So you’ve installed vWorkspace 6.0, but how is the Graphics Acceleration feature Quest has been talking about enabled? 

First let’s lay out the prerequisites:

1. vWorkspace 6.0 Desktop or Enterprise + Experience Optimization Pack Licenses

2.  If using vWorkspace Desktop Edition, uninstall previous versions of pntools and install the 6.0 version of pntools.msi.  Pntools.msi enables functionality such as Universal Printing, Graphics Acceleration, Universal USB Redirection, Seamless Windows, Enhanced Multi-Monitor, Bi-Directional Audio and Latency Reduction.  Pntools can be pushed to VMs via the vWorkspace Management Console, either one machine at a time, to several machines at the same time, to entire Computer Groups or via Automated Task.

If using vWorkspace Enterprise Edition and Windows Terminal Services, install vWorkspace 6.0 on the Terminal Servers.  Terminal Servers do not require pntools.

3.  Install version 6.0 of the Quest vWorkspace Client.  Currently Graphics Acceleration is only for Windows Clients, but it is scheduled to be ported to Linux Clients in the near term (probably within 90 days).

4.  Access applications or desktops via the vWorkspace 6.0 AppPortal, Web Access or Remote Desktop Connection.  AppPortal or Web Access are the preferred connection types. 

Enabling Graphics Acceleration.

1.  Open the vWorkspace Management Console -> Resources (Node) -> Managed Applications (Node) -> Right Click -> Properties -> Enable Graphics Acceleration and select the Image Quality.  Best Practice is to enable Graphics Acceleration at this location as a system wide setting, and selectively disable it on a specific application (if necessary).

 2.  vWorkspace Management Console -> Resources -> Client Settings -> New… -> Give the new Client Settings Policy a name, for example “Graphics Acceleration Enabled” or “EOP Users” -> Under Optimizations set Graphics Acceleration to “yes”.

 3.  On the “Client Assignments” tab of the Client Settings Policy that you just created, assign this feature to a User, Group, OU, Client IP/IP Range or Client Name/Naming Convention.

At this point Graphics Acceleration is enabled for the specified clients (in my example to my Active Directory User Account).  Typically this would be for everyone, like the Domain Users Group.  The next time the assigned user connects their vWorkspace AppPortal Client to this farm, it will enforce this setting on their client.

If users will be connecting via Web Access, to enforce this setting on clients select “enable Graphics Acceleration” under “Performance” in the Admin portal (shown below). 

Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite 5.10 is the last version to use the “Provision Networks” name.  On January 13th its successor Quest vWorkspace 6.0 was announced and today the new bits hit the wire.  6.0 is available to partners “now” and will be available to customers via www.vWorkspace.com as soon as the download sites replicate (typically 24-48 hours).

The group of employees that used to say that they worked for “Provision Networks” now work for Quest Software’s Desktop Virtualization Group.

The product gets a new name, cosmetic makeover, and a new website.  It’s going to be hard to stop saying “Provision Networks”, as I still say NFuse, SoftGrid, Ardence… but I’m trying.

So what’s new in 6.0?  RDP Graphics Acceleration is the most requested feature, but below is a fairly comprehensive list.

EXPERIENCE OPTIMIZED PROTOCOL FEATURES:

• Graphics Acceleration for RDP. This adds additional compression to RDP to dramatically reduce bandwidth consumption and improve end user experience, making RDP usable over WAN connections. This feature is optional and part of the EOP product SKU, which also contains Multimedia Redirection, Local Text Echo and bi-directional audio. Each of these features can be assigned to Users, Groups, OU, Client IP or Client Device Name.
• Multimedia Redirection for Linux clients (previously existed only for XP/Vista clients). Seamlessly redirects any Windows Media Content to the Linux client for native quality local playback.

CLIENT FEATURES:

• USB Redirector of Windows & Linux clients - allows for support of any USB device plugged into a Windows or Linux client that has the vWorkspace Client.
• AJAX Web Interface - The Web-IT ASP.Net Web Interface has been re-written in AJAX to provide a better look and feel and to provide a pop-up free web UI.

PLATFORM FEATURES:

• X64 support for Terminal Services, VDI, Physical desktops
• Windows Vista and 2008 Host Support. Previously there was no official support for these as the host OS, so vWorkspace now delivers feature equivalence for these OS, i.e. Seamless Windows, Universal Printing, User Profile Management, Credentials Pass-through, EOP features…
• Parallels Virtuozzo Containers Integration - automates Parallels Virtuozzo Container provisioning similar to how vWorkspace supports other hypervisors, i.e. power management, cloning, deletion, AD Integration, task automation, sysprep…
• HP RGS Support - Allow HP RGS Receiver enabled vWorkspace Clients to connect via the HP RGS Protocol, instead of RDP. This offers support for GPU backed graphics acceleration required by 3D modeling, OpenGL or other graphics design applications.

SECURITY FEATURES:

• Secure connection files – Similar to RDP files in that they instruct the client on how to connect to the destination Terminal Server or Remote Desktop. The vWorkspace connection file is encrypted and can only be used once before it expires.  The file cannot be saved or read by an end user to obtain any sensitive information.

MANAGEMENT FEATURES:

• Granular Delegated administration of the vWorkspace Management Console. Control to every action that can be performed in the vWorkspace Management Console can be delegated. Every object in the management console has an ACL where administrators can allow or deny access.
• User Profile Management for VDI & Physical desktops. This feature was previously only available for Terminal Services users and now supports VDI and physical desktops. This is an infinitely more stable profile management solution verses Roaming Profiles – and is included as a fully integrated feature.  This allows user specific setting to be seamlessly applied to any desktop, whether it is permanently or temporarily assigned.
• Location support for the vWorkspace Management console. This allows Administrators to organize connection brokers, terminal servers, desktop groups, datacenters etc. by location or to organize them for delegated administration or for organization purposes.
• VDI and Physical desktop Remote Control / Shadowing. This allows for the remote control of Virtual Desktops just as the Remote Control feature that was already available for Terminal Services, creating a full, seamless session management experience that is platform (SBC /VDI) independent.
• Integration with Expand Networks and other QoS / Bandwidth compression appliances. This automatically configures the RDP settings to allow Expand Networks or similar appliances to further compress & cache RDP content.
• Reconfigure VM - This allows administrators to reconfigure the amount of VM memory from the vWorkspace Management console. Changes can be committed immediately or after a user logs off.
• Disk non-persistence. This automates the VMware Disk non-persistence feature which resets a Virtual Desktop to its previous state after a logoff or reboot. A single checkbox in the vWorkspace Management Console for each VM or Computer Group enables or disables this feature.
• Managed Computer assignment - VDI and Physical desktops can now be assigned in the same manner as all other vWorkspace resources, i.e. to Users, Groups, OU, Client IP or Client Name. Previously managed computers could only be assigned to users. This extends support to kiosk and special purpose workstations where a specific client should connect to a specific VM or PC based on the client device name or IP, not based on the user.