SVS Pro: Putting the Pro into Our Management (Intro)

Early this year I convinced my boss that I really needed to go to ManageFusion in Vegas. I made sure to build a very good case. I explained that we needed to learn more about Helpdesk Solution, Patch Management, Application Metering, Dell Client Manager, and more. I argued that if I were to learn more about these products I would be able to be more effective at work. Lucky for me, I was able to attend the confab. It honestly changed the way I manage computers.

Virtualization:

Before I went to ManageFusion I had selected all of the sessions I needed to attend. I made sure to cover all of the Altiris products mentioned above. The first session that I went to was a customer feedback session. Everyone in the session was able to learn about the direction of various Altiris products, hear comments and concerns from other customers, and get a sneak peak of the future.

We spent some time talking about SVS. This interested me greatly. I had tried SVS out in the past with some success, but not enough to jump in feet first. Like others, I had some problems with several specific applications. The Altiris product managers explained that there are hangups with specific applications, but there are some good solutions. The first was to visit the Juice (duh!). They also said that they are working on ways to reduce the friction caused by some software.

We also talked about SVS Pro. They explained that SVS Pro will let you track software licenses, manage software updates, and stream software and SVS layer to users or groups. This last presentation caught my attention and changed my ManageFusion experience.

The 180:

I dropped a bunch of the sessions that I intended to attend, and went to sessions on SVS and SVS Pro. Here are a few things that I learned from those sessions:

CM B07 - Introduction to Application Virtualization with SVS -

Even though I have learned about and even used SVS in the past I decided that I needed to start over. In this session we went back to the basics. I re-learned why SVS rocks. SVS allows conflicting software to co-exist. For instance, if you were planning a Novell Groupwise migration to Microsoft Exchange you will quickly discover that Outlook and Groupwise cannot be installed together. They fight relentlessly. If you install Outlook into a layer you can let SVS virtually separate it from Groupwise. The SVS Outlook layer contains all of the files Outlook needs to function. Because Groupwise is installed locally, it will use local installed files when it runs.

SVS layers prevent DLL problems, software conflicts, and more. Layers are separated into two parts, a read section (that never changes) and a write section. At any time you can delete the write section and revert back to the original layer. You can also turn a layer off, making it invisible to the end user. Also, inside the layer is the installed application. This can reduce the stress of setting up and configuring software.

This back-to-basic view of SVS greatly help me see how SVS works. It also encouraged me to try creating layers again.

CM B08 - Introduction to Application Streaming with SVS Pro - When SVS Pro first came out I was very interested in it. I even tested it out, and did a presentation on it. I decided to not pursue SVS Pro because of the snags I hit with creating layers. This session convinced me that SVS Pro was a must have for us.

SVS Pro allows you to take a piece of software (it can be a MSI, SVS layer, or a few other flavors) and stream the software in real time. To see the power of SVS Pro, lets take a look at this test case:

I created a layer of Microsoft Office. After testing that the layer works the way it should on a few different computers I packaged it for SVS Pro. I also added it to our SVS Pro streaming server. Once the software is on the streaming server you can assign the software to a user or group from LDAP or Active Directory. When the user opens Microsoft Word, SVS Pro is smart enough to only stream the parts of Word that the user needs to start. When the user clicks File >> Open in Word, that part of the program is pulled down to the local machine. As the user inserts pictures, runs spell check, and saves the program those parts of Word are streamed down. You can't even tell the program is streaming.

Software deployment is instant. The user only gets what they use. It is super-fast and super-cool. You also get all of the benefits of SVS layers (reset, turn on or off, software compatibility) in SVS Pro. This method is also secure. You have to authenticate using LDAP or Active Directory to use the software. It is a great solution.

CM B16 - Customer Case Study: Optimizing Software Management at University of Utah with SVS - At every ManageFusion there are loads of sessions that feature actual users. In this session I learned that people have virtualized all of their applications. At the University of Utah they are running about 40 layers in their environment. They have used layers to resolve conflicts, speed up deployment, and improve the user experience. I learned in this session that VMWare Workstation is very valuable when creating layers (because you can revert to a previous snapshot and you can keep the VM workstation clean).

It was a message that I could take home with me. Using layers makes it much easier to package software. It also prevents and resolves software conflicts. Layers also help tech support, because to solve most problems all you have to do is reset the layer. Layers are helpful in transitions to new software. You can have lots of layers in your environment and everything works just fine (in fact it is better than fine, it is great).

Once I saw that people like me use SVS I was sold. I knew that I had to complete embrace this cool technology.

The Labs - I also attended a few labs while in Vegas. They were great. I was able to see first hand (from the experts) what I was doing wrong, and a I learned a few things to make creating layers work. Here is a very useful link, it lists all of the virtualization information from ManageFusion: http://juice.altiris.com/article/3593/managefusion...

These sessions and labs made me want to go back to my hotel room and create layers. I know that sounds a tad bit nerdy, but I felt like I could use SVS and SVS Pro to solve tons of problems at work. These great products would let us avoid lots of problems altogether. The bottom line is that SVS and SVS Pro provide a safer, more secure, and stable environment for the end user. I knew that this would sell my boss on the idea.

SVS Pro (jumping in feet first):
I was able to convince my boss that we had to virtualize our software applications and stream them to the end user. He was very excited about the great features like license management, application management, and more flexibility for our users. I decided that I needed create SVS layers for all software that I manage. That is a lot of software, so I decided to only add the software that the average staffer in the office would use. They are layers like Office 2007, Firefox, Flash, Adobe Reader, Quicktime, Laserfiche, etc. Each of these packages had there own little quarks.

Before jumping into the SVS Pro pool, I decided that I needed to give it a real test. The type of test that wipe away all doubts in myself. From reading the literature it seems that SVS Pro runs on magic. Before I really tested it I thought that there was no way that it could do everything that was promised. I created a Star Wars: Jedi Academy layer. I then loaded it into SVS Pro. I figured the best way to test SVS Pro was to throw a first person shooter at it. I thought that those games are pretty demanding. It would have to constantly be pulling down different parts of the program from the server. Jedi Knight worked perfectly. I could not tell it was being streamed. I actually maxed out all of the graphics settings, and the program worked great. I was very happy. SVS Pro met all of my expectations. It also gave me the opportunity to "test" a game at work. All of my SVS Pro concerns were eliminated.

After my Jedi test was complete I started to move the other layers over. The end result is complete streaming desktop (as far as the software goes). In less than 20 minutes I can install Windows, the SVS and SVS Pro clients, and all of the streaming apps. My boss was impressed.

SVS & SVS Pro is changing the way we interact with software, our computers, and our users. It is reducing stress, preventing problems, and saving us money. In the next few articles I will share some tips and tricks I used to get our virtualized desktop up and running.