1. View Sizing and Best Practices

2. 22 From

3. 33 Agenda 1. VDI Sizing Methodology Study the Worker Profile Design Server and Storage Architecture Assess Performance 2. Server and Storage Sizing Best Practices 3. Add-on View 3 Reference Architecture

4. 44 VDI Sizing Methodology- Study the Worker Profile

5. 55 VDI Capacity Planning Proper sizing is critical to successful VDI project Affects TCO/ROI Affects end-user experience VDI technology advancing at rapid rate Sizing considerations changing rapidly

6. 66 Step 1: Measure Physical Desktop Usage Study usage patterns of physical desktop (perfmon) VMware Capacity Planner can also be used We measured typical desktop running common apps (Word, Excel, PPT, Adobe, IE, VirusScan) ResourceMeasurement CPU UsagePerfmon: Processor\% Processor Time Memory ConsumptionPerfmon: Memory Available Mbytes Storage Throughput Storage IOPS Perfmon: Physical Disk\Bytes Transferred / sec Perfmon: Physical Disk\Transfers / sec Network ThroughputPerfmon: Network Interface: Bytes Transferred / sec ResourceMeasurementMeasured value CPU UsagePerfmon: Processor\% Processor Time2.79% Memory ConsumptionPerfmon: Memory Available Mbytes254MB Storage Throughput Storage IOPS Perfmon: Physical Disk\Bytes Transferred / sec Perfmon: Physical Disk\Transfers / sec 117760 5 IOPS Network ThroughputPerfmon: Network Interface: Bytes Transferred / sec245

7. 77 Step 2: Estimate CPU Requirements Examine physical usage patterns Perfmon data provides CPU requirements from physical desktop Observed 130MHz average on physical desktop Targeting 64 virtual desktops per server (8 VMs per core) 64 VMs x 130MHz = 8.3 GHz Additional considerations when virtualizing Storage virtualization Network virtualization Connection protocol Additional headroom for spikes

8. 88 Step 3: Estimate Memory Requirements Examine physical usage patterns Memory allocated: 512MB Memory consumed: 258MB Additional Considerations when virtualizing ESX can reduce memory requirements due to ESX page sharing Windows XP can be reduced to 125MB footprint on ESX Similar reductions on ESX from common applications Application/ProgramUnique Memory Usage Windows XP125 M Windows Vista (SuperFetch off)175 M Microsoft Word15 M Microsoft Excel15 M Microsoft PowerPoint10 M Microsoft Outlook10 M Memory footprint of four idle VMs quickly decreased to 300MB due to aggressive page sharing. Memory footprint of four idle VMs quickly decreased to 800MB. (Vista has larger memory footprint.)

9. 99 Step 3: Estimate Memory Requirements (Con’t) High watermark (no page sharing) 64 VMs * 512MB = 32GB Low watermark: 64 VMs * 125MB (Win XP) = 8GB 64 VMs * (15MB Word) = 1GB 64 VMs * (15MB Excel) = 1GB 64 VMs * (10MB PowerPoint) = 1GB 64 VMs * (Adobe, IE, Winzip) = 3GB 64 VMs * (VM memory overhead) = 3GB Low watermark17GB Potential range from 17GB – 32GB

10. 10 Step 4: Estimate Network Requirements Examine physical usage patterns Estimated traffic / NIC speed = # of NICs Perfmon showed 245 bytes/sec average on physical desktop 64VMs x 245 bytes/sec = 3920 bytes/sec Additional considerations when virtualizing Remote display protocol Shared, redirected folders (My Documents etc.) Printing Multimedia Multi-port NICs, bus speed (PCI, PCI-X)

11. 11 Step 5: Estimate Storage Requirements (Capacity) (Size of vmdk) + (VM RAM) + (suspend/resume) + 100MB per VM for logs) Sample calculation for 64 VMs (32 VMs per LUN): 32 VM * 10GB per VM (vmdk) = 320GB 32 VM * 512MB (VM RAM) = 16GB 32 VM * 512MB (suspend/resume) = 16GB 32 VM * 100MB (logs) = ~4GB 356GB 356GB + 15% free space = 410GB 410GB x 2 LUNs (32 VMs per LUN) = 820GB **Does not include space for user data

12. 12 Step 5b: Estimate Storage Requirements (Performance) Examine physical usage patterns Perfmon showed 5 IOPS and 115KBps (average) 64 VM x 5 IOPS = 320 IOPS 64 VM x 115 KBps = 7360 KBps Additional considerations when virtualizing Other systems/VMs sharing same spindles VMware ESX disk I/O Boot periods, desktop search, defrag, virus scan etc

13. 13 Summarizing the Worker Profile Minimum estimated CPU: 8.3GHZ + virtualization (typically 5-10%) Minimum estimated memory: 17-32GB (dependent on page sharing across VMs) Minimum estimated network: 16KBps + virtualization Minimum estimated storage: 820GB 320 IOPS / 7360 KBps **Based on study of physical desktop

14. 14 Design Considerations for Server and Storage Architecture

15. 15 Server Architecture Considerations Traditional rack-mount or blade? Blades offer smaller datacenter footprint Higher up-front cost PCI slots (quantity, PCI-X/PCI-E, redundancy) CPU/Memory Target CPU utilization (typically 65-80%) Processor family (VMotion compatibility) # of sockets/cores vs. qty/cost of RAM Impact of single server failure

16. 16 Storage Architecture Considerations Protocol (FC, iSCSI, NFS) Existing infrastructure Tiered solutions (i.e. FC for system drives, NAS for data drives) How many virtual machines per LUN? 30-40.vmdk for average I/O VMs 15-20.vmdk for heavy I/O VMs Highly dependant on storage array: http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1 059 Disk drive rotational speed and capacity Read/write mix, RAID type VMware ESX boot-from-SAN

17. 17 Comparing Disk Drive Models (Speed/Capacity)  Calculating required spindles – example 1 (146GB 10K drive):  820GB / 146GB (RAID 5) = 7 drives (approx)  320 IOPS / 130 IOPs per drive = 3 drives (approx)  Capacity requires 7 drives Drive SpeedIOPS (8KB random mix) 5,400 RPM ATA50 IOPS 7,200 RPM ATA60 IOPS 7,200 RPM SATA80 IOPS 7,200 RPM LCFC80 IOPS 10,000 RPM FC130 IOPS 15,000 RPM FC150 IOPS  Calculating required spindles – example 2 (500GB SATA drive):  820GB / 500GB (RAID 5) = 3 drives (approx)  320 IOPS / 60 IOPs per drive = 6 drives (approx)  Performance requires 6 drives Sample disk drive performance stats:

18. 18 Data Center Architecture Considerations Datacenter design considerations Balance cost, # of VMs, and # of VMware ESX to manage Use a dedicated ESX cluster for VDI? Integrate into existing cluster? Configuration maximums Max 128 vCPUs per VMware ESX Max 20 vCPU per core Max 32 servers per HA/DRS cluster 256 VMFS volumes per server 200 ESX hosts per Virtual Center server 2000 virtual machines per Virtual Center server http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_config_max.pdf

19. 19 Virtual Desktop Considerations Choosing an operating system Windows XP(512MB or higher) Vista (1GB or higher) Choosing resource allocations # of vCPU Quantity of RAM Choosing Storage requirements System drive capacity (GB) Data drive capacity (GB)

20. 20 Sample Building Block  PowerEdge 2950 2 x quad-core Xeon 2.7GHz 32GB RAM  ESX 3.5.0 Update 2  Dell PS5000X 146GB 10K drives RAID 5  32 VMs per public NIC  32 VMs per s/w iSCSI LUN  Windows XP SP2

21. 21 VDI Sizing: Assess Performance

22. 22 Simulating VDI Workloads Capacity planning is difficult but critical True human activity is difficult to replicate Requirements for simulating VDI workloads Must be repeatable Must be measurable Must be scalable Must closely resemble human PC usage patterns Must be tunable via parameters

23. 23 Workload Based on AutoIT Freeware for simulating Windows GUI http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/ Executes the following: 1. Word (open, modify random pages, save and close) 2. Excel (writing to cells, sorting, formulas, charts) 3. PowerPoint (slideshow and edit slides) 4. Adobe Acrobat (Open and browse random pages) 5. Internet Explorer (browse plain-test and web album) 6. Winzip (install/uninstall) 7. McAfee VirusScan (continuous on-access scan)

24. 24 Assess Performance Tools for performance monitoring Esxtop vscsiStats PS Series Monitor (beta) Areas to watch for: CPU: % Processor time Memory: Free Mbytes, page sharing, swapping Network: Bytes Transferred Disk: Reads and Writes/Sec (IOPS), throughput (MB/s)

25. 25 CPU observations – Steady State  8 cores @ 2.67GHz  Averaged approximately 55%  High spikes observed  s/w iSCSI: 55%  h/w iSCSI 49%  Headroom available  **Does not include display protocol

26. 26 Memory Observations – Steady State  32GB physical RAM  64 VMs (512MB RAM each) Identical OS/apps Average consumed: 19GB Page sharing: 13GB  No ESX swapping observed  Page sharing increased/decreased as common apps were opened/closed

27. 27 Storage Observations Steady State  Bursty disk I/O Mainly due to opening/closing apps  IOPS (Estimated 320) 185 average 650 peak  Throughput (Estimated 7360): 3530 average 13733 peak  Potential bottleneck if not sized correctly

28. 28 Measuring In-guest Timing AutoIT allows in-guest measurements Helps to validate end-user experience Shows scalability as more virtual desktops are added

29. 29 Best Practices for Server and Storage Sizing

30. 30 Sizing Best Practices - Server CPU recommendations Dual socket (quad-core) offers nice balance on cost/performance/ROI Current max of 128 vCPUs per ESX host Increasing in upcoming ESX release Memory recommendations Maximize page sharing (same OS/applications and version) Effectively leverage over-commit, avoid swapping Plan for virtual machine memory overhead 84MB for each 32-bit VM with 1GB RAM

31. 31 Sizing Best Practices - Storage Base capacity formula: (Size of vmdk) + (VM RAM) + (suspend/resume) + 100MB per VM for logs) Does not include data drives Understand the workload: Relatively low I/O in normal operation Our workload showed mostly 4KB random I/O Plan for spikes: OS patching - stagger, off-hours Manual virus scan – use on-access scans Desktop search Defrag Cold boot, suspend/resume

32. 32 Sizing Best Practices - Storage Understand disk drive technology in VDI solutions Larger capacity drives typically offer lower performance Compounded during boot storm, virus scan storm etc Sizing for peaks vs. averages SLAs influence design choices Size for capacity (GB) and performance (IOPS, throughput) Light I/O workload makes s/w iSCSI viable Note: No ESX boot-from-SAN with s/w iSCSI Engage your storage admin in the design process Perform storage admin tasks during off-hours

33. 33 Sizing Best Practices – Storage Minimize storage footprint Separate applications from OS (ThinApp) nLite and vLite to streamline guest OS Thin provision storage Virtual machines or entire datastore Single instancing (de-duplication) Array-based snapshots Desktop Composer

34. 34 Sizing Best Practices – Guest OS Remove unnecessary services, device drivers, add- on’s nLite (XP), vLite (Vista) to optimize the OS build Disable graphical screen savers Desktop images should be disposable Use centralized file storage Redirect Application Data. Cookies, Favorites, Templates Roaming/virtualized profiles Use LSILogic SCSI driver … http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/XP_guide_vdi.pdf

35. 35 Sizing Best Practices - Performance ESX Best Practices for Performance http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi_performance_tuning.pdf Disable USB, COM, CD, floppy etc (guest and host) Deploy SMP guests sparingly Additional vCPUs add overhead Over-commit memory can be effective with VDI Avoid ESX swapping Monitor performance through esxtop

36. 36 Future Work … Studying RDP overhead Integration with View Manager Server Integrating additional applications  Outlook (cached mode, online mode) Scalable Virtual Images (SVI) Vista

37. 37 View3 Reference Architecture http://www.vmware.com/resources/wp/view_reference_architecture_register.html

38. 38 The Goal is to provide Components Quicker implementation, reduced costs, and minimized risk Standard Scalable Validated

39. 39 1000 VMs Building Bloc

40. 40 5000 VMs POD

41. 41 Assessment on 1000 VMs

42. 42 Infrastructure 8 VMs /core 64 VMs / LUNs 7 LUNs / Clusters

43. 43 Measurement (sample)

44. 44 Measurement

45. 45 Q&A Questions ?