Tag Archives: refresh

Example Architectural Decision – Horizon View Desktop Power Policy for Linked Clones (1 of 2)

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Problem Statement

In a VMware Horizon View environment using persistent Linked Clones, Disposable disks are being used to redirect transient paging and  temporary files to a separate VMDK.

What is the most suitable Desktop Pool setting to ensure storage overheads are reduced?

Assumptions

1. VMware View 4.5 or later
2. Recompose / Refresh cycles are infrequent
3. Desktop Usage concurrency within the pool is less than 100%
4. Memory Reservations are not being used.

Requirements

1. The environment must deliver consistent performance
2. Minimize the cost/utilization of shared storage

Motivation

1. Reduce complexity where possible.
2. Maximize the efficiency of the infrastructure

Architectural Decision

Set the Power Policy for all Linked Clone desktop pools to “Power Off”

Justification

1. Using disposable disks can save storage space by slowing the growth of linked clones and reducing the space used by powered off virtual machines.
2. Using the “Power Off” policy for the pool means at user logoff (or shutdown) the disposable disk will be refreshed, therefore reducing the capacity usage at the storage layer.
3. “Powered Off” VMs do not have a Virtual Machine SWAP file which will also reduce storage consumption.

Implications

1. Setting the policy to “Power Off” will result in more frequent power operations which may impact the performance of the storage and vCenter.
2. When a user attempts to login to a desktop which has been powered off, there will be a delay while the VM is powered on and booting up before the user will be logged in.
3. The peak concurrency rate of users will need to be understood to allow accurate storage planning for the VSWAP file.

Alternatives

1. Increase the frequency of Recompose / Refresh / Rebalance operations
2. Set the Policy to “Take no power action” and schedule an Administrator task to periodically change the Power Policy to “Powered Off” during a maintenance window.
3. Set the Policy to “Ensure desktops are always powered on” and schedule an Administrator task to periodically change the Power Policy to “Powered Off” during a maintenance window.
4. Set the Policy to “Suspend”  and schedule an Administrator task to periodically change the Power Policy to “Powered Off” during a maintenance window, however this will consume extra storage for the Suspend File.
5. Use Memory Reservations to reduce storage requirements for vSwap and leave Power Policy to “Always On”.

Related Articles:

The example architectural decision was contributed to by Travis Wood (@vTravWood) and was inspired by the following article:

1. Understanding View Disposable Disks by @vTravWood (Double VCDX #97 Desktop/Datacenter Virtualization)

1. Transparent Page Sharing (TPS) Configuration for VDI (1 of 2)

2. Transparent Page Sharing (TPS) Configuration for VDI (2 of 2)

vBrownbag – vForum Sydney 2013 – View Composer for Array Integration (VCAI)

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Recently I presented a short vBrownbag on the topic of View Composer for Array Integration (VCAI) with a focus on how VCAI benefits Horizon View environments, Storage Protocol choice for Horizon View deployments and how Nutanix leverage’s VCAI to optimize Horizon View Deployments.

The video is available here – View Composer for Array Integration VCAI) & Nutanix

 

 

Example Architectural Decision – Storage Protocol Choice for a Horizon View Environment

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Problem Statement

What is the most suitable storage protocol for a Virtual Desktop (Horizon View) environment using Linked Clones?

Assumptions

1. VMware View 5.3 or later

Motivation

1. Minimize recompose (maintenance) window
2. Minimize impact on the storage array and HA/DRS cluster during recompose activities
3. Reduce storage costs where possible
4. Simplify the storage design eg: Number/size of Datastores / Storage Connectivity
5. Reduce the total solution cost eg: Number of Hosts required

Architectural Decision

Use Network File System (NFS)

Justification

1. Using native NFS snapshot (VCAI) offloads the creation of VMs to the array, therefore reducing the compute overhead on the ESXi hosts
2. Native NFS snapshots require much less disk space than traditional linked clones
3. Recomposition times are reduced due to the offloading of the cloning to the array
4. More virtual machines can be supported per NFS datastore compared to VMFS datastores (200+ for NFS compared to max recommended of 140, but it is generally recommended to design for much lower numbers eg: 64 per VMFS)
5. Recompositions/Refresh activities can be performed during business hours, or at Logoff (for Refresh) with minimal impact to the HA/DRS cluster, thus giving more flexibility to maintain the environment
6. Avoid’s potential VMFS locking issues – although this issue is not as important for environments using vSphere 4.1 onward with VAAI compatible arrays
7. When sizing your storage array, less capacity is required. Note: Performance sizing is also critical
8. The cost and complexity of a FC Storage Area Network can be avoided
9. Fewer ESXi hosts may be required as the compute overhead of driving cloning has been removed thus reducing cost
10. VCAI is fully supported feature in Horizon View 5.3

Implications

1. The Storage Array supports NFS native snapshot offload to enable the full benefit of NFS (VCAI clones) however all other benefits remain without VCAI support.

Alternatives

1. Use VMFS (block) based datastores via iSCSI or FC/FCoE and have more VMFS datastores – Note: Recompose activity will be driven by the host which adds an overhead to the cluster. (Not Recommended)