Blast Session - OS Test

The BLAST Session protocol allows files on a remote computer to be manipulated - i.e., to be deleted, renamed, or printed on the remote. Owing to the improved remote file management capabilities that Blast offers, Amazon Workspace now supports the Blast protocol too for user communication with cloud-based virtual desktops. Because of this, there is a need to know which users have connected to virtual desktops via Blast and how the experience of each user is. This is why, the Blast Session - OS test auto-discovers the users who are connected to virtual desktops via the Blast protocol, and measures the bandwidth usage, frames processing ability, throughput, and time taken to establish each user's session. In the process, bandwidth-hungry, latent sessions can be accurately isolated.

Target of the test : An Amazon Cloud Desktop Group

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every user who is accessing a cloud-based virtual desktop via the Blast protocol

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The nick name of the Amazon Cloud Desktop Group component for which this test is to be configured.

Port

Refers to the port at which the specified host listens to. By default, this is NULL.

Inside View Using

To obtain the 'inside view' of performance of the desktops - i.e., to measure the internal performance of the cloud-based virtual desktops - this test uses a light-weight eG VM Agent software deployed on each of the desktops. Accordingly, this parameter is by default set to eG VM Agent.

Report Powered OS

If this flag is set to Yes (which is the default setting), then the 'inside view' tests will report measures for even those desktops that do not have any users logged in currently. Such desktops will be identified by their name and not by the username_on_desktopname. On the other hand, if this flag is set to No, then this test will not report measures for those desktops to which no users are logged in currently.  

Report By User

This flag is set to Yes by default. The value of this flag cannot be changed. This implies that the cloud-based virtual desktops in environments will always be identified using the login name of the user. In other words, in cloud environments, this test will, by default, report measures for every username_on_desktopname.

IsCloudVMs

Since this test runs for a 'Amazon Cloud Desktop Group' component, this flag is set to Yes, by default.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Round trip time

Indicates the round trip latency between the virtual desktop and this user terminal.

Seconds

Comparing the value of this measure across users will enable administrators to quickly and accurately identify users who are experiencing higher latency when connecting to a virtual desktop. via Blast.

Bandwidth

Indicates the bandwidth usage of all sessions of this user.

Kbps

Compare the value of this measure across users to know which user is consuming the maximum bandwidth.

Frame rate

Indicates the rate at which frames are processed during this user's sessions.

Frames/Sec

FPS is how fast your graphics card can output individual frames each second. It is the most time-tested and ideal measure of performance of a GPU. Higher the value of this measure, healthier is the GPU.

Throughput

Indicates the network throughput of this user's sessions.

Kbps

A poor network throughput could cause latencies in network communication.

Audio data received

Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting sound/audio to this user.

Kbps

Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive sound/audio files over Blast.

Audio data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting sound/audio from this user.

Kbps

Client drive redirection data received

Indicates the bandwidth used while receiving client drive redirection (CDR) data to this user.

Kbps

When the Horizon Client and Horizon Agent are deployed with client drive redirection and the Blast is enabled, folders and files are sent across a virtual channel with encryption. This ensures that the connections between clients and the View Secure Gateway, and the connections from the View Secure Gateway to desktop machines are secure. These measures help administrators to figure out the traffic statistics during the reception/transmission of CDR data.

Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive client drive redirection data over Blast.

Client drive redirection data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting client drive redirection data from this user.

Kbps

Clipboard data received

Indicates the bandwidth used while receiving clipboard data by this user.

Kbps

Configuring the clipboard redirection on the client machine enables administrators to control users from redirecting clipboard data to and/or from the virtual desktop and the client machine during the session.

Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive clipboard redirection content during the session.

Clipboard data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting clipboard data from this user.

Kbps

Data received in HTML5 multimedia redirection

Indicates the bandwidth used while receiving HTML5 multimedia content to this user.

Kbps

To redirect HTML5 multimedia content from a remote desktop to the local client system, administrators need to enable the HTML5 Multimedia Redirection feature and install the Chrome browser on the remote desktop. Enabling the HTML5 Multimedia Redirection feature also allows administrators to specify the websites that can use this feature. These measures help administrators to easily find out the bandwidth utilized during each user's session for transmitting and receiving the HTML5 multimedia content to different websites. Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive multimedia files over Blast.

Data transmitted in HTML5 multimedia redirection

Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting HTML5 multimedia content from this user.

Kbps

Dirty frames rate

Indicates the rate at which the dirty frames are processed during this user's sessions.

Frames/Sec

The value of this measure should be very low. A high value indicates that the image quality is potentially poor.

FBC rate

Indicates the number of image frames processed during this user's session.

Number

 

Frames rate

Indicates the rate at which the image frames are processed during this user's session.

Kbps

This measure indicates how quickly the image frames are processed during the session. A lower value of this measure indicates that the frames are processed slowly and the administrator neeed to This measure will be reported only if the VMware Horizon View version is 7 and above.

Imaging data received

Indicates the bandwidth used by this user when receiving imaging data.

Kbps

Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive images over Blast.

Imaging data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used this user when transmitting imaging data.

Kbps

Real-time audio/video data received

Indicates the rate at which the real-time audio/video data was received by this user.

Kbps

With the Real-Time Audio-Video feature, webcam and audio devices that are connected locally to the client system are redirected to the remote sessions. This allows the users to run Skype, Webex, Google Hangouts, and other online conferencing applications in their remote sessions. This feature also helps administrators to redirect video and audio data with a significantly lower bandwidth than can be achieved by using USB redirection. Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive real-time audio/video data during the session.

Real-time audio/video data transmitted

Indicates the rate at which the real-time audio/video data was transmitted during this user's sessions.

Kbps

Serial port and scanner data received

Indicates the rate at which the serial port and scanner data was received during this user's sessions.

Kbps

With the serial port and scanner redirection feature, administrators can easily connect the scanner and phisical COM port devices with the virtual desktops.

Serial port and scanner data transmitted

Indicates the rate at which the serial port and scanner data was transmitted during this user's sessions.

Kbps

Session data received

Indicates the rate at which the data was received during this user's sessions.

Kbps

Using the values of these measures help administrators to determine the data traffic during the session.

Session data transmitted

Indicates the rate at which the data was transmitted during this user's sessions.

Kbps

Jitter

Indicates the time delay encountered during this user's session.

Seconds

A value of this measure should be low. A higher value indicates unintended deviation or inconsistency that degrades the quality of audio and video communications.

Round trip time

Indicates the round trip latency between the virtual desktop and this user terminal.

Seconds

Comparing the value of this measure across users will enable administrators to quickly and accurately identify users who are experiencing higher latency when connecting to a virtual desktop.

Packet loss

Indicates the percentage of packets lost during this user' session.

Percent

A value of this measure should be very low. A high value for this measure is indicative of a bad network connection between the user terminal and the virtual desktop.

Estimated bandwidth

Indicates the maximum bandwidth that this user can consume during the Blast sessions.

Kbps

 

Data received in Skype for business control

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user received Skype data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive Skype data over the Blast channel.

Data transmitted in Skype for business control

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user transmitted Skype data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Thin-Print data received

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user received Thin-Print data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive Thin-Print data over the Blast channel.

Thin-Print data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user transmitted Thin-Print data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

USB data received

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user received USB data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive USB data over the Blast channel.

USB data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user sent USB data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Windows media MMR data recieved

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user received Windows media MMR data over the Blast channel.

Kbps

Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive Windows media MMR data over the Blast channel.

Windows media MMR data transmitted

Indicates the bandwidth used when this user transmitted Windows media MMR data over the Blast channel.

Kbps