Introducing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Starter Kit (VDI SK) v1.0 Preview – Part 1

Hi, it’s Jeff Buller and Victor Arzate . We are Program Managers on the Windows Server and System Center CAT team. On behalf of our team, we are happy to announce the release of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Starter Kit (VDI SK) v1.0 Preview. This is the first of two posts that will introduce this new tool. Part 1 will provide a high level overview and part 2 will drill down into the tool’s components and how to get started. The final release of VDI SK v1.0 is planned to be available in Q2 of 2014.

What is VDI SK?

Deploying a VDI solution for evaluation or proof of concept purposes can be complex, error prone and time consuming. Organizations we have spoken with would like the deployment process to be simpler and less time consuming, allowing them to spend more time on evaluating the VDI solution and less time on deploying it. In an effort to assist organizations address this need, we have created VDI SK. The VDI SK is a Windows PowerShell-based kit that automates the non-production deployment of a Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) VDI solution for the purposes of evaluation or testing. Some of the benefits of using the tool includes:

· Deploys Microsoft RDS VDI solution components for a non-production evaluation or test environment.

· Simplifies and accelerates the deployment of a Microsoft RDS VDI solution through an automated process.

· Provides an automation example that can be built upon to support further Microsoft RDS VDI evaluation and test deployment efforts.

· Complements Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS Management Console and Wizards.

What is included in the VDI SK?

VDI SK v1.0 Preview consists of the following files.

· VDIInstall.ps1: PowerShell script that automates the deployment of a Microsoft RDS VDI solution.

· VDISettings.xml: A file that contains deployment settings that are consumed by the VDIInstall.ps1 PowerShell script.

· VDI SK Readme.doc: Includes a solution overview, architecture, prerequisites, deployment instructions, troubleshooting information and additional resources.

What RDS solution components are deployed?

VDI SK v1.0 Preview automates the deployment of the following Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS solution components:

· Remote Desktop Connection Broker

· Remote Desktop Session Host

· Remote Desktop Web Access

· Remote Desktop Virtualization Host

The information below describes a sample VDI SK deployment using the default configuration settings. The VDI SK configuration settings can be changed as appropriate to support the deployment of additional Collections, RemoteApps and Virtual Desktops.

The following Collections are created:

· One Session Based Collection

· Two Pooled Virtual Desktop Collections

· Two Personal Virtual Desktop Collections

The following RemoteApp applications are published and available in the RD Web Access Portal:

· Calculator

· WordPad

The following Virtual Desktops are provisioned and available in the RD Web Access Portal:

· Pooled Virtual Desktops

       · Windows 7 (2)

       · Windows 8.1 (2)

· Personal Virtual Desktops

       · Windows 7 (1)

       · Windows 8.1 (1)

The following picture displays the RD Web Access Portal with applications and virtual desktops that are published from this sample deployment:

Interested in learning more about VDI SK v1.0 Preview?

You can find more detailed information about this tool, how to use it and where to download in Introducing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Starter Kit (VDI SK) v1.0 Preview – Part 2. Also, if you are new to Microsoft’s VDI solution, you can learn more here.

Thanks,

Jeff and Victor