v6 Webclient - I can’t say it’s been an overly positive experience, largely because of browser compatibility issues rather the the design of the webclient itself.

Summary: The vSphere Webclient has been around since vSphere 5.0 but it’s fighting an uphill battle to gain user acceptance. I’ve recently tried using it as my primary administration tool with mixed success.

Recently I’ve been rebuilding my home lab to test out new features in vSphere6 among others. As VMware have been very vocal about moving to the webclient I thought it was about time I took the plunge and started using it in anger – after all it’s been out for several years and like many others until now I’ve stuck with the C# client. Unfortunately I can’t say it’s been an overly positive experience, largely because of browser compatibility issues rather the the design of the webclient itself. To be fair it does seem faster than in earlier releases. VMware KB2005083 lists the prerequisites for the WebClient (both server and client components) but it doesn’t detail the browser specific configuration you need to get it working successfully. This post will cover a bunch of settings you need to make but it’s largely for my own reference as I couldn’t find a single source of information elsewhere.

Browser and server tweaks to make it work

Surely one of the perks of a web based client is no client side setup right? Sadly no. I’m using a Windows 2012 server as my management station for my home lab, which isn’t representative of a real production environment as I’m less concerned with compliance, security etc. While mine is a niche use case some of the same settings apply to desktop Windows editions, especially Windows 8. There are a few configuration changes you need to make on Windows to allow you to work with vSphere via the web client;

Enable desktop experience (instructions in VMware KB2054049) to allow Flash which is required by the web client (this is only required on Windows Server editions).
Install the client integration plugin as Administrator, run IE as Administrator. Discussed in this forum post (and this one) though I’ve had mixed success getting it to work at all. Based on the fact that those two forums posts between them have over 50,000 views I’d say this is a very common issue and one that seems to vary with each browser.
Disable Protected mode (internet and intranet zone) as per VMware’s advice. Obviously this reduces the security but if you’re choosing to use client applications on a server you’ve already made that choice!
Install the root CA certificate (instructions here) to remove those annoying ‘this site is untrusted’ errors. Alternatively deploy certificates to replace the self-signed one’s that ship with vSphere, although that’s considerably more work!
Disable pop-up blockers for the following sites;

I’m not sure if VMware publish a compatibility matrix across all their products but I’d suggest you have two different browsers installed so you can switch between them as required. For example IE is supposedly the fastest when using the webclient, but doesn’t work at all when trying to login to the Orchestrator configuration web service.

Tuning performance

Here are a few tips;

Java heap tweaks are no longer required (unless you’re using NSX apparently – I’ve not tried it myself).
Tweak Flash settings to allow more local storage
Modify the web.properties file (just as I was finishing this post I found this Wikibooks entry which covers many of the configuration tweaks covered here. Who knew! Anyway I’m going to publish as I’ve written it now).
If you’re working remotely be aware that the WebClient can be pretty bandwidth intensive. Use RDP if possible!

Let VMware know what you think

VMware are apparently listening to user feedback, according to this forum post, although in reality it’s largely an outlet for frustrated users!

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user385836Virtualization Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

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Mar 1, 2016

Java heap tweaks are not needed even if you are using NSX.. But I would love to see webclient performing better than what it is now :)

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it_user215685

Regional IT at a maritime company with 501-1,000 employees

Apr 16, 2015

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We did a comparison between Microsoft Hyper-V and VMWare. In the end, VMWare won the battle of evaluation.

Valuable Features:

Robust, reliable, ease of use, good value for money and reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Improvements to My Organization:

Reduced TCO through the elimination of physical servers into virtual servers.

Use of Solution:

Since 2010

Deployment Issues:

No. Setup and installation takes less than 20 minutes.

Stability Issues:

No.

Customer Service:

Excellent.

Initial Setup:

Setup was straightforward. Even an entry-level IT engineer could follow the instructions on the screen with ease.

Implementation Team:

In-house team.

Cost and Licensing Advice:

Daily usage is for Critical Business Applications to the users.

What is most valuable?

Cheap and fast to deploy new servers.

How has it helped my organization?

Faster server deployment.

What needs improvement?

Standalone GUI dismissed, the web GUI isn't a worthy replacement.

For how long have I used the solution?

Seven years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

As long as the network and storage attached are running fine, you have nothing to worry about.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Monitor your RAM usage closely and you will be fine.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Very good.

Technical Support:

Very good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No previous solution used.

How was the initial setup?

Pretty straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

In-house by following the manuals and training from the vendor it went by the book.

What was our ROI?

Very high as each new virtual server saves us thousands budget wise.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't know but the licensing model is pretty harsh, so don't start if you only want to virtualize a couple of machines

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No, it was the only well-functioning solution on the market at the time.

What other advice do I have?

Give Hyper-V a chance and look very well into the pricing model. Make sure your storage and network is prepared for a high load with a small footprint

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Jan 13, 2015

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vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer

What is most valuable?

How has it helped my organization?

We have used the following functions:

1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter.

2. Network and Storage: centralized data server software and user virtualization using ThinApp or installed into the Catalog on VDI, to help increase the security of its IT systems therefore saving time operating workstations.

3. VDI: help focus resource systems, build systems, and workstations with specific software for each organization within the company to ensure effective use, such as:

Labs Dept.
Demos for Marketing Dept.
3D web design, office applications provide access via web browsers or mobile devices.

Also, we have a CRM system and helpdesk support portal to help record information and interact with customers. Additionally, customers will be directed to the support of technical assistance from experts of VMware and Microsoft. (Redhat and Citrix Xen we do not know how this will work yet).

We use the standard system Helpdesk Support TOR, SOW and ISO 27005 information security for customers in order to put an automated customer feedback for the ticket or marked escalation answered to ensure support complete time appointments.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Virtual Machine clients for about 14 years and VDI for about 4 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No we didn't previously use a different solution.

How was the initial setup?

We set up a simple way first and then gradually more complex. This makes it easy to control the process of expanding the system.

We implemented it in this way:

Server Virtualization Infrastructure, Configuring vSphere Hypervisor and VMware vCenter settings.
Convert physical servers to virtual servers running VMware ESXi 5.5 platform
Virtualization software with ThinApp, Portable tested on a few virtual machine desktop OS as promiscuity: 12:10 Ubuntu, Suse Linux 11, Windows 7 x64bit, Win 8.1 x64bit, summarizing the results of compatibility testing or debugging.
Estimates of the amount of resources needed and planned VDI deployment phase 2.

Phase 1: only provide virtualized applications running on Web, Mobile
Phase 2: Creating the Desktop templates and analyze the user has specifically been using remote desktop protocol RDP/PCoIP.

What about the implementation team?

We must study and deploy a project in-house, then take it to the project Pilot/POC to introduce it to customers.

We do additional case studies and gradually adjusted to suit each areas of business customers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Original setup cost Including: hardware infrastructure costs, software licenses, cost deployment training and technology transfer management and operation. Also 12 month warranty costs and consulting solutions if you rent.

Day to day: Rental assistance, monthly administration, and hiring a full-service PaaS/SaaS system.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, we did. vSphere 5.5, RHEV 3.3, HyperV 2012R2 and XenServer 6.2 and a comparison table is below. All are scored on a scale of 1-10.

What other advice do I have?

VMware vSphere 5.5 should be invested in for virtualization infrastructure as it is cheap, effective, and stable. It also meets more requirements than other products.
Investment decisions VDI technology did its review on the actual needs for each person/group/ department needs and had professional software for it and they decided to use VDI.
In the process of deploying VDI, the application should be virtualized, shared services should be enhanced, and limited desktop virtual machines for the particular user.s (e.g. design engineers need 3D GPU rendering, chief accountant, architect, system administration).
The following should be studied and then implemented - SSO configuration, GPO, security methods, ACL permissions, firewall, anti-virus for servers and virtual desktops in a consistent manner, all in accordance with ISO 27000.

We can customize everything from UI of cloud to the supply of integration vApp

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Yes, we do. Our company is a Gold partner of Microsoft, VMware and Pearson Vue.

it_user3396Team Lead at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

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Nov 4, 2016

Any update on version 6?

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Engineer353

VMware Engineer at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees

Jan 4, 2015

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I've found that it’s still the leading hypervisor on the market. Needs improvements to the Fault Tolerance feature.

Valuable Features

vMotion, Storage vMotion, Distributed Resources Schedule (DRS), NIOC, SIOC, Storage Profiles.

Improvements to My Organization

Our business has been able to consolidate fleets of physical servers to virtual servers, and is able to respond to changing business needs quickly.

Room for Improvement

Needs improvements to the Fault Tolerance feature, focus more on the performance and quality of the hypervisor. I'd like for them to add more vCPU capability.

Use of Solution

5 years

Deployment Issues

I haven't seen any issues with deployment.

Stability Issues

Lately I have seen some bugs coming up.

Scalability Issues

I haven't seen any issues with scalability.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service:

Good, but could be better. Lately I have seen VMware dropping the ball on customer service.

Technical Support:

3 out of 5

Initial Setup

Yes. Hypervisor setup and setup of High Availability clustering in a jiffy.

Implementation Team

In-house

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

There is no setup cost. Its only the administration cost.

Other Advice

From my personal experiences I've found that it’s still the leading hypervisor on the market.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user171321

Sr. System Engineer VMW Specialist at a government with 501-1,000 employees

Dec 31, 2014

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We condensed our whole Data Center into three 42U racks, less power consumption, less space, less network switches.

What is most valuable?

Software Define Data Center (SDDC), easily manage couple hundred servers within one console, deploy multiple servers within an hour, capable of monitoring server’s CPU, RAM, Disk, Network activities, High availability (HA) and Cluster (DRS), vMotion and DataStore vMotion, and more.

How has it helped my organization?

We condensed our whole Data Center into three 42U racks, one rack for switches and 32 blade servers, one rack for UPS, one rack for the SAN. It uses less power consumption, less space, less network switches, Less UPS battery.

What needs improvement?

IOPs monitoring. We now monitor IOPs from SAN array. But, SAN array IOPs monitoring is based on virtual volume (vLun) not the VM. If VMware can provide VMDK IOPS information, it can help us catch performance issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

Over 5 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No, everything works fine during deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We did experience purple of death in our esxi host (HP BL685c G7) twice in the past two years after we upgraded to ESXi5.0. We are not sure if its HP’s problem or VMware’s problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, multiple VM within one vLUN sometime cause random IOslead to performance issue. Although it is fixable, but still, when you are using large vLUN, you need to understand if that vLUN can provide sufficient IOPs for VMs that use that vLUN.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Although, I do not call them frequently, from my three calls, I would say the customer service is great. They call back and even remote-in to assist with the issue.

Technical Support:

1 to 5 scale, I rate their technical support 4.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, we did not.

How was the initial setup?

It is somewhat straightforward except for the vCenter server and SQL database ODBC. You need to use SQL ODMC client v10. Windows server 2008 R2 did not come with an older version. You need to download sqlncli driver v10.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation by ourselves.

What was our ROI?

We did not assess the ROI. But, as a system engineer, it is huge.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

SAN array with 40TB FC and 40TB NL -450K
4x HP BL465c, 2x16, 256GB, 2x 10Gb FiberSwitch, 16x vSpere License, ESXi enterprise License - 200K
Planning to hold 300 virtual servers
This is based on an a quotation. I do not know the actual purchase price. The day to day cost is not much. There is no need to go to the data center unless we need to upgrade the hardware. I can power off and power on any server from my desk in case the server freezes.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No.

What other advice do I have?

VMware is a great virtualization solution. But, if your servers are very performance-demanded, my suggestion is you must also study the shared vLUN, SAN VV and VM’s IOPs requirement. Don’t just create vLUN and dump any VM into the vLUN. Some programmers and DBAs do not have ideas of how much IOPs their applications or database servers are needed. You will experience performance issues. This is not a problem when you use physical server because physical server resources are not shared.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.