & A