Certain virtual and physical networking components are required to accommodate a typical workload.

For Wide-Area networks (WANs), you must consider bandwidth constraints and latency issues. The PCoIP and Blast Extreme display protocols provided by VMware adapt to varying latency and bandwidth conditions.

For display traffic, many elements can affect network bandwidth, such as protocol used, monitor resolution and configuration, and the amount of multimedia content in the workload. Concurrent launches of streamed applications can also cause usage spikes.

Because the effects of these issues can vary widely, many companies monitor bandwidth consumption as part of a pilot project. As a starting point for a pilot, plan for 150 to 200Kbps of capacity for a typical knowledge worker.

With the PCoIP or Blast Extreme display protocol, if you have an enterprise LAN with 100Mb or a 1Gb switched network, your end users can expect excellent performance under the following conditions:

  • Two monitors (1920 x 1080)
  • Heavy use of Microsoft Office applications
  • Heavy use of Flash-embedded Web browsing
  • Frequent use of multimedia with limited use of full screen mode
  • Frequent use of USB-based peripherals
  • Network-based printing

For more information, see the information guide called PCoIP Display Protocol: Information and Scenario-Based Network Sizing Guide.

Optimization Controls Available with PCoIP and Blast Extreme

If you use the PCoIP or the Blast Extreme display protocol from VMware, you can adjust several elements that affect bandwidth usage.

  • You can configure the image quality level and frame rate used during periods of network congestion. The quality level setting allows you to limit the initial quality of the changed regions of the display image. You can also adjust the frame rate.

    This control works well for static screen content that does not need to be updated or in situations where only a portion needs to be refreshed.

  • With regard to session bandwidth, you can configure the maximum bandwidth, in kilobits per second, to correspond to the type of network connection, such as a 4Mbit/s Internet connection. The bandwidth includes all imaging, audio, virtual channel, USB, and PCoIP or Blast control traffic.

    You can also configure a lower limit, in kilobits per second, for the bandwidth that is reserved for the session, so that a user does not have to wait for bandwidth to become available. You can specify the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size for UDP packets for a session, from 500 to 1500 bytes.

For more information, see the "PCoIP General Settings" and the "VMware Blast Policy Settings" sections in the Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon document.