EUC Score Test Results

Parallels RAS 19 Accelerated File Redirection

Test Goal

Analyze how much Parallels RAS Accelerated File Redirection speeds up access to local files and folders.

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SLX-ParallelsAccFile	SxS View - Activities	The native RDS and AVD drive redirection is significantly slower when Parallels RAS Accelerated File Redirection is not used. This can be easily seen in the system and user activity consoles.
	SLX-ParallelsAccFile	SxS View - STD	If Parallels RAS with Accelerated File Redirection is not installed, more CPU usage is needed when enumerating the local files and folders during the minute that it takes.

Summary of Test Observations

The locally redirected folder (C:\Windows\system32) takes over a minute to fully enumerate within the native RDS and AVD experience, where Parallels RAS with Accelerated File Redirection performs the same action in a second. For more details, check out the blog article Measuring Parallels RAS Performance in Azure Virtual Desktop.

 

Test Setup Details

 

Parallels RAS 19 Universal Printing

Test Goal

Investigate the performance benefits of Parallels RAS Universal Printing when compared to Remote Desktop Easy Print that is built into RDS and AVD.

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SLX-ParallelsUniPrint	SxS View - Activities	The clip highlights the time it takes Parallels RAS Universal Printing to reconnect printers versus the time it takes native RDS/AVD Easy Print to do the same. Timings are tracked in the system and user activity consoles.
	SLX-ParallelsUniPrint	SxS View - STD	This clip visualizes and compares the resource consumption when printers are reconnected with Parallels RAS Universal Printing on the left side and Microsoft Easy Print on the right side.

Summary of Test Observations

Parallels RAS Universal Printing reconnects eight printers in less than three seconds, whereas native RDS/AVD Easy Print takes 16 seconds. In addition, using Parallels RAS Universal Printing in RDS/AVD sessions reduces the resource consumption on the session host. For more details, check out the blog article Measuring Parallels RAS Performance in Azure Virtual Desktop.

 

Test Setup Details

 

Azure VM with Parallels RAS 19

Test Goal

Find out what the results are when running Score Simloads (= type 3) on an Azure D4s v3 VM with Parallels RAS 19.

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SL3-AppStart	Single View - STD	APP LAUNCH SCORE = 0.61
	SL3-AppDialog	Single View - STD	APP DIALOG SCORE = 0.31
	SL3-FractalsDragon	Single View - STD	FRACTALS DRAGON SCORE = 2.63
	SL3-FractalsPythagoras	Single View - STD	FRACTALS PYTHAGORAS SCORE = 4.38
	SL3-GDIPlusRect	Single View - STD	GDI+ RECTANGLES SCORE = 2.35
	SL3-IOPS	Single View - STD	IOPS SCORE = 9.87

Summary of Test Observations

The EUC Score Simload type-3 scores are in the range as can be expected on an Azure D4s v3 VM, independently of Parallels RAS 19. Start times and CPU performance are good, while the Standard SSD IOPS performance of the VM is below average.

 

Test Setup Details

• System Under Test: Azure West Europe, D4s v3 VM, Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.60GHz 4vCPUs, 16GB RAM, 32GB Premium SSD P15.
• Connection: RDP-UDP, 14ms round trip time.
• Endpoint: NUC2, Intel NUC 8i7HNK with Windows 11, i7-8705G CPU @ 3.10GHz, 16GB RAM, 500GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2, AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, 4GB VRAM.

 

Windows 365 Cloud PC versus Parallels RAS 19 Full Client

Test Goal

Find out what the difference is between an entry-level Windows 365 Cloud PC wit 2 vCPUs and an Azure D4s v3 VM with 4 vCPUs and RAS 19.

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SL3-IOPS	SxS View - STD	CPC IOPS SCORE = 15.18 | RAS19 IOPS SCORE = 9.87. The storage in the RAS19 session performs significantly better.
	SL1-ChromeAquariumWebGL	SxS View - STD	RAS19 session shows faster load time and better performance. CPUs are at their load limits on both sides, but CPU queue length in the Cloup PC session is much higher.
	SL1-ChromePhotoGalleryJS	SxS View - STD	CPU comes to its limits on CPC side. Higher network bandwidth and better user experience in the RAS19 session, in particular during image transitions.
	SL1-MSOPptSimple	SxS View - STD	Almost identical user experience, but initially CPU load is significantly higher on the CPC side.
	SL1-WMPlayer1080pMP4	SxS View - STD	Video doesn't start in the CPC session. Spectacular video artifacts on the RAS19 side. Both is unacceptable for users.

Summary of Test Observations

The entry-level Windows 365 Cloud PC cannot keep up with the Azure D4s v3 VM with Parallels RAS 19. This doesn't come as a big surprise due to the different numbers of vCPUs.

 

Test Setup Details

 

NUC2 Physical Machine versus Parallels RAS 19 Full Client

Test Goal

Explore the difference between the physical NUC2 reference PC and an Azure D4s v3 VM with RAS 19. This test setup is absolutely unfair, but some customers were asking for exactly such a comparison of a physical PC versus a standard Azure VM type!

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SL3-GDIPlusRect	SxS View - STD	NUC2 GDI+ RECTANGLES SCORE = 1.3 | RAS19 GDI+ RECTANGLES SCORE = 2.35
	SL3-IOPS	SxS View - STD	NUC2 IOPS SCORE = 3.04 (local SSD) | RAS19 IOPS SCORE = 9.87 (Azure Premium SSD P15)
	SL1-BSPBlendingDX11	SxS View - STD	The physical NUC has a GPU, allowing it to offload DirectX functions. This results in lower CPU load and much better performance. The Azure VM without GPU cannot keep up, response to user input is affected massively.
	SL1-MSEdgeCarVisualizer	SxS View - STD	The physical NUC with a GPU massively outperforms the Azure VM without GPU.

Summary of Test Observations

No surprise: The physical NUC2 reference PC with its embedded AMD GPU and the Samsung SSD massively outperforms the Azure D4s v3 VM with RAS 19. Not only the GPU in the physical machine makes a huge difference, but also the SSD.

 

Test Setup Details

 

Parallels RAS 19 HTML5 versus Full Client

Test Goal

Find out if there is a noticeable difference between the Parallels RAS 19 HTML5 client and the Parallels RAS 19 full client.

 

Selected Sync Player Clips

	Simload and Link	View and Type	Observation
	SL1-ChromeFishbowlHTML5	SxS View - STD	Slightly better performance with HTML5 client at almost identical network consumption.
	SL1-MSEdgeVideoConf6	SxS View - STD	Higher network consumption with HTML5 client and higher CPU load with full client.
	SL1-WMPlayer720pMP4	SxS View - STD	Higher network consumption with HTML5 client and higher CPU load with full client.
	SL1-RollercoasterDX9	SxS View - STD	Slightly higher network consumption with HTML5 client.

Summary of Test Observations

There is almost no noticable performance difference between the Parallels RAS HTML5 client and the full client.

 

Test Setup Details