PCoIP Session - VM Test
PCoIP - PC over IP - is a proprietary protocol for remote workstation and desktop resolution. VMware View supports PCoIP to deliver virtual desktops to users connecting to the VDI. Since PCoIP recognizes different types of content and then uses different compression algorithms based on the content type, it is often considered ideal to deliver on the VDI promise of a rich user experience.
The key factors influencing user experience in such cases are the latencies experienced by the user while connecting to the desktop via PCoIP and the bandwidth used when a user interacts with a virtual desktop. High latency and excessive bandwidth consumption can often slowdown access to desktops, thereby significantly delaying subsequent user operations. Hence, monitoring the latency and bandwidth usage of the PCoIP communication channel between the user terminal and the virtual desktops is essential.
The PCoIP Session - VM test auto-discovers the virtual desktops on the Nutanix Acropolis host and the users who are currently connected to each desktop via PCoIP. For each such user, the test monitors the communication between a user and the virtual desktop, and reports the following:
- The latency experienced by each user session;
- The bandwidth used by the incoming and outgoing data/audio/multimedia traffic transacted by the PCoIP communication channel between each user and virtual desktop;
Using this test, an administrator can identify user sessions that are being impacted by high latency and abnormal bandwidth usage. In addition, the test also reveals the type of traffic that is causing excessive bandwidth usage, thereby providing pointers to how the client configuration can be fine-tuned in order to reduce bandwidth consumption and improve performance.
This test is relevant only where VMware View is used to broker connections between the user and the desktops. Hence, this test is disabled by default. To enable the test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence: Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick Nutanix Acropolis VDI as the Component type, set Performance as the Test type, choose this test from the disabled tests list, and click on the >> button to move the test to the enabled tests list.
Target of the test :A Nutanix Acropolis server
Agent deploying the test : A remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for every user who is connected to a virtual desktop via PCoIP.
Configurable parameters for the test
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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. |
Secs |
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. |
Data received rate: |
Indicates the rate at which data was received by this user from the virtual desktop. |
Kbit/Sec |
Comparing the value of each of these measures across users will enable administrators to quickly and accurately identify users who are consuming the maximum bandwidth. Once you zero-in on the user, you can compare the Data received rate of that user with the Data sent rate to know when the user consumed more bandwidth - when receiving data or while sending data? |
Data sent rate: |
Indicates the rate at which data was sent by this user to the virtual desktop. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
Audio data received rate: |
Indicates the bandwidth used while transmitting sound/audio to this user. |
Kbit/Sec |
Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive sound/audio files over PCoIP.
|
Audio data sent rate: |
Indicates the bandwidth used while receiving sound/audio from this user. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
Imaging data received rate: |
Indicates the bandwidth used when sending imaging data to this user.
|
Kbit/Sec |
Comparing these values across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive images over PCoIP. |
Imaging data sent rate: |
Indicates the bandwidth used when receiving imaging data from this user. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
Imaging decoder capability rate: |
Indicates the currrent estimate of the decoder processing capability. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
Incoming bandwidth rate: |
Indicates the overall bandwidth used by incoming PCoIP packets. |
Kbit/Sec |
Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is performing bandwidth-intensive operations over the PCoIP channel. |
Outgoing bandwidth rate: |
Indicates the overall bandwidth used by outgoing PCoIP packets. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
USB data received: |
Indicates the bandwidth used when this user received USB data over the PCoIP channel. |
Kbit/Sec |
Comparing the values of these measures across users will reveal which user is sending/receiving bandwidth-intensive USB data over the PCoIP channel. |
USB data sent: |
Indicates the bandwidth used when this user sent USB data over the PCoIP channel. |
Kbit/Sec |
|
Received packets lost: |
Indicates the percentage of packets received by this user that were lost. |
Percent |
A high value for these measures is indicative of a bad network connection between the user terminal and the virtual desktop. |
Transmitted packets lost: |
Indicates the percentage of packets transmitted by this user that were lost. |
Percent |
|
Imaging encoded frames: |
Indicates the number of imaging frames that were encoded per second. |
Frames/Sec |
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