EMC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CITRIX XENDESKTOP 7.1 Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2

Proven Solution Guide
EMC INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR CITRIX XENDESKTOP 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
• Simplify management and decrease total cost of ownership
• Guarantee a superior desktop experience
• Ensure a successful virtual desktop deployment
EMC Solutions
Abstract
This Proven Solution Guide provides a detailed summary of the tests
performed to validate an EMC infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 by using
the EMC® XtremIO™ all-flash array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2. This
document focuses on sizing and scalability, and highlights new features
introduced in EMC XtremIO, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenDesktop.
March 2014
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Published March 2014
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EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Part Number H12817
2
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Contents
Contents
Chapter 1
Executive Summary
9
Business case ................................................................................................ 10
Solution overview .......................................................................................... 11
Key results and recommendations ................................................................. 12
Chapter 2
Introduction
15
Introduction to the EMC XtremIO all-flash array .............................................. 16
Document overview........................................................................................ 17
Use case definition .................................................................................... 17
Purpose ..................................................................................................... 17
Scope ........................................................................................................ 17
Not in scope .............................................................................................. 18
Audience ................................................................................................... 18
Prerequisites ............................................................................................. 18
Terminology ............................................................................................... 18
Reference architecture ................................................................................... 19
Corresponding reference architecture ........................................................ 19
Reference architecture diagram ................................................................. 20
Configuration ................................................................................................. 21
Hardware resources ................................................................................... 21
Software resources .................................................................................... 21
Chapter 3
Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
23
Overview ........................................................................................................ 24
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1..................................................................................... 24
Introduction ............................................................................................... 24
Deploying Citrix XenDesktop components ................................................. 26
Citrix Personal vDisk .................................................................................. 26
Machine Creation Services ........................................................................ 26
Provisioning Services................................................................................. 26
Citrix XenDesktop Machine Catalog ........................................................... 27
Citrix Profile Management.......................................................................... 27
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
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Contents
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine
Manager 2012 R2 Infrastructure .............................................................. 28
Hyper-V 2012 R2 overview ......................................................................... 28
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2...................... 28
Hyper-V Dynamic Memory .......................................................................... 28
Hyper-V Smart Paging ................................................................................ 28
Hyper-V Non-Uniform Memory Access ........................................................ 29
Hyper-V Memory configuration guidelines ................................................. 29
Desktop Hyper-V clusters........................................................................... 29
Infrastructure Hyper-V cluster .................................................................... 29
Windows infrastructure .................................................................................. 30
Introduction ............................................................................................... 30
Microsoft Active Directory .......................................................................... 30
Microsoft SQL Server ................................................................................. 30
DNS server ................................................................................................. 30
DHCP server ............................................................................................... 31
Chapter 4
Storage Design
33
EMC XtremIO storage architecture .................................................................. 34
Introduction ............................................................................................... 34
Storage layout ........................................................................................... 34
XtremIO storage layout overview ............................................................... 34
Chapter 5
Network Design
37
Considerations............................................................................................... 38
Storage network layout overview ............................................................... 38
Logical design considerations ................................................................... 38
XtremIO storage controller configuration........................................................ 39
Storage controller interfaces ...................................................................... 39
Hyper-V network configuration ....................................................................... 39
NIC teaming ............................................................................................... 39
vSwitch configuration ................................................................................ 39
Cisco Nexus 5020 Ethernet configuration ...................................................... 40
Overview .................................................................................................... 40
Cabling ...................................................................................................... 40
Cisco Nexus 5020 Fibre Channel configuration .............................................. 40
Overview .................................................................................................... 40
Cabling ...................................................................................................... 40
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EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Contents
Fibre Channel uplinks ................................................................................ 40
Chapter 6
Installation and Configuration
43
Installation overview ...................................................................................... 44
Provisioning XtremIO storage ......................................................................... 44
XtremIO initiator group and LUN provisioning ............................................ 44
Citrix XenDesktop components ...................................................................... 46
Citrix XenDesktop installation overview ..................................................... 46
Citrix XenDesktop setup ............................................................................ 47
Citrix Provisioning Services setup .............................................................. 47
Provision MCS linked-clone virtual desktops ............................................. 47
Provision PVS streamed virtual desktops................................................... 48
Chapter 7
Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with
Personal vDisk
51
Overview ........................................................................................................ 52
Validated environment profile ........................................................................ 53
Profile characteristics ................................................................................ 53
Use cases .................................................................................................. 54
Login VSI ................................................................................................... 55
Login VSI launcher ..................................................................................... 55
Boot storm results.......................................................................................... 56
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 56
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 56
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 57
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 57
Antivirus results ............................................................................................. 58
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 58
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 58
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 59
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 60
Patch install results ....................................................................................... 60
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 60
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 60
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 61
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 62
Hyper-V data store response time .............................................................. 62
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
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Contents
Login VSI results ............................................................................................ 63
Login VSI ................................................................................................... 63
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 63
Desktop login time .................................................................................... 64
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 64
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 65
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 65
Hyper-V data store response time .............................................................. 66
Chapter 8
Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed
Desktops with Personal vDisk
67
Overview ........................................................................................................ 68
Validated environment profile ........................................................................ 69
Profile characteristics ................................................................................ 69
Use cases .................................................................................................. 70
Boot storm results.......................................................................................... 71
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 71
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 71
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 71
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 72
Hyper-V data store response time .............................................................. 73
Antivirus results ............................................................................................. 73
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 73
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 73
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 74
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 75
Patch install results ....................................................................................... 75
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 75
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 75
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 76
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 77
Hyper-V data store response time .............................................................. 77
Login VSI results ............................................................................................ 78
Login VSI ................................................................................................... 78
Test methodology ...................................................................................... 78
Desktop login time .................................................................................... 78
XtremIO array IOPS .................................................................................... 79
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EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Contents
Storage controller utilization ..................................................................... 80
Hyper-V CPU load....................................................................................... 80
Hyper-V data store response time .............................................................. 81
Chapter 9
Conclusion
83
Summary........................................................................................................ 84
Findings ..................................................................................................... 84
References ..................................................................................................... 85
Supporting documents .............................................................................. 85
Microsoft documents ................................................................................. 86
Citrix documentation ................................................................................. 86
Figures
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Citrix XenDesktop: Reference architecture .................................. 20
XenDesktop 7.1 architecture components .................................. 24
Citrix XenDesktop: Storage network layout overview .................. 38
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Figure 9.
Figure 10.
Figure 11.
Figure 12.
XtremIO storage controllers ........................................................ 39
Example of single initiator zoning ............................................... 41
Create an XtremIO initiator group ............................................... 45
Create an XtremIO volume .......................................................... 45
Map the XtremIO volume to an initiator group ............................ 46
XtremIO LUN configuration and zoning ....................................... 46
Storage capacity utilization: 2,500 MCS linked-clone
desktops .................................................................................... 54
Boot storm: XtremIO array total IOPS .......................................... 56
Boot storm: Storage controller utilization ................................... 57
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
Figure 15.
Figure 16.
Figure 17.
Figure 18.
Figure 19.
Figure 20.
Figure 21.
Figure 22.
Figure 23.
Boot storm: Hyper-V CPU load .................................................... 58
Antivirus: XtremIO array total IOPS ............................................. 59
Antivirus: Storage controller utilization....................................... 59
Antivirus: Hyper-V CPU load ........................................................ 60
Patch install: XtremIO array total IOPS ........................................ 61
Patch install: Storage controller utilization ................................. 61
Patch install: Hyper-V CPU load .................................................. 62
Patch install: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter ..... 63
Login VSI: Desktop login time ..................................................... 64
Login VSI: XtremIO array total IOPS ............................................. 64
Login VSI: Storage controller utilization ...................................... 65
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
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Contents
Figure 24.
Figure 25.
Figure 26.
Figure 27.
Figure 28.
Figure 29.
Figure 30.
Figure 31.
Figure 32.
Figure 33.
Figure 34.
Figure 35.
Figure 36.
Figure 37.
Figure 38.
Login VSI: Hyper-V CPU load ....................................................... 66
Login VSI: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter .......... 66
Storage capacity utilization: 2,500 PVS streamed desktops ....... 70
Boot storm: XtremIO array total IOPS .......................................... 71
Boot storm: Storage controller utilization ................................... 72
Boot storm: Hyper-V CPU load .................................................... 72
Boot storm: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter........ 73
Antivirus: XtremIO array total IOPS ............................................. 74
Antivirus: Storage controller utilization....................................... 74
Antivirus: Hyper-V CPU load ........................................................ 75
Patch install: XtremIO array total IOPS ........................................ 76
Patch install: Storage controller utilization ................................. 76
Patch install: Hyper-V CPU load .................................................. 77
Patch install: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter ..... 78
Login VSI: Desktop login time ..................................................... 79
Figure 39.
Figure 40.
Figure 41.
Figure 42.
Login VSI: XtremIO array total IOPS ............................................. 79
Login VSI: Storage controller utilization ...................................... 80
Login VSI: Hyper-V CPU load ....................................................... 81
Login VSI: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter .......... 81
Tables
Table 1.
Table 2.
Table 3.
Table 4.
Table 5.
Table 6.
Table 7.
Table 8.
8
Terminology ................................................................................ 18
Citrix XenDesktop: Solution hardware ........................................ 21
Citrix XenDesktop: Solution software.......................................... 21
Storage requirements ................................................................. 35
Solution test results summary: MCS linked-clone desktops ....... 52
Citrix XenDesktop environment profile: MCS linked-clone
desktops .................................................................................... 53
Solution test results summary: PVS streamed desktops ............. 68
Citrix XenDesktop environment profile: PVS streamed
desktops .................................................................................... 69
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 1: Executive Summary
Chapter 1
Executive Summary
This chapter presents the following topics:
Business case ............................................................................................ 10
Solution overview ....................................................................................... 11
Key results and recommendations .............................................................. 12
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
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Chapter 1: Executive Summary
Business case
User experience (how responsively the virtual desktop performs) is critical to
successful end-user computing (EUC) project rollouts. Today, user experience
expectations are increasingly being set based on devices such as ultrabooks
and tablets that use flash memory. For example, the rapid application
response time of a modern ultrabook computer is due in large part to its use of
a solid-state drive (SSD). Knowledge workers accustomed to working with an
ultrabook, that easily peaks over 2,000 I/O operations per second (IOPS),
might have performance problems with a virtual desktop that only delivers
between 7 and 25 IOPS (the common planning assumption range in previous
EUC reference architectures). This can lead to calls to the help desk from
unhappy users complaining that performance is unacceptably slow. A modern
EUC deployment must deliver a better-than-local-desktop user experience and
a better cost per desktop relative to a physical machine. A deployment must
also enable IT to continue using existing desktop management tools and
applications.
EUC exacerbates this need for higher desktop IOPS by centrally serving
potentially tens of thousands of virtual operating systems and applications
running concurrently. EUC also introduces its own unique challenges, such as
boot storms and login storms that have peak IOPS requirements that often
exceed the typical operational parameters of storage arrays. These factors
combined with the desire to build an economical solution have led to subpar
EUC infrastructures that result in a less-than-desirable user experience, such
as those that under-size storage and downgrade desktop functionality by
disabling various software components.
Using the EMC® XtremIO™ all-flash array as the foundation for EUC
deployments creates several unique advantages that cannot be achieved with
any other EUC deployment architecture:
10
•
Complete flexibility in EUC deployments—Administrators can use
persistent desktops or nonpersistent desktops, deployed as either Citrix
Provisioning Services (PVS) streamed or Citrix XenDesktop Machine
Creation Services (MCS) linked clones, or any combination thereof,
without regard to underlying I/O performance or excessive capacity
consumption. The XtremIO platform gives administrators the flexibility to
do what is right for their business because there is no inherent
advantage or disadvantage in performance or cost with either
deployment method or any combination of deployment methods.
•
Superior EUC user experience—Every desktop in an XtremIO deployment
gets an all-SSD experience with reliable and massive I/O potential both
in sustained IOPS and the ability to burst to much higher levels as
dictated by demanding applications such as Microsoft Outlook, desktop
search, and antivirus scanning. De-featuring desktops is no longer
necessary, so users can run on fully functional desktops. Even during
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 1: Executive Summary
scale testing, every simulated application operation was completed in
half or less of the acceptable user experience boundaries. This
performance was superior by a wide margin to any previously tested
shared storage array.
•
Lowest cost per virtual desktop—XtremIO EUC deployments are
surprisingly affordable. Due to XtremIO inline data reduction and
massive performance density, the cost per desktop is lower than with
other EUC solutions, enabling virtual desktops to be deployed for less
than their physical desktop counterparts.
•
Rapid provisioning and rollout—XtremIO setup is simple and requires no
tuning, any EUC deployment model can be chosen at will, and complex
planning is eliminated. EUC deployments can be designed and rolled out
quickly with assured success.
•
No need for third-party tools—The XtremIO platform solves all
I/O-related EUC deployment challenges. Deployments with the XtremIO
array do not require additional caching or host-based deduplication
schemes, or any other point solutions that increase expense and
complexity.
•
No change to desktop administration—Whatever methods
administrators use to manage their existing physical desktops can be
directly applied to the EUC deployment when the XtremIO array is used.
No changes to software updates, operating system patching, antivirus
scanning, or other procedures need to be made to lighten the I/O load
on shared storage. Rather, administrators can confidently rely on
XtremIO high performance levels.
•
No change to desktop features—Virtual desktop best practices currently
require dozens of changes to the desktop image to reduce the I/O load
on the shared storage. The XtremIO array requires none of these
changes, enabling the desktop to remain fully functional and
maintaining a strong user experience.
Solution overview
EMC's commitment to consistently maintain and improve quality is led by the
Total Customer Experience (TCE) program, which is driven by Six Sigma
methodologies. As a result, EMC has built Customer Integration Labs in its
Global Solutions Centers to reflect real-world deployments in which TCE use
cases are developed and executed. These use cases provide EMC with an
insight into the challenges currently faced by its customers.
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
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Chapter 1: Executive Summary
This Proven Solution Guide summarizes a series of best practices that were
discovered or validated during testing of the EMC infrastructure for Citrix
XenDesktop 7.1 solution using the following products:
•
EMC XtremIO all-flash array
•
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
•
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
•
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 R2
This solution aids in the design and successful deployment of virtual desktops
on Citrix XenDesktop 7.1. This solution provides ultimate performance while
delivering a highly attractive cost per desktop—not just for storage, but for the
overall infrastructure.
Desktop virtualization enables organizations to exploit additional benefits
such as:
•
Increased security by centralizing business-critical information
•
Increased compliance as information is moved from endpoints into the
data center
•
Simplified and centralized management of desktops
Customers will realize:
•
A user experience that is superior to that of a physical desktop equipped
with a dedicated SSD
•
Increased control and security of their global, mobile desktop
environment, typically their most at-risk environment
•
Increased end-user productivity with a more consistent environment
•
Simplified management with the environment contained in the data
center
•
Better support of service-level agreements and compliance initiatives
•
Lower operational and maintenance costs
Key results and recommendations
The testing revealed the following conclusions:
•
12
The XtremIO array can deliver outstanding user experience to each virtual
desktop user by servicing I/O at sub-millisecond latency at high I/O
levels for 4,000 MCS linked-clone or PVS desktops across a wide variety
of desktop workloads. These desktops can be PVS, PVS with Personal
vDisk, MCS linked clones, MCS linked clones with Personal vDisk, or a
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 1: Executive Summary
combination of these. Based on utilization statistics recorded during
testing, an XtremIO cluster with two X-Bricks can scale up to 8,000 PVS
streamed or MCS linked-clone desktops, or 4,000 desktops per X-Brick.
•
As the IOPS read/write ratio changes, the XtremIO responsiveness
remains virtually unchanged. The EMC XtremIO array does not require
any system-level post-process garbage collection, nor does it exclusively
lock SSDs being written to—both commonly implemented in all-flash
arrays. As a result, the XtremIO array can provide consistent performance
for any mix of read/write IOPS.
•
The user experience of the virtual desktops as they fill up and must
overwrite existing capacity in the array is not degraded over time. Citrix
XenDesktop stakeholders (including end users, storage administrators,
virtualization administrators, and desktop administrators) benefit from
the predictable, consistent performance of the XtremIO array.
This proven solution provides a blueprint for a validated Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
virtualization solution enabled by EMC XtremIO storage and the Microsoft
Hyper-V 2012 R2 virtualization platform. The solution can support and scale to
thousands of virtual desktops.
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
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Chapter 1: Executive Summary
14
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 2: Introduction
Chapter 2
Introduction
This chapter presents the following topics:
Introduction to the EMC XtremIO all-flash array .......................................... 16
Document overview .................................................................................... 17
Reference architecture................................................................................ 19
Configuration ............................................................................................. 21
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
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Chapter 2: Introduction
Introduction to the EMC XtremIO all-flash array
The EMC XtremIO all-flash array is designed to maximize the use of flash
storage media. Key attributes of the XtremIO platform are:
•
Incredibly high levels of I/O performance, particularly for random I/O
workloads that are typical in virtualized environments
•
Consistently low (sub-millisecond) latency
•
True inline data reduction—the ability to remove redundant information
in the data path and write only unique data on the storage array, thus
lowering the amount of capacity required
•
A full suite of enterprise array capabilities, such as N-way active
controllers, high availability, strong data protection, and thin
provisioning
Furthermore, the XtremIO array is a scale-out design, in which additional
performance and capacity are added in a building block approach, with all
building blocks forming a single clustered system. The following are some of
the benefits of the EMC XtremIO platform:
16
•
Standards-based enterprise storage system—The XtremIO system
interfaces with Hyper-V hosts using standard Fibre Channel (FC) and
iSCSI block interfaces. The system supports complete high-availability
features, including support for native Hyper-V multipath I/O, protection
against failed SSDs, nondisruptive software and firmware upgrades, no
single point of failure (SPOF), and hot-swappable components.
•
Real-time, inline data reduction—The XtremIO storage system
deduplicates desktop images in real time, enabling a massive number of
virtual desktops to reside in a small and economical amount of flash
capacity. Furthermore, data reduction on the XtremIO array does not
adversely affect IOPS or latency performance; rather, it enhances the
performance of the EUC environment.
•
Scale-out design—A single X-Brick is the fundamental building block of a
scaled-out XtremIO clustered system. Virtual desktop deployments can
start small (about 1,000 desktops) and grow to nearly any size required
simply through the configuration of a larger XtremIO cluster. The system
expands capacity and performance linearly as building blocks are
added, making EUC sizing and management of future growth extremely
simple.
•
Massive performance—The XtremIO array is designed to handle very
high, sustained levels of small, random, mixed read and write I/O as is
typical in virtual desktops, and to do so with consistent extraordinarily
low latency.
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 2: Introduction
•
Ease of use—The XtremIO storage system requires only a few basic setup
steps that can be completed in minutes with absolutely no tuning or
ongoing administration to achieve and maintain high performance
levels. The system can be taken from shipping box to deployment
readiness in less than an hour.
•
Data center economics—4,000 or more desktops are easily supported on
a single X-Brick, requiring just a few rack units of space and
approximately 750 W of power.
Document overview
Use case
definition
The following use cases are examined in this solution:
•
Boot storm
•
Antivirus scan
•
Microsoft security patch install
•
User workload simulated with Login Consultants Login VSI 4.0 tool
•
Login storm (as part of the Login VSI user workload simulation)
Chapter 7, Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal
vDisk, and Chapter 8, Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed
Desktops with Personal vDisk, contain the test definitions and results for each
use case.
Purpose
The purpose of this solution is to provide a virtualized infrastructure for virtual
desktops powered by Citrix XenDesktop 7.1, Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2, and
the EMC XtremIO all-flash array.
This solution includes all the components required to run this environment,
such as the infrastructure hardware, software platforms including Microsoft
Active Directory, and the required Citrix XenDesktop configuration.
Information in this document can be used as the basis for a solution build,
white paper, best practices document, or training.
Scope
This Proven Solution Guide contains the results observed from testing the EMC
Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 solution. The objectives of this testing
were to establish:
•
A reference architecture of validated hardware and software that permits
easy and repeatable deployment of the solution
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
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Chapter 2: Introduction
•
The best practices for storage configuration that provides optimal
performance, scalability, and protection in the context of the mid-tier
enterprise market
Not in scope
Implementation instructions are beyond the scope of this document.
Information on how to install and configure XenDesktop 7.1 components,
Hyper-V 2012 R2, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2, and the
required EMC products is outside the scope of this document. References to
supporting documentation for these products are provided where applicable.
Audience
The intended audience for this Proven Solution Guide is:
Prerequisites
Terminology
•
Internal EMC personnel
•
EMC partners
•
Customers
It is assumed that the reader has a general knowledge of the following
products:
•
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
•
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2
•
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
•
Citrix Provisioning Services 7.1
•
EMC XtremIO all-flash array
•
Cisco Nexus switches
Table 1 lists the terms that are frequently used in this document.
Table 1.
18
Terminology
Term
Definition
Citrix Provisioning
Services (PVS)
A service that integrates with the XenDesktop platform to
provision and deliver streamed virtual desktops that share a
common disk image (vDisk).
Linked clone
A virtual desktop created by XenDesktop Machine Creation
Services from a writeable snapshot paired with a read-only base
image of a master desktop.
Login VSI
A third-party benchmarking tool developed by Login Consultants
that simulates real-world EUC workloads. Login VSI uses an
AutoIT script and determines the maximum system capacity
based on the response time of the users.
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 2: Introduction
Term
Definition
Machine Creation
Services (MCS)
A XenDesktop service that integrates effectively with
XenDesktop Delivery Controller to provide advanced image
management and storage optimization.
Personal vDisk
A Citrix feature introduced in XenDesktop 5.6 that retains the
single-image management of pooled and streamed desktops
while enabling users to install applications and change their
desktop settings.
PVS streamed desktop
A streamed virtual desktop created by Citrix Provisioning
Services paired with a single shared disk image (vDisk).
vDisk
A virtual hard disk that contains the imported virtual desktop
master image. The vDisk is created by and then shared from the
PVS servers; the PVS desktops stream data from this vDisk over
the network as needed during their operation.
Reference architecture
Corresponding
reference
architecture
This Proven Solution Guide has a corresponding reference architecture
document that is available on EMC Online Support and EMC.com. Reference
Architecture: EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1—EMC XtremIO AllFlash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 provides more details.
If you do not have access to these documents, contact your EMC
representative.
The reference architecture and the results in this Proven Solution Guide are
valid for 2,500 Windows 7 virtual desktops conforming to the workload
described in the following sections:
•
Validated environment profile for linked clone desktop with Personal
vDisk on page 53
•
Validated environment profile for PVS desktop with Personal vDisk on
page 69
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Chapter 2: Introduction
Reference
architecture
diagram
Figure 1 shows the reference architecture of the midsize solution.
Figure 1.
20
Citrix XenDesktop: Reference architecture
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
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Proven Solution Guide
Chapter 2: Introduction
Configuration
Hardware
resources
Table 2 lists the hardware used to validate the solution.
Table 2.
Citrix XenDesktop: Solution hardware
Hardware
Quantity
Configuration
Notes
EMC XtremIO array
1
• Single managed system of
Shared storage for
virtual desktops and
infrastructure servers
1 X-Brick
• 25 x 400 GB eMLC SSD
drives per X-Brick
Intel-based servers
20
• Memory: 144 GB of RAM
• CPU: 2 x Intel Xeon
E7-2870 with 2.40 GHz
deca-core processors
• Internal storage: 1 x 146
GB internal SAS disk
• External storage: XtremIO
• 18 servers—
Hyper-V desktop
clusters 1 and 2
• 2 servers—Hyper-V
cluster to host
infrastructure
virtual machines
array (FC)
• NIC: Dual-port 10 GbE
adapter
• FC HBA: Dual-port 8 Gbps
adapter
Cisco Nexus 5020
2
• 40 x 10 Gb ports
• 2 Ethernet ports per server
Redundant FC and
LAN A/B configuration
• 2 FC ports per server
Software
resources
Table 3 lists the software used to validate the solution.
Table 3.
Citrix XenDesktop: Solution software
Software
Configuration
XtremIO array (FC-connected shared storage for Hyper-V data stores)
XtremIO XIOS (operating system)
Release 2.2.1
Cisco Nexus
Cisco Nexus 5020
Version 4.2(1)N1(1)
Microsoft Hyper-V servers
Microsoft Hyper-V
2012 R2
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager server
OS
Windows 2012 R2
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Chapter 2: Introduction
Software
Configuration
Desktop broker
Citrix XenDesktop
7.1
Provisioning Services servers
Citrix Provisioning Services
7.1
Virtual desktops
Note: This software is used to generate
the test load.
22
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 (32-bit)
Microsoft Hyper-V Integration Services
6.3.9600.16384
Microsoft Office
Enterprise 2007 (Version 12.0.6562.5003)
Microsoft Internet Explorer
9.0.8112.316421
Adobe Reader
9.1.0
McAfee VirusScan
8.7 Enterprise
Adobe Flash Player
11
Bullzip PDF Printer
6.0.0.865
Login VSI (EUC workload generator)
3.7 Professional Edition
Vdbench (I/O workload generator)
5.03
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
Chapter 3
Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview .................................................................................................... 24
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 ................................................................................. 24
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager
2012 R2 Infrastructure ......................................................................... 28
Windows infrastructure .............................................................................. 30
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
Overview
This chapter describes the general design and layout instructions that apply to
the specific components used during the development of this solution.
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Introduction
Under the XenDesktop 7.1 architecture, management and delivery
components are shared between XenDesktop and XenApp to give
administrators a unified management experience. Figure 2 shows the
XenDesktop 7.1 architecture components.
Figure 2.
XenDesktop 7.1 architecture components
The XenDesktop 7.1 architecture components are:
•
Receiver
Receiver is installed on user devices. It provides users with quick,
secure, self-service access to documents, applications, and desktops
from any of the user’s devices including smart phones, tablets, and PCs.
Receiver provides on demand access to Windows, the web, and
software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.
24
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
•
StoreFront
StoreFront authenticates users to sites hosting resources and manages
stores of desktops and applications that users access.
•
Studio
Studio is the management console that enables you to configure and
manage your deployment, eliminating the need for separate consoles for
managing delivery of applications and desktops. Studio provides various
wizards to guide you through the process of setting up your environment,
creating your workloads to host applications and desktops, and
assigning applications and desktops to users.
•
Delivery Controller
Delivery Controller is installed on servers in the data center. It consists of
services that communicate with the hypervisor to distribute applications
and desktops, authenticate and manage user access, and broker
connections between users, their virtual desktops, and applications. The
controller manages the state of the desktops, starting and stopping them
based on demand and administrative configuration. In some editions,
the controller enables you to install Citrix Profile Management to manage
user personalization settings in virtualized or physical Windows
environments. Each site has one or more installations of Delivery
Controller.
•
Virtual Delivery Agent
Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) is installed on server or workstation
operating systems. It enables connections for desktops and
applications. For remote PC access, install VDA on the office PC.
•
Server OS machines
Virtual machines or physical machines based on a Windows Server
operating system are used for delivering applications or hosted shared
desktops (HSDs) to users.
•
Desktop OS machines
Virtual machines or physical machines based on a Windows Desktop
operating system are used for delivering personalized desktops to users
or applications from desktop operating systems.
•
Remote PC access
User devices are included on a whitelist, enabling users to access
resources on their office PCs remotely from any device running Citrix
Receiver.
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
Deploying Citrix
XenDesktop
components
This solution uses two installations of Citrix XenDesktop Delivery Controller,
each capable of scaling up to 2,000 virtual desktops.
The core elements of this Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 implementation are:
•
Delivery Controller
•
StoreFront
•
Studio
The following components are also required to provide the infrastructure for a
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 deployment:
Citrix Personal
vDisk
•
Microsoft Active Directory
•
Microsoft SQL Server
•
Domain Name System (DNS) server
•
Dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server
Personal vDisk enables users to preserve customization settings and userinstalled applications in a pooled desktop. This capability is accomplished by
redirecting the changes from the user’s pooled virtual machine to a separate
disk called Personal vDisk. During runtime, the content of the Personal vDisk
is blended with the content from the base virtual machine to provide a unified
experience to the end user. The Personal vDisk data is preserved during restart
and refresh operations.
This solution uses a Personal vDisk with both desktop types (MCS and PVS).
Machine Creation MCS is a provisioning mechanism that is integrated with the XenDesktop
Services
management interface, Citrix Studio, to provision, manage, and decommission
desktops throughout the desktop lifecycle from a centralized point of
management.
MCS enables several types of machines to be managed within a catalog in
Citrix Studio. Desktop customization is persistent for machines that use
Personal vDisk, while machines without Personal vDisk are appropriate if
desktop changes are to be discarded when the user logs out.
This solution uses MCS to deploy 2,500 static virtual desktops running
Windows 7 as linked clones. We used the Personal vDisk feature during
testing, although this feature is not explicitly required and similar results are
obtainable without that feature enabled.
Provisioning
Services
26
Citrix PVS takes a different approach from traditional desktop imaging
solutions by fundamentally changing the relationship between hardware and
the software that runs on it. By streaming a single shared disk image (vDisk)
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
instead of copying images to individual machines, PVS enables organizations
to reduce the number of disk images that they manage. As the number of
machines continues to grow, PVS provides the efficiency of centralized
management with the benefits of distributed processing.
As machines stream the disk data dynamically in real time from a single
shared image, the machine image consistency is ensured. In addition, the
configuration, applications, and even the operating system of large pools of
machines can completely change during the restart operation.
In this solution, PVS provisions 2,500 virtual desktops running Windows 7.
The desktops are deployed from a single vDisk image. We used the Personal
vDisk feature during testing, although this feature is not explicitly required
and similar results are obtainable without that feature enabled.
Citrix XenDesktop Citrix XenDesktop 7 provides several options to create a machine catalog
Machine Catalog through PVS using Desktop and Server OS:
Citrix Profile
Management
•
Random with Desktop OS—Connects end users to desktops randomly.
When a user logs out, the desktop is available for another user to log
in. Any changes made to the desktop are lost when it is restarted.
•
Static with Desktop OS—Assigns end users to a certain desktop every
time they log in. When a user logs out, only that user can log back in to
that particular desktop. Any changes made to the desktop are lost
when it is restarted.
•
Personal vDisk with Desktop OS—Assigns end users to a certain
desktop every time they log in. When the user logs out, only that user
can log back in to that particular desktop. Any changes made to the
desktop are saved on the personal vDisk regardless of whether it is
restarted or refreshed.
•
Hosted shared Desktops with Server OS—Connects end users to a
hosted shared desktop session on the Server OS. When a user logs out,
the session is closed. Any changes made to the hosted shared desktop
session are lost when the user logs out.
Citrix Profile Management preserves user profiles and dynamically
synchronizes them with a remote profile repository. Citrix Profile Management
ensures that personal settings are applied to desktops and applications
regardless of the user’s login location or client device.
The combination of Citrix Profile Management and pooled desktops provides
the experience of a dedicated desktop while potentially minimizing the
amount of storage required in an organization.
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
With Citrix Profile Management, a user’s remote profile is downloaded
dynamically when the user logs in to a Citrix XenDesktop. Profile Management
downloads user profile information only when the user needs it.
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager
2012 R2 Infrastructure
Hyper-V 2012 R2
overview
Microsoft Hyper-V is a Windows Server role that was introduced in Windows
Server 2008 but is now available as a dedicated product for use as a
virtualization platform only. Hyper-V virtualizes computer hardware resources,
such as CPU, memory, storage, and networking. This transformation creates
fully functional virtual machines that run their own operating systems and
applications like physical computers.
Hyper-V works with Failover Clustering and Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) to
provide high availability in a virtualized infrastructure. Live migration and live
storage migration enable seamless movement of virtual machines or virtual
machine files between Hyper-V servers or storage systems transparently and
with minimal performance impact.
Microsoft System
Center Virtual
Machine
Manager 2012
R2
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is a management
platform for the virtualized data center, enabling you to configure and manage
your virtualization hosts, networking, and storage resources to create and
deploy virtual machines and services to private clouds that you have created.
SCVMM was used to manage and cluster the Hyper-V servers in this solution.
Citrix XenDesktop and Provisioning Services work with SCVMM to deploy and
manage both MCS linked-clone and PVS-streamed virtual desktops.
Hyper-V Dynamic Dynamic Memory was introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 to increase
Memory
physical memory efficiency by treating memory as a shared resource and
dynamically allocating it to virtual machines. The amount of memory used by
each virtual machine is adjustable at any time. Dynamic Memory reclaims
unused memory from idle virtual machines, which enables more virtual
machines to run at any given time. In Windows Server 2012 R2, Dynamic
Memory enables administrators to dynamically increase the maximum
memory available to virtual machines.
Hyper-V Smart
Paging
28
Even with Dynamic Memory, Hyper-V enables more virtual machines than the
available physical memory can support. In most cases, a memory gap exists
between minimum memory and start-up memory. Smart Paging is a memory
management technique that uses disk resources as temporary memory
replacement. It swaps out less-used memory to disk storage and swaps in
when needed. Performance degradation is a potential drawback of Smart
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Paging. Hyper-V continues to use the guest paging when the host memory is
oversubscribed because it is more efficient than Smart Paging.
Hyper-V NonUniform Memory
Access
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) is a multinode computer technology that
enables a CPU to access remote-node memory. This type of memory access
degrades performance, so Windows Server 2012 employs a process known as
processor affinity, which pins threads to a single CPU to avoid remote-node
memory access. In previous versions of Windows, this feature is only available
to the host. Windows Server 2012 extends this functionality to the virtual
machines, which provides improved performance in symmetrical
multiprocessor (SMP) environments.
Hyper-V Memory
configuration
guidelines
The memory configuration guidelines consider Hyper-V memory overhead and
the virtual machine memory settings.
Hyper-V memory overhead
Virtualized memory has some associated overhead, which includes the
memory consumed by Hyper-V, the parent partition, and additional overhead
for each virtual machine. Leave at least 2 GB memory for the Hyper-V parent
partition in this solution.
Virtual machine memory
In this solution, we assigned each virtual machine 2 GB memory in fixed
mode.
Desktop Hyper-V
clusters
This solution deploys two Hyper-V clusters to host virtual desktops. The server
types were selected based on availability. You can achieve similar results with
a variety of server configurations if the ratio of server RAM per desktop and
number of desktops per CPU core is upheld.
The clusters consist of 9 dual deca-core Hyper-V 2012 R2 servers to support
1,250 desktops each, resulting in approximately 139 virtual machines per
Hyper-V server. Each cluster has access to 5 FC data stores.
Infrastructure
Hyper-V cluster
One Hyper-V cluster is deployed in this solution for hosting the infrastructure
servers.
Note: This cluster is not required if the resources needed to host the infrastructure servers
are already present within the host environment.
The infrastructure Hyper-V cluster consists of two dual deca-core Hyper-V 2012
R2 servers. The cluster has access to a single data store used for storing the
infrastructure server virtual machines.
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
The infrastructure cluster hosts the following virtual machines:
•
Two Windows 2012 R2 domain controllers—Provide DNS, Active
Directory, and DHCP services
•
One SCVMM 2012 R2 server running on Windows 2012 R2—Provides
management services for the Hyper-V clusters
•
Two XenDesktop 7.1 Delivery Controller servers, each running on
Windows 2012 R2—Provide services to broker MCS and PVS desktop
connections and deploy and manage MCS virtual desktops
•
Four Provisioning Services 7.1 servers, each running on Windows 2012
R2—Provide services to deploy and stream the PVS virtual desktops
•
SQL Server 2012 on Windows 2012—Hosts databases for the SCVMM
server and XenDesktop
Windows infrastructure
Introduction
Microsoft Active
Directory
Microsoft Windows provides the infrastructure that is used to support the
virtual desktops. The Windows infrastructure includes the following
components:
•
Active Directory
•
SQL Server
•
DNS server
•
DHCP server
The Windows domain controllers run the Active Directory service that provides
the framework to manage and support the virtual desktop environment. Active
Directory performs the following functions:
•
Manages the identities of users and their information
•
Applies group policy objects
•
Deploys software and updates
Microsoft SQL
Server
SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS). A
dedicated SQL Server 2012 is used to provide the required databases to the
SCVMM server and XenDesktop.
DNS server
DNS is the backbone of Active Directory and provides the primary name
resolution mechanism for Windows servers and clients.
In this solution, the DNS role is enabled on the domain controllers.
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DHCP server
The DHCP server provides the IP address, DNS server name, gateway address,
and other information to the virtual desktops.
In this solution, the DHCP role is enabled on one of the domain controllers.
The DHCP scope is configured with an IP range large enough to support 2,500
virtual desktops.
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Chapter 3: Citrix XenDesktop Infrastructure
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Chapter 4: Storage Design
Chapter 4
Storage Design
This chapter presents the following topic:
EMC XtremIO storage architecture .............................................................. 34
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Chapter 4: Storage Design
EMC XtremIO storage architecture
Introduction
The EMC XtremIO all-flash array features a scale-out clustered design in which
additional capacity and performance can be configured to meet any
requirement. Each cluster building block is a high-availability, highperformance, fully active/active storage system with no SPOF. With multiple
building blocks forming a cluster, the array automatically stays in balance so
all desktops benefit from the entire performance potential of the cluster at all
times.
The XtremIO storage cluster is managed by a powerful operating system,
XtremIO Operating System (XIOS). XIOS ensures that the system remains
balanced and always delivers the highest levels of performance without any
administrator intervention.
•
XIOS ensures that all SSDs in the system are evenly loaded, providing
both the highest possible performance as well as endurance that stands
up to demanding workloads for the entire life of the array.
•
XIOS eliminates the need to perform the complex configuration steps
required on traditional arrays. It eliminates the need to set RAID levels,
determine drive group sizes, set stripe widths, set caching policies, build
aggregates, or do any other such configuration.
•
With XIOS, every volume is automatically and optimally configured at all
times. I/O performance on existing volumes and data sets automatically
increases with large cluster sizes. Every volume can receive the full
performance potential of the entire XtremIO system.
The following sections explain the configuration of the storage provisioned
over FC for the Hyper-V hosts.
34
Storage layout
After it is deployed, the EMC XtremIO all-flash array does not require any
further configuration before LUN creation. During deployment, the XtremIO
array creates the required number of Data Protection Groups, a proprietary
form of a RAID group used to protect data in the event of failed eMLC drive.
XtremIO storage
layout overview
We configured the EMC XtremIO array with the following LUNs for desktop and
infrastructure storage:
•
Ten 4-TB LUNs for desktop storage, with each LUN being used to store
250 desktops
•
One 2-TB LUN for infrastructure server storage
EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
Enabled by the EMC XtremIO All-Flash Array and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
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Chapter 4: Storage Design
Table 4 lists the storage requirements for each of the virtual desktop types.
Table 4.
Storage requirements
Item
Capacity (GB)
Number of items
Total capacity (GB)
MCS linked-clone virtual
desktop
3 GB (average)
2,500
7.5 TB
PVS streamed virtual desktop
write cache disk
6 GB
2,500
15 TB
Personal vDisk (used with
both MCS and PVS desktops)
5 GB
2,500
12.5 TB
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Chapter 4: Storage Design
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Chapter 5: Network Design
Chapter 5
Network Design
This chapter presents the following topics:
Considerations ........................................................................................... 38
XtremIO storage controller configuration .................................................... 39
Hyper-V network configuration ................................................................... 39
Cisco Nexus 5020 Ethernet configuration .................................................... 40
Cisco Nexus 5020 Fibre Channel configuration ............................................ 40
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Chapter 5: Network Design
Considerations
Storage network
layout overview
Figure 3 shows the 10 Gb Ethernet and 8 Gbps FC connectivity between the
Cisco Nexus 5020 switches and the EMC XtremIO storage. Uplink Ethernet
ports coming off the Nexus switches can be used to connect to a 10 Gb or a 1
Gb external LAN. This solution uses the 10 Gb LAN through Cisco Nexus
switches to extend Ethernet connectivity to the desktop clients, Citrix
XenDesktop components, and Windows Server infrastructure. The array also
supports iSCSI, which can be used in place of FC in this solution.
Figure 3.
Logical design
considerations
Citrix XenDesktop: Storage network layout overview
This validated solution uses virtual local area networks (VLANs) to segregate
network traffic of various types to improve throughput, manageability,
application separation, high availability, and security.
The IP scheme for the virtual desktop network must be designed with enough
IP addresses in one or more subnets for the DHCP server to assign them to
each virtual desktop.
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Chapter 5: Network Design
XtremIO storage controller configuration
Storage
controller
interfaces
Figure 4 shows the back of the XtremIO storage controllers for one X-Brick. The
ports marked as A1 and A2 are connected to one Fibre-Channel-enabled
switch, while ports B1 and B2 are connected to a separate Fibre-Channelenabled switch.
Figure 4.
XtremIO storage controllers
Hyper-V network configuration
NIC teaming
All network interfaces on the Hyper-V servers in this solution use 10 GbE
connections. All virtual desktops are assigned an IP address by using a DHCP
server. The Intel based servers use two onboard Broadcom GbE controllers for
all the network connections.
The Hyper-V NIC team was created, the teaming mode was set to
SwitchIndependent, and the load balancing algorithm set to HyperVPort using
the following PowerShell commands:
New-NetLbfoTeam –Name Team1 –TeamMembers NIC1,NIC2 –
LoadBalancingAlgorithm HyperVPort –TeamingMode SwitchIndependent
vSwitch
configuration
The Hyper-V vSwitch was created using the following PowerShell command:
New-VMSwitch –Name VDINET –NetAdapterName Team1 –AllowManagementOS
$False –MinimumBandwidthMode Weight
Virtual management network adapters
The Management, Live Migration, Cluster Shared Volume, and Cluster
Heartbeat virtual network adapters (vNICs) were created by using the following
PowerShell commands:
Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "Management" -SwitchName
"VDINET"
Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName
"Management" -Access -VlanId 50
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Chapter 5: Network Design
Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "Management" MinimumBandwidthWeight 20
Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "LiveMigration" SwitchName "VDINET"
Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName
"LiveMigration" -Access -VlanId 51
Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "LiveMigration" MinimumBandwidthWeight 20
Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "CSVNetwork" -SwitchName
"VDINET"
Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName
"CSVNetwork" -Access -VlanId 52
Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "CSVNetwork" MinimumBandwidthWeight 40
Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "CSVHeartbeat" SwitchName "VDINET"
Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName
"CSVHeartbeat" -Access -VlanId 53
Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "CSVHeartbeat" MinimumBandwidthWeight 20
Cisco Nexus 5020 Ethernet configuration
Overview
The two Cisco Nexus 5020 switches provide redundant high-performance, lowlatency 10 GbE and 8 Gbps FC networking. The Ethernet connections are
delivered by a cut-through switching architecture for 10 GbE server access in
next-generation data centers.
Cabling
In this solution, the cabling is spread across two Nexus 5020 switches to
provide redundancy and load balancing of the network traffic.
Cisco Nexus 5020 Fibre Channel configuration
40
Overview
The two Cisco Nexus 5020 switches provide redundant high-performance, lowlatency 10 GbE and 8 Gbps FC networking. The Ethernet connections are
delivered by a cut-through switching architecture for 10 GbE server access in
next-generation data centers.
Cabling
In this solution, the FC and Data Mover cabling is evenly distributed across
two Nexus 5020 switches to provide redundancy and load balancing of the FC
and network traffic.
Fibre Channel
uplinks
The FC uplinks are configured using single initiator zoning to provide optimal
security and minimize interference. Single initiator zoning requires four FC
zones for each Hyper-V host; each Hyper-V host FC port is zoned individually
to each of the two XtremIO storage controller FC ports.
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Chapter 5: Network Design
Figure 5 provides a visual representation of single initiator zoning. Only one
X--Brick is shown; similar zones were made for the second X-Brick in the
cluster.
Figure 5.
Example of single initiator zoning
The following is an example of the configuration required to create the
necessary FC zones for one Hyper-V host on one of the two Nexus 5020
switches. In this example, we are zoning one of the two Hyper-V host FC ports
to each of the two XtremIO storage controller ports. The remaining Nexus
switch would have a similar configuration, but would be zoning the second
Hyper-V host FC port to each of the XtremIO storage controllers.
vsan database
vsan 100
interface fc2/1
no shutdown
interface fc2/2
no shutdown
interface fc2/3
no shutdown
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Chapter 5: Network Design
fcalias name rtpxio99-sc1 vsan 100
member pwwn 20:00:e8:b7:48:XX:XX:XX
fcalias name rtpxio99-sc2 vsan 100
member pwwn 20:00:e8:b7:48:XX:XX:XX
fcalias name rtpucs1-port1 vsan 100
member pwwn 20:00:e8:b7:48:XX:XX:XX
zone name rtpucs1-port1_rtpxio99-spa vsan 100
member fcalias rtpucs1-port1
member fcalias rtpxio99-sc1
zone name rtpucs1-port1_rtpxio99-spb vsan 100
member fcalias rtpucs1-port1
member fcalias rtpxio99-sc2
zoneset name rtplab-1 vsan 100
member rtpucs1-port1_rtpxio99-sc1
member rtpucs1-port1_rtpxio99-sc2
zoneset activate name rtplab-1 vsan 100
42
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Chapter 6
Installation and Configuration
This chapter presents the following topics:
Installation overview .................................................................................. 44
Provisioning XtremIO storage ..................................................................... 44
Citrix XenDesktop components ................................................................... 46
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Installation overview
This chapter provides an overview of the following:
•
Creating initiator groups and provisioning storage on the XtremIO array
•
Configuring desktop pools
The installation and configuration steps for the following components are
available on the Citrix and Microsoft websites respectively:
•
Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 components
•
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 and SCVMM 2012 R2
The installation and configuration steps for the following components are not
covered:
•
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2012 R2
•
Microsoft Active Directory, Group Policies, DNS, and DHCP
•
Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Provisioning XtremIO storage
XtremIO initiator
group and LUN
provisioning
44
The EMC XtremIO array is easily configured, enabling new volumes to be
created and associated with clients in just three simple steps:
1.
From the XtremIO Configuration page, click Add in the Initiator Groups
column, create an initiator group, and populate it with the clients that
need access to the XtremIO array, as shown in Figure 6. Click Finish
when done adding clients.
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Figure 6.
2.
From the XtremIO Configuration page, click Add in the Volumes column
and create a volume of the required size, as shown in Figure 7. Click
Finish when done configuring volumes.
Figure 7.
3.
Create an XtremIO initiator group
Create an XtremIO volume
On the XtremIO Configuration page, follow the steps shown in Figure 8:
Select the volume (1) and initiator group (2), click Map All (3), and then
click Apply (4). The volume is now available to the hosts in the selected
initiator group.
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Figure 8.
Map the XtremIO volume to an initiator group
Figure 9 shows the LUN configuration in the EMC XtremIO user
interface, as well as the LUN mapping for one of the two initiator
groups. In the example, each group contains the World Wide Names
(WWNs) of the hosts in the indicated Hyper-V cluster.
Figure 9.
XtremIO LUN configuration and zoning
Citrix XenDesktop components
Citrix
XenDesktop
installation
overview
46
The Citrix XenDesktop Installation document available on the Citrix website
has detailed procedures on how to install Delivery Controller, StoreFront,
Studio, Director, and License server. No special configuration instructions are
required for this solution.
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Citrix
XenDesktop
setup
Citrix
Provisioning
Services setup
Provision MCS
linked-clone
virtual desktops
Before deploying the desktop pools, ensure that the following steps from the
Citrix XenDesktop Install eDocument have been completed:
1.
Join XenDesktop servers to the domain.
2.
Install XenDesktop components on all servers (the license server only
needs one instance).
3.
Configure a site.
4.
Add SCVMM certificates to all Delivery Controller servers.
5.
Add the SCVMM server to the Delivery Controllers.
Before deploying the desktop pools, ensure that the following steps from the
Citrix Provisioning Services Installation and Configuration document have
been completed:
1.
Join Provisioning Services servers to the domain.
2.
Install Provisioning Services components on all servers.
3.
Create a PVS farm.
4.
Create a PVS site.
5.
Add all PVS servers to the PVS site.
6.
Configure the PVS server properties for each PVS server.
7.
Link the SCVMM server to the PVS site.
8.
Create a vDisk and import the virtual desktop master image.
This solution uses two static desktop pools to deploy the virtual desktops. The
following procedure demonstrates the creation of a MCS linked-clone desktop
pool.
To create one of the static desktop pools as configured for this solution,
complete the following steps:
1.
Open the Citrix XenDesktop Studio.
2.
Click Machine Catalogs in the left pane.
3.
Click Create Machine Catalog in the right pane.
The Wizard appears.
4.
Under Machine Management, select Virtual Machine and MCS.
5.
Under Desktop Experience, select Static and Save changes to on
separate personal vDisk or on local disk.
6.
Under Master Image, select Master image and Resource.
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
Provision PVS
streamed virtual
desktops
7.
Under Virtual Machines, configure the number of Virtual Machines to
deploy, CPU, and Memory settings.
8.
Under Computer Accounts, specify where to put the computer account
in the Active Directory and naming schema.
9.
On the Summary page of the wizard, name the catalog and click Finish
to start provisioning.
This solution uses two static desktop pools to deploy the virtual desktops. The
following procedure demonstrates the creation of a PVS streamed desktop
pool with the Personal vDisk feature enabled.
To create one of the static desktop pools as configured for this solution,
complete the following steps:
1.
Open the Citrix Provisioning Services Console.
2.
If the PVS server is not already connected, right-click the Provisioning
Services Console in the console window and click Connect to Farm.
Provide a PVS server name and click Connect.
3.
Expand the PVS menus so that the PVS site is visible. Right-click the
PVS site name and click XenDesktop Setup Wizard.
4.
At the Welcome page of the wizard, click Next.
5.
At the XenDesktop Controller page of the wizard, type the name of a
XenDesktop controller and click Next.
6.
At the XenDesktop Host Resources page of the wizard, select a
destination Hyper-V cluster and click Next.
7.
In the XenDesktop Host Resources Credentials page of the wizard, type
the credentials of an account with desktop creation permissions in
XenDesktop and click Ok.
8.
At the Template page of the wizard, select the appropriate Hyper-V
template and click Next.
9.
At the vDisk page of the wizard, select the vDisk of the master desktop
and click Next.
10. At the Catalog page of the wizard, type the name of a new XenDesktop
desktop catalog and click Next.
11. At the Operating System page of the wizard, select Windows Desktop
Operating System and click Next.
12. At the User Experience page of the wizard, select The same (static)
desktop and Save changes and store them on a separate personal
vDisk; click Next.
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13. At the Virtual machines page of the wizard, provide the desired values
for number of desktops to create, and the desktop configuration
including number of vCPUs, memory, write cache, Personal vDisk size
and drive letter, and boot mode, and click Next.
14. At the Active Directory page of the wizard, select Create new accounts
and click Next.
15. At the Active Directory accounts and location page of the wizard, select
the desired destination for the desktop Active Directory accounts and
their naming scheme and click Next.
16. On the Summary page of the wizard, review the settings and make any
revisions if needed. Click Finish to begin the desktop creation process.
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Chapter 6: Installation and Configuration
50
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Chapter 7
Testing and Validation: MCS LinkedClone Desktops with Personal vDisk
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview .................................................................................................... 52
Validated environment profile ..................................................................... 53
Boot storm results ...................................................................................... 56
Antivirus results ......................................................................................... 58
Patch install results ................................................................................... 60
Login VSI results ........................................................................................ 63
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Overview
This chapter provides a summary and characterization of the tests performed
to validate the solution for MCS linked-clone desktops. The goal of the testing
was to characterize the performance of the solution and its component
subsystems during the following scenarios:
•
Boot storm of all desktops
•
McAfee antivirus full scan on all desktops
•
Security patch install with Microsoft SCCM 2012 R2 on all desktops
•
User workload testing using Login VSI on all desktops
We performed the testing with an XtremIO cluster that contained a single
X-Brick running 2,500 desktops. XtremIO performance scales linearly with
each X-Brick added to the cluster, meaning that an XtremIO cluster with four
X-Bricks that hosts 10,000 desktops will provide similar performance to a
single X-Brick cluster running 2,500 desktops. All tests were run on a fully
preconditioned XtremIO system, where all the flash capacity had been
previously overwritten with non-zero data to represent steady-state, long-term
production conditions1.
Table 5 provides a summary of the test results for MCS linked-clone desktops.
Table 5.
Solution test results summary: MCS linked-clone desktops
Operation
Peak IOPS from 2,500
MCS linked-clone
desktops running
concurrently
Average
storage
latency
Boot storm
87,970
Sub-1 ms
Antivirus scan
59,568
Patching
47,034
Login VSI
44,269
Total IOPS capability of
a 4 X-Brick cluster
600K mixed
(50%:50%) IOPS
As shown in Table 5, each X-Brick can easily sustain even the most
I/O-intensive applications for 2,500 MCS linked clone desktops concurrently
per X-Brick.
1
Refer to the IDC paper at http://idcdocserv.com/241856 for information on how to test an
all-flash array.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Validated environment profile
Profile
characteristics
Table 6 provides the validated environment profile.
Table 6.
Citrix XenDesktop environment profile: MCS linked-clone desktops
Profile characteristic
Value
Number of virtual desktops
2,500
Virtual desktop OS
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1
(32-bit)
CPU per virtual desktop
1 vCPU
Number of virtual desktops per CPU core
6.94
RAM per virtual desktop
2 GB
Average storage available for each linked clone desktop
(not including the shared base disk)
16 GB
Average storage used in the shared virtual desktop
master image (used by Windows and applications)
14 GB
Average physical storage used for each linked clone
desktop on the XtremIO all-flash array (after deduplication)
220.8 MB
Deduplication ratio of linked clone desktops
6.6:1
Note: All desktops were thinly provisioned, so the
deduplication ratio is calculated based only on space that
was actually in use.
Average IOPS per virtual desktop at Login VSI steady state
11.6
Peak IOPS observed per virtual desktop during Login VSI
testing
282.3
Peak IOPS observed per virtual desktop during boot storm
130.9
Average IOPS observed per virtual desktop throughout
boot storm
36.2
Total time required by XenDesktop to deploy 2,500
desktops
2 hours 56 minutes
Average time required to deploy a single desktop
4 minutes
Number of data stores used to store virtual desktops
10
Number of virtual desktops per data store
250
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Profile characteristic
Value
Drive and RAID type for data stores
• 400 GB eMLC SSD drives
• EMC XtremIO proprietary
data protection, XtremIO
Data Package (XDP), that
delivers RAID 6-like data
protection but better than
the performance of RAID 10
Number of Hyper-V clusters used for desktops
2
Figure 10 shows the storage capacity utilization of the XtremIO array after the
deployment of 2,500 MCS linked-clone desktops.
Figure 10. Storage capacity utilization: 2,500 MCS linked-clone desktops
Use cases
We tested the following use cases to validate whether the solution performed
as expected under heavy load situations:
•
Simultaneous boot of all desktops
•
Full antivirus scan of all desktops
•
Installation of a monthly release of security updates using SCCM 2012
R2 on all desktops
•
Login and steady-state user load simulated using the Login VSI medium
workload on all desktops
Note: The results presented are what were obtained in the EMC Strategic Solutions
Engineering lab. Results may vary based on environmental conditions.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Login VSI
We used Login VSI version 3.7 to run a user load on the desktops. Login VSI
provided the guidance to gauge the maximum number of users a desktop
environment can support. The Login VSI workload is categorized as light,
medium, heavy, multimedia, core, and random (also known as workload
mash-up). The medium workload selected for this testing had the following
characteristics:
•
The workload emulated a medium knowledge worker who used Microsoft
Office Suite, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Bullzip PDF
Printer, and 7-Zip.
•
After a session started, the medium workload repeated every 12
minutes.
•
The response time was measured every 2 minutes during each loop.
•
The medium workload opened up to five applications simultaneously.
•
The type rate was 160 ms for each character.
•
Approximately 2 minutes of idle time was included to simulate realworld users.
Each loop of the medium workload used the following applications:
Login VSI
launcher
•
Microsoft Outlook 2007—Ten email messages were browsed.
•
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)—On one instance of IE, the BBC.co.uk
website was opened. Another instance browsed Wired.com and
Lonelyplanet.com. Finally, another instance opened a flash-based 480p
video file.
•
Microsoft Word 2007—One instance of Microsoft Word 2007 was used to
measure the response time, while another instance was used to edit a
document.
•
Bullzip PDF Printer and Adobe Acrobat Reader—The Word document was
printed to PDF and reviewed.
•
Microsoft Excel 2007—A large Excel worksheet was opened and random
operations were performed.
•
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007—A presentation was reviewed and edited.
•
7-Zip—Using the command line version, the output of the session was
zipped.
A Login VSI launcher is a Windows system that launches desktop sessions on
target virtual desktops. A launcher is either one of two types—master or slave.
A given test bed has only one master but can have several slave launchers as
required.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
The number of desktop sessions a launcher can run is typically limited by CPU
or memory resources. By default, the graphics device interface (GDI) limit is
not tuned. In such a case, Login Consultants recommends using a maximum of
45 sessions per launcher with two CPU cores (or two dedicated vCPUs) and 2
GB of RAM. When the GDI limit is tuned, this limit extends to 60 sessions per
two-core machine.
In this validated testing, we launched 2,500 desktop sessions from 79
launchers, with approximately 32 sessions per launcher. PC over IP (PCoIP)
was used for the XenDesktop client connections. Two vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM
were allocated for each launcher. No bottlenecks were observed on the
launchers during the Login VSI tests.
Boot storm results
Test
methodology
We conducted this test by selecting all the desktops in the SCVMM Server
console, and then selecting Power On. Overlays are added to the graphs in
this chapter to show when the array IOPS achieved a steady state.
For the boot storm test, all 2,500 desktops were fully powered on within 3
minutes and achieved a steady state 17 minutes later. This section details the
performance characteristics of various components of the XenDesktop
infrastructure during the boot storm test.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 11 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
Figure 11. Boot storm: XtremIO array total IOPS
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During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 87,970.8 IOPS and 1,728.9 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 12 shows the XtremIO storage controller utilization during the boot
storm test.
Figure 12. Boot storm: Storage controller utilization
The virtual desktops generated high levels of IOPS during the peak load of the
boot storm test. The peak storage controller utilization was 82.3 percent.
Hyper-V CPU load Figure 13 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Figure 13. Boot storm: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 37.3 percent.
Antivirus results
58
Test
methodology
We conducted this test by scheduling a full scan of all desktops using a
custom script to initiate an on-demand scan using McAfee VirusScan 8.7i. The
full scans were started on all the desktops. The difference between start time
and finish time was 1 hour and 20 minutes.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 46 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Figure 14. Antivirus: XtremIO array total IOPS
During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 59,568.8 IOPS and 1,610.1 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 15 shows the storage controller utilization during the antivirus scan
test.
Figure 15. Antivirus: Storage controller utilization
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
During peak load, the antivirus scan operations caused moderate CPU
utilization of 59.5 percent. The EMC XtremIO array had sufficient scalability
headroom for this workload.
Hyper-V CPU load Figure 16 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
Figure 16. Antivirus: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 27.6 percent.
Patch install results
Test
methodology
We performed this test by pushing a monthly release of four Microsoft security
updates to all desktops using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
(SCCM) 2012 R2. All 2,500 desktops were placed in a single collection within
SCCM.
Note: This test simulated patching all 2,500 desktops within a single 2-hour installation
window. While the array was able to deliver high levels of performance throughout this
operation, any large-scale Windows patching should be done over a longer period of time
because some patch installations might require significantly more infrastructure resources
than others.
XtremIO array
IOPS
60
Figure 17 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Figure 17. Patch install: XtremIO array total IOPS
During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 47,034.0 IOPS and 1,092.7 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 18 shows the storage controller utilization during the test.
Figure 18. Patch install: Storage controller utilization
The patch install operations caused moderate CPU utilization during peak
load, reaching a maximum of 47.5 percent utilization.
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Hyper-V CPU load Figure 19 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
Figure 19. Patch install: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 26.7.
Hyper-V data
store response
time
62
Figure 20 shows the average disk seconds/read and average disk
seconds/write counters, which represent the response time for I/O operations
initiated to the storage array. Each server had similar results; therefore, only
the results from a single server are shown in the graph.
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8
Datastore latency (ms)
Patch install
Patch
download
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
211
201
191
181
171
161
151
141
131
121
111
101
91
81
71
61
51
41
31
21
11
1
0
Time (mins)
Average datastore read latency (ms)
Average datastore write latency (ms)
Figure 20. Patch install: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter
The peak disk IOPS of the linked clone LUNs was 7.0 ms.
Login VSI results
Login VSI
We used Login VSI version 3.7 to run a user load on the desktops. Login VSI
provided the guidance to gauge the maximum number of users a desktop
environment can support. The Login VSI workload is categorized as light,
medium, heavy, multimedia, core, and random (also known as workload
mash-up). We selected a medium workload for this testing. Consult the Login
VSI documentation for more information about each individual workload and
instructions on how testing is performed.
Test
methodology
This test was conducted by scheduling 2,500 users to establish a client
connection within a 30-minute window, and then starting the Login VSImedium with flash workload. We ran the workload for 1 hour in a steady state
to observe the load on the XenDesktop infrastructure.
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Chapter 7: Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops with Personal vDisk
Desktop login
time
Figure 21 shows the time required for the desktops to complete the user login
process.
Figure 21. Login VSI: Desktop login time
The time required to complete the login process reached a maximum of 3.36
seconds during peak load of the 2,500 desktop login storm.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 22 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
Figure 22. Login VSI: XtremIO array total IOPS
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During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 44,269.3 IOPS and 920.6 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 23 shows the storage controller utilization during the test.
Figure 23. Login VSI: Storage controller utilization
The storage controller peak utilization was 39.5 percent during the login
storm.
Hyper-V CPU load Figure 24 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
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Figure 24. Login VSI: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 58.9 percent.
Hyper-V data
store response
time
Figure 25 shows the average disk seconds/read and average disk
seconds/write counters, which represent the response time for I/O operations
initiated to the storage array. Each server had similar results; therefore, only
the results from a single server are shown in the graph.
Figure 25. Login VSI: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter
The peak disk IOPS of the linked clone LUNs was 0.95 ms.
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Chapter 8: Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed Desktops with Personal vDisk
Chapter 8
Testing and Validation: Provisioning
Services Streamed Desktops with
Personal vDisk
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview .................................................................................................... 68
Validated environment profile ..................................................................... 69
Boot storm results ...................................................................................... 71
Antivirus results ......................................................................................... 73
Patch install results ................................................................................... 75
Login VSI results ........................................................................................ 78
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Chapter 8: Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed Desktops with Personal vDisk
Overview
This chapter provides a summary and characterization of the tests performed
to validate the solution for PVS streamed desktops. The goal of the testing was
to characterize the performance of the solution and its component
subsystems during the following scenarios:
•
Boot storm of all desktops
•
McAfee antivirus full scan on all desktops
•
Security patch install with Microsoft SCCM 2012 R2 on all desktops
•
User workload testing using Login VSI on all desktops
The testing was performed with an XtremIO cluster that contained a single XBrick running 2,500 desktops. XtremIO performance scales linearly with each
X-Brick added to the cluster, meaning that an XtremIO cluster with four XBricks that hosts 10,000 desktops will provide similar performance to a single
X-Brick cluster running 2,500 desktops. All tests were run on a fully
preconditioned XtremIO system 2.
Table 7 shows the test results for PVS streamed desktops.
Table 7.
Solution test results summary: PVS streamed desktops
Operation
Peak IOPS from 2,500
PVS streamed desktops
running concurrently
Average
storage
latency
Boot storm
22,136
Sub1 ms
Antivirus scan
12,257
Patching
24,504
Login VSI
15,904
Total IOPS capability of
a 4 X-Brick cluster
600K mixed
(50%:50%) IOPS
As shown in Table 7, each X-Brick can easily sustain even the most
IO-intensive applications for 2,500 PVS streamed desktops concurrently per XBrick.
2
68
Refer to the IDC paper http://idcdocserv.com/241856 for how to test an all-flash array.
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Chapter 8: Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed Desktops with Personal vDisk
Validated environment profile
Profile
characteristics
Table 8 provides the validated environment profile.
Table 8.
Citrix XenDesktop environment profile: PVS streamed desktops
Profile characteristic
Value
Number of virtual desktops
2,500
Virtual desktop OS
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1
(32-bit)
CPU per virtual desktop
1 vCPU
Number of virtual desktops per CPU core
6.94
RAM per virtual desktop
2 GB
Average storage available for each PVS clone desktop (not
including the shared base disk)
16 GB
Average storage used in the shared virtual desktop master
vDisk (used by Windows and applications)
14 GB
Average physical storage used for each PVS desktop on
the XtremIO all-flash array (after deduplication, includes
PVS servers)
182.9 MB
Deduplication ratio of PVS desktops and PVS servers
2.0:1
Note: All desktops and PVS servers were thinly
provisioned, so the deduplication ratio is calculated
based only on actual space that was in use.
Average IOPS per virtual desktop at Login VSI steady state
5.2
Peak IOPS observed per virtual desktop during Login VSI
testing
136.2
Peak IOPS observed per virtual desktop during boot storm
41.3
Average IOPS observed per virtual desktop throughout
boot storm
15.1
Time required by XenDesktop to deploy 2,500 desktops
Varies based on number of
Provisioning Services
Consoles used to execute
deployment tasks
Average time required to deploy a single desktop
10 minutes
Number of data stores used to store virtual desktops
10
Number of virtual desktops per data store
250
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Profile characteristic
Value
Drive and RAID type for data stores
• 400 GB eMLC SSD drives
• EMC XtremIO proprietary
data protection XDP that
delivers RAID 6-like data
protection but better than
the performance of
RAID 10
Number of Hyper-V clusters used for desktops
2
Figure 26 shows the storage capacity utilization of the XtremIO array after the
deployment of 2,500 PVS streamed desktops.
Figure 26. Storage capacity utilization: 2,500 PVS streamed desktops
Use cases
This solution tested PVS clone desktops using the same use cases that were
selected for the MCS linked-clone desktop testing. Consult the Use cases
section in Chapter 7 for a list of those use cases.
Note: The results presented are what were obtained in the EMC Strategic Solutions
Engineering lab. Results may vary based on environmental conditions.
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Boot storm results
Test
methodology
This test was conducted by selecting all the desktops in the SCVMM server
console, and then selecting Power On. Overlays are added to the graphs in
this chapter to show when the array IOPS achieved a steady state.
For the boot storm test, all 2,500 desktops were fully powered on within 5
minutes and achieved a steady state 18 minutes later. This section details the
performance characteristics of various components of the XenDesktop
infrastructure during the boot storm test.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 27 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
Figure 27. Boot storm: XtremIO array total IOPS
During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 22,136.5 IOPS and 628.0 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 28 shows the XtremIO storage controller utilization during the boot
storm test.
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Figure 28. Boot storm: Storage controller utilization
The peak storage controller utilization was 28 percent.
Hyper-V CPU load Figure 29 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
Figure 29. Boot storm: Hyper-V CPU load
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The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 86.8 percent.
The PVS desktops generated significant CPU load during the network boot
process.
Hyper-V data
store response
time
Figure 30 shows the average disk seconds/read and average disk
seconds/write counters, which represent the response time for I/O operations
initiated to the storage array. Each server had similar results; therefore, only
the results from a single server are shown in the graph.
Figure 30. Boot storm: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter
The peak disk IOPS of the PVS desktop LUNs was 2.5 ms.
Antivirus results
Test
methodology
We conducted this test by scheduling a full scan of all desktops using a
custom script to initiate an on-demand scan using McAfee VirusScan 8.7i. The
full scans were started on all the desktops. The difference between start time
and finish time was 1 hour and 18 minutes.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 31 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
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Figure 31. Antivirus: XtremIO array total IOPS
During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 12,257.5 IOPS and 521.6 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 32 shows the storage controller utilization during the antivirus scan
test.
Figure 32. Antivirus: Storage controller utilization
The antivirus scan operations caused a peak CPU utilization of 17.8 percent.
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Hyper-V CPU load Figure 33 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
Figure 33. Antivirus: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 50.7 percent.
Patch install results
Test
methodology
We performed this test by pushing a monthly release of four Microsoft security
updates to all desktops using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
(SCCM) 2012 R2. All 2,500 desktops were placed in a single collection within
SCCM.
Note: This test simulated patching all 2,500 desktops within a single 2-hour installation
window. While the array was able to deliver high levels of performance throughout this
operation, any large-scale Windows patching should be done over a longer period of time
because some patch installations might require significantly more infrastructure resources
than others.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 34 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
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Throughput (IOPS)
25000
Patch
download
Patch install
2000
1800
1600
1400
20000
1200
1000
15000
800
10000
600
Bandwidth (MB/s)
30000
400
5000
200
0
1
12
23
34
45
56
67
78
89
100
111
122
133
144
155
166
177
188
199
210
0
Time (mins)
Write-IOPS
Read-IOPS
Bandwidth (MB/s)
Figure 34. Patch install: XtremIO array total IOPS
During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 24,504.8 IOPS and 1,839.4 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 35 shows the storage controller utilization during the test.
Figure 35. Patch install: Storage controller utilization
The patch install operations caused a peak array utilization of 30.5 percent.
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Hyper-V CPU load Figure 36 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
Figure 36. Patch install: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 26.7 percent.
Hyper-V data
store response
time
Figure 37 shows the average disk seconds/read and average disk
seconds/write counters, which represent the response time for I/O operations
initiated to the storage array. Each server had similar results; therefore, only
the results from a single server are shown in the graph.
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Figure 37. Patch install: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter
The peak disk IOPS of the PVS desktop LUNs was 3.3 ms.
Login VSI results
78
Login VSI
We used Login VSI version 3.7 to run a user load on the desktops. Login VSI
provided the guidance to gauge the maximum number of users a desktop
environment can support. The Login VSI workload is categorized as light,
medium, heavy, multimedia, core, and random (also known as workload
mash-up). A medium workload was selected for this testing. Consult the Login
VSI documentation for more information about each individual workload and
instructions on how testing is performed.
Test
methodology
We conducted this test by scheduling 2,500 users to establish a client
connection within a 30-minute window and then starting the Login VSImedium with flash workload. We ran the workload for 1 hour in a steady state
to observe the load on the XenDesktop infrastructure.
Desktop login
time
Figure 38 shows the time required for the desktops to complete the user login
process.
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Chapter 8: Testing and Validation: Provisioning Services Streamed Desktops with Personal vDisk
Figure 38. Login VSI: Desktop login time
The time required to complete the login process reached a maximum of 11.4
seconds during peak load of the 2,500-desktop login storm, although more
than 99 percent of the desktops completed the login process in less than 4.4
seconds.
XtremIO array
IOPS
Figure 39 shows the total IOPS and bandwidth serviced by the XtremIO array
during the test.
Figure 39. Login VSI: XtremIO array total IOPS
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During peak load, the XtremIO array serviced 15,904 IOPS and 1,821.3 MB/s
of bandwidth.
Storage
controller
utilization
Figure 40 shows the storage controller utilization during the test.
Figure 40. Login VSI: Storage controller utilization
The storage controller peak utilization was 38.0 percent during the login
storm. The XtremIO array had sufficient scalability headroom for this workload.
Hyper-V CPU load Figure 41 shows the CPU load from one of the servers in the Hyper-V clusters.
Each server had similar results; therefore, only the results from a single server
are shown in the graph.
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Figure 41. Login VSI: Hyper-V CPU load
The Hyper-V server achieved a peak processor total run time of 78.6 percent.
Hyper-V data
store response
time
Figure 42 shows the average disk seconds/read and average disk
seconds/write counters, which represent the response time for I/O operations
initiated to the storage array. Each server had similar results; therefore, only
the results from a single server are shown in the graph.
Figure 42. Login VSI: Average Guest Millisecond/Command counter
The peak disk IOPS of the PVS desktop LUNs was 1.6 ms.
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Chapter 9: Conclusion
Chapter 9
Conclusion
This chapter presents the following topics:
Summary.................................................................................................... 84
References ................................................................................................. 85
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Chapter 9: Conclusion
Summary
As shown in Chapter 7, Testing and Validation: MCS Linked-Clone Desktops
with Personal vDisk, and Chapter 8, Testing and Validation: Provisioning
Services Streamed Desktops with Personal vDisk, the features of the EMC
XtremIO all-flash array enable Citrix XenDesktop environments to achieve high
levels of performance, scale as needed, be easier to administer, and require
less overall infrastructure resources.
The performance capabilities of the XtremIO array enable virtual desktop
application response times to mirror the SSD experience of the most modern
physical desktops, even if it the virtual desktop was not optimized to minimize
the I/O footprint as is required with some storage solutions.
The performance capabilities of the XtremIO array also enable virtual desktops
to power on and off or suspend and resume much more quickly than when
using non-all-flash arrays. This enables organizations to potentially reduce
virtual desktop infrastructure resource utilization by powering off or
suspending desktops when they are not needed.
The deduplication capabilities of the XtremIO array further reduce the storage
required for both PVS-streamed virtual desktops and MCS linked-clone virtual
desktops, enabling XenDesktop administrators to select whichever desktop
type best suits their environment. This allows for an attractive storage cost per
desktop, although the desktop is 100-percent flash.
This solution provides a blueprint of a validated Citrix XenDesktop 7.1
virtualization solution enabled by an EMC XtremIO all-flash array and the
Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 virtualization platform. The solution can scale to
and support thousands of virtual desktops.
Findings
By using the XtremIO storage system as the foundation for Citrix XenDesktop
deployments, you gain the following unique advantages that cannot be
achieved with any other XenDesktop deployment architecture:
•
84
Superior XenDesktop user experience—Test results showed that every
desktop in an XtremIO deployment gets reliable and massive I/O
potential both in sustained IOPS and the ability to burst to much higher
levels as dictated by demanding applications such as Microsoft Outlook,
desktop search, and antivirus scanning. During the 2,500-desktop
testing, every Login VSI simulated application operation was completed
much more quickly than the acceptable user experience boundaries.
This performance is superior by a wide margin to all other all-flash
shared storage arrays.
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Chapter 9: Conclusion
•
Lowest cost per virtual desktop—XtremIO deployments of XenDesktop
are surprisingly affordable. Due to XtremIO inline data reduction and
massive performance density, the cost per desktop is lower than with
other XenDesktop solutions, enabling virtual desktops to be deployed
for less than their physical desktop counterparts.
•
Rapid provisioning and rollout—Because the XtremIO array is simple to
set up and requires no tuning, and because any XenDesktop deployment
model (PVS, PVS with Personal vDisk, linked clone, linked clone with
Personal vDisk, or any combination thereof) can be chosen at will,
complex planning is eliminated. XenDesktop deployments can be
designed and rolled out quickly with assured success.
•
No need for third-party tools—The XtremIO platform solves all
I/O-related XenDesktop deployment challenges. Deployment does not
require additional caching, host-based deduplication schemes, or any
other point solutions that increase expense and complexity.
•
No change to desktop administration—Whatever methods
administrators are using to manage their existing physical desktops can
be directly applied to the XenDesktop deployment when the XtremIO
array is used. No software updates, operating system patching, antivirus
scanning, or other procedures are required to lighten the I/O load on
shared storage. Instead, administrators can confidently rely on XtremIO
high performance.
•
No change to desktop setup—XenDesktop best practices currently
dictate dozens of changes to the desktop image to reduce the I/O load
on shared storage. The XtremIO array requires none of these changes,
enabling the desktop to remain fully functional while maintaining a
strong user experience.
References
Supporting
documents
The following documents, located on EMC Online Support, provide additional
and relevant information. Access to these documents depends on your login
credentials. If you do not have access to a document, contact your EMC
representative.
•
Flash Implications in Enterprise Storage Array Designs
•
Reference Architecture: EMC Infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1—
EMC VNX Series (NFS and FC) and Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
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Chapter 9: Conclusion
Microsoft
documents
The following documents, located on the Microsoft website, also provide
useful information:
•
•
Citrix
documentation
Hyper-V Overview page on Microsoft TechNet)
Technical Documentation Download for System Center 2012 – Virtual
Machine Manager
The following Citrix document, located on the Citrix website, also provides
useful information:
•
86
Evaluation Guide for Windows Server 2012, which is accessible from the
XenDesktop Design & Deployment Handbook
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