Cisco WAAS and Optimized WAN Delivery of Microsoft Windows 7 Virtual

Desktops with RDP 7.1/RemoteFX and RDP 7.0

Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) optimizes delivery of Microsoft® Windows 7
Virtual Desktops to Enterprise branch and campus locations

What You Will Learn

Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile with Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop
Services (RDS) and Hyper-V provide a scalable and comprehensive Windows 7 desktop
delivery solution from the data center to remote locations that increases deployment flexibility
and allows IT to achieve the benefits of VDI based desktop management while improving user
experience.

- This solution developed with joint collaboration between Cisco and Microsoft increases
employee productivity by combining Microsoft’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure technologies
with Cisco’s WAN optimization technology.

- Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile provide Windows 7 VDI (RDP 7.0) traffic
acceleration and compression and optimized branch office printing.

- Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile improve user response time and deliver better
subjective user experience.

- Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile optimize Windows 7 RDP Multimedia Redirection
(MMR) for Windows Media Player content

- Cisco WAAS scales the number of supported campus and branch VDI users over WAN and
helps save bandwidth upgrade costs.

- Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile optimize Windows 7 virtual desktops delivered over
RDP 7.1 with RemoteFX (preliminary testing results based on RemoteFX beta code).

Business Challenges
Desktop Virtualization solutions such as Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop
Services and Microsoft Hyper-V, offer new and powerful opportunities for IT to deliver and
manage corporate desktops and to respond to users’ needs in a flexible way.

Desktop OS migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 presents IT a unique opportunity to host

desktops in the Data Center using VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure). By adopting VDI IT can
satisfy security and compliance mandates and also derive the benefits of increased flexibility for
deploying and managing the corporate desktop..

Most users of VDI hosted Windows 7 desktops reside in campus and branch locations that are
connected to the Data Center using the WAN. The bandwidth and latency constraints imposed
by WAN limit the deployment footprint and thus the overall effectiveness of VDI solutions.

Customers face the following challenges in deploying virtual desktop solutions for the enterprise

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 11

  Poor performance of VDI over the WAN impacting employee productivity
 High bandwidth consumption, increasing solution costs
 Limited scalability, reducing the number of users that can be supported
 Poor performance of centralized printing and increased costs of printing at the branch
 Corporate video delivery challenges that limit employee training and learning options

Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services and Microsoft

Hyper-V Overview

Windows Server 2008 R2 considerably improves the platform and tool set for accelerating and
extending desktop and application deployments to any device. In addition to the traditional
session virtualization scenario, which Terminal Services has enabled for many years, Windows
Server 20008 R2 has expanded its role to provide an extensible platform for a Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI), leveraging Hyper-V as the virtualization platform for Microsoft VDI
solutions. VDI is a centralized desktop delivery architecture which allows customers to
centralize the storage, execution and management of a Windows desktop in the data center. It
enables Windows 7 Enterprise and other desktop environments to run and be managed in
virtual machines on a centralized server.

Figure 1 Microsoft VDI Solution

Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile Overview

Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a comprehensive WAN optimization and
application acceleration solution that is a key component of Cisco Borderless Networks and
Data Center architectures.
Cisco WAAS accelerates applications and data over the WAN, optimizes bandwidth, empowers
cloud services, and provides local hosting of branch IT services, all with industry-leading
network integration. Cisco WAAS allows IT departments to centralize applications and storage
while maintaining productivity for remote branch-office and campus users.

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 11

 Cisco WAAS Mobile extends Cisco WAAS Software application acceleration benefits to mobile
employees who travel outside the branch office and to branch-office and mobile users who
access applications hosted in public cloud environments.

Cisco WAAS enables organizations to accomplish following primary IT objectives:

 Application acceleration: Improve productivity of remote employees
 IT Desktop Centralization using VDI: Lower desktop management cost and satisfy
compliance and security mandates
 IT Branch and Data Center Consolidation and WAN optimization: Minimize branch IT
costs
 Branch IT agility: Local branch IT services such as Print without additional servers
 Migration of business applications to the cloud: Minimize infrastructure costs
 Service Agility: Lower operational cost with on-demand WAN Optimization using
o WAAS Express (WAAS in IOS on Cisco ISR G2 branch routers)
o WAAS on Services Ready Engine Modules on Cisco ISR G2
 Simplified data protection: Ease compliance and business continuity

Cisco WAAS and Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS and Hyper-V Solution for
Windows 7 Delivery
The solution developed with support from Microsoft and tested by Cisco consists of the
following components:

Figure 2 Windows 7 VDI Solution with RDS & Hyper-V, Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile

Microsoft Solution Suite to virtualize and centralize desktops

 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services provides a common

infrastructure for session virtualization and VDI, and uses the Remote Desktop Protocol
(RDP) version 7.0 (R2) or RDP 7.1 (in Service Pack 1) for desktop delivery

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 3 of 11

  Microsoft Hyper-V on Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 provides the infrastructure to host
virtual Windows 7 desktops
 Microsoft Active Directory for user authentication.
 Microsoft RDP 7.0 or RDP 7.1 with RemoteFX for display, print and multimedia redirection

Cisco WAAS to improve RDP 7.1/RemoteFX and RDP 7.0 performance and
reduce bandwidth demands

 Cisco WAAS appliance deployed on both sides of the WAN optimizes RDP 7.1/RemoteFX
and RDP 7.0 traffic between the end users and the data-center using a sophisticated
combination of TCP optimizations that minimize the impact of the WAN, persistent-session
based compression and data redundancy elimination.
 The data center also hosts a WAAS Central Manager which is used to manage the WAAS
solution from a central point.
 The branch office WAAS appliance also provides Print Services locally to the branch office
users by running Microsoft Windows Print Services on the appliance.
 Cisco WAAS Mobile software on mobile worker laptops minimizes WAN impact through a
combination of TCP optimizations, compression and data redundancy elimination. Cisco
WAAS Mobile head end device and Cisco ASA VPN device are located in the data center.

Testing Scenarios

This white paper presents solution benefits for remote users accessing their VDI Windows 7
desktops in the data center.

The testing measures improved performance (response time) and WAN bandwidth optimization
(WAN data reduction) when branch and mobile users are executing standard office productivity
tasks in the VDI desktops, accessing video using MMR and printing documents in the branch.

Details on the activities and WAN bandwidth conditions are in table below:

Table 1 VDI Test Activity Details

WAN condition
User Activity Display Band Round Packet
Type Protocol width Trip Loss
Login, Email, Web, Word, PowerPoint
(10 users) RDP 7.0 1.544 80 ms 0.1%
Branch Access Video using MMR Mbps

Print jobs in the branch

Login, Email, Web, Word, PowerPoint RDP7.1/RemoteFX** 10 80 ms 0.1%
(2 users) ** (Beta Code) Mbps
Login, Email, Web, Word, PowerPoint RDP 7.0 768 80ms
kbps 1.0%
Access Video using MMR
Mobile
Login, Email, Web, Word, PowerPoint RDP7.1/RemoteFX 1.5 80ms 1.0%
(Beta Code) Mbps

** Note: Testing on RDP 7.1/RemoteFX is currently in progress. Preliminary test results based on 2-user
testing for RDP 7.1/RemoteFX have been presented in the white paper. Testing results with higher user
scale will be made available once the RDP 7.1/RemoteFX testing completes.

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 4 of 11

 Solution Benefits

Performance Acceleration for Windows 7 Display

The combined solution accelerates the performance of all applications accessed through RDS
such as Microsoft Exchange for email and calendaring, using and sharing Microsoft Office
documents such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Word, and web browsing enterprise web-sites
using Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.

 Cisco WAAS accelerates VDI display performance up to 44% (Figure 3) under light WAN
utilization conditions.

 Cisco WAAS accelerates VDI display performance up to 61% (Figure 4) under heavy WAN
utilization. Users experience greater than 2x improvement in response times with WAAS.
Morning rush hours and peak office hours are typical use cases when WAN link nears
congestion.

 Cisco WAAS performance benefits under both light and heavy WAN utilization are fairly
similar. This shows that Cisco WAAS can provide consistent performance acceleration even
as WAN link utilization increases due to increasing number of users.

 Cisco WAAS offers superior subjective user experience such as menu draw, PowerPoint
transitions and faster screen updates under WAN conditions.

Figure 3 Cisco WAAS Performance Acceleration under light WAN Utilization

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Response Time Improvement by Cisco WAAS

50 Under Light WAN Utilization
22%
Response Time (seconds)

40 Faster
11%
30 Faster RDP 7.0 Native
19% Multi User
20 Faster 25%
Faster RDP 7.0 + WAAS
44% Multi User
10 Faster
0
Login Email Browsing Microsoft PowerPoint
(IE) Word

Figure 4 Cisco WAAS Performance Acceleration under heavy WAN Utilization

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Response Time Improvement by Cisco WAAS

150 Under Heavy WAN Utilization
Response Time (Seconds)

100
60%
51% Faster
50 56% 61% Faster RDP 7.0 Native
53% Faster Multi User
Faster
Faster
0 RDP 7.0 + WAAS
Multi User
Login Email Browsing Microsoft Microsoft
(IE) Word PowerPoint

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 5 of 11

 Bandwidth Optimization for Windows 7 RemoteFX and RDP 7.0 Display

Cisco WAAS helps considerably in saving expensive WAN costs by reducing VDI WAN
bandwidth consumption for desktop display

- Cisco WAAS reduces bandwidth use up to 55% for RDP 7.0 display (Figure 5)
- Cisco WAAS reduces bandwidth use up to 53% for RemoteFX** display (Figure 6)

- Cisco WAAS Mobile reduces bandwidth up to 67% for RDP 7.0 display (Figure 7)
- Cisco WAAS Mobile reduces bandwidth up to 52% forRemoteFX** display (Figure 8)

In the branch as the number of users increase the compression offered by Cisco WAAS
improves as the data redundancy elimination (DRE) functionality in WAAS finds repeatable
display patterns across multiple user sessions and optimizes them.

Also in actual production networks the DRE disk cache builds up overall several days and
contains a much longer cache history. This can result in higher levels of compression in
production deployment than the numbers typically found in lab testing.

** Note: Testing on RDP 7.1/RemoteFX is currently in progress. Preliminary test results based on 2-user
testing for RDP 7.1/RemoteFX have been presented in the white paper. Testing results with higher user
scale will be made available once the RDP 7.1/RemoteFX testing completes.

Figure 5 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Bandwidth Optimization by Cisco WAAS

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Optimization by Cisco WAAS

RDP 7.0 Native

80
RDP 7.0 + WAAS
70
60
Office Worker 50 51%
WAN Data 55%
Less Data
(MB) 40 45%
Less Data Less Data
30 48%
Less Data
20 29%
10 Less Data

0
1 3 5 7 10
Number of Users

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 6 of 11

 Figure 6 Windows 7 RDP 7.1/RemoteFX Bandwidth Optimization by Cisco WAAS

Windows 7 RemoteFX Optimization by

Cisco WAAS
70
Native BW
60
50
RemoteFX
WAN Data 40 53 % BW
Reduction
(MB) 30
20
10
0
RemoteFX Native RemoteFX + WAAS

Figure 7 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Bandwidth Optimization by Cisco WAAS Mobile

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Optimization by Cisco WAAS

Mobile
8.0
Native BW
6.0
Office
Worker 4.0
67% BW
WAN Data Reduction
(MB) 2.0

0.0
RDP 7.0 Native RDP 7.0 + WAAS Mobile

Figure 8 Windows 7 RDP 7.1/RemoteFX Bandwidth Optimization by Cisco WAAS Mobile

Windows 7 RemoteFX Optimization by Cisco

WAAS Mobile

35 Native BW
30
25
Remote FX 20 52% BW
WAN Data 15 Reduction
(MB) 10
5
0
RemoteFX Native RemoteFX + WAAS
Mobile

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 7 of 11

 Bandwidth Optimization for Windows 7 RDP 7.0 MMR based Video Delivery

RDP 7.0 supports multimedia based redirection for Windows Media Player. This allows the VDI
desktop to stream multimedia content directly to client to be rendered on the local client. This
offloads the VDI desktop and also eliminates the higher WAN bandwidth consumption
associated with server side video rendering.

Cisco WAAS and Cisco WAAS Mobile offer further optimization for MMR based windows media
video delivery (Video on Demand). These optimizations provide customers with a viable
corporate video delivery option for employee training and learning needs that reduces costly
WAN bandwidth upgrades.

 Cisco WAAS reduces bandwidth up to 66% (Figure 9) for RDP 7.0 MMR
 Cisco WAAS Mobile reduces bandwidth up to 51% (Figure 10) for RDP 7.0 MMR
 Cisco WAAS Mobile provides better subjective user experience for MMR under high latency
(200ms) and lossy network conditions.

Figure 9 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 MMR Optimization by Cisco WAAS

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Multi Media Optimization

by Cisco WAAS
3.5
Native BW
3.0
2.5
MMR Video 2.0
WAN Data 1.5 66% BW
Reduction
(MB) 1.0
0.5
0.0
RDP 7.0 MMR Native RDP 7.0 MMR +
WAAS

Figure 10 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 MMR Optimization by Cisco WAAS Mobile

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Multi Media Optimization by

Cisco WAAS Mobile
3.5
Native BW
3.0
2.5
MMR Video 2.0 51% BW
WAN Data Reduction
1.5
(MB)
1.0
0.5
0.0
RDP 7.0 MMR Native RDP 7.0 MMR + WAAS
Mobile

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 8 of 11

 Optimized Printing
Customers face considerable challenges in printing in VDI environments since the printer at the
branch and the virtual desktop image at the data-center are separated by the WAN. Using Cisco
WAAS, customers have flexible choices in selecting the right print topology for their
environments.

- Cisco WAAS accelerates centralized print through print-specific optimizations, data reduction,
compression and TCP optimizations to provide up to 89% improvement in performance (Figure
11) and over 90% reduction in WAN bandwidth (Figure 12)

- Cisco WAAS also provides a Windows Print Server based printing option on the branch WAAS
appliances, savings costs of additional servers at the branch office

Figure 11 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Print Reponse Improvements by Cisco WAAS

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Print Response Time Improvement by Cisco WAAS

400
350
Response Time (Seconds)

300 RDP 7.0 Native

250 RDP 7.0 + WAAS
200 61%
150 Faster
41%
100 Faster
76% 50%
50 89%
Faster Faster Faster
0
RDP Print Channel RDP Print Channel RDP Print Channel VDI Desktop VDI Desktop
to DC Print Server to Branch Print to Client attached Directly Directly
Server Printer to DC Print Server to Branch Print
Server
Branch Printing Options

Figure 12 Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Print Optimization by Cisco WAAS

Windows 7 RDP 7.0 Print Optimization by Cisco WAAS

16
14 RDP 7.0 Native
WAN Print Data (MB)

12 RDP 7.0 + WAAS

10
8 62% BW
6 Reduction

4 38% BW 25% BW
Reduction Reduction 97% BW 95% BW
2
Reduction Reduction
0
RDP Print Channel RDP Print Channel RDP Print Channel VDI Desktop VDI Desktop
to DC Print Server to Branch Print to Client attached Directly Directly
Server Printer to DC Print Server to Branch Print
Server
Branch Printing Options

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 9 of 11

 Scalability
Customers typically cannot support more than 5 to 10 users on a T1 link and provide display,
print and video to all these users. This can restrict VDI adoption or require customers to buy
more WAN bandwidth.

 Cisco WAAS increases the number of Windows 7 VDI users that can be supported on a
given infrastructure by 2x to 3x.

In production networks this increase can be higher due to multiple days of DRE cache
history that provides higher compression performance.

 Cisco WAAS also provides uniform, scalable performance for all users. It provides better
subjective user experience compared to native RDP.

Business Benefits
The joint Cisco and Microsoft solution optimizes Windows 7 VDI delivery and allows customers
to realize the benefits of VDI by providing the following benefits:

 Improved display performance by 44% under light WAN utilization

 Improved display performance by 61% during peak hours when WAN is heavily utilized
 Improved printing performance up to 89% and provide the option of a local Print Server
hosted on the WAAS appliance in the branch.
 Increase scalability of the number of VDI clients by 2X to 3X.
 Reduce costly WAN bandwidth requirements by 55% for display, 66% for MMR video
and 90+% for print.

Recommendations
Cisco, with the support from Microsoft, has developed the solution presented in this white
paper and has validated the results. This solution testing represents best efforts in creating a
realistic office worker scenario.

Cisco recommends that customers use the results presented in this white paper for
implementing optimized and scalable desktop delivery solutions. These solutions have the
potential to lower bandwidth costs, to improve user experience and to avail of the benefits of
VDI based desktop deployment.

Cisco and Microsoft intend to continue to work together on optimizing virtual desktop delivery in
the enterprise.

For More Information

 Cisco Application Networking Services for Microsoft:
http://www.cisco.com/go/optimizemicrosoft
 Cisco WAAS Software product information: http://www.cisco.com/go/waas
 Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services: http://www.microsoft.com/rds

Copyright © 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 10 of 11

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