Virtualizing Desktops and Apps with Windows Server 2012 R2 Inside Out

Book description

Conquer Windows Server 2012 R2 virtualization--from the inside out!


Dive into Windows Server 2012 R2 virtualization--and really put your systems expertise to work. Focusing on both virtual desktop infrastructure and virtualized applications, this supremely organized reference packs hundreds of timesaving solutions, tips, and workarounds. Discover how the experts tackle Windows virtualization--and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery.

  • Use virtualization to prevent business disruption, help improve security, simplify upgrades, and support mobile users

  • Plan and deploy User State Virtualization for a consistent experience across locations and devices

  • Define users, applications, and scenarios for any virtualization project

  • Compare and deploy both session-based and virtual machine-based (VM-based) desktops

  • Configure Client Hyper-V and work with VMs in a Client Hyper-V environment

  • Install, design, configure, and administer Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) infrastructure and clients

  • Sequence applications for efficient and reliable deployment

  • Help secure remote access to virtual desktops with Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway)

  • Plan and implement pooled and personal desktops

  • Monitor virtualized apps and desktops for health and performance

  • Table of contents

    1. Title Page
    2. Copyright Page
    3. Contents at a glance
    4. Table of contents
    5. Introduction
      1. System requirements
      2. Acknowledgments
      3. Free ebooks from Microsoft Press
      4. Errata, updates, & book support
      5. We want to hear from you
      6. Stay in touch
    6. Chapter 1. Desktop and application virtualization
      1. Overview of virtualization technologies
        1. User state virtualization
        2. Application virtualization
        3. Desktop Virtualization
        4. Storage virtualization
      2. Usage scenarios for desktop virtualization
        1. Meeting legal and security requirements
        2. Supporting desktop management tasks
        3. Improving application compatibility
        4. Implementing desktop as a service
        5. Supporting the mobile user experience
      3. Considerations for implementing virtualization
        1. User experience
        2. Network connectivity
        3. Infrastructure
        4. Licensing requirements
        5. Challenges for implementing desktop and application virtualization
      4. Identify virtualization technologies for business needs
        1. Improve roaming experience for users
        2. Improve performance of apps for mobile users
        3. Provide remote access to apps and data
        4. Update apps efficiently
        5. Provide unique apps and improve security
    7. Chapter 2. Planning and implementing user state virtualization
      1. Understanding user state and user profiles
        1. User profile creation
        2. User profile content
      2. Understanding and planning user state virtualization
        1. Assess user data requirements
        2. Assess user settings requirements
        3. Evaluate compatibility considerations
        4. Evaluate infrastructure and manageability requirements
        5. Evaluate usage scenario considerations
      3. Configuring user state virtualization technologies
        1. Configuring roaming user profiles
        2. Mandatory user profiles
        3. Configuring Folder Redirection
        4. Configuring Offline Files
        5. Using the Primary Computer setting
        6. Configuring Credential Roaming
        7. Enabling user profile disks
      4. Configuring User Experience Virtualization
        1. UE-V architecture
        2. Comparing user state virtualization options
        3. Preparing to deploy UE-V
        4. Deploying the UE-V agent
        5. Managing the UE-V agent
        6. Managing default settings location templates
        7. Creating and managing custom settings location templates
    8. Chapter 3. Configuring Client Hyper-V
      1. Understanding Hyper-V
        1. Client Hyper-V architecture
        2. Installing Client Hyper-V
        3. Hyper-V management tools
        4. Managing virtual switches
        5. Creating virtual machines
        6. Virtual machine settings
        7. Generation 2 virtual machines
        8. Controlling virtual machines
        9. Managing virtual machine files
        10. Processing
        11. Dynamic memory
        12. Integration services
      2. Managing virtual hard disks
        1. Virtual hard disk formats
        2. Fixed and dynamically expanding disks
        3. Differencing disks
        4. Creating virtual hard disks
        5. Editing virtual hard disks
        6. Storage Quality of Service
      3. Managing checkpoints
        1. How checkpoints are created
        2. Using checkpoints
        3. Considerations for using checkpoints
    9. Chapter 4. Planning and implementing App-V
      1. Overview of App-V
        1. Benefits of App-V
        2. Differences between standard and virtualized applications
        3. Placing and functionality of the virtualization engine
      2. Application virtualization infrastructure
        1. App-V application life cycle
        2. App-V technologies
        3. App-V deployment models
      3. Planning App-V infrastructure
        1. App-V infrastructure requirements
        2. App-V deployment possibilities
        3. Service disruption impact
        4. Functional and physical placement
        5. Sizing and performance
        6. High availability for App-V
        7. Disaster recovery
      4. Deploying App-V infrastructure
        1. App-V infrastructure requirements
        2. Installing management databases
        3. App-V Management Server configuration
        4. App-V publishing server deployment and configuration
        5. App-V for Remote Desktop Services client
        6. Integrating App-V with System Center Configuration Manager
    10. Chapter 5. Planning and deploying App-V clients
      1. Overview of App-V client configuration
        1. App-V desktop client
        2. How the App-V client accesses applications
        3. Storage locations for App-V client data
        4. Planning for App-V 5.0 shared content store
        5. Methods for deploying the App-V client
        6. App-V client for Remote Desktop
      2. Installing and configuring the App-V client
        1. Prerequisites for App-V client installation
        2. Installing the client by using Configuration Manager
        3. Installing the App-V for Remote Desktop Services client
        4. Configuring the App-V client for stand-alone mode
        5. App-V and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution
        6. App-V 5.0 and third-party production integration
        7. Benefits of App-V and VDI integration
        8. Building images with App-V
      3. Managing App-V client properties
        1. Managing virtual applications
        2. Managing file type associations
      4. Managing server connections
        1. Using Windows PowerShell to configure the App-V client
        2. Using Group Policy to manage the App-V client
        3. Autoload
        4. Registry settings for the App-V client
    11. Chapter 6. Managing and administering Application Virtualization
      1. Using the Application Virtualization Management Console
        1. Managing App-V administrators
        2. Registering and unregistering servers
        3. Managing application packages
        4. Connection groups
        5. Managing management servers by using Windows PowerShell
      2. Modifying and upgrading published applications
        1. Update an application
        2. Copy access and configuration
        3. Update a connection group
        4. Remove applications
        5. Edit the default configuration for a package
        6. Exporting the configuration
        7. Assignment of applications
        8. Naming conventions
        9. Enabling scripting for dynamic configuration
      3. App-V reporting
        1. How App-V reporting works
        2. Data collected by App-V reporting
        3. App-V client configuration for reporting
        4. Generating App-V reports
    12. Chapter 7. Application sequencing
      1. Overview of application sequencing
        1. App-V Sequencer
        2. The sequencing process
        3. Items to document in a recipe
        4. Portions of a sequenced application
      2. Planning for application sequencing
        1. Sequencer configuration
        2. Best practices for application installation
        3. Best practices for package configuration
        4. Applications that cannot be sequenced
      3. Sequencing an application
        1. Types of applications that can be sequenced
      4. Preparing for sequencing
        1. Sequencing tasks
        2. Customizing the package
        3. Package editor
        4. Windows PowerShell
        5. Deploying Office 2013 by using App-V
      5. Advanced application sequencing
        1. Package accelerators
        2. Creating a package accelerator
      6. Options for updating packages
        1. Sequencing for connection groups
        2. Dynamic configuration and targeted scripting
    13. Chapter 8. Planning and deploying session-based virtual desktops
      1. Understanding RDS
        1. Comparing RDS and the Remote Desktop feature
        2. RDS architecture
        3. Connecting to virtual desktops and RemoteApp programs
        4. RDS functionality that enhances the client experience
        5. RemoteFX
        6. Remote Desktop Connection configuration options
        7. RDS licensing
      2. Planning infrastructure for session-based desktops
        1. Assessing RDS infrastructure requirements
        2. Planning for the RD Session Host role service
        3. Planning for the RD Connection Broker role service
        4. Planning for the RD Web Access role service
        5. Planning for preserving user state
      3. Deploying session-based virtual desktops
        1. Understanding the session-based desktop deployment process
        2. Understanding session collections
        3. Configuring session collections
        4. Configuring RD Licensing servers
      4. Understanding high availability for RDS
        1. Understanding load balancing
        2. High availability for RD Session Host servers
        3. High availability for the RD Connection Broker role service
        4. High availability for the RD Web Access role service
        5. High availability for the RD Licensing role service
    14. Chapter 9. Configuring RemoteApp programs and client connectivity
      1. Publishing and configuring RemoteApp programs
        1. Understanding RemoteApp programs
        2. Installing applications on RD Session Host servers
        3. Publishing RemoteApp programs
        4. Configuring RemoteApp programs
      2. Configuring and managing client connections to RDS
        1. Configuring RemoteApp and Desktop Connections
        2. Customizing RD Web Access
        3. Understanding device redirection
        4. Understanding printer redirection
        5. Managing connections
      3. Configuring certificates and single sign-on
        1. Understanding RDS certificates
        2. Requesting and configuring RDS certificates
        3. Understanding single sign-on
    15. Chapter 10. Planning and implementing pooled and personal virtual desktops
      1. Understanding pooled and personal virtual desktops
        1. Using pooled virtual desktops
        2. Using personal virtual desktops
        3. Comparing virtual desktop options
        4. High availability for pooled virtual desktops
        5. High availability for personal virtual desktops
      2. Planning and creating virtual desktop templates
        1. Selecting an operating system
        2. Activating the operating system
        3. Updating applications and the operating system
        4. Eliminating the system partition
      3. Optimizing operating system configuration
        1. Optimizing App-V
        2. Optimizing antivirus software
        3. Using Sysprep to prepare a virtual desktop template
      4. Planning storage for pooled and personal virtual desktops
        1. Using local storage for pooled and personal virtual desktops
        2. Using a SAN for pooled and personal virtual desktops
        3. Using scale-out file servers for pooled and personal virtual desktops
        4. Using additional Windows Server 2012 R2 storage technologies
      5. Capacity planning for pooled and personal virtual desktops
        1. Capacity planning for storage
        2. Capacity planning for memory
        3. Capacity planning for networking
        4. Capacity planning for processing
        5. Capacity planning example
      6. Implementing pooled and personal virtual desktops
        1. Deploying RD Virtualization Host servers
        2. Understanding user profile disks for VM-based virtual desktops
        3. Creating a virtual desktop collection
        4. Updating pooled virtual desktops
        5. Implementing RemoteApp for Hyper-V
    16. Chapter 11. Implementing Remote Access for VDI
      1. Extending VDI outside the organization
        1. Why remote access is important for VDI
        2. Methods for securing remote access to VDI
        3. Network configuration for RD Gateway
        4. Configuration options for RD Gateway
      2. Controlling RD Gateway access
        1. Overview of controlling RD Gateway access
        2. RD CAPs
        3. RD RAPs
        4. Central RD CAP store
        5. Integrating Microsoft Azure Multi-Factor Authentication
    17. Chapter 12. Performance and Health Monitoring of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
      1. Monitoring desktop and application virtualization
        1. Understanding monitoring for desktop and application virtualization
        2. Event monitoring for desktop and application virtualization
        3. Performance monitoring tools for desktop and application virtualization
        4. Using Process Monitor to identify application issues
      2. Using Operations Manager for monitoring
        1. Parts of an Operations Manager implementation
        2. Understanding management packs and overrides
        3. Management packs for monitoring application and desktop virtualization
        4. Installing management packs
      3. Monitoring desktop virtualization infrastructure
        1. Understanding resource bottlenecks
        2. Considerations for monitoring desktop virtualization
        3. Monitoring RD Session Host server performance
        4. Optimizing RD Session Host server performance
    18. Index
    19. Code Snippets

    Product information

    • Title: Virtualizing Desktops and Apps with Windows Server 2012 R2 Inside Out
    • Author(s): Byron Wright, Brian Svidergol
    • Release date: May 2015
    • Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
    • ISBN: 9780735697270