Quest vWorkspace and RemoteFX: Beyond the LAN

TECHNICAL BRIEF

Written by

Quest Software, Inc.

Quest vWorkspace and RemoteFX: Beyond the LAN

Quest vWorkspace and RemoteFX beyond the LAN 1

Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Test Setup ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

User Scenarios............................................................................................................................................................... 5

About Login VSI .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Login VSI Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................... 6

CPU Impact of EOP Xtream ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Silverlight Video Tests .................................................................................................................................................. 11

The User Experience.................................................................................................................................................... 13

Appendix: Component Specifications........................................................................................................................... 14

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Host ..................................................................................................................... 14

Virtual Desktops .................................................................................................................................................... 14

Windows Client 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 14

Windows Client 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 14

WAN Emulator....................................................................................................................................................... 14


Executive Summary Microsoft RemoteFX is a new feature included in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 as part of Service Pack 1 (SP1). It introduces end-user experience enhancements for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that enable a rich desktop environment within your corporate network.

Quest vWorkspace 7.2 Maintenance Release 1 (MR1) embraces and enhances Microsoft RemoteFX. Quest vWorkspace’s patent-pending EOP Xtream technology can greatly enhance the performance of Microsoft RemoteFX when RemoteFX is used beyond the LAN.

This document analyzes the performance benefits that EOP Xtream delivers for Microsoft RemoteFX on network connections with a degree of latency. The test results, and more importantly, the actual end user experience, demonstrate that the performance of RemoteFX when deployed beyond the LAN can be significantly improved by Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream at no additional CPU cost.

The following is a summary of the results:

• Over a range of network latencies, the Quest vWorkspace’s EOP Xtream technology yielded an average 62 percent improvement in display quality and frame rate to Microsoft RemoteFX when deployed beyond the LAN.

• Quest vWorkspace’s EOP Xtream technology greatly reduces the stalls and bursts in the Microsoft RemoteFX user experience, yielding a much smoother user experience.

• The acceleration of Microsoft RemoteFX by Quest vWorkspace’s EOP Xtream technology requires no additional CPU cost.


Introduction Microsoft RemoteFX is a new feature included in Windows Server 2008 R2 as part of Service Pack 1 (SP1). It introduces end-user experience enhancements for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that enable a rich desktop environment within your corporate network.

RemoteFX is a key feature of Remote Desktop Services (RDS), enabling IT administrators to deliver a rich user experience through remote desktops deployed with a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or with session virtualization. With the new protocol enhancements, users can now access remote desktops and applications on a wide variety of target devices and still get a rich graphics experience with server-side graphics processing.

Quest vWorkspace manages, secures and provisions virtual desktop environments and brokers connections. It delivers virtual applications and desktops from multiple hypervisors, Remote Desktop Session Hosts (Terminal Servers) and blade PCs through a single user access point and management center, while increasing user adoption with an optimal user experience.

To achieve the optimal user experience Quest vWorkspace embraces and enhances the Microsoft RDP protocol. These enhancements are known as Quest EOP. In vWorkspace 7.2 MR1, Quest introduces support for Microsoft RemoteFX. Quest EOP Xtream has been optimized to enhancement the performance of Microsoft RemoteFX when RemoteFX is deployed beyond the LAN.

This paper analyzes the performance benefits that Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream brings to Microsoft RemoteFX. Two identical virtual desktops ran the Login VSI medium user workload simulation at different network latencies. The performance was analyzed using the built-in RemoteFX performance counters on a Remote Desktop Virtualization Host with RemoteFX enabled. In addition, a Silverlight video used in the test that contributed to the Microsoft RDP 7.0 performance whitepaper was used to measure EOP Xtream’s effect on multimedia.


Test Setup The tests were conducted in a private lab on a LAN to avoid external network interference. The tests were repeated three times. Each test consisted of two sessions to two separate, identical virtual desktops:

• One session via the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client (7.1)

• One session via the vWorkspace Windows Connector (7.2 MR1) with EOP Xtream enabled

The tests were performed at different latencies (round-trip):

• 150ms

• 100ms

• 50ms

• 25ms

The virtual desktops were hosted on Hyper-V R2 SP1. The logical network layout is depicted below:

Figure 1. Logical network layout


User Scenarios Five different user scenarios, four tested at different latencies and one with Silverlight, were used to measure the performance of the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client. The Login VSI 3.0 medium workload was used for these first set of tests.

This workload emulated a medium knowledge working using Office, IE and PDF. The medium workload opens up to five applications simultaneously. The type rate is 160ms for each character. Approximately one minute of idle time is included to simulate real-world users.

Each loop opened and used:

• Outlook 2010 – Browse 10 messages

• Internet Explorer 8 – One instance is left open (BBC.co.uk), and one instance is browsed to Lonelyplanet.com, Wired.com, and heavy flash movie trailer (480p) of the movie Kick-Ass

• Word 2010 – One instance to measure response time, one instance to review and edit document

• FreeMind (an open source JAVA application)

• Bullzip PDF Printer and Acrobat Reader – The word document is printed and reviewed to PDF

• Excel 2010 – A very large randomized sheet is opened

• PowerPoint 2010 – A presentation is reviewed and edited

• 7-zip – The output of the session is zipped using the command-line version

About Login VSI VSI is the standardized benchmark for VDI and SBC environments and is used by key vendors in the desktop virtualization space. It is created and maintained by Login Consultants.

Login VSI is a third-party tool designed for benchmarking server-based computing (SBC) and desktop virtualization (VDI) solutions. Login VSI is available in two versions. The free version is called VSI Express; the cost-based, advanced version is VSI Pro. The primary differentiator with the VSI Pro version is support for the customization of user workloads to allow administrators to test application specific tasks based on their unique user requirements. The VSI Express version has a standard user workload that cannot be altered. For this document, the Login VSI .30 Express version was used.

Login VSI 3.0, or more specifically the medium workload, was used to guarantee an identical workload for both the “native RemoteFX scenario’ and the “Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream enhanced RemoteFX scenario.”


Login VSI Results Methodology The impact of Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream on Microsoft RemoteFX performance was measured using the RemoteFX performance counters in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. There are many new performance counters but one is specifically indicative of the quality of the user experience: “waiting for client count/second.”

The meaning of this counter is essentially: “the number of times per second that the server wanted to send a RemoteFX frame down to the client but could not do so because the client was not ready yet.” This value is typically 0 but will increase as latency increases.

Results The “waiting for client count/second” counter was measured at four different latencies. The charts below show the value of the counter over the course of one run of the Login VSI Medium workload, measured at a one-second interval, for each of the four different latencies.

• The lines in red represent the data from “EOP Xtream-enhanced RemoteFX” scenario

• The lines shown in blue represent the data from the “native RemoteFX” scenario

Figure 2. Performance at a latency of 25 ms


Summary of Results The table below shows the average value of the “waiting for client count/second” counter when completing one run of the Login VSI 3.0 medium workload (approximately 14 minutes) at the four different latencies:

Latency Native RemoteFX

EOP Xtream Enhanced RemoteFX

% Improvement with EOP Xtream

25ms 5,046 1,775 65%

50ms 9,819 3,504 64%

100ms 12,908 4,995 61%

150ms 17,575 7,219 59%

Table 1. Average values of "waiting for client count/second"

In a chart these figures look like this:

Figure 6. Comparison of "waiting for client count/second" values

In this chart, shorter is better because the smallest values in the “waiting for client count/second” counter deliver the best user experience. On average, Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream delivered a 62 percent performance improvement.

In addition, the CPU utilization measurements have shown that using Quest vWorkspace EOP Xtream to enhance RemoteFX performance no additional CPU resources were consumed.

0

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25 50 100 150

WaiFng fo

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Latency in ms

Average Delay

Na/ve RemoteFX

EOP Xtream enhanced RemoteFX


CPU Impact of EOP Xtream In addition to monitoring the RemoteFX Performance Monitor counters, testers also measured the virtual desktop (guest) and host (Hyper-V) CPU utilizations to ascertain the performance impact of EOP Xtream on accelerating RemoteFX. The figure below shows the average values of the “% Guest Run Time,” “% Hypervisor Run Time” and “% Total Run Time” of the two virtual desktops over the course of one run of the Login VSI Medium workload, measured at a one-second interval.

• “RFX01” refers to the virtual desktop that ran the “EOP Xtream-enhanced RemoteFX” scenario

• “RFX02” refers to the “native RemoteFX” scenario

Figure 5. Average CPU utilization


Silverlight Video Tests The following results are from the Silverlight video used by Microsoft in the RDP 7.0 paper. The scenario contains a short, fixed bit-rate, Silverlight-encoded video embedded in a Web page stored on the local hard drive of the virtual desktop. The video is played within Internet Explorer 8 by an embedded player plug-in. This scenario emulates users viewing rich content Web pages containing multi-media. The resolution of the Silverlight video is 1024 by 576 pixels, its total data rate is 5000 kilobits per second (Kbps), and it renders at 29 frames per second (fps) with 64 Kbps mono auto.

The chart below shows the value of the “waiting for client count/second” counter over the course of one run of the Silverlight video at 25 ms of latency, measured at a one-second interval.

• The lines in red represent the data from “EOP Xtream-enhanced RemoteFX” scenario

• The lines shown in blue represent the data from the “native RemoteFX” scenario

Figure 7. Performance of embedded Silverlight video "Dogfight"


The average count is contained in the report below, where:

• RFX01 represents the data from “EOP Xtream-enhanced RemoteFX” scenario

• RFX02 represents the data from the “native RemoteFX” scenario

Figure 8. Average counter values for embedded Silverlight video "Dogfight"

In addition to the extreme difference in the counter measurements, the test yielded an even bigger difference in the end-user perspective. When accelerated with EOP Xtream (the RFX01 scenario), the video plays much more smoothly and is less jerky, and audio and video are in perfect sync.


The User Experience The results of the performance measurements provide solid evidence that Quest vWorkspace’s EOP Xtream is able to significantly enhance RemoteFX performance when RemoteFX is deployed beyond the LAN at different latencies. The effects of the acceleration of RemoteFX by EOP Xtream to the actual end user experience are very noticeable.

Overall, the user experience is dramatically smoother and more responsive. This is consistent with the tests’ performance measurements. Specifically, a RemoteFX session accelerated by EOP Xtream improves the user experience by

• Scrolling in any kind of document is noticeably smoother

• An Internet Explorer browsing session on common pages is much more responsive

• The maximizing and minimizing of windows is considerably faster, even at latencies as low as 25 ms

• Opening and closing of file menus and ribbons is faster

• The visual video playback is much smoother

• Accompanying audio to the video is clearer and in synch (no sound artifacts)


Appendix: Component Specifications Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Host

• Dual CPU Intel Xeon X5500 @2.66-GHz

• 24 GB of RAM and dual SATA Disks

• GPU nVidia Geforce GTX 640 1 GB RAM

• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, build 6.1.7601.17125

Virtual Desktops • Windows7 SP1, build 6.1.7601.17125

• 1 CPU, Intel Xeon X5500 @2.66-GHz

• Dynamic Memory enabled: Startup 512 MB, Maximum 65536MB, 20 percent memory buffer, default memory weight

• RemoteFX enabled: 1 monitor @1920x1200

• Windows 7 Aero theme enabled

Windows Client 1 • Dell Latitude E6410

• Intel Core i5 CPU @2.40 GHz

• 4 GB of RAM

• Client software: Microsoft Remote Desktop Client 7.1, build 6.1.7601. Connection speed setting on the Experience tab set to “LAN: 10 Mbps or higher” (required to enable RemoteFX)

• Tests were performed @1024x768 with 32 bit colors

Windows Client 2 • Dell Latitude E6410

• Intel Core i5 CPU @2.40 GHz

• 4 GB of RAM

• Quest vWorkspace Connector for Windows 7.2 MR1. Connection setting “LAN: 10 Mbps or higher”. EOP Xtream configured with default settings

• Tests were performed @1024x768 with 32 bit colors

WAN Emulator • WANem v2.0 using advanced mode

• Virtual machine with 256 MB of RAM and 1 vCPU


© 2011 Quest Software, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Updated: February, 2011

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TECHNICAL BRIEF

About Quest Software, Inc.

Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT) simplifies and reduces the cost of managing IT for more

than 100,000 customers worldwide. Our innovative solutions make solving the toughest IT

management problems easier, enabling customers to save time and money across physical,

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Contacting Quest Software

PHONE 800.306.9329 (United States and Canada)

If you are located outside North America, you can find your

local office information on our Web site.

E-MAIL [email protected]

MAIL Quest Software, Inc.

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Quest, Quest Software, the Quest Software logo and vWorkspace are registered trademarks of Quest Software, Inc. in the U.S.A. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. TBV-vWorkspaceAndRemoteFX-US-EH

Quest vWorkspace and RemoteFX: Beyond the LAN

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