Provision Networks is currently developing graphics acceleration for the Microsoft RDP Protocol.  In my previous tests performed in June I tested the first prototype and was amazed at the improvement in end user experience over a limited bandwidth connection.  This is key for Terminal Services and VDI deployments, as any remoting protocol looks great over a gigabit connection, but when users are connecting over DSL or 3G connections, graphical content and multimedia may be unusable.

Yesterday I received the second prototype build of our GDI Plus Graphics Acceleration for RDP.  Once I got it installed I decided to compare the bandwidth usage to that of the standard Microsoft RDP 6 client.

My test setup included

• Client - Windows XP SP2 Professional with RDP Client 6.0 (San Diego, CA)
• VDI Host - Windows XP SP2 Professional (Reston, VA)
• Network Connection - Verizon BroadbandAccess Wireless Cellular Card + VPN
• NetLimiter Pro - used to measure data transmission

The content I tested was from the following Flickr Site.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelbolt/sets/72157594253077556/

I launched the page, clicked on the Slideshow link and let the slideshow play thru to its completion.  I did this with a standard remote desktop connection, then I logged off, logged back on and repeated the test with our GDI Plus compression enabled.

So what did I find? 

1. The Provision Networks GDI Plus accelerator compressed the bandwidth consumed by the RDP Display 8.5 to 1 over the standard RDP connection.  The standard RDP connection sent 15,322,091 bytes to the client, whereas the Provision Networks accelerated connection sent only 1,793,232.  It should be noted that when I performed the same task using my local Internet browser, it downloaded 2,016,251 bytes, so the Provision Networks acceleration used less bandwidth than running the same task locally.
2. Completing the same tasks listed above took 100 seconds via the standard RDP connection and only 40 seconds with the Provision Networks Graphics Acceleration.
3. Displaying the slideshow via the standard RDP was slow and choppy, whereas the accelerated slideshow played as if it were playing locally.

So what did I learn?  RDP is not stupid.  It dynamically adjusts the amount of data sent to the client based upon how much bandwidth is available.  When I limited my network connection to 128Kbps, this same set of tasks consumed 4,737,020 bytes via standard RDP and only 1,026,072 bytes when compressed with Provision Networks’ GDI Plus acceleration.  When I limited the connection to 20Kbps the standard RDP transmitted about the same amount of data, 5,051,238 bytes but the Provision Networks accelerated connection was still able to be compressed further, down to 741,966 bytes. 

In my next demonstration I will show how different levels of compression affect bandwidth consumption, and end user experience. The RDP compression in this version is virtually lossless, when compared to the compression of Citrix ICA. 

Provision Networks Enhanced RDP vs Citrix ICA Compression:

RDP struggles to display highly graphical content over a low bandwidth connection, which makes this compression technology even more important.  Even on a low bandwidth connection, this flickr slideshow was head and shoulders better performing with GDI Plus acceleration than with standard RDP.  RDP draws graphics sequentially from left to right, top to bottom in 64×64 pixel squares when starved for bandwidth.  With Provision Networks RDP Compression, this is completely eliminated. 

This compression dramatically improves the end user experience.  In my next demo video I will compare this technology against Citrix ICA to debunk the myth that RDP is a inferior display protocol.

As of today, August 26, 2008 this technology is not a shipping product, but is slated to be released in the 4th quarter of 2008.  This and other new technologies will be demonstrated at the Microsoft Virtualization Launch Event on September 8th in Bellevue, WA and at VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas, NV.

RDP Flickr Slideshow results:

Provision Networks enhanced-RDP Flickr Slideshow results:

Locally rendered Flickr Slideshow results:

RDP Flickr Slideshow results over 128Kbps connection:

Provision Networks enhanced-RDP Flickr Slideshow results over 128Kbps connection:

Quest Software, Provision Networks Division, are a Platinum sponsor at the forthcoming Virtualization Congress in London, England. Quest Software will be showcasing Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite, which will include the demonstration of new and exciting product features.

We are proud to be offering a 25% discount code to our customers and business partners attending the conference, this equates to a £200 saving. The discount code is ‘PartnersAtVC2008′.

It must be entered during the registration process that starts here: http://www.virtualizationcongress.com/registration.htm

Virtualization Congress 2008 – October 14-16. 2008 – ExCeL London, UK

Virtualization Congress, launched in 2008 by virtualization.info, the leading virtualization news and analysis site since 2003, brings together the entire sector under one roof, giving customers and potential virtualization users the opportunity to hear about all of the latest products and technologies on the market without prejudice.

The event will feature an innovative lecture format, showcasing real products in real world situations, from the key market players and the newest startups.

The Virtualization Congress takes place between 14-16 October, 2008 at London ExCeL conference centre in Docklands.

Visit the site at: http://www.virtualizationcongress.com

Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite 5.10 introduced a new feature called “Task Automation”.  Task Automation is a feature for VDI that enables the administrator to schedule the following tasks to run once, or on a recurring schedule (similar to the options that exist in the recurring scheduler in Microsoft Ootlook). These tasks can be scheduled against Computer Groups (Pools) and individual VMs or Physical PCs. 

The tasks types that exist in 5.10 are:

Power Management

• Power Off
• Power On
• Reset
• Resume - for VMware and Hyper-V
• Standby - for ACPI & WoL Devices
• Suspend -for VMware and Hyper-V
• Wakeup - for ACPI & WoL Devices

Operating System operations:

• Log off user
• Reset Session
• Restart O/S
• Shutdown O/S

Virtual machines:

• Delete Virtual Machine
• Delete Computer Account from Active Directory
• Delete Virtual Machine not accessed in a specified number of days

Miscellaneous Tasks:

• Copy file to computer
• Enable/Disable Computer
• Initialize Computer
• Run Program/Script on Computer

MSI Packages:

• Install MSI Package
• Update MSI Package
• Uninstall MSI Package

So how does an administrator know what tasks have been scheduled against a given Computer Group or Computer?  When the Computer Group is selected in the Provision Management Console, a Summary page is exposed that lists valuable information about the group.

To view details about the tasks, view the properties of the Computer Group, or individual computer and select Task Automation.

To view the history of the tasks, view the log tab in the Provision Management Console.  When viewing the Computer Group Summary the log shows entries for all computers in the group.  When viewing the Computers tab the log displays entries for the selected computer.

The different scheduling options are once, every day, weekly, monthly and monthly by day of week.

Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite 5.10 introduced Quest Software’s first multi-monitor enhancements for published desktops (seamless windows applications always offered multi-monitor support).  So what are the new enhancements, above and beyond what the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client 6.1 offers?

1. Support for monitors of different resolutions, i.e. 1920×1200 for one monitor and 1400×900 for another (maximum total resolution of 4096 x 2048)
2. Applications maximize on on the primary monitor.
3. Applications remember their previous position.
4. Windows Taskbar confined to the primary monitor.
5. Windows Start Menu confined to the primary monitor.

Multi-monitor enhancements are not trivial, so they will continue to be improved over time.  Below is a diagram of the current features as of version 5.10 (using the Windows Client):

So how does one enable these features?  The features require both updated server and client components, then the client settings must have “Span multiple monitors when in full screen mode” selected. 

• Windows Terminal Services - Virtual Access Suite 5.10.228.158 or higher
• Computer Services (VDI) - Provision Networks Tools (pntools.msi) 5.10.228.158 or higher
• Provision Networks AppPortal, Remote Desktop Connection (pntsc.exe) or Web-IT client version 5.10.228.158 or higher (screenshots below)

Provision AppPortal Client Display Settings:

Provision Networks Remote Desktop Connection - Display Settings:

Provision Networks Web-IT Admin Display Settings:

A couple of weeks ago Patrick Rouse blogged about the work we are doing in Graphics Acceleration for VDI and Terminal Services. In addition to the demonstration in Patrick’s  post, we’ve been showing another, different demonstration video to our partners and customers. Since everybody was so excited about this, I decided to put it up here as well.

This demonstration video of Provision Networks Graphics Acceleration for VDI and Terminal Services is a “side by side” demonstration video. In the demonstration, one Virtual Desktop shows the user experience using “just” the RDP protocol and the other Virtual Desktop shows the user experience with the Provision Networks Graphics Acceleration components installed. The demonstration shows the user experience when browsing a flash intensive website, a graphically intense website and a typical “modern” website that has both flash and graphics.

The demonstration was created by recording the user experience of two 800×600 Virtual Desktop sessions side-by-side. Since this yields a rather large video with a big resolution, I have re-rendered the video to a maximum width of 1024 pixels so that it should fit on most screens.

Provision Networks Graphics Acceleration Demo

Please be aware that this is a prototype. The fact that it is a prototype makes that it has a bad side as well as a good side: the good side that is that the RTM version of the Provision Networks Graphics Acceleration will be even more impressive, the bad news is that it is not available yet.

Let us know what you think. Is this something you could use?