Sporton International wanted to use its server hardware more efficiently and improve the remote desktop experience. Sporton upgraded to Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 to gain more flexible allocation of memory across virtual machines and an enriched experience for virtual-desktop users. Sporton has increased the number of virtual machines per server by 25 to 75 percent and greatly improved the computing experience for remote employees.


Business Needs
Sporton International provides testing and certification services to major hardware and mobile communications companies. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sporton employs 450 people in three countries.

Sporton has been a pioneer in using virtualization technology to consolidate both server and desktop computers and to rapidly provision servers for product testing and engineering needs. It used the Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise operating system with the Hyper-V virtualization technology to maximize server efficiency, but because of rapid business growth, Sporton was still buying more hardware than it wanted to. “As we created virtual machines, we had to create a memory buffer for each one, because we didn’t know how adjustments might affect performance,” says David Feng, IT Director at Sporton. “We had to install 2 to 3 gigabytes of memory in each host server as a buffer, even if it never got used. This memory was basically wasted and limited the number of virtual machines we could allocate to each host.”

Sporton was also hoping to expand the use of desktop virtualization through the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) delivery model in Windows Server 2008 R2. With VDI, organizations can centralize the storage, execution, and management of Windows operating system–based desktops in the data center.

Sporton had about 100 VDI users, but they could not use 3-D graphics or high-definition video because their terminals lacked the compute power. “If a user opened a video attachment to an email message, they experienced delays of at least 30 percent,” Feng says. To address these complaints, Sporton had to give some VDI users powerful PCs as well as VDI terminals, which cancelled out the benefit of a virtual desktop.

Solution
In April 2010, Sporton learned about Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and began testing a pre-beta version as part of the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program. Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 includes Hyper-V Dynamic Memory, a memory management enhancement that IT administrators use to pool memory on a physical host. Then, according to workload needs, they can dynamically distribute that memory among virtual machines running on the host. The result is higher virtual machine density, the need for fewer hosts, and reduced management work.

We found that we could increase the number of virtual machines by 25 to 50 percent with Dynamic Memory. This enables us to push hardware utilization to new levels and saves [U.S.]$1,500 to $3,000 per server, a 35 percent cost reduction. David Feng IT Director, Sporton International

By late 2010, Sporton had deployed the Release Candidate of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1 to 28 host computers and virtualized workloads as diverse as domain controllers, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft System Center data center solutions, and infrastructure servers. “Our virtual machine density keeps improving as we move more and more virtual machines to hosts with Dynamic Memory,” Feng says.

Another new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 is Microsoft RemoteFX, a technology that provides remote employees using terminal-based computing with a “local-like” PC experience. With RemoteFX, users of virtual desktops and applications can watch full-motion video, enjoy animations built with the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in, and run 3-D applications, all through a standard Remote Desktop Services connection.

The use of RemoteFX requires the presence of a graphics processing unit in the server, and as Sporton acquires the needed hardware, it is expanding its use of RemoteFX. It is giving RemoteFX to terminal users and employees who do not have portable computers but need to be able to access their work environment from anywhere.

Benefits
Sporton has improved virtual machine density by up to 75 percent by using Dynamic Memory and is giving remote users a richer virtual-desktop experience with RemoteFX.

Increases Virtual Machine Density by Up to 75 Percent
By gaining more flexible server memory allocation, Sporton can maximize the use of, and decrease spending on, server hardware. “Because we use Hyper-V Dynamic Memory to allocate memory more efficiently, we can host more virtual machines without buying new hardware,” Feng says. “We found that we could increase the number of virtual machines by 25 to 50 percent with Dynamic Memory. For some servers, we even achieved a 75 percent increase! Increasing density by 25 to 50 percent enables us to push hardware utilization to new levels and save [U.S.]$1,500 to $3,000 per server, a 35 percent cost reduction. We’re getting more ROI [return on investment] from our hardware investments.”

Gains More Control
Additionally, Sporton is using Dynamic Memory to fine-tune the tradeoff between performance and density. “With Dynamic Memory we can evaluate performance and tune the parameters for each virtual machine,” says Feng. “We are gaining a better understanding of how virtual machines work with Hyper-V, and we can use that knowledge to prioritize how virtual machines get memory when they need it.”

Increases Use of VDI
With RemoteFX, users of virtual desktops no longer have to worry about slowdowns in video content. “Because we can provide terminal users with a more full-featured PC environment, we can move more employees to desktop virtualization,” Feng says. “As we install the graphics processor units—a relatively small expense—we plan to give RemoteFX to all 100 VDI users. Users have told us that a terminal equipped with RemoteFX feels like they’re using a real PC.”

Saves $30,000 in Client PCs
Sporton not only gets happier, more productive users but also lowers costs. “We can eliminate the supplemental PCs that we used to give VDI users, because the VDI user experience is as rich as what they had with a full PC,” Feng says. “This is roughly a $30,000 savings in client PCs.”

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