There are a number of requirements to consider even before the infrastructure needs of the virtual desktops themselves are considered. These include, but are not limited to:
Operating system requirements for both vSphere and View components
Database requirements for vCenter Server, View Composer, and View Connection Server
Required Microsoft infrastructure services and components
Note
The online VMware Compatibility Guide (http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php) and Product Interoperability Matrixes (http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php) maintain an up-to-date listing of supported operating systems, hardware platforms, and product compatibility for all VMware products.
VMware Horizon View requires Microsoft Active Directory to support the virtual desktop infrastructure. VMware Horizon View supports both Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 Active Directory.
View also requires Domain Name System (DNS) servers that can resolve requests for the standard Microsoft Active Directory Service Record (SRV) and Resource Record (RR) DNS entries. Microsoft domain-integrated DNS servers typically store these DNS entries by default. Incomplete or inaccurate DNS entries can lead to issues with tasks, such as virtual desktop deployment and user authentication.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers are required in the View environment to provide Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to the virtual desktops. In situations where the virtual desktops cannot self-register the IP addresses they have been assigned, the DHCP server should be configured to register the entries with a DNS server that is accessible by the View Connection server.
The following table shows which Microsoft Windows Server Operating Systems (OSs) are supported for the each of the different software packages that comprise a View infrastructure. Unless otherwise noted, the software packages support the Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter versions of the Microsoft Server version listed.
|
Operating System |
vCenter Server 5.1 |
Horizon View Connection Server, Security Server, Transfer Server, and Composer |
|---|---|---|
|
Windows Server 2003 SP2 64-bit |
Supported |
Not supported |
|
Windows Server 2003 R2 64-bit (any service pack) |
Supported |
Not supported |
|
Windows Server 2008 64-bit (both SP1 and SP2) |
Supported |
Not supported |
|
Windows Server 2008 R2 (No SP or SP1 installed) |
Supported |
Supported for Standard and Enterprise versions only |
As View Composer supports only Windows Server 2008 R2, any View installation that plans on deploying linked-clone desktops and installing Composer directly on the vCenter Server will need to choose that specific version of Windows.
Visit the VMware Horizon View Installation guide (http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html) for updated information about which OSs are supported.
The following table shows which database types are supported for the components of a View infrastructure. Unless otherwise noted, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the specified database platform are supported. In addition, unless otherwise noted the ONE, Standard, and Enterprise versions of the Oracle database platforms are supported.
|
Database Platform |
vCenter (all databases) |
View Composer |
View Event Log |
|---|---|---|---|
|
IBM DB2 10 Enterprise |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
|
IBM DB2 Enterprise 9.7.2 |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
|
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions (SP4) |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise editions (SP2, SP3) |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Datacenter edition (SP2) |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express (64-bit only), Standard, and Enterprise editions (SP1) |
Supported |
Supported; Express supported only for vCenter 5.0 U1 and newer |
Supported; Express supported only for vCenter 5.0 U1 and newer |
|
Oracle 10g (Release 2) |
Supported |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Oracle 11g (Release 1 and 2) |
Supported |
Supported (Release 2 with Patch 5 only) |
Supported (Release 2 with Patch 5 only) |
Visit the VMware Horizon View Installation guide for updated information on which databases are supported.
VMware Horizon View supports multiple versions of vSphere and vCenter Servers. The purchase of Bundle or Add-on to Bundle Upgrade licenses entitles users to use the latest supported version of both vSphere and vCenter Servers.
The following versions of vSphere are supported by VMware Horizon View:
vSphere 5.1
vSphere 5.0, 5.0 U1, and 5.0 U2
vSphere (ESX/ESXi) 4.1 , 4.1 U1, 4.1 U2, and 4.1 U3
vSphere (ESX/ESXi) 4.0 U3 and 4.0 U4
The following versions of vCenter Server are supported by VMware Horizon View:
VMware vCenter Server 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.0, 5.0 U1, and 5.0 U2
VMware vCenter Server 4.1 U1, 4.1 U2, and 4.1 U3
VMware vCenter Server 4.0 U3 and 4.0 U4
Visit the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes for an updated listed of the supported versions of vSphere and vCenter Servers.
Supporting earlier versions of vSphere and vCenter Servers is important for customers who are already running earlier versions of either software platform, and cannot or will not upgrade for some reason. Even with this support, it is recommended to use dedicated vSphere hosts and vCenter Servers for your View environment to ensure that all the latest View features are supported.
There are multiple View features that are supported only if certain other prerequisites are met. Some examples of these requirements are:
View Composer requires Windows Server 2008 R2 as the host operating system, which became available after vSphere 4.0 was launched. Customers running vSphere 4.0 may need to upgrade their Windows OS to gain support for View Composer.
View Storage Accelerator requires vSphere 5.0 or newer. Customers who wish to leverage this feature will need to upgrade their vSphere desktop hosts.
Space Reclamation requires Space-Efficient (SE) Sparse format virtual hard disks, which is only available in vSphere 5.1 or newer.
vSphere 5.0 or newer is required to enable View support for vSphere clusters with up to 32 hosts.
A complete list of View features that require specific versions of vSphere or vCenter Server can reviewed in either the official VMware Horizon View Installation guide or the View Release Notes that accompany each release of the View platform.