small business server Help deploying small business VM Server

[Zypherr]

Hi all,

 

I have been helping out a family small business. They have recently expanded their office with 3 rich(thick)-client PC's and are looking to further expand with more employees in the near future. To help save on cost I am helping them with setting up a virtualization server. The cost savings in buying a single server that could run 4-5 VM's then only needing to buy a thinclient and peripherals when someone needs them. I have set up a proof-of-concept server using an old i7-3770 rig I had laying around, installed ESXi and created some windows VM's. I bought a HP thin client that I have set up using openthinclient software to network boot into the thinclientsoftware.

 

The next step I am having trouble bridging: How to deploy this server so that the thin clients connect (RDP) to the correct VM? I ideally would need a login page for the user to log in and so that user has access to only their VM whilst using any thin client. I have no idea where to start with this or what software to use. I have done some digging and it seems like this step between having a working VM and a connected thinclient are skipped all the time. Just to note I have manually RDP'd into a VM via thinclient using the IP address (something like windows remote connect tool or similar) but I am looking for a more user-friendly, secure way to connect. 

 

Just to point out what these VM's need to do:

• Each user is not technical-literate hence the insistence on windows VM's, ensuring familiarity.
• Each user is doing simple office/admin tasks that require Microsoft Office, so only looking at dual core 4-8Gb per user.
• We do not yet require remote(outside of office) working arrangement so I am not even considering this at this stage.  

 

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them 

[Windows7ge]

Couple of questions. Is the office prepared in such a way where if the server goes down (and it will) that work doesn't come to a screeching halt until somebody gets the server back online?

 

Is the CPU doing all graphical acceleration? The VMs must be a lagging mess without a physical GPU accelerator. What does the CPU utilization look like? Is the FPS tolerable?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, Zypherr said:

How to deploy this server so that the thin clients connect (RDP) to the correct VM?

Setup something like rds on windows server or vmware horizon. Then there isn't a vm you hvae to remote into, but a broker that puts the user on the right session.

 

Or use a short cut if your not doing that.

 

1 hour ago, Zypherr said:

I ideally would need a login page for the user to log in and so that user has access to only their VM whilst using any thin client. I have no idea where to start with this or what software to use.

things like rds has a web client aswell, just have the user pick the type of sessions they want, and it will fireup a session for them

 

1 hour ago, Zypherr said:

ach user is doing simple office/admin tasks that require Microsoft Office, so only looking at dual core 4-8Gb per user.

Why do you need vdi at all then? Id just give the user a windows laptop, and have them use that for everything. Your not saving money doing vdi here.

 

Your not saving money with this, If you want to save money, get refurb systems, like a bit older of optiplexes. They would cost about the same as the thinclients, and then you don't need a server for vdi at all. VDI is almost never the cheaper way to go. This also gives the users a better experience.

 

Where I work, most users have 1st gen i3's and 4gb of ram and a ssd for doing excel and some web work, and it works fine for them.

 

[Zypherr]

On 9/1/2020 at 10:15 PM, Windows7ge said:

Couple of questions. Is the office prepared in such a way where if the server goes down (and it will) that work doesn't come to a screeching halt until somebody gets the server back online?

Thankfully the companies primary workload is handled by a third-party app that handles timetables, meetings etc. Only a small but growing subsection of the company is administration work. Even then The server would be hooked up to a UPS and some paper based working is still done and work can be continued in this form should the server go down.

 

On 9/1/2020 at 10:15 PM, Windows7ge said:

 

Is the CPU doing all graphical acceleration? The VMs must be a lagging mess without a physical GPU accelerator. What does the CPU utilization look like? Is the FPS tolerable?

The Proof-of-concept server I am currently trying to build is using the cpu for graphical acceleration. At the moment the i7-3770 seems to handle 2-3-Vm's perfectly fine but these are low resource as just proof of concept. For the final server I would expect to be building off of an old xeon workstation, something more built for a solution like this. In which case i would expect a GPU to handle the graphics especially as usage of the server increases.

On 9/1/2020 at 11:44 PM, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why do you need vdi at all then? Id just give the user a windows laptop, and have them use that for everything. Your not saving money doing vdi here.

Reading your post, I am going to investigate RDS but also go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate the scenarios. You are possibly right and this is over kill and there may be another way I have yet to fully investigate. In terms of money savings, I've worked it out (in the short term admittedly) that at 4 users the cost for non-vdi vs. server solution is near identical whilst for 6 users the server is most cost effective; as the users increase the server solution becomes more cost effective. 

 

There's also other advantages to a server solution i did not mention such as it would be easier from my point of view to be able to control each VM and what the user has access too. Rather than having to take a laptop or desktop away to fix, reimage or setup when a new one is needed. I do already know there are other ways of making my life easier is these respects is just seems like this solution helps with a lot of it at once.

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 hours ago, Zypherr said:

Reading your post, I am going to investigate RDS but also go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate the scenarios. You are possibly right and this is over kill and there may be another way I have yet to fully investigate. In terms of money savings, I've worked it out (in the short term admittedly) that at 4 users the cost for non-vdi vs. server solution is near identical whilst for 6 users the server is most cost effective; as the users increase the server solution becomes more cost effective. 

 

Can I see your calculation? There are a lot of licensing costs in vdi your probably missing, things like the rds licensing, and the extra server cost.

 

Also vid is normally a worse expereince for the user, and much more to manage and setup, id really try to avoid it here.

 

4 hours ago, Zypherr said:

as it would be easier from my point of view to be able to control each VM and what the user has access too

This should be about the same. Just push down mdm or other policies to the device, and you can change whatever settings you want.