So by now everyone knows that VDI is being adopted at a rapid pace, but often  without enough due diligence by IT.  Server virtualization offers amazing return  on investment, and is often implemented without end user ever knowing.   Users  still access the same file servers, exchange servers, web servers… they just  don’t know or care that the physical servers have been virtualized and  consolidated.

Desktop virtualization sounds fantastic to the people that successfully  completed a server virtualization project, and to the CIO & CFO that are  looking to save even more money with virtualization.  Things that are often  overlooked are the end user requirements. Just because one can deliver a remote  display to a PC or thin client, doesn’t mean that it will be accepted by end  users, and doesn’t mean that it will meet end user’s operating requirements.

So what are some of these “end user” requirements that IT should consider  when designing a virtual desktop infrastructure.

1. Display performance - this is a no brainer, but more often  than not IT is deploying virtual desktops without testing each of their  customer’s applications to make sure they are responsive over the chosen remote  display protocol.  It should also be noted that just because the application  works fine across the LAN, does not mean that it will perform the same across a  bandwidth limited, shared WAN pipe with significantly more latency than the  LAN.
2. Printing - another “duh!, eh”, but for IT professionals  without Server Based Computing experience, as it relates to application  delivery, this is often overlooked.   IT may not understand that the Terminal  Services printing infrastructure is quite different than that of normal client  server computing.  Users will expect to be able to print to the same printers  they used to, without having to call the helpdesk and without sacrificing  functionality that they had on their physical PC.
3. Local devices - most clients support USB storage, but  support for devices like TWAIN & WIA Scanners, webcams and VOIP headsets is  not something that Microsoft delivers out of the box to remote  desktops.

So what is EOP, and how does it relate to all of these statements?  EOP  stands for both “Experience Optimized Protocol” and  “Experience Optimization Pack“.  The Provision Networks  division of Quest Software licenses and has been extending the feature set of  the Microsoft RDP Protocol since 2004.  The following are core features of  Quest’s Enhanced RDP Protocol that exist for Windows Terminal Services and  VDI:

• Seamless Windows - remote applications look and act like  local applications without being encapsulated by the Explorer Shell or the  Remote Desktop Client window.  They minimize to the taskbar like local apps  and retain the proper Z-order (when you alt+tab thru apps).
• Session Sharing - multiple seamless windows remote apps  share the same Windows Session on a Terminal Server or VDI/Physical Remote  Desktop, instead of being spawned in additional sessions.  This allows  applications to interact with each other, i.e. different Microsoft Office  applications.  Additionally, if a non-seamless desktop session is launched, and  seamless windows remote apps exist, the seamless windows remote apps share the  session with the desktop, and will be moved into the desktop session.
• Enhanced Multi-monitor support - this forces the  Windows Taskbar and start menu to be confined to the primary monitor, allows  users to maximize applications on the monitor of their choice and the  applications remember these settings.  This was introduced in Virtual Access  Suite 5.10 that was released in July.
• Universal USB Device Redirection - this is a new feature  that allows clients to use virtually any USB connected device, i.e. VOIP  headset, TWAIN/WIA Scanner, webcam…
• Universal Printing Virtual Channel - this has existed in  Provision Networks’ products since 2001, we were a Citrix Platinum Partner, and  we sold add-ons for Citrix and Windows Terminal Services.  This feature allows  users to print to any client defined printer without having to install or have  installed the printer driver on the Terminal Server or Virtual Desktop.  In  addition to this Virtual Channel for client printers, Quest also supports use of  the Universal Printer driver for Windows Network Printers (Session Printers in  Citrix terminology) and Remote Print Relay printers (gateway  printing).

Quest’s “Experience Optimization Pack” adds the following  “User Experience” features to the previously mentioned core  features:

• Graphics acceleration - this compresses and optimizes how  graphics are rendered on the remote display, so Terminal Services and VDI can  support graphical applications and animation that typically did not perform well  over RDP.  This also dramatically reduces the bandwidth requirements of the RDP  protocol, typically by 400 to 800%. I have seen some websites that consume 18  times more bandwidth when rendered via the standard Microsoft RDP client or  VMware VDM client, than when using Quest EOP.
• Multimedia Redirection - this seamlessly redirects  Microsoft DirectShow content (anything that can be played in Windows Media  Player) to the client CODEC where it is rendered in full fidelity, insted of  being rendered by RDP.
• Latency Reduction - when a lateny network is detected,  client keystrokes are rendered on the client device so the end user can see them  before they are transmitted to the remote RDP host.  This enables remote workers  to use word processing application that typically suffered over a latent network  connection.
• Bi-directional audio - this allows for support of  microphones, even those that are not USB connected, which would be supported by  the Universal USB Device Redirector.

So the combination of Quest’s core RDP enhancements and the optional  “Experience Optimization Pack” features equals Quest  Software’s ”Experience Optimized Protocol” (EOP).  Enhanced RDP  has been referred to in many ways by industry analysts, and our own employees,  so now we have an actual name for our RDP enhancements, “EOP“