DVS Enterprise Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture. May 2, 2012

Transcription

1 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture May 2, 2012 THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. Copyright 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. Dell, the Dell logo, and the Dell badge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. Citrix and XenDesktop are registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

2 Contents 1 Dell s Enterprise 6020 Solution Executive Summary Introduction Desktop Virtualization Benefits Desktop Virtualization Overview Desktop Virtualization Solutions Portfolio Solution Architecture Getting Started Planning a Desktop Virtualization deployment Dell DVS Simplified and DVS Enterprise Options Workload Definitions Basic Workload Characterization Standard Workload Characterization Premium Workload Characterization Users per Server Solution Options How Dell will deploy the solution How Dell supports the solution How customers can expand the solution What other software and features are available? Dell offers a wide range of end point devices Sample Configurations Pilot Solution users Expanded Pilot Solution users Scalable Rack-based Solution 50-10,000 users Scalable High Density (Blade) Solution 50-10,000 users Large Deployments 10,000 50,000 users Scaling Overview Enterprise 6020 Configurations allow for scaling from 50-50, Summary Overview Desktop Virtualization Solutions Overview The DVS Enterprise Solution Today The Purpose of this Document Product Positioning Feature Overview Design Principles Architecture Scalability The DVS Enterprise 6020 Solution Architecture Introduction Minimum Initial Configuration Design Minimum Base Configuration Scaling Up - Growing the Solution ii DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

3 7 Hardware Components Networking Networking Overview Initial Networking Configuration Switching Option Guidance Scaling Up - Alternative Networking Options Rack-based Switching Options Blade Chassis Switching Options Virtualization Host Server Virtualization Host Server Overview Initial Virtualization Host Server Configuration Management Server Management Server Overview Initial Management Server Configuration Dell PowerEdge Embedded Server Management Scaling Up - Alternative Server Options Dell M620 Blade Server and M1000e Blade Chassis Dell R620 Rack Server Storage Arrays Storage Overview EqualLogic Features and Benefits Initial Storage Configuration Storage Option Guidance vsphere Storage Configuration SAN Load Balancing Scaling Up - Alternative Tier 2 Storage Options Scaling up Alternative Tier 1 Storage Options Network Attached Storage Enterprise Zero Client and Thin Client Recommendations: Wyse Xenith Pro Wyse Xenith Pro Specifications: Wyse T Wyse T10 Specifications: Software Components XenDesktop Profile Manager Provisioning Services Provisioning Services Networking Dependencies SQL Server 2008 R VMware vcenter and SQL Citrix License Server Citrix Web Interface Server Windows File Services Citrix Desktop Receiver Virtual Desktop Antivirus Windows Active Directory Integration Network Architecture Logical Network Connectivity Physical Network Connectivity Rack Server Physical Network Topology Blade Server Networking Topology Physical Networking Connectivity Virtual Host Server iii DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

4 Physical Networking Connectivity Management Server ESXi Virtual Networking End-user Workload Characterization Workload Characterization Overview Basic Workload Characterization Standard Workload Characterization Premium Workload Characterization Workload Characterization Testing Details Solution Stack Functionality XenDesktop Communication User Login Process Citrix TCP/UDP Port Communication Scaling and Sizing Initial scaling of the Enterprise 6020 by Workload Scaling of the DVS Enterprise 6020 beyond 500 users Performance and Testing Load Generation and Monitoring Login VSI Login Consultants Assessment/Monitoring Tools Liquidware Labs Stratusphere UX Testing Testing Process Testing Summary User Workloads Detailed Testing Results Host Server Testing Summary End User Experience Testing Summary PowerEdge 11G Server Performance Testing Summary High Availability Option Resiliency High Availability Cabling High Availability Networking Virtualization Host Networking Management Host Networking ESXi Virtual Networking Management Server High Availability Provisioning Services High Availability Windows File Services High Availability Load Balancing NetScaler VPX Alternative File Storage with the FS FS7500 Integration Guidelines Customer Provided Stack Components Customer Provided Storage Requirements Customer Provided Switching Requirements iv DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

5 1 Dell s Enterprise 6020 Solution 1.1 Executive Summary Leveraging thousands of hours of engineering design and testing, Dell is delivering the next generation virtual desktop solution designed to help make the complex simple. The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 solution is engineered as a comprehensive enterprise-class solution designed to be: Simple to Plan Simple to Order Simple to Deploy Simple to Support Simple to Expand These elements, together in a single solution, ease the transition to virtual desktop computing and give IT administrators and CIO s the comfort in knowing that they have invested in a solution that will retain its effectiveness and popularity with users well into the future. These elements are combined to leverage the growing trend in consumerization and mobility, allowing users to securely access their applications and company data securely from virtually any device. 1.2 Introduction The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 has a number of important new features inspired by customer insights and Dell s desire to provide users with the maximum feature set, device integration, and flexibility. Features of the Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 include: Scalability: One solution that can scale from 50 users to 50,000 users. o Rapid deployments of pilots for users in just a few days o Readily expandable from a pilot to a large deployment o Deployed in management groups of up to 10,000 seats o Multiple user groups can grow to 50,000 or more seats Reduced Cost per User: Up to 50% more users per server than the previous Dell DVS Enterprise Flexibility: Support for most relevant Dell Products including: o Servers (12G R720 and M620) Citrix or VMware o Storage (EqualLogic or Compellent) o Networking (PowerConnect or Force10) o Zero Clients (Xenith and Xenith Pro ) o Thin Clients (Wyse T10) o Standard Clients (legacy desktops and notebooks) o Mobile Devices including Tablets and non-dell end points o Can be deployed in non-dell Storage and non-dell Networking environments including EMC and Cisco. 2 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

6 Solution Services: Designed to meet the exact needs of the enterprise o On-site deployment services o Break Fix Services o Virtualization Solution Helpdesk access o Image Creation, Deployment and Management Services o Custom hardware & software deployment services o Training Management Services: Flexible options to streamline support o Customer managed on customer site o Customer-managed in Dell Data Center (coming soon) o Dell Managed on Customer Site (coming soon) o Dell Managed in Dell Data Center (coming soon) o Desktop as a Service (DaaS) from Dell s Cloud Dell is providing solutions that are aligned with its core competency of making the complex simple. We have invested thousands of person hours designing and testing the solution to ensure that it can be deployed rapidly and that it will be easy to support. We have also defined the solution components to help optimize the end user s productivity which can help you grow your business. Now with Dell, customers can take advantage of the emerging trends of consumerization and device mobility. In the past, a robust user experience was shackled to a specific device. Now it can be replaced with a flexible and secure solution that can enable a device independent world where users can be secure and productive with most any device, most anywhere, anytime. The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 offering is a comprehensive solution portfolio designed to enable customers to experience the benefits of virtual end user computing with the most options available in a desktop virtualization solution. While there are several ways of delivering virtual desktops, this solution is built on the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) model. In a VDI environment, user desktops are hosted as virtual machines (VMs) in a centralized infrastructure and delivered over a network to an end user s client device. Getting the most out of VDI requires a well-developed, reliable, proven architecture. If the VDI architecture is undersized in terms of processing, memory or storage, then performance will suffer and the user experience will be inferior to that of the traditional PC. If the architecture is oversized, then the cost per virtual desktop may be economically unfeasible. In order to enable Dell to help customers simplify the traditionally complex deployment of desktop virtualization, Dell has defined a specific Solution Architecture. This approach offers a tested methodology for sizing that accelerates time to value and increases operating efficiency during the deployment and over the life of the solution. In a smaller Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 implementation, customers can start with as few as two Dell servers (plus storage and networking), supporting 70 premium/knowledge workers or up to 120 basic workers (180 basic workers on the VMware version). For 500 users, the customer will need seven servers. A typical deployment of users usually takes about a week. After that, the solution can grow seamlessly to as many as 50,000 users or anywhere in between. 3 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

7 Dell DVS leverages tried and tested hardware, software and services ingredients to enable a capable architecture that maximizes IT control while delivering a compelling end user experience. Dell utilizes industry standard components so customers have a clear path to expedient upgrades and full support through the life of the solution without sacrificing choice and flexibility. Dell invests in extensive R&D and solution validation to ensure its desktop virtualization customers can expect a fine-tuned deployment process that leads to pre-determined operational costs to maintain the solution. And, for those customers who want to get out of the cycle of hardware procurement and management, Dell offers the ability to purchase virtual desktops in a subscription based Desktop-as-a-Service model to shift capital costs to operational costs while securing the same level of mission critical service, SLA-supported up-time, and helpdesk support. Dell s virtual Desktop-as-a-Service model takes the desktop IT management out of the equation and allows enterprise customers to focus on their core business operations and innovation. 1.3 Desktop Virtualization Benefits While much has been written about the benefits of desktop virtualization, many customers will find the key factors inspiring a transition to desktop virtualization are a desire for: o Increased Data Security o All data securely locked in the data center. o Allows enterprise to leverage the benefits of consumerization without losing control of important company data and intellectual property. o Increased Protection from Data Loss o Helps protect from the failure of a local hard drive o Helps protect from the loss of a notebook or hard drive (Data Breach) o Simplified Image Management o End Users can Leverage one common master image o Optional user personas for user specific images o Application streaming o Simplified image updates and patching o Simplified and right-sized software license management o Image updates done in the data center not at remote devices o Simplified End User Support o Self-Healing Images User can always reboot to a clean master image o Rip-and-Replace end point service model Just plug it in like a phone All configuration and software resides on the server o Simple and Secure support for most any device Enables Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments ALL screen data is encrypted over the network Can prevent data from being on end point devices Delivers a robust and productive front of screen experience 4 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

8 o Dell makes migrating to VDI as easy as ordering a PC. o Deploys in days. o Just the services you need planning, deployment, image building, long time support etc. with options for full Dell support and hosting. Designed to deliver exactly what your business needs without creating a lifetime annuity for consultants o Start with as few as 2 servers. Add more servers, networking and storage to scale to support thousands of users over time. o Transform users work environment to enable robust and secure access from most any device, anywhere, anytime. 5 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

9 2 Desktop Virtualization Overview 2.1 Desktop Virtualization Solutions Portfolio Dell has developed specific solution categories: Simplified: Targeted at smaller and less sophisticated IT organizations Enterprise: Targeted at more advanced IT organizations The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 Solution is the flagship Enterprise class offering 2.1 Solution Architecture DVS Enterprise is a combination of purpose built horizontal architectures designed to be modular and scalable for an array of customer needs and a defined and tested services methodology along with award-winning Dell ProSupport 1) and an array of optional assessment, design, implementation and managed services. DVS Enterprise utilizes updates to VMware vsphere from 4.1 to 5.0, View from 4.5 to 5.0, and Citrix XenDesktop from 5.0 to 5.5/5.6. It allows customers to start with as few as 50 users and scale up to 50,000 virtual users. Providing a scalable and predictive solution, the modular design enables a minimum configuration of only 2 servers. 6 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

10 Components: Servers: Dell PowerEdge 12G servers, rack (R720) and blades (M620). For blades: PoweEdge M1000e chassis Networking: Dell PowerConnect (preferred), Dell Force10 & non-dell switches 3-tier storage: Dell EqualLogic PS Series iscsi & non-dell storage Virtualization software: Citrix XenDesktop 5.5 VMWare View 5 Hypervisor: VMWare vsphere 5.0 Services: Dell ProSupport services. Deployment services. BluePrint Assessment services optional for lower-seat count installations; strongly recommended for installations above 300 users. Benefits: Latest Dell servers for processing performance to host the virtualization software environment Dedicated Dell network switching with monitoring capabilities. Non-Dell hardware for flexibility EQL for optimized performance and non-dell hardware for flexibility Leverage strong partnership with world-class vendors One phone number to call for support on all components of the solution. Expert help with deployment of the virtualization solution. Expert guidance on discovery and analysis of customer s environment. (1) Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit 7 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

11 3 Getting Started 3.1 Planning a Desktop Virtualization deployment Dell s planning process and blueprint service will help you identify how to maximize the benefits from your Desktop Virtualization investments. Experts will work with your team to target user groups to measure the computing resources they require with our blueprint process. The results of meetings and the blueprint data will allow us to collaborate and define the exact solution that fits your business needs. If a small pilot is needed, we can often deploy a user pilot in just a few days so you can begin seeing the flexibility and enhanced productivity that desktop virtualization delivers. When you are ready to roll out the solution, our services teams will be there to help. They will define the exact hardware and software required and deliver and install it on-site. Dell-managed options are also available from the Dell Cloud as a Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS). All designed to meet the exact needs of your business and designed to easily grow as your business grows. 3.2 Dell DVS Simplified and DVS Enterprise Options Dell s desktop virtualization solutions are designed to meet the unique needs of different sizes and types of organizations and user profiles once size or solution type does fit the needs of all customers. The Dell solutions approach integrates purpose-built hardware, software, and services to deliver integrated and validated offerings with best-practice based implementation methodologies. Dell DVS solutions help guide customers along a clear and predictable path for making the right business, technical, and implementation decisions for adopting desktop virtualization. 3.3 Workload Definitions Dell has tested its solutions against three workloads to determine sizing. A mix of workloads can be determined by Dell s blueprinting process Basic Workload Characterization The Basic User workload profile consists of simple task worker workloads. Typically a repetitive application use profile with a non-personalized virtual desktop image. Sample use cases may be a kiosk or call-center use cases which do not require a personalized desktop environment and the application stack is static. In a virtual desktop environment the image is dynamically created from a template for each user and returned to the desktop pool for reuse by other users. The workload requirements for a basic user is the lowest in terms of CPU, memory, network and Disk I/O requirements and will allow the greatest density and scalability of the infrastructure. 8 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

12 User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Basic 1GB 0.5GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a task worker. Only two apps are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately one hour and forty-five minutes Standard Workload Characterization The Standard User workload profile consists of , typical office productivity applications and web browsing for research/training. There is minimal image personalization required in a standard user workload profile. The workload requirement for a Standard User is moderate and most closely matches the majority of office worker profiles in terms of CPU, memory, network and Disk I/O. This will allow moderate density and scalability of the infrastructure. User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Standard 1.5GB 1GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a medium knowledge worker. Five applications are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately 45 seconds Premium Workload Characterization The Premium User workload is an advanced knowledge worker. All office applications are configured and utilized. The user has moderate-to-large file size (access, save, transfer requirements). There is some graphics creation or editing done for presentations or content creation tasks. Web browsing use is typically research/training driven, similar to Standard Users. The Premium User requires extensive image personalization, for shortcuts, macros, menu layouts etc. The workload requirements for a Premium User are heavier than typical office workers in terms of CPU, memory, Network and Disk I/O. This will limit density and scalability of the infrastructure. User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Premium 2.5GB 1.5GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a high level knowledge worker. Eight applications are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately two minutes. 9 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

13 3.4 Users per Server The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 achieves up to 50% more users per server with the new Dell 12G servers than we had on the earlier 11G Server models: 11G Servers 12G Servers Basic Users # Improvement % 50% Standard Users # Improvement % 60% Premium Users # Improvement % 66% 10 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

14 Solution Options The following hardware options are available for the Dell DVS 6020: Supported Hardware Rack Mount Servers R620 R720 R710 Compatibility Optional In Base Configurations Optional Blade Servers M620 M610 In Base Configurations Optional PowerConnect Networking PC6248 (1GB) PC8024F (10GB) M6220 (1GB) M8024K (10GB) In Base Configurations In Base Configurations In Base Configurations In Base Configurations Force10 Networking S60 (1GB) S55 (1GB) S4810 (10GB) Optional Optional Optional Customer Provided Switching See Reference Architecture Optional EqualLogic Storage 4100E (1GB) Tier 2 < E (1GB) Tier 2,3 < E (10GB) Tier 2,3 <2500 FS7500 Unified Storage In Base Configurations In Base Configurations In Base Configurations In Base Configurations Customer Provided Storage See Reference Architecture Optional 11 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

15 3.5 How Dell will deploy the solution Dell onsite deployment services include installing all hardware in the customer s data center, loading all software, and configuring Dell Networking and storage. Optional services include: o Image Creation, Deployment and Management Services o Custom hardware & software deployment services o Advanced IT department training 3.6 How Dell supports the solution Support Services: Designed to meet the exact needs of each business o On-Site Break Fix Services o Virtualization Solution Helpdesk access Management Services: Flexible options to streamline support o Customer managed on customer site o Customer managed in Dell Data Center (coming soon) o Dell Managed on Customer Site (coming soon) o Dell Managed in Dell Data Center (coming soon) o Desktop as a Service (DaaS) from Dell s Cloud 3.7 How customers can expand the solution Customers should have a reasonable idea of how many virtual desktop users they will deploy over the next months to inform their hardware selections. For example, small businesses that do not anticipate having over 100 users may choose a solution based on the EqualLogic 4011E storage array that can support up to 500 users with the option of a second array can be added to create a full solution for up to 1,000 users. Other customers may start with the rack solution leveraging the EqualLogic 6500E storage array and 1Gb networking and may scale to a few thousand users. Customers who expect to scale to thousands of users and who need a high density blade infrastructure to support high availability and distributed resource scheduling can pilot with blade servers and the EqualLogic 6510E storage array and 10Gb networking in anticipation of scaling to thousands of users. These examples demonstrate the flexibility and scalability of the Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 solution. Through the Dell Blueprint process, the Dell team helps customers assess their needs and carefully design the solution that fits your business requirements. 3.8 What other software and features are available? In addition to the core solution, Dell and Dell Partners offer many enhancements to the core solution. These include: Endpoint devices ranging from tablets, to zero clients and thin clients and software to re-purposed existing PCs and Notebooks 12 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

16 o Dell also offers Keyboards, Mice, Displays, SmartCard readers and Biometric readers to support endpoint devices Dell S&P offers most application software packages including Microsoft Office and also offers Microsoft client OS licenses Security Unidesk Personas Authentication (Imprivata) 3.9 Dell offers a wide range of end point devices 3.10 Sample Configurations Pilot Solution users For customers that want a rapid deployment pilot solution, have a small number of users or need solutions for small remote offices, the variation of the solution that leverages the EqualLogic 4100E storage array may be ideal. The solution can start with as few as two servers and scale up to 6 servers to support about 500 users. In many cases, the solution can be deployed on-site in a few days. By utilizing enterprise class hardware, software and management tools, it delivers an easy to support solution that provides an excellent user experience and can be scaled up to service additional users. Additionally an EqualLogic FS7500 NAS Unified Storage rack can be added to provide High Availability (HA) storage Expanded Pilot Solution users Customers that need more than 500 users but do not plan to scale up to more than 1000 users can deploy a second EqualLogic 4100E storage array and up to 6 additional servers to support an additional 500 users. 13 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

17 Scalable Rack-based Solution 50-10,000 users Customers who prefer to utilize rack servers can deploy 50-10,000 users with Rack servers and 1Gb networking and the EqualLogic 6500E storage Array. This configuration may be cost optimized for a few thousand users Scalable High Density (Blade) Solution 50-10,000 users Customers that plan to support a large number of users may find high density blade infrastructure with 10Gb networking and EqualLogic 6510E shared Tier 1 storage the most cost effective option. This solution can scale to management groups of up to 10,000 users Large Deployments 10,000 50,000 users Customers with tens of thousands of users can deploy multiple rack or blade management groups of 10,000 users each to scale to 50,000 users or beyond. For these large deployments, Compellent storage may also be a cost effective design option Scaling Overview Details of performance testing and interconnections of the various solutions are in Chapters DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

18 A summary of the various configuration options is shown below: 3.11 Enterprise 6020 Configurations allow for scaling from 50-50, DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

19 4 Summary Dell s Enterprise 6020 solution is an advanced, well-developed, reliable, and flexible solution with the ability to start in a limited test deployment and scale significantly as needed. Customers who choose Enterprise 6020 as their first desktop virtualization option can be assured that the solution will provide excellent performance at a reasonable cost over the long term following the initial hardware investment. The solution leverages purpose-built hardware, software, and Dell services to provide all of the benefits of desktop virtualization: enhanced security, greater end user flexibility and mobility, and easier maintenance and IT support. The 6020 solution can be deployed into data centers with non-dell networking and storage and can scale from only two servers serving as few as 50 users in a test deployment, up to 50,000 users in an enterprise-wide roll-out. The Dell Team is taking the journey into virtualization with its customers every step of the way to ensure extremely high levels of performance that meet or exceed end users legacy desktop experience. Your Dell sales representative will help you work through any remaining questions and provide any additional information that is required. The sections that follow provide detailed information on solution configuration and deployment: 16 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

20 5 Overview 5.1 Desktop Virtualization Solutions Overview Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions offering is a comprehensive solution portfolio designed to enable customers to experience the benefits of virtual end user computing. While there are several ways of delivering virtual desktops, this solution is built on the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) model. In a VDI environment, user desktops are hosted as virtual machines (VMs) in a centralized infrastructure and delivered over a network to an end-user s client device. Getting the most out of VDI requires a well-developed, reliable, proven architecture. If the VDI architecture is undersized in terms of processing, memory or storage, then performance will suffer and the user experience will be degraded from that of the traditional PC. If the architecture is oversized, then the cost per virtual desktop will be economically unfeasible for VDI adoption. In order to enable Dell to compete efficiently in the VDI space and to accelerate the sales cycle, a Solution Source Architecture (SSA) approach has been developed. This approach offers a tested methodology that accelerates time to benefit and increases operating efficiency for our customers. Under the hood, the Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions leverages purpose built hardware, software and services ingredients to enable a capable architecture that maximizes IT control while enhancing the end user experience. Dell utilizes industry standard ingredients so that our customers have a clear path to expedient upgrades and full support through the life of this open solution without sacrificing choice and flexibility. Dell invests in extensive R&D and solution validation to ensure that our customers go through a fine-tuned deployment process that leads to deterministic operational costs. Coupled with Dell s ability to offer a subscription based Desktop-as-a-Service model to minimize capital costs, Dell makes its leading desktop virtualization solution more affordable for our customers. 17 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

21 5.2 The DVS Enterprise Solution Today Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions are combination of purpose built horizontal architectures designed to be modular and scalable for an array of customer needs and a defined and tested services methodology. To provide a simplified solution stack we have designed and enhanced the original DVS Enterprise solution to address the vast majority of customer needs and use cases for Desktop Virtualization. At the same time making the solution easier to design, scale and sell. Initially there were the ISS Enterprise and ISS Enterprise+ bundles; both with strict guidelines and constraints on sizing and scaling. Subsequently, the DVS Enterprise solution has been refined and enhanced to be custom tailored and sold as one cohesive stack offering; to be known as the DVS Enterprise The solution now has the ability be sold initially as an entry level rack-based solution serving as few as 50 users. Alternatively the solution can either grow into, or be customized and sold as a highly dense, highly scalable blade-based solution serving users or more. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is the architecture is based on VMware vsphere hypervisor with Citrix XenDesktop desktop virtualization solutions and core architecture components for networking, compute and storage designed from a best of breed selection of ingredients. Visit for more information on solutions with VMware and Dell. Visit for more information on solutions with Citrix and Dell. 5.3 The Purpose of this Document This document serves as the Reference Architecture for the latest DVS Enterprise 6020 release. It is intended to give customers details of how the solution can be configured and deployed in their business. 18 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

22 5.4 Product Positioning The Dell Desktop Virtualization Solution is a prescriptive, highly scalable, flexible architecture designed to meet the wide array of VDI customer needs that exist today. The DVS Enterprise 6020 has the ability to scale anywhere from 50 to users with a high degree of prescription at every user level along the way. This granularity of scale allows customers to leverage Dell DVS s accurate pay-as-you-grow model and add VDI capability as their VDI needs increase. To provide this level of proven prescription, the DVS Enterprise 6020 leverages a core set of hardware and software components that have been tested and proven to provide optimal performance at the lowest cost per user. To provide this level of flexibility, the DVS Enterprise 6020 also includes an extended list of optional/upsell components that a customer can chose from for environments with unique VDI feature, scale or performance needs. Whether the customer requires a Managed Solution from Dell or prefers to manage the solution in-house. The tenants of the DVS Enterprise 6020 solution remains consistent and will be leveraged as the horizontal platform. If the various approved configurations do not meet customer needs then a custom solution can be provided. The DVS Enterprise 6020 includes the following key features: 19 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

23 5.5 Feature Overview Design Principles The design principles for the flexible computing solution are: Secure Security risks, concerns and policies are addressed or mitigated Manageable The solution includes the tools and software services required to manage the environment Standards based Makes use of commodity, off-the-shelf components wherever possible Distributed Non-blocking and built with distributed components to maximise the use of available computing resources and eliminate bottlenecks Scalable Capable of scaling up / down to support business needs Resilient The solution must be able to withstand the failure of a single infrastructure component Architecture Scalability The architecture is designed to provide a scalable platform: The components can be scaled either horizontally (by adding additional physical and virtual servers to the server pools) Eliminate bandwidth and performance bottlenecks as much as possible Allow future horizontal and vertical scaling with the objective of reducing the future cost of ownership of the infrastructure. Component Horizontal scalability Vertical scalability Virtual Desktop Host Servers Additional hosts and clusters added as necessary Additional RAM or CPU compute power Provisioning Servers XenDesktop Controllers Web Interface Servers Load Balancers Additional servers added to the Provisioning Server farm Additional servers added to the XenDesktop Site Additional servers added to the web Interface environment Additional virtual appliances to split the Web Interface and XML Broker traffic Additional network and I/O capacity added to the servers Additional virtual machine resources (RAM and CPU) Additional virtual machine resources (RAM and CPU) Upgrade license to support increased network throughput 20 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

24 Database Services File Services Migrate databases to a dedicated SQL server and increase the number of management nodes Split user profiles and home directories between multiple file servers in the cluster (will require additional management nodes). File services can also be migrated to the optional FS7500 NAS for high availability. VMware vcenter Deploy additional servers and use linked mode to optimise management and/or increase virtual machine resources (RAM and CPU) Additional RAM and CPU for the management nodes Additional RAM and CPU for the management nodes Additional RAM and CPU for the cluster nodes (limited to 200 hosts/2000 VM s per server) 21 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

25 6 The DVS Enterprise 6020 Solution Architecture 6.1 Introduction The DVS Enterprise 6020 leverages a core set of hardware and software components in the following categories: Networking Virtual Host Servers Management Servers Storage Tiers These components have been tested and proven to provide optimal performance at the lowest cost per user. Additionally, the DVS Enterprise 6020 also includes an approved extended list of optional/upsell components in all the same categories. This extended list of components a customer can chose from to custom tailor the solution for environments with unique VDI feature, scale or performance needs. The following diagram is an example of some common solution configurations as you move through the DVS Enterprise 6020 product offering. 22 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

26 6.2 Minimum Initial Configuration Design To provide a scalable and predictive solution stack Dell developed scalability and design criteria based on extensive testing and validation within our DVS Engineering Labs. This latest testing was executed on Dell s latest 12G server platform. Based on this analysis the following minimum initial configuration design criteria have been established. Starting with this minimum configuration, then either leveraging a list of core components from the Core Solution Compatibility List, or choosing to customize the solution with selections from the Extended Solution Compatibility list help drive accuracy in meeting customer s needs. Note: Dell s existing 11G server platform has been tested and validated as well, so customer have the option to order and deploy the DVS Enterprise 6020 on the 11G server platform. A summary of testing and performance results can be found in section For more information and details on the configuration and testing of the 11G platform, refer to the DVS Enterprise 6010 Entry Sourcebook Minimum Base Configuration One R720 physical management server. One R720 physical virtualization host server leveraging local Tier 1 storage. One Dell EqualLogic PS4100e Tier 2 storage array (optional, customer can provide). o A Tier 3 storage solution is optional. One PowerConnect GB top of rack switch (optional, customer can provide). 6.3 Scaling Up - Growing the Solution As customer VDI needs grow, so does the depth and breadth of the DVS Enterprise The various management components of the 6020 exist as virtual server instances running on physical servers. This provides tremendous flexibility when adding resources to the solution while keeping the existing components intact and untouched. This also adds a level of resiliency in being able to backup copies of the server virtual images. With respect to hardware scaling, the DVS Enterprise 6020 is based off a set of core stack components that make up the Core Solution Compatibility List. Adding to this list is a selection of optional stack components that make up an Extended Solution Compatibility List. These optional components are outlined throughout this document, in their respective sections; Networking, Management Servers, Virtualization Host Servers, Storage, etc. 23 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

27 7 Hardware Components 7.1 Networking Networking Overview Design and deployment of a VDI solution is attractive to customers because of its ability to reduce desktop support and management costs, as well as the lower overall energy requirements of existing desktops. VDI also offers business continuity and disaster recovery benefits as well as a means to secure data in the data center, which is important when meeting compliance and security regulations. Prior to taking on this transformation to VDI, IT managers must analyse and plan for the impact it may have on the network from a performance standpoint, while maintaining key business drivers such as cost savings, redundant converged services, network service levels and power efficiency. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is designed with all of these drivers in mind. The architecture starts with a high performance rack-based 1GbE solution in the PC6248 and then builds in scale and performance with several optional upgrades in the form of additional models from PowerConnect and Force10. While the PC6248 has been proven to provide the best performance vs. dollar per user, there are certain deployment use cases where an upgrade to a 10GbE solution makes sense. These include deployments of the DVS Enterprise 6020 based on Dell s blade chassis architecture, and/or implementation of large scale shared Tier1 storage solutions. Whatever the customer requirement, the DVS Enterprise 6020 has the correct option to fill the need. Below is a breakdown of the networking options and some associated Advantages and Limitations of each choice. Model Description Advantages Limitations PC6248 Rack Switch Low entry cost, stack up to 12, 10Gb uplinks PC8024F Rack Switch Low entry cost SFP+ based 10Gb switch, hot swap PSUs, iscsi optimized, up to 6 in a stack M6220 Blade Switch Affordable, stack up to 12, 10Gb uplinks, similar to 6224 M8024K Blade Switch 1Gb/10Gb, supports FCoE, FlexIO module for additional uplinks, stack up to 6 S55 Rack Switch 192Gb switch fabric, 44 x 1Gb RJ45 ports + 4 x SFP, hot swap PSUs, stack up to 8 S60 Rack Switch 176Gb switch fabric, 44 x 1Gb RJ45 ports + 4 x SFP, hot swap PSUs, stack up to 12, Only 2 x 10Gb uplinks per switch, stacking throughput limited to 12Gb between switches for >2 in a stack. Low overall port density-only 24 ports, SFP+ ports are used for stacking 16 internal ports so must run in pairs. 16 internal ports so must run in pairs, SFP+ ports are used for stacking 12Gb throughput between stacks >2, stacks 4 fewer than S60 12Gb throughput between stacks >2 24 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

28 Model Description Advantages Limitations S4810 Rack Switch 1.3Tb switch fabric, 48x 10/40Gb SFP+ + 4 x QSFP+ uplinks, very closely compares to Cisco Nexus 3064 at lower cost More expensive than 2 x 8024F switches, requires legacy spanning tree dependent/ LAG switch connections, no stacking (yet) Initial Networking Configuration The DVS Enterprise 6020 initial configuration begins with a single PowerConnect PC6248 switch. This is rack-based solution meets the minimum switching requirements, with no switching high-availability option. Routing decisions will be made at the network core. The PC6248 is a 48 port, 1GbE, layer 2 edge switch. Delivering significant rack density, the PowerConnect 6248 is designed to give users the flexibility to maximize server and workstation connectivity in a 1U form factor. Up to 576 servers and/or clients can be connected in a stack of twelve PC6248 series switches. The PC6248 switch supports up to four 10 Gigabit fiber (SFP+) & two 10GBase-T copper Ethernet uplinks for connectivity directly to 10GE servers, routers, enterprise backbones and data centers. Note: A customer-provided switch can be used in lieu of the PC6248. See Section 13 for details on customer provided hardware. Visit for more information on the PowerConnect PC6248. Visit for PowerConnect PC6248 configuration and cabling information. Model Features Options PowerConnect PC x BaseT (10/100/1000) + 4 x SFP combo ports Up to 4 x SX or LX optics (1Gb) 4 x 10GbE uplink ports 48Gbps stacking module (Bay1 only) 184 Gbps switching capacity Dual SFP+ module 131 Mbps forwarding rate Single or dual LR or SR optics (10Gb) IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 4,000 VLANs. RPS-600 (redundant power supply) BTU/hr 120 watts of power consumption 25 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

29 7.1.3 Switching Option Guidance 10Gb uplinks to a core switch are the preferred design choice but if unavailable the front 4 1Gb combo ports should be used. The front 4 ports are 1Gb only, copper by default, and can be upgraded to optical if a longer run is needed. Bay 1 on the rear should be left empty unless installing a stacking module. Stacking modules cannot be installed in Bay 2. Bay 2 should be populated with an appropriate 10Gb optical module to suit length and redundancy requirements. If power supply redundancy is desired, the RPS-600 can be used to protect up to 4 PowerConnect switches. Visit for PowerConnect 6248 configuration and cabling information. 7.2 Scaling Up - Alternative Networking Options Rack-based Switching Options PowerConnect PC8024F As environments expand and VDI user requirements grow, or a shared Tier 1 storage solution deployed as a part of the DVS Enterprise 6020, customers can choose to implement alternate top of rack network solutions in lieu of the PowerConnect PC6248. In sticking with a rack-based DVS Enterprise 6020 architecture, the optional Power Connect PC8024F can be leveraged. The PC8024F is a high performance, highly efficient 10GbE rack based switch featuring wire-speed performance with up to 24 ports of 10GbE and four combo ports. The 8024F also provides full Layer 3 routing features, redundancy and front-to-rear cooling in a compact 1U form factor. 26 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

30 Note: Standard blade top-of-rack switch as well. Visit for more information on the PowerConnect PC8024F. Model Features Options PowerConnect PC8024F 24 x SFP+ ports + 4 x 10Gbase-T Combo Ports (10Gb/1Gb/100Mb) 4 x 10Gbase uplink ports (see above) Stacking support: up to 6 units. 480 Gbps switching capacity 357 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 4,000 VLANs BTU/hr Redundant hot swappable power supplies. 160 watts of power consumption Redundant hot swappable fans Force10 Networks S55 The Dell Force10 S-Series S55 1/10 GbE top-of-rack switch is optimized for lowering operational costs while increasing scalability and improving manageability at the network edge. Optimized for high-performance data center applications, the S55 leverages a nonblocking architecture that delivers line-rate, low-latency L2 and L3 switching to eliminate network bottlenecks. The S55 incorporates multiple architectural features that optimize data center network efficiency and reliability, including reversible front-to-back or backto-front airflow for hot/cold aisle environments, and redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans. A scale-as-you-grow top-of-rack solution that is simple to deploy and manage, up to 8 S55 switches can be stacked to create a single logical switch by utilizing Dell Force10 s stacking technology and high-speed stacking modules. The high-density S55 design provides 48 GbE access ports with up to four modular 10 GbE uplinks in just 1- RU to conserve valuable rack space. Visit for more information on the Force10 Networks S DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

31 Model Features Options Force10 S55 44 line-rate 10/100/1000Base-T ports + 4 line-rate GbE SFP ports 4 line-rate GbE SFP uplink ports (see above) Stacking support: up to 8 units. 192 Gbps switching capacity 144 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 4,096 VLANs. 443 BTU/hr Redundant hot swappable power supplies. 130 watts of power consumption Redundant hot swappable fans Force10 Networks S60 The Force10 S-Series S60 is a high-performance 1/10 GbE top-of-rack switch that builds upon the performance of the S55 and adds the industry s largest packet buffer (1.25 GB), enabling it to deliver lower application latency and maintain predictable network performance even when faced with significant spikes in network traffic. Like the S55, the S60 also provides 48 GbE access ports with up to four modular 10 GbE uplinks in just 1- RU to conserve valuable rack space. Visit for more information on the Force10 Networks S60. Model Features Options Force10 S60 44 line-rate 10/100/1000Base-T ports + 4 line-rate GbE SFP ports 4 line-rate GbE SFP uplink ports (see above) Stacking support: up to 8 units. 176 Gbps switching capacity 132 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 4,096 VLANs. 531 BTU/hr Redundant hot swappable power supplies. 225 watts of power consumption Redundant hot swappable fans. 28 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

32 Force10 Networks S4810 The Dell Force10 S-Series S4810 is an ultra-low latency 10/40 GbE top-of-rack switch purpose-built for applications in high-performance data center and computing environments. Leveraging a non-blocking, cut-through switching architecture, the S4810 delivers line-rate L2 and L3 forwarding capacity with ultra-low latency to maximize network performance. The compact S4810 design provides industry-leading density of 48 dual-speed 1/10 GbE (SFP+) ports as well as four 40 GbE QSFP+ uplinks. Visit for more information on the Force10 Networks S4810. Model Features Options Force10 S x dual-speed 1/10 GbE (SFP+) ports and 4x 40 GbE (QSFP+) uplinks 4x 40 GbE (QSFP+) uplink ports Stacking support: up to 8 units. 1.8Tbps switching capacity 960 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 4,096 VLANs BTU/hr Redundant hot swappable power supplies. 220 watts of power consumption Redundant hot swappable fans Blade Chassis Switching Options PowerConnect M6220 If a higher density solution is desired, the DVS Enterprise 6020 fully supports Dell s bladebased server and switch architecture. This begins with the M1000e Module Server Enclosure and then adds a selection of blade switches and blade server. See section 4.5 for more information on available blade server options in the DVS Enterprise To meet the switching needs of the M1000e blade server enclosure, the PowerConnect M6220 is leveraged. The M6220 is one of Dell s most advanced switch offerings with 16 external and 4 internal 1GbE ports as well as up to 10 x 1GbE uplink ports. The PowerConnect M6220 supports high performance stacking for up to 12 systems which allows increased throughput to be added as needed without affecting network performance. With each switch supporting up to 128 Gbps in switch capacity, the customer can have over 1.5 Terabits of capacity in a single stack of 12 switches. 29 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

33 Model Features Options PowerConnect M x 10/100/1000BASE-T auto-sensing Gigabit Ethernet switching ports 48Gbps Stacking Module 10 x 1GbE uplink ports Stacking support: up to 12 units. 128 Gbps switching capacity 95 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 1024 VLANs BTU/hr Visit for more information on the PowerConnect M PowerConnect M8024K Building upon the benefits of a stackable blade chassis switch one step further, industryleading top-of-rack performance can be attained within the DVS Enterprise 6020 with Dell s PowerConnect M8024-K switch. The M8024K comes with 16 internal 1/10GbE ports, four integrated external 1/10GbE enhanced small-form-factor pluggable (SFP+) ports and a FlexIO bay for easy growth as your VDI needs expand. For high availability, stack up to six wire-speed switches, each with redundant power but all six managed as a single unit. 30 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

34 Model Features Options PowerConnect M8024K 16 internal 10GbE ports + 4 external integrated 1/10Gb SFP+ Ethernet ports 4 x 1/10Gb SFP+ Ethernet ports Stacking support: up to 6 units. 480 Gbps switching capacity 357 Mbps forwarding rate IEEE 802.1Q tagging and port-based; up to 1024 VLANs. 168 BTU/hr Visit for more information on the PowerConnect M8024K. 7.3 Virtualization Host Server Virtualization Host Server Overview The first building block when designing a VDI solution is that of virtualization host server. This building block is required in all implementations and the choice of server determines what loads can be supported and how agile the environment will be when meeting changing business needs. By offering a broad array of choices gives customers the ability to select the specific platform that is right for their environment. The DVS Enterprise 6020 beings with a minimum configuration designed based on the R720 rack mounted server. This server is the gold standard and a core server component providing the best performance at the lowest dollar-per-user. However, just as when deciding on the optimal switching architecture, there are certain deployment use cases where an upgrade or change in the server architecture makes sense, either from a management, power consumption, end-user desktop performance, or user density perspective. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is engineered with these possibilities in mind; with both its initial server platform choice as well a collection of optional server models to choose from. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is available in either a 2U rack, 1U rack or blade configuration all of which providing industry-leading user density and performance levels. See section 4.5 for details. 31 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

35 Model Description Advantages Limitations R620 Host Server - Rack Same basic performance capability of the R720, 1U R720 Host Server - Rack DVS gold standard server, sandy bridge CPUs, 24 DIMMs, 16 HDs Potential thermal issues when loaded with drives (local tier1), makes better shared Tier1 compute alternative 2U chassis may not be optimal for maximum user-per-rack space. M620 Host Server - Blade Same performance capability of the R720 in blade format, 3 IO/mezzanine fabrics Only 2 local drives; for shared Tier1 solutions only Initial Virtualization Host Server Configuration All XenDesktop virtual desktops hosted by a VMware vsphere infrastructure as instances running on one or more Virtualization Host Servers. In the DVS Enterprise 6020 initial configuration, these servers are based off the latest Dell PowerEdge R720. The PowerEdge R720 is designed with more memory capacity and more integrated I/O than the previous generation PowerEdge R710. This increased capacity is crucial for virtualization performance and scalability. The R720 allows for quick virtualization deployment with embedded hypervisors from leading vendors using a secure digital (SD) card or internal USB. The PowerEdge R720 was identified as the best candidate for the DVS Enterprise 6020 stack as it offers optimal CPU, Memory Network and Disk configuration capabilities for a locally hosted VDI infrastructure at a most competitive price. 32 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

36 Visit for more information on the R720 rack mount server. PowerEdge R720 2x Intel E core Processors 128GB Memory 16x 146GB SAS 6Gbps 15k Disks - RAID10 PERC H710 Integrated RAID Controller 1GB RAM Embedded Broadcom GbE LOM with TCP/IP Engine (4 Port) idrac7 Enterprise 7.4 Management Server Management Server Overview Just as with the choice of virtualization host server, the server platform to host the various management components in a VDI solution can be equally as important. This decision can mean the difference between a high performance, easy to manage, easy to maintain VDI solution or not. Agility of a management server platform determines how easy new software and OS updates are rolled out across the environment as well as new features and technologies are implemented. By offering a broad array of choices gives customers the ability to select the specific platform that is right for their environment; the DVS Enterprise 6020 is designed to make sure all potential management needs, now and in the future will be met. As with the virtualization host server the initial minimum configuration is based on the R720 rack mounted server. This server is the gold standard and a core server component providing the best performance at the lowest dollar-per-user. However, just as when deciding on the optimal switching architecture, there are certain deployment use cases where an upgrade or change in the server architecture makes sense, either from a management, power consumption, end-user desktop performance, or user density perspective. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is engineered with this in mind; with both its initial server platform choice as well a collection of optional server models to choose from. The DVS Enterprise 6020 is available in either a 2U rack, 1U rack or blade configuration all of which providing industry-leading user density and performance levels. See section 4.5 for details. 33 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

37 Model Description Advantages Limitations R620 R720 Management Server - Rack Management Server - Rack Same basic performance capability of the R720, 1U DVS gold standard server, sandy bridge CPUs, 24 DIMMs, 16 HDs Potential thermal issues when loaded with drives (local tier1), makes better shared Tier1 compute alternative 2U chassis may not be optimal for maximum user-per-rack space. M620 Management Server - Blade Same basic performance capability of the R720 in blade form, 3 IO/mezzanine fabrics Only 2 local drives, shared Tier1 only Initial Management Server Configuration In addition to the Virtual Desktop hosts there will be a dedicated management server that will provide compute resources for infrastructure services such as, web servers, desktop broker services, Provisioning services, SQL/File, and load balancing services etc. These services will be provided by virtual servers. These servers are also based off a Dell PowerEdge R720 with the following specifications. Visit for more information on the R720 rack mount server. PowerEdge R720 2x Intel E core Processors 128GB Memory 16x 146GB SAS 6Gbps 15k Disks - RAID10 PERC H710 Integrated RAID Controller 1GB RAM Embedded Broadcom GbE LOM with TCP/IP Engine (4 Port) idrac7 Enterprise 34 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

38 Management Component Configuration Management Component vcpu RAM (GB) NIC Tier 1 vdisk (GB) Tier 2 vdisk (GB) XenDesktop Controller Windows Server 2008 R2 Citrix Web Interface Windows Server 2008 R2 Citrix License Server Windows Server 2008 R2 VMware vcenter Windows Server 2008 R2 Provisioning Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SQL Server Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server Windows Server 2008 R2 TOTALS OS Dell PowerEdge Embedded Server Management The Lifecycle Controller is the engine for advanced embedded management and is delivered as part of idrac Enterprise in 11th-generation Dell PowerEdge blade and rack servers. It includes 1 GB of managed and persistent storage that embeds systems management features directly on the server, thus eliminating the media-based delivery of system management tools and utilities previously needed for systems management. Embedded management includes: Unified Server Configurator (USC) aims at local 1-to-1 deployment via a graphical user interface (GUI) for operating system install, updates, configuration, and for performing diagnostics, on single, local servers. This eliminates the need for multiple option ROMs for hardware configuration. Remote Services are standards-based interfaces that enable consoles to integrate, for example, bare-metal provisioning and one-to-many OS deployments, for servers located remotely. Dell s Lifecycle Controller takes advantage of the capabilities of both USC and Remote Services to deliver significant advancement and simplification of server deployment. Lifecycle Controller Serviceability aims at simplifying server re-provisioning and/or replacing failed parts and thus reduces maintenance downtime. 7.5 Scaling Up - Alternative Server Options Instead of the core R720 rack based solution above, customers can opt to deploy one of the following server choices that exist on the Enterprise 6020 Extended Solution Compatibility List. Dell M620 Blade-based servers Dell R620 Rack-based servers 35 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

39 7.5.1 Dell M620 Blade Server and M1000e Blade Chassis The Dell M1000e Blade Chassis along with the M620 blade server option can be considered the option of choice for a high-density data center configuration. Although configured similarly to the R720, the M620 server brings with it a host of ancillary benefits. The M620 is a feature-rich, dual-processor, half-height blade server which offers a blend of density, performance, efficiency and scalability. The M620 offers remarkable computational density, scaling up to 16 cores, with the introduction of the new Intel Xeon (Sandy Bridge-EP, EP-2600 series) 2 socket processors and 24 DIMMs (384GB+ RAM) of DDR3 memory in an extremely compact half-height blade form factor. When comparing a rack versus blade VDI solution there are several considerations; while the initial acquisition costs are higher than comparable rack servers, blades use less power for the same amount of processing. In testing, Dell blades yield 20% more performance per watt or more compared to rack servers. They can be key elements for reducing evergrowing power costs and for implementing environmentally conscious IT initiatives. A blade-based environment can help reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) with features such as power efficiency, built-in security and advanced systems management capabilities. Designed to handle memory-intensive applications, it is an ideal choice for virtualized workloads. Dell high-density blade solutions let you do more with less more processing with less space and power, and with fewer resources. In the DVS Enterprise 6020 solution, the M620 comes configured as follows: PowerEdge M620 2x Intel E core Processors 128GB Memory C600 (Patsburg) Chipset PERC 8 H710P Integrated RAID Controller 1GB RAM Embedded Broadcom BCM5709 GbE LOM with TCP/IP Engine (4 Port) idrac7 Enterprise In the above configuration, the M620-based DVS Enterprise 6020 solution can support the following single server user counts. Basic Workload: 120 Users Standard Workload: 96 Users Premium Workload: 70 Users Visit for more information on the M620. Visit for more information on Dell blades. 36 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

40 Visit for more information on power savings versus performance with Dell blades M620 Blade Server Dependencies All Dell M-series servers can be housed in the Dell PowerEdge M1000e modular blade enclosure. The M1000e is the only solution that supports mixing full- and half-height blades in adjacent slots within the same chassis without limitations or caveats. The M1000e leverages Dell s Flex IO modular switch technology lets you easily scale to provide additional uplink and stacking functionality. Dell blade servers and blade chassis is treated as a single networked entity therefore there are some additional networking implications when choosing a blade-based solution over rack-based. An additional switch(s) must be added to provide networking for intra blade communication, in addition to the top-of-rack switch. See section 6 for details on blade network architecture. The blade server configuration in the DVS Enterprise 6020 does not leverage local Tier 1 storage. Therefore to provide centralized storage of the desktop virtual machine templates, a shared Tier 1 storage array must be used. In the DVS Enterprise 6020, the optimal Tier 1 storage array is the EqualLogic PS6010XVS. This provides not only best in class IOPS for high IO periods such as boot storms and virus management events, but also provides Dynamic Motion capabilities within the cluster from VMware vmotion. See Section 4.6 for more information EqualLogic storage Dell R620 Rack Server PowerEdge R620 is Dell s 12G PowerEdge mainstream 2S 1U Rack server designed to deliver the most competitive feature set, best performance and best value. In this 12 th generation, R620 offer a large storage footprint, best in class I/O capabilities, and more advanced management features to meet the need of the primary 1U target markets. The R620 does provide an optimal user density-per-chassis space configuration as long as the usable storage space and IOPS requirements are met for the desired scale and workloads. While similarly equipped in CPU type and RAM quantity to the larger R720, the R620 provides support for only 8 x 2.5 drives versus the R720 s 16 x drives. This difference in physical drive layout lends the R620 a better choice for a low to medium density solution, leveraging shared a Tier 1 storage model. Visit for more information on the PowerEdge R Storage Arrays Storage Overview The leading cause of slow end-user experience in a VDI deployment is inadequate or poorly designed storage architecture. From the moment a user authenticates into a VDI environment, multiple tiers of the VDI storage architecture are being accessed, sometimes heavily. It is this reason that if any element of a storage array; network interface, disk speed, disk type, disk quantity, free space, etc, is not up to the task of supporting the 37 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

41 workload associated with the user population, performance will suffer greatly and failures may result. The DVS Enterprise 6020 solved these potential problems by providing storage array options that more than adequately meet the performance and dollar-per-user requirements of customers. At the same time providing additional storage options to custom tailor performance and capacity characteristics to specific customer needs. The DVS Enterprise 6020 initial configuration has the option to use a customer provided tier 2 storage solution, or have added to it an EqualLogic PS4100e storage array. From that point on, if the desktop deployment architecture performance requirements warrant it, customers can opt for a larger, higher performance storage array from EqualLogic. Below is a table outlining the choices available in the DVS Enterprise See section 4.7 for details. Model Description Advantages Limitations PS4100e 1GbE Array Tier 2 PS6500e 1GbE Array Tier 2 PS6510e 10GbE Array Tier 2 PS6010XVS 10GbE Array Tier 1,Tier 2 Very low SAN buy in, disk density options, Controller HA (active/passive) 48 disks in a single array, group up to 16, disk density options, Controller HA (active/passive) 48 disks in a single array, group up to 16, disk density options, 10Gb controllers, Controller HA (active/passive) SSD + SAS, high performance, auto-tiering, Limited to 2 arrays in a group, 12 disks/ array, limited IOPS Potentially high dollar-peruser cost Potentially high dollar-peruser cost Expensive, limited capacity, only 1 configuration available EqualLogic Features and Benefits Reliability: Dell EqualLogic Series arrays have hot-swappable redundant components, a choice of RAID types, and hot-spare disks. They also include the Auto-Stat Disk Monitoring System (ADMS) which proactively scans disk drives in the background to help detect media anomalies and correct them. Scalability: As each array is added to the storage group, the storage capacity and performance, in terms of both bandwidth and IOPS, are increased. This increased capacity can be utilized without downtime. Thin-provisioning permits predefinition of a group of Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) volumes which are larger than the physical space, allowing for physical space to be added and utilized without downtime, when necessary. Self-Managing Arrays: The arrays offer many self-managing features such as automatic load balancing and storage tiering. A single storage pool can have different models that offer a range of capacity and performance parameters. In addition, different arrays in a storage pool can be configured with different RAID levels, and volumes will automatically be migrated between RAID levels based on 38 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

42 performance data and usage patterns. All data and volume movement can be performed online with zero downtime. Top-Tier Data Protection Software: Advanced data protection features such as Auto Replication and Auto Snapshot Manager is standard with EqualLogic arrays. The Auto-Snapshot Manager integrates with VMware vcenter and VMware s native snapshot technology to provide intelligent and consistent snapshots. SAN Headquarters (HQ): SAN HQ provides centralized access to detailed performance and event data, reporting and intelligent alerts from the EqualLogic storage array groups. SAN HQ uses Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to collect performance, alarm, and health status data from dozens of array groups that could be spread across multiple locations around the world Initial Storage Configuration When starting with the minimum configuration for the DVS Enterprise 6020, customers can opt to include the Dell EqualLogic PS4100e (or equivalent) as a high performance Tier 2 storage solution. In addition to storage for user s home directories and profile data it also serves as virtual disk and SQL database storage as well. The PS4100 Series fulfils storage needs with simplified administration, rapid deployment and an affordable price, while providing a full set of enterprise-class data protection and management features, solid performance, scalability and fault-tolerance. With up to 12 NL-SAS disk drives per modular array, the PS4100e can deliver up to 36TB of raw storage in a 2U/3.5 drive solution, providing outstanding capacity value and optimized performance per rack U. To grow storage capacity and performance, two PS4100 arrays can be combined in a SAN group. To further scale out the SAN, EqualLogic PS6100 arrays can be added seamlessly without sacrificing the initial investment in PS4100 arrays. Dell EqualLogic firmware version 5.1 offers new features so your hardware can continue to meet your current needs and grow with you as the demands of the virtual era increase. All PS Series storage arrays include SAN configuration features and capabilities that sense network connections, automatically build RAID sets, and conduct system health checks to help ensure that all components are fully functional. The PS4100e is designed to be installed, configured, and serving storage in less than one hour. To improve enterprisewide storage management, the EqualLogic SAN HeadQuarters (SAN HQ) software tool provides centralized performance and event monitoring of EqualLogic SANs across multiple sites. The EqualLogic PS Series arrays include the following enterprise data services and software features with no additional software licensing fees: SAN HQ multi-san historical performance monitoring, auto-replication, RAID load balancing, complete SAN virtualization, RAID load balancing, storage pools, thin provisioning and much more. Note: Customer-provided storage can be used in lieu of the PS4100e. See section for details. 39 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

43 Visit for more information on the EqualLogic PS4100e array. Model EqualLogic PS4100e Features 12 drive bays (NL-SAS/ 7200k RPM), dual HA controllers, Snaps/Clones, Async replication, SAN HQ. Configured with 6TB 12 x 500GB HDDs. The PS4100e array will be configured as RAID 50 to optimise the unit for throughput. Each Volume will be configured with a maximum size of 500GB in line with best practice with the exception of the volumes presented to the file servers for file storage which will be configured as 2048GB with a block size of 8MB. The following table details the VMware DataStore configuration of the internal host storage and the anticipated maximum number of desktops supported for each workload on each DataStore when configured as RAID 10: LUN (Volume) Size (GB) Basic Workload Standard Workload Premium Workload Local R720 Vol The space required for each desktop in the above table has been calculated as follows for the shared disk image machines; Page File (1.5x RAM to a maximum of 4GB) + Temporary Session Data +VMware Swap File (1x non-reserved RAM) o Basic - (1x1.5) = 3.0GB o Standard (1.5x1.5) = 3.75GB o Premium = 6GB 40 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

44 The tables above are used to show the maximum number of desktops that can be hosted ion each DataStore based on storage capacity and do not consider the IOPS required or available on each DataStore since this is one of the key metrics that will be measured during the testing. While it is possible to run a single shared volume for the Citrix Provisioning server vdisk stores this does mean that the volume must be configured as Read-Only during normal operation and therefore any maintenance of the vdisk images used to be more challenging, since the volume needs to be dismounted from one of the servers then set to Read-Write mode on the other servers before any changes to an image can be made. Citrix Provisioning Services 6.0 has alleviated this challenge with an all new Automated vdisk Updates and Integrated vdisk Versioning features. Each of the Virtual Provisioning servers will maintain a dedicated volume on the PS4100e array which will be configured as Read-Write and only accessible by a single server, the only impact from this decision is that any change to the disk means that the disk must be copied to the second server as a manual task. Visit for more information on Citrix Provisioning Services configuration. Names Size (GB) Storage Array VM s Purpose Management 500 PS4100 vcenter, Provisioning Server, Delivery Controller, File Server and SQL Base Images Home Drives 2048 PS4100 File Server Data Home drive for users SQL DATA 100 PS4100 SQL SQL Database volume SQL LOGS 100 PS4100 SQL SQL Logs volume TempDB Data 5 PS4100 SQL SQL Temp DB TempDB Logs 5 PS4100 SQL SQL Temp DB 41 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

45 Visit for more information on EqualLogic PS Series Connectivity and Performance Storage Option Guidance The minimum initial 6020 configuration includes the EQ4100e s 6TB option. Considering that this solution is not IOPS bound with regard to the storage array, increased capacity can opted for if necessary. An additional 4100e array may be added > basic users to keep array performance consistent with the additional user load vsphere Storage Configuration From the Networking configuration, we have established that all iscsi traffic will travel over vswitch0 through the 1Gbps network to the EqualLogic Storage. Each of the HA Clusters will have dedicated LUNS that are available on all hosts in that specific cluster. 42 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

46 On the ESXI Host, the Dell EqualLogic MPIO plugin will be installed to handle load balancing. This module will be added via the command line tool using a Virtual Management Appliance (vma) in vcenter. This tool will allow for easy configuration of iscsi on each host. Some key settings that will be used as part of the configuration; Sets 2 IP Addresses for ISCSI on each host Specifies NIC (vmnic2, vmnic3) Sets the Jumbo Frame Settings Initializes software iscsi Sets IP for the EqualLogic Storage group. Once the MPIO setup is complete the ESXI host is ready to access the storage and to either create or connect to VMFS data stores. The MPIO plugin will configure the correct multi-pathing for the data stores also. Note: The iscsi VLAN s need to be tagged on both iscsi VMkernel ports, as the iscsi VLAN is sharing the link with the Management Network. The MPIO script does not complete this step and this has to be performed on each host in vcenter. Each host will have dedicated LUNS assigned that will be visible to all hosts in that specific cluster SAN Load Balancing Multi-pathing is a technique that allows more than one physical path to be used to transfer data between a host and an external storage device. The Dell EqualLogic MPIO plugin was installed to handle load balancing. VMware vsphere 5 offers many new and advanced enhancements to the software iscsi initiator beyond basic iscsi SAN connectivity. The most significant of these enhancements is the API support for third party muti-pathing plugins. This provides a framework that enables the EqualLogic MEM v1.1 to more intelligently route and efficiently load balance iscsi traffic across multiple NICs. 7.7 Scaling Up - Alternative Tier 2 Storage Options As the Enterprise 6020 solution grows to meet the needs of more users, one of the most important performance attributes is the storage architecture. The EqualLogic PS4100e that is leveraged in the initial base configuration for Tier 2 storage will typically support up to users. Within the DVS Enterprise besides the EqualLogic PS4100e in the minimum configuration, there are other storage array options as a part of the Extended Solution Compatibility List to choose from. Care must be taken to calculate and plan for how much usable disk space will be required when picking a storage array. Furthermore, storage array choice must be able to match the top-of-rack networking choice (1GbE vs. 10GbE) as well as meet the total user IOPS requirement based on workload characterization. 43 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

47 Model Storage Tier Networking Usable Space RAID Recommended Users/Array Notes EqualLogic PS4100e Tier 2 1GbE 9.4TB RAID x 1TB NL SAS disks EqualLogic PS6500e Tier 2 1GbE 46TB RAID x 1TB SATA disks EqualLogic PS6010xvs Tier 1 or Tier 2 10GbE 4.4TB RAID x 100GB SSD + 8 x 450GB 15k SAS EqualLogic PS6510e Tier 2 10GbE 46TB RAID x 1TB SATA disks Visit for more information on the PS4100e Visit for more information on the PS6500e Visit for more information on the PS6010xvs Visit for more information on the PS6510e 7.8 Scaling up Alternative Tier 1 Storage Options The DVS Enterprise 6020 in both the base minimum configuration as well as scaled up rack based configurations, leverage local disk space on the Virtualization Host Servers as Tier 1 storage. When the rack-based server and networking option is chosen, the DVS Enterprise 6020 moved to leverage a shared Tier 1 storage model. The core Tier 1 shared storage array is the EqualLogic PS6010XVS. The EqualLogic PS6010XVS continues the EqualLogic performance standards by scaling linearly with capacity. With up to 67% IOPS improvements on typical workloads over previous-generation EqualLogic arrays, the PS6010 Series is designed to provide capacity and density demands of the DVS Enterprise 6020 with the throughput power of 10GbE. Model EqualLogic PS6010xvs Features 10GbE connectivity with one (1) 10GBASE-T with RJ45, one (1) 10GbE SFP+ for fibre or twin-ax copper cabling, and one (1) 100BASE-TX dedicated management port. Eight (8) hot-pluggable Solid State Disk (SSD) drives and up to eight (8) hot-pluggable SAS hard disk drives, dual HA controllers, Snaps/Clones, Async replication, SAN HQ. 44 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

48 7.9 Network Attached Storage The FS7500 adds scalable NAS (Network Attached Storage) capability to the EqualLogic product line to provide a high performance scale-out unified storage solution for midsize deployments. NAS capability is enabled by Dell Fluid File System (FluidFS), a proprietary high-performance clustered file system based on IP acquired from Exanet. The FS7500 is a 3U solution compatible with all existing EqualLogic iscsi arrays with all block and file data stored on the backend EqualLogic array. Storage administrators can scale a single file share up to the capacity of the EqualLogic deployment and manage block and file data storage through a single administrative interface. In the DVS Enterprise 6020, the Equalogic FS7500 NAS device applies to smaller sub-500 user deployments where the HA option has been added, or any larger >500 user deployments that require high availability file services. See Section 12 for the complete detailed bill of materials. Model Features Options Equallogic FS7500 Dual clustered active-active controllers, 24GB cache per controller, battery backup array, supports up to 8 EQL PS series storage arrays + an additional FS7500, CIFS & NFS support, ADintegration. No configurable hardware options. Visit for more information on the FS DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

49 8 Enterprise Zero Client and Thin Client Recommendations: Wyse Thin and Zero Client devices and software provide superior security, reliability and energy efficiency when compared to a traditional PC. Wyse desktop devices and software help streamline the delivery of Citrix infrastructure to millions of users around the world. Thin Clients create a more secure environment that minimizes or eliminates exposure to data loss, viruses and malware. By utilizing thin clients as the access device for end user, deployments can benefit from centralized management and complete control of all endpoints. Since thin clients eliminate components with high failure rates, deployments can expect reduced costs and improved reliability over the life of a desktop virtualization deployment. 8.1 Wyse Xenith Pro Wyse Xenith Pro is the next-generation zero client for Citrix HDX and Citrix XenDesktop, delivering ultimate performance, security and simplicity. The Wyse Xenith Pro features a true Zero Engine architecture which offers industry leading security and performance. With a powerful AMD G-series processor, Xenith Pro is up to three times faster than competing devices. This additional computing horsepower allows dazzling HD multimedia delivery without overtaxing your server or network. The Wyse Xenith Pro requires zero configuration and management your Citrix XenDesktop server configures it out-of-thebox to your preferences for plug-and-play speed and ease of use. Completely virus and malware immune, the Xenith Pro draws under 14 watts of power in full operation, far lower than traditional PC s. Click HERE for more information on the Wyse Xenith Pro. 46 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

50 8.2 Wyse Xenith Pro Specifications: Operating System: Processor: Memory: I/O peripheral support: Networking: Display: Audio: Graphics: Included: Power: Power consumption: Dimensions: Mountings: Wyse Zero Engine 1.5GHz AMD Sempron 128MB Flash / 512MB RAM DDR2 One DVI-I port One DVI-D port Two PS/2 ports Two serial ports Six external USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 back) One Mic In One Line Out 10/100/1000 Base-T Gigabit Ethernet Optional internal wireless b/g VESA monitor support with Display Data Control (DDC) for automatic setting of resolution and refresh rate Dual monitor supported Single: 2560 x bpp 60Hz Dual: 1920 x bpp 60Hz Two independent full resolution frame buffers Output: 1/8-inch mini jack, full 16-bit stereo, 48KHz sample rate Internal Mono speaker Input: 1/8-inch mini jack, 8-bit microphone AMD ATI 690E Enhanced PS/2 keyboard with Windows keys (104 keys) PS/2 Optical mouse included Worldwide auto-sensing VAC, 50/60 Hz. Energy Star V.5.0 compliant power supply 14.6 Watts (average) Height: 8.8 inches (225mm) Width: 2.1 inches (53mm) Depth: 9.8 inches (250mm) Weight: 4.08 lbs ( kg) Shipping weight: 6.50 lbs. (2.95kg) Horizontal feet Optional vertical stand Optional VESA mounting bracket Temperature Range: Horizontal position: 50 to 95 F (10 to 35 C) 47 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

51 Vertical position, power button up: 50 to 104 F (10 to 40 C) Storage: 14 to 140 F (-10 to 60 C) Humidity: Security: 20% to 80% condensing 10% to 95% non-condensing Built-in Kensington security slot (cable sold separately) Safety Certifications: Ergonomics: German EKI-ITB 2000, ISO /-8 Safety: culus 60950, TÜV-GS, EN RF Interference: FCC Class B, CE, VCCI, C-Tick Environmental: WEEE, RoHS Compliant Warranty: 3-year limited hardware warranty 48 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

52 8.3 Wyse T10 The Wyse T10 sets the new standard for affordable thin clients. Providing an exceptional user experience, the T10 features the incredibly fast Wyse ThinOS, for environments in which security is critical. Boot up in just seconds and log in securely to the network. The T10 delivers a superior Citrix and Microsoft user experience, along with the usability and management features traditionally found in premium thin clients. The T10 delivers outstanding performance based on its system-on-a-chip (SoC) design, and a built-in media processor delivers smooth multimedia, bi-directional audio and Flash playback. Flexible mounting options let you position the T10 vertically or horizontally on your desk, on the wall or behind your display. Using about 7 watts of power in full operation, the T10 creates very little heat for a greener, more comfortable working environment. Click HERE for more information on the Wyse T DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

53 8.4 Wyse T10 Specifications: Specifications: Operating System: Processor: Memory: I/O peripheral support: Networking: Display: Audio: Included: Power: Power consumption: Dimensions: Shipping Weight: Mountings: Temperature Range: Wyse ThinOS Marvell ARMADA PXA 510 v7 1.0 GHz system-onchip (SoC) 0MB Flash / 1GB RAM DDR3 One DVI-I port, DVI to VGA (DB-15) adapter included Dual display support with optional DVI-I to DVI-D plus VGA-monitor splitter cable (sold separately) Four USB /100/1000 Base-T Gigabit Ethernet Optional internal wireless b/g VESA monitor support with Display Data Control (DDC) for automatic setting of resolution and refresh rate Dual monitor supported Single: 1920x1200@60Hz; color depth: 32 bpp Dual: Up To 1920x1080@60Hz; color depth: 32 bpp Output: 1/8-inch mini jack, full 16-bit stereo, 48KHz sample rate Input: 1/8-inch mini jack, 8-bit microphone Enhanced USB keyboard with PS/2 mouse port and Windows keys PS/2 mouse Worldwide auto-sensing VAC, 50/60 Hz Energy Star V5.0 Phase V external and EuP compliant power adapter Under 7.2 Watts (average) Height: 1 inch (25mm) Width: 6.9 inches (177mm) Depth: 4.69 inches (119mm) Weight: 1 lb (450g) lbs. (.455kg) Stand for horizontal use and VESA/wall mounting (included) Optional vertical stand Operating Horizontal position: 50 to 95 F (10 to 35 C) 50 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

54 Vertical position: Power button up: 50 to 104 F (10 to 40 C) Storage: 14 to 140 F (-10 to 60 C) Humidity: Security: 20% to 80% condensing 10% to 95% non-condensing Built-in Kensington security slot (cable sold separately) Safety Certifications: Ergonomics: German EKI-ITB 2000, ISO /-8 Safety: culus 60950, TÜV-GS, EN RF Interference: FCC Class B, CE, VCCI, C-Tick Environmental: WEEE, RoHS Compliant Warranty: 3-year limited hardware warranty 51 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

55 9 Software Components 9.1 XenDesktop 5.5 The solution is based on Citrix XenDesktop. Citrix XenDesktop provides a complete endto-end solution that delivers Microsoft Windows 7 virtual desktops to users on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Virtual desktops are dynamically assembled on demand, providing users with pristine, yet personalised, desktops each time they log on. Citrix XenDesktop provides a complete virtual desktop delivery system by integrating several distributed components with advanced configuration tools that simplify the creation and real-time management of the virtual desktop infrastructure. The core components of XenDesktop are: XenDesktop Controller Installed on servers in the data centre, the controller authenticates users, manages the assembly of users virtual desktop environments, and brokers connections between users and their virtual desktops. Citrix Provisioning Server The Provisioning Services infrastructure is based on software-streaming technology. This technology allows computers to be provisioned and reprovisioned in real-time from a single shared-disk image. In doing so, Enterprise 6020 administrators can completely eliminate the need to manage and patch individual systems. Instead, all image management is done on the master image. This greatly reduces the amount of storage required compared to other methods of creating virtual desktops. The Provisioning Server runs on a virtual instance of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on the Management Server(s). XenDesktop Database A Microsoft SQL database that hosts configuration and session information and as a result should be hosted on a resilient database platform. Virtual Desktop Agent The Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) is installed on every virtual desktop and enables the direct connection between the virtual desktop and users endpoint devices. This connection is made using the Citrix ICA (Independent Computing Architecture) protocol. Visit for more information on Citrix XenDesktop. 9.2 Profile Manager Citrix Profile Management is a component of the XenDesktop suite which is used to manage user profiles an minimise many of the issues associated with traditional Windows Roaming profiles in an environment where users may have their profile open on multiple 52 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

56 devices at the same time. The profile management toolset has two components, the profile management agent which is installed on any device where the user profiles will be managed by the toolset, which in the case of the Piper solution will be the virtual desktops. The second component is a Group Policy Administrative Template, which is imported to a group policy which is assigned to an organisational unit within active directory which contains the devices upon which the user profiles will be managed. In order to further optimise the profile management folders within the user profile that can be used to store data will be redirected the users home drive. The folder redirection will be managed via group policy objects within Active Directory. The following folders will be redirected; Contacts Downloads Favorites Links My Documents Searches Start Menu Windows My Music My Pictures My Videos Desktop 9.3 Provisioning Services 6.0 Citrix Provisioning Services is the infrastructure component that provides operating system streaming technology. It allows administrators to create virtual disks (vdisks) that represent a computer hard drive, and then relocate that vdisk onto the Provisioning Server, or on a storage device that is accessible to the Provisioning Server. Once the vdisk is available, the target device no longer needs its local hard drive to operate; it boots directly across the network. The Provisioning Server streams the contents of the vdisk to the target device on demand, in real time, and the target device behaves as if it is running from its local drive. Visit for more information on Citrix Provisioning Services Provisioning Services Networking Dependencies Network services include a DHCP service, BOOTP service, Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) service, and a TFTP service. These services can be used during the boot process to retrieve IP addresses, and locate and download the boot program from the Provisioning Server to the target device. 53 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

57 9.4 SQL Server 2008 R2 The Citrix and VMware databases will be hosted by a single dedicated SQL 2008 R2 Server VM in the management tier: Citrix XenDesktop Citrix Provisioning Server VMware vcenter VMware vcenter Update Manager Visit for more information on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. Initial placement of all databases into a single SQL instance is fine unless performance becomes an issue, in which case database should be separated into instances. Enable auto-growth for each DB. See evolutionary section below for more information. Best practices defined by Citrix for XenDesktop should be adhered to, to ensure optimal database performance. All clustered services are summarized in below: Role Purpose FileShare Homes Homes Share for end users i.e. their data location FileShare Profiles User Profiles Share SQL Databases DB vcenter, Provisioning Server and XenDesktop Database During testing the performance metrics will be obtained from the server hardware and EqualLogic volumes to help us ascertain if there are potential improvements to be made through reconfiguration. The Equallogic PS series arrays utilize a default RAID stripe size of 64K. To provide optimal performance, disk partitions should be configured to begin from a sector boundary divisible by 64K. Disks to be used by SQL Server should be aligned with a 1024K offset and then formatted with a 64K file allocation unit size (data, logs, and tempdb). DISKPART> select disk x Disk x is now the selected disk. DISKPART> create partition primary align=1024 DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition. 9.5 VMware vcenter and SQL The vcenter VM used in the stack will be a single Windows 2008 R2 VM, residing on the Management Virtual Infrastructure ESXIi Server. This VM will have a hardware configuration as outlined in section and it will connect to SQL Server to provide its database. 54 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

58 This database for vcenter will reside on the virtual SQL server running SQL 2008 R2. Also, VMware Converter will be installed on the VCenter server to facilitate importing OVF or Virtual Machines from other Virtual Environments for management purposes. All licensing for the VMware products will also be installed on this vcenter Server, the following is the license requirement. 4 CPU x VSphere 4 Standard 1 x vcenter Server 4 Standard Gold Image VM s will be generated for each base Operating System required within the bundle. Also, Customization Scripts will be added to vcenter to ensure all cloning activity from these VM s produce VM s with new SID and also licensing, naming convention and some default network settings, etc. Lastly, vcenter will have to obtain its own SSL certificate, either from a root certificate authority or via an OpenSSL tool. This is required for the XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller to connect via the web to vcenter. 9.6 Citrix License Server The Citrix License Server is an essential component at any Citrix-based solution. Every Citrix product environment must have at least one shared or dedicated license server. License servers are computers that are either partly or completely dedicated to storing and managing licenses. Citrix products request licenses from a license server when users attempt to connect. The Citrix License server component requires minimal system resources; the resource requirements are so minimal that there is no hardware requirements above those required by the operating system used to host the service. The License Server must be version 11.9 or newer and will be based on Windows Server 2008 R2 running as a virtual machine on the first management server. Visit for more information on the Citrix License Server. 55 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

59 9.7 Citrix Web Interface Server The Web Interface provides users with simple and controlled access to XenDesktop virtual desktops. Users access their resources through a standard Web browser or through the Citrix online plug-in. The Web Interface employs Java and.net technology executed on a Web server to dynamically create an HTML depiction of server farms for XenApp Web sites. Users are presented with all the resources (applications, content, and desktops) published in the server farm(s) made available. Stand-alone Web Interface sites can be utilized or they can be integrated into a corporate portal. Visit for more information on the Citrix Web Interface. 9.8 Windows File Services Windows File Services are used to store user profile and home drive data. Unless an advanced user profile abstraction tool is used, profiles and user data should be controlled using the folder redirection and profile management tools native to Windows and administered via Windows Group Policy and Citrix User Profile Manager. If an optional FS7500 NAS head is used, the File Services role will be migrated to the NAS and the virtual file server instance(s) removed. See section 11 for more details on the FS7500. Visit for information on the FS7500 and file sharing in a VDI environment. Visit for information on integrating the FS7500 into an existing SAN. 9.9 Citrix Desktop Receiver The Citrix Desktop Receiver is a client-based plug-in that is installed on the user s endpoint device. This is to be used in-conjunction with Citrix XenDesktop when the user requires the ability to interact with their local desktop as well as the XenDesktop. This package provides the toolbar functionality, allowing the user to pan and scale their XenDesktop inside their local desktop. When a user logs into a Web Interface site to 56 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

60 access XenDesktop, the Web Interface site can detect that the Citrix Desktop Receiver is absent from endpoint devices, and automatically prompt users to download and install it from the site. Visit for more information on the Citrix Desktop Receiver. Visit for more information on the Citrix Web Interface Virtual Desktop Antivirus In order to ensure the environment is as representative of a production environment as possible Anti-Virus should be deployed to all servers and virtual desktops. For example, the environment can add the use of McAfee VirusScan SMB 8.7i, which can be managed centrally by the epolicy Orchestrator which can control agent deployment, definition updates and policies. Since the Virtual desktops will be based on a single read-only image streamed from the provisioning servers there are a number of exclusions that can be configured to optimise performance of the On-Access scanning features of McAfee. Visit for more information on the DVS Integrated Solution Stacks Windows Active Directory Integration Windows Active Directory integration for XenDesktop 5.0 is required for authentication services only, unlike previous versions where the controllers were discovered using Service Principle names which were maintained as object in the Active Directory structure. Visit for more information on XenDesktop integration with Active Directory. 57 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

61 58 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

62 10 Network Architecture 10.1 Logical Network Connectivity The logical network is designed with five VLANs for added security and traffic isolation as outlined below: We created a number of VLANs to isolate and manage traffic. VMotion Vlan: configured for use with VMware VMotion: configured as a switched only vlan. iscsi Vlan: configured as a switched only vlan. ESXi Mgmt Vlan: configured for ESXi management traffic routed. VDI Vlan: Configured for VDI infrastructure traffic routed. Hardware Management Vlan: configured for all hardware management traffic, managing via ESXi hosts idracs, EqualLogic storage units, network switches, routed. Three VLANs have routing interfaces on the core network. An OSPF single area design was used during the Dell DVS Engineering validation to provide IP routing Physical Network Connectivity The Dell DVS Enterprise 6020 is developed with a rack or blade server based infrastructure solution. This requires different design strategies for physical networking. The DVS engineering teams developed a simple and scalable strategy to allow customer flexibility 59 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

63 in their network design. A solution can be as simple as a single top of rack PowerConnect 6248 and a couple PowerEdge rack servers or a more advanced and typical redundant network fabric design. The platforms supported can be found in the Hardware section Rack Server Physical Network Topology Each Dell PowerEdge rack server has (4) 1 GbE NICS, paired in a 2 GbE LAG and connected to redundant Dell PowerConnect 6248 switch for HA designs, this will ensure that each server has two physical connections to each physical switch. Customers can choose to implement a single switch which would not provide network HA. Each server will be configured with 2 vmnic s at 1Gbps (0,1) for the VM Network and another 2 vmnics at 1Gbps (2,3) used for iscsi and management traffic. The VM Network on each server will carry the production traffic (the network the VM s communicate over and which users connect to their virtual desktops over) while the iscsi network will carry all other traffic (iscsi, Service Console). Since the iscsi network is only being utilised by the Infrastructure hosts and the management VMs it was decided that this network would also carry the service console traffic as the service console traffic is minimal. vswitch0 will be connected to vmnic2 and vmnic3. Within this vswitch there will be 3 vvmkernel ports; Management Network, iscsi1 and iscsi2. Both NICs will be set to Active Auto on the vswitch. All Security and Traffic Shaping Setting are set to the default setting. VLAN tagging will be used on all vmkernel ports. Below is a diagram of the physical network topology for a rack server without Network HA. It is recommended to implement redundant Top of Rack networking for production environments. That design would simply peel half the connectivity off to the second top of rack switch. 60 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

64 LNK/ SPD LNK/ SPD LNK/ SPD ACT 24 Combo 21 LNK/ SPD ACT 24 Combo ACT ACT Blade Server Networking Topology Each Dell PowerEdge blade server has 4 NICS, which consists of 2 onboard 1 GbE plus dual 10 GbE provided through a Broadcom mezzanine adapter card. Each server will be configured with 2 vmnic s at 1Gbps (0,1) for the VM Network and another 2 vmnics at 10 Gbps (2,3) used for iscsi and vmotion. The VM Network on each server will carry the production traffic (the network the VM s communicate over and which users connect to their virtual desktops over) while the iscsi network will carry all other traffic (iscsi, Service Console). Since the iscsi network is only being utilised by the Infrastructure hosts and the management VMs it was decided that this network would also carry the service console traffic as the service console traffic is minimal. vswitch0 will be connected to vmnic2 and vmnic3. Within this vswitch there will be 3 vvmkernel ports; Management Network, iscsi1 and iscsi2. Both NICs will be set to Active Auto on the vswitch. All Security and Traffic Shaping Setting are set to the default setting. VLAN tagging will be used on all vmkernel ports. Below is a diagram of the physical network topology for a blade server solution with Network HA based on a PowerConnect 8024F top of rack design. M1000e Chassis Installed PowerConnect Switches 20Gig Link Aggregation Group to M8024 in Fabric B1 20Gig Link Aggregation Group to M8024 in Fabric B2 40Gig Link Aggregation Group to M6220 Switch Stack in Fabric A1 & A2 CMC Copper Mgmt Connections 20Gig LAG Trunked Vlan10-11, Gig LAG Trunked Vlan10-11, Gig LAG Trunked Vlan120 & 129 Customer Core Network EqualLogic Storage 20Gig Routed Link to Shared services Ten-1/0/9 Ten-2/0/9 Ten-1/0/12 Ten-1/0/12 Ten-1/0/13 Ten-1/0/13 Ten-1/0/10 Ten-2/0/10 Ten-1/0/11 Ten-2/0/11 GE-1/0/21 GE-2/0/21 Ten-1/0/14 Ten-1/0/15 Ten-2/0/14 Ten-2/0/15 10Gig iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports Connection to EQL1 Storage iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports Controllers 1Gig Copper 10Gig TwinAx Copper Cable 10Gig Fiber Cable PowerConnect 8024F Stack Ten-1/0/16 Ten-1/0/17 Ten-2/0/16 Ten-2/0/17 GE-1/0/22 GE-1/0/23 GE-1/0/24 GE-2/0/22 GE-2/0/23 GE-2/0/24 iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports 10Gig Connection to EQL2 Storage Controllers 10Gig iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports Connection to EQL3 Storage Controllers iscsi Vlan 11 Access Ports Notes: All interface numbers are from the PowerConnect Stack configuration. Firmware Version 4.2 required to stack the 8024F. Switch stacked over 80Gig SFP_ Ports 1-8 on both switches. To insure redundancy for Network HA and required bandwidth throughput the PowerEdge M1000e chassis design consists of dual M6220 and M8024 fabric interconnects in fabrics A and B of the chassis. Connectivity to the top of rack and EqualLogic arrays is outlined in the diagram below. 61 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

65 Physical Networking Connectivity Virtual Host Server The primary difference between rack and blade server connectivity is 1 GbE only on rack and vmnic 2 & 3 for vswitch1 being 10 GbE on blade server solutions. 62 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

66 Physical Networking Connectivity Management Server Management servers will run VDI sessions as well and requires identical network support as VDI hosts. Again, the primary difference between rack and blade server connectivity is 1 GbE only on rack and vmnic 2 & 3 for vswitch1 being 10 GbE on blade server solutions ESXi Virtual Networking Each host is configured with redundant physical NIC s based on the designs outlined for rack or blade server solutions. The vsphere standard vswitch was implemented with two vswitch virtual switches. vswitch0 will be connected to vmnic0 and vmnic1. Within this vswitch there will be 3 vmkernel ports; Management Network, iscsi0 and iscsi1. Both NICs will be set to Active Auto on the vswitch. All Security and Traffic Shaping Setting are set to the default setting. VLAN tagging will be used on all vmkernel ports. vswitch1 will be connected to vmnic2 and vmnic3. On this virtual switch, there will be a single portgroup with all the default security and traffic shaping options. However, in regards to NIC teaming, the NICs will route based on IP hash. Host Profiles are not licensed so we cannot use them to configure networking, therefore a combination of scripting and manual configuration steps will be used. 63 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

67 Please note that the VDI traffic on vswitch1 is isolated to that vswitch alone with only desktop VMs (on Compute hosts) and Management VMs (on Management hosts) in the port group. All server infrastructure components should be placed in the Management Network port group and route to the VDI VLAN as needed via the switching infrastructure. 64 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

68 11 End-user Workload Characterization It s important to understand the user workloads when designing a Desktop Virtualization Solution. The Dell Desktop Virtualization Solution methodology includes a Blueprint process to assess and categorize a customer s environment according to the workloads defined in this section. In the Dell Desktop Virtualization solution this will map directly to the SLA levels we offer in our Integrated Stack. There are three levels, each of which is bound by specific metrics and capabilities Workload Characterization Overview Basic Workload Characterization The Basic User workload profile consists of simple task worker workloads. Typically a repetitive application use profile with a non-personalized virtual desktop image. Sample use cases may be a kiosk or call-center use cases which do not require a personalized desktop environment and the application stack is static. In a virtual desktop environment the image is dynamically created from a template for each user and returned to the desktop pool for reuse by other users. The workload requirements for a basic user is the lowest in terms of CPU, memory, network and Disk I/O requirements and will allow the greatest density and scalability of the infrastructure. User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Basic 1GB 0.5GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a task worker. Only two apps are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately one hour and forty-five minutes. 65 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

69 Standard Workload Characterization The Standard User workload profile consists of , typical office productivity applications and web browsing for research/training. There is minimal image personalization required in a standard user workload profile. The workload requirement for a Standard User is moderate and most closely matches the majority of office worker profiles in terms of CPU, memory, network and Disk I/O. This will allow moderate density and scalability of the infrastructure. User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Standard 1.5GB 1GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a medium knowledge worker. Five applications are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately 45 seconds Premium Workload Characterization The Premium User workload is an advanced knowledge worker. All office applications are configured and utilized. The user has moderate-to-large file size (access, save, transfer requirements). There is some graphics creation or editing done for presentations or content creation tasks. Web browsing use is typically research/training driven, similar to Standard Users. The Premium User requires extensive image personalization, for shortcuts, macros, menu layouts etc. The workload requirements for a Premium User are heavier than typical office workers in terms of CPU, memory, Network and Disk I/O. This will limit density and scalability of the infrastructure. User Workload VM Memory Allocation VM Memory Reservation User Data Disk Space OS Image Notes Premium 2.5GB 1.5GB 5GB This user workload leverages a shared desktop image emulates a high level knowledge worker. Eight applications are open simultaneously and session idle time is approximately two minutes. 66 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

70 11.2 Workload Characterization Testing Details User Workload VM Memory OS Image Workload Description Basic 1GB Shared This workload emulates a task worker. The light workload is very light in comparison to medium. Only 2 apps are open simultaneously. Only apps used are IE, Word and Outlook. Idle time total is about 1:45 minutes Standard 1.5GB Shared This workload emulates a medium knowledge working using Office, IE and PDF. Once a session has been started the medium workload will repeat every 12 minutes. During each loop the response time is measured every 2 minutes. The medium workload opens up to 5 apps simultaneously. The type rate is 160 ms for each character. Approximately 2 minutes of idle time is included to simulate realworld users. Each loop will open and use: Outlook 2007, browse 10 messages. Internet Explorer, one instance is left open (BBC.co.uk), one instance is browsed to Wired.com, Lonelyplanet.com and heavy flash app gettheglass.com. Word 2007, one instance to measure response time, one instance to review and edit document. Bullzip PDF Printer & Acrobat Reader, the word document is printed and reviewed to PDF. Excel 2007, a very large randomized sheet is opened. PowerPoint 2007, a presentation is reviewed and edited. 7-zip: using the command line version the output of the session is zipped. Premium 2.5GB Shared plus Profile Virt, or, Private The heavy workload is based on the standard workload; the differences in comparison to the standard workload are: Type rate is 130 ms per character. Idle time total is only 40 seconds. The heavy workload opens up to 8 apps simultaneously 67 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

71 12 Solution Stack Functionality 12.1 XenDesktop Communication User Login Process The user device submits credentials to the Web Interface site. Web Interface passes the user credentials to the controller. Controller verifies user authorization by performing a Microsoft Active Directory query with the end user s credentials. Controller queries the site database for the end user s assigned desktop groups, named instance uses ports 1434 and Using the desktop group obtained from the database, controller queries the hypervisor about the status of desktops within that group. Controller identifies to Web Interface the desktop it assigned for this particular session. Web Interface sends an ICA file to the online plug-in, which points to the virtual desktop identified by the hypervisor. 68 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

72 Online plug-in establishes an ICA connection to the specific virtual desktop that was allocated by the controller for this session. Virtual Desktop Agent verifies the license file with the controller. Controller queries Citrix license server to verify that the end user has a valid ticket. Controller passes session policies to the Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA), which then applies those policies to the virtual desktop. Online plug-in displays the virtual desktop to the end user. Administrator and helpdesk personnel use Desktop Director and Studio tools to manage the desktops from the management server. Note: Source port will be random open port. This is for reference only and should not be used for security and/or architecture review. 69 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

73 Citrix TCP/UDP Port Communication Component Port Notes Citrix XenServer TCP 80/443 Communication with XenServer infrastructure VMware vsphere TCP 443 VMware Web Services communication Desktop Broker TCP 80/443 Used by process BrokerService.exe for WCF communications to VDA, SDK, XML Service Active Directory Identity Service TCP 80 Used by Citrix.ADIdentity.SdkWcfEndpoint.exe Configuration Service TCP 80 Used by Citrix.Configuration.SdkWcfEndpoint.exe Host Service TCP 80 Used by Citrix.Host.SdkWcfEndpoint.exe License Configuration Service TCP 80 Desktop Director TCP 80/443 Used by Citrix.LicensingConfig.SdkWcfEndpoint.exe Virtual Desktop Agent 5.x TCP 80 Communication between Desktop Delivery Controller and Virtual Desktop Agent TCP 135/3389 Communication between Desktop Director and Virtual Desktop Agent for Remote Assistance UDP 16500/16509 Used port range for HDX Audio TCP 80 Communication between Desktop Director and Virtual Desktop Agent for WinRM 1.1 TCP 5985 Communication between Desktop Director and Virtual Desktop Agent for WinRM 2.0 Virtual Desktop Agent 4.x TCP 8080 Communication between Desktop Delivery Controller and Virtual Desktop Agent Citrix Desktop Service TCP 80 Used by process WorkstationAgent.exe for communicating with Broker XenDesktop Data Store TCP 1433 Microsoft SQL Server TCP 1434 Microsoft SQL Server UDP 1434 Microsoft SQL Server named instance connection. Provisioning Server DHCP UDP 67/68 DHCP Option for Bootfile Name (Bootstrap Protocol Client) Provisioning Server TFTP UDP 69 File Transfer Active Directory TCP 389 Communication with Active Directory services Provisioning Server Console TCP 54321/54322 SOAP Service Provisioning Server Data Store TCP 1433 Microsoft SQL Server Streaming Services UDP Provisioning services Streaming Service Server Communications UDP Inter-server and intra-server communication Write Cache TCP 10802/10803 Target communication with its Write Cache Visit for more information on XenDesktop port communication. 70 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

74 12.2 Scaling and Sizing The DVS Enterprise 6020 is designed to start with as few as 50 virtual desktop users at the Basic workload. The base stack configuration can support to 80 basic users, and then scale up to a maximum of 500 users. The scaling-up of the stack is simple to accomplish and only requires increasing the number of Desktop Virtualization Host servers. It also provides the customer with several scalability increments on the way to 500 users. Scaling details are below. The flexibility of the Enterprise 6020 solution enables scaling up to 500 users within a single configuration. This is accomplished by merely adding the required number of Virtualization Host Servers to meet the desired user load. See diagram below. 71 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

75 Initial scaling of the Enterprise 6020 by Workload The following is an example of how to properly size and scale a DVS Enterprise 6020 by user workload characterization. These numbers are given as preliminary guidance based on DVS testing and may vary depending on customer needs and specific workload characterizations Scaling of the DVS Enterprise 6020 beyond 500 users The DVS Enterprise 6020 solution is purpose designed and built for smaller scale deployments that fill the needs of either small and medium sized business or departmental VDI projects. Additionally, the DVS Enterprise 6020 architecture can easily grow into the larger scale architectures of the DVS Enterprise 6020 rack or blade-based solutions. Along with these larger scale deployments, the rack and blade-based solutions bring multiple layers of redundancy and high availability built in. The following table outlines how the various management components grow as you increase the scale of the solution. Number of Users Physical Virtual Management Provisioning Hosts Servers Virtual Delivery Controllers Virtual Web Interface Servers Virtual License Servers Virtual vcenter Servers Virtual SQL Servers Citrix Netscaler VPX s DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

76 13 Performance and Testing 13.1 Load Generation and Monitoring Login VSI Login Consultants The Login VSI tool (developed by Login Consultants) was used to generate the desktop workloads, it was originally planned that this tool would also be used in conjunction with the other monitoring tools outlined in the Assessment/Monitoring Tools section of this report. Unfortunately the latest version of the tool which was used during the testing had a known issue (which has been acknowledged by Login Consultants) whereby the timing of certain events within each of the workloads returns a negative time value which has meant that the VSIMax score obtained from each test run may not be accurate. As a result of this the Dell Solutions Centres team have made a decision to exclude the VSIMax scores obtained from each run. Despite the issues encountered with Login VSI 3.0 in relation to the VSIMax score the tool has been used as a reliable mechanism for launching the user sessions and running each of the workloads. Login VSI is a widely-used tool for testing VDI environments and server-based computing / terminal services environments. It installs a standard collection of desktop application software (e.g. Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader etc.) on each VDI desktop, it then uses launcher systems to connect a specified number of users to available desktops within the environment. Once the user is connected the workload is started via a logon script which starts the test script once the user environment is configured by the login script. Each launcher system can launch connections to a number of 'target' machines (i.e. VDI desktops) the launchers are managed via a Microsoft Management Console which is used to configure where the sessions are launched in parallel (sessions are created from each launcher in a round robin mechanism) or sequential (all sessions to be connected from each launcher are connected before the next launcher is used) Assessment/Monitoring Tools The tools outlined below were used to monitor different aspects of the environment during testing, initially it was planned that these tools would be used to complement the results generated by the VSI Login tool however, as outlined in the previous section of this report the Login VSI tool presented some issues in relation to the VSIMax score so the monitoring tools outlined below have been used to understand the host and desktop performance within the environment and therefore determine the number of desktop that can be supported by each host (or the overall bundle) in a way that closely maps as closely to a production environment as possible. 73 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

77 Liquidware Labs Stratusphere UX Stratusphere UX was used during each test run to gather data relating to User Experience and desktop performance. Data was gathered at the Host and Virtual Machine layers and reported back to a central server (Stratusphere Hub). The hub was then used to create a series of Comma Separated Values (.csv) reports which have then been used to generate graphs and summary tables of key information. In addition the Stratusphere Hub generates a magic quadrate style scatter plot showing the Machine and IO experience of the sessions. The Stratusphere hub was deployed onto the core network therefore its monitoring did not impact the servers being tested. This core network represents an existing customer environment and also includes the following services: Active Directory DNS DHCP Anti-Virus Stratusphere UX calculates the User Experience by monitoring key metrics within the Virtual Desktop environment, the metrics and their thresholds are shown in the following screen shot; 13.2 Testing Testing Process Each test run will be based on a single user workload (Basic, Standard, and Premium). See section 7 for details on workload characterizations. The purpose of the single server testing is to validate the architectural assumptions made around the single server stack. Each user load is tested against 4 runs. A pilot run to validate that the infrastructure is functioning and valid data can be captured and 3 subsequent runs allowing correlation of 74 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

78 data. Summary of the test results should be listed out in the below mentioned tabular format. Details of the test metrics that need to be captured are discussed in the Data Analysis section of the document. Once all runs have been completed the data captured will be analysed and the key metrics will be included in the test report. At different stages of the testing the testing team will complete some manual User Experience Testing while the environment is under load. This will involve a team member logging into a session during the run and completing tasks similar to the User Workload description. While this experience will be subjective, it will help provide a better understanding of the end user experience of the desktop sessions, particularly under high load, and ensure that the data gathered is reliable. Login VSI has two modes for launching user s sessions; Parallel Sessions are launched from multiple launcher hosts in a round robin fashion; this mode is recommended by Login Consultants when running tests against multiple host servers. In parallel mode the VSI console is configured to launch a number of sessions over a specified time period (specified in seconds). Sequential Sessions are launched from each launcher host in sequence, sessions are only started from a second host once all sessions have been launched on the first host, this is repeated for each launcher host. Sequential launching is recommended by Login Consultants when testing a single desktop host server. The VSI console is configure to launch a specified number of session at a specified interval specified in seconds. All test runs which involved the 6 desktop hosts were conducted using the Login VSI Parallel Launch mode, all sessions were launched over an hour to try and represent the typical 9am logon storm. Once the last user session has connected, the sessions are left to run for 15 minutes prior to the sessions being instructed to logout at the end of the current task sequence, this allows every user to complete a minimum of two task sequences within the run before logging out. The single server test runs were configured to launch user sessions every 60 seconds, as with the full bundle test runs sessions were left to run for 15 minutes after the last user connected prior to the sessions being instructed to log out Testing Summary The summary table below shows the desktop densities and storage IOPS on a per desktop basis and user basis (based on file data for the user profile and home directory storage). The IOPS values are an average based on the values shown later in this section of the report at the peak usage points for full bundle testing for the boot on demand test runs. 75 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

79 Workload Full Bundle Density Full Bundle Density (N+1) Single Server Density CPU Sustainned Tier-1 IOPS Avg. IOPS Tier-2 IOPS Basic % Standard % Premium % Note: Liquidware UX adds 7% CPU overhead and is included in the results. In the table above the Single Server densities refer to the number of desktops that were running (whilst providing an acceptable user experience) on all 6 Desktop host servers. Sustained Tier-1 IOPS per user are calculated from average of sustained IOPS on local drive divided by number of users. Tier-2 IOPS are calculated by taking total maximum of IOPS on Tier2/PS4100E Piper Storage and dividing it with number of users. The Tier-2 IOPS per user values presented throughout the report relate to the temporary data that is written to the EqualLogic while each desktop is running, while the Tier-1 IOPS per user values relate to the local drive IOPS. Given the environment uses folder redirection to minimize the amount of user data stored in the user profile to ensure that the user logon times are not impacted by quantity of data stored in these folders. These values have been taken when the environment demonstrated peak load and are presented as the average IOPS per User and per desktop at peak load User Workloads As defined in the Architecture Summary section of this report the solution has been tested against three different workloads; Basic Standard Premium Details of the vcpu and memory configuration for each of these workloads are defined within the Architecture Summary section of this report. The tasks undertaken by the users in each of the workloads are outlined below; Basic Workload This workload emulates a task worker The light workload is very light in comparison to medium Only 2 apps are open simultaneously Only apps used are IE, Word and Outlook Idle time total is about 1:45 minutes Standard Workload This workload emulates a medium knowledge working using Office, IE and PDF. Once a session has been started the medium workload will repeat every 12 minutes. During each loop the response time is measured every 2 minutes. The medium workload opens up to 5 apps simultaneously. The type rate is 76 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

80 160 ms for each character. Approximately 2 minutes of idle time is included to simulate real-world users. Each loop will open and use: Outlook 2007, browse 10 messages. Internet Explorer, one instance is left open (BBC.co.uk), one instance is browsed to Wired.com, Lonelyplanet.com and heavy flash app gettheglass.com. Word 2007, one instance to measure response time, one instance to review and edit document. Bullzip PDF Printer & Acrobat Reader, the word document is printed and reviewed to PDF. Excel 2007, a very large randomized sheet is opened. PowerPoint 2007, a presentation is reviewed and edited. 7-zip: using the command line version the output of the session is zipped. Premium Workload The heavy workload is based on the medium workload; the differences in comparison to the medium workload are: Type rate is 130 ms per character. Idle time total is only 40 seconds. The heavy workload opens up to 8 apps simultaneously Detailed Testing Results Host Server Testing Summary The Desktop Host performance graphs shown in this section of the report demonstrate a summary key performance metrics within each desktop host during each test run. During testing the Dell Solutions Centre team found that total CPU and memory utilization are fairly low at 60% for 80 users. More Desktops can be added to the current solution depending on the user type and amount of resources required for peak loads. The following diagrams illustrate Host Server performance of a single server Enterprise 6020 with 100% of the user desktops pre-booted: 77 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

81 End User Experience Testing Summary The Stratusphere UX by User data shows that for almost all the tests 100% of users were rated as having a Good Users experience and those users which had a fair user experience were only just outside the Good category. It should be noted that total number of users for each test run typically exceeds the number of desktops available, the reason for this is that the Dell team found it was necessary to configure the Login VSI tool to launch more sessions than were actually needed since there is always a percentage of the users that fail to fully connect in every run, this is something that was noted by Login Consultants in their documentation. VDI UX is based on the following 9 metrics: User login Application load time CPU Queue Page faults Disk IOPS Disk Queue Network latency Non responding applications Incomplete connection Each time the ConnectorID(CID) in the VDI sessions sends a report, Stratusphere associates a VDI UX score to the machine and the user logged in at the time. The final VDI UX label (good/fair/poor) associated with a user or a machine in a report is calculated based on all the VDI UX ratings observed during that time period, not on the individual average metrics observed during that time period. This explains why a single user could be labeled as fair while no average for the 9 metrics used to calculate VDI UX is above the Good VDI UX profile. This can be the case when usage is calculated over short period of time and when observed metrics are close to the threshold. VDI UX classification for a time period is compiled based on the VDI UX ratings received for each CID (agent) report. So a few peaks could move a user overall rating from good to fair although the average values observed for that same time period are below the fair threshold. Note: Liquidware UX adds 7% CPU overhead and is included in the results. 78 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

82 Single Server, Basic Workload, 100% Pre-booted Good VDI Performance - By Machine Average CPU% Average CPU Queue Average Context Switches (s) Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Disk Queue Average Network I/O (KB/s) Averages 4.35% Maximum 7.00% Minimum 1.89% Count 120 Machine ANR Good VDI Performance - By User Login Duration (s) App Load Time (ms) Average CPU% Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Network I/O (KB/s) User ANR Averages % Maximum % Minimum % Count Single Server, Standard Workload, 100% Pre-booted Good VDI Performance - By Machine Average CPU% Average CPU Queue Average Context Switches (s) Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Disk Queue Average Network I/O (KB/s) Machine ANR Averages 5.43% Maximum 8.68% Minimum 1.45% Count DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

83 Good VDI Performance - By User Login Duration (s) App Load Time (ms) Average CPU% Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Network I/O (KB/s) User ANR Averages % Maximum % Minimum % Count Single Server, Premium Workload, 100% Pre-booted Good VDI Performance - By Machine Average CPU% Average CPU Queue Average Context Switches (s) Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Disk Queue Average Network I/O (KB/s) Averages 7.89% Maximum 11% Minimum 3.63% Count 39 Machine ANR Good VDI Performance - By User Login Duration (s) App Load Time (ms) Average CPU% Average Memory (MB) Average Graphics Intensity Average Disk IOPS Average Network I/O (KB/s) User ANR Averages % Maximum % Minimum % Count DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

84 PowerEdge 11G Server Performance Testing Summary The summary table below shows the desktop densities and storage IOPS on a per desktop basis and user basis (based on file data for the user profile and home directory storage). The IOPS values are an average based on the values shown later in this section of the report at the peak usage points for full bundle testing for the boot on demand test runs. Workload Full Bundle Density Single Server Density Sustained Tier- 1 IOPS Average Tier-2 IOPS Peak Tier-1 IOPS Peak Teir-2 IOPS Basic Standard Premium In the table above the Full Bundle densities refer to the number of desktops that were running (while providing an acceptable user experience) on all 6 Desktop host servers. Tier-1 IOPS per user are calculated from Maximum IOPS on local drive divided by number of users. Tier-2 IOPS are calculated by taking total maximum of IOPS on Tier2/PS4100E Storage and dividing it with number of users. The Tier-2 IOPS per user values presented throughout the report relate to the temporary data that is written to the EqualLogic while each desktop is running, while the Tier-1 IOPS per user values relate to the local drive IOPS. Given the environment uses folder redirection to minimize the amount of user data stored in the user profile to ensure that the user logon times are not impacted by quantity of data stored in these folders. These values have been taken when the environment demonstrated peak load and are presented as the average IOPS per User and per desktop at peak load. 81 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

85 14 High Availability Option Resiliency The HA options provides redundancy for all critical components in the stack while improving the performance and efficiency of the solution as a whole. An additional switch is added at the network tier which will be configured with the original as a stack and equally spreading each host s network connections across both. At the compute tier an additional ESXi host is added to provide N+1 protection provided by Citrix PVS. There will be no vsphere HA cluster in the compute tier as VMs that run here run on local disks. A number of enhancements occur at the Management tier, the first of which is the addition of another ESXi host. The Management ESXi hosts will then be configured in an HA cluster with vmotion enabled. All applicable Citrix server roles should then be duplicated on the new host where connections to each will be load balanced via the addition of a virtual NetScaler appliance. SQL will also receive greater protection through the addition and configuration of a SQL mirror with a witness. The PS4100e array is already redundant in and of itself but we can introduce greater redundancy for the file services portion of the architecture by migrating to a new FS7500 NAS device. If the base stack was configured without HA, the migration to NAS should be very painless as the file server VM accesses the data it serves using RDMs, in ESXi, directly to the storage array. 82 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

86 14.2 High Availability Cabling 83 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

87 14.3 High Availability Networking Virtualization Host Networking 84 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

88 Management Host Networking ESXi Virtual Networking The optional HA bundle adds an additional ESXi host in the Management tier providing the ability to use an HA cluster between the hosts. vmotion will be enabled as well and should be added to vswitch0 housing the VMkernel ports on the Management hosts. The Compute hosts will be protected by Citrix PVS so vsphere HA will apply only to the Management tier. Physical network connections should be spread across both switches, for each host, to ensure that each vswitch has redundancy for each connection. vswitch0 will need to be modified to add a VMkernel port for VMotion on both Management hosts. The VLAN used for VMotion should be private (non-routable) and only accessible to each Management host. The physical adapters in the vswitch should be separated between SC/VMotion and iscsi ports but configured to provide failover for each other. This can be achieved by specifying an explicit failover order. From the Networking configuration, we have established that all iscsi traffic will travel over vswitch0 through the 1Gbps network to the EqualLogic Storage. Each of the HA Clusters will have dedicated LUNS that are available on all hosts in that specific cluster. 85 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

89 On the ESXi Host, the Dell EqualLogic MPIO plugin will be installed to handle load balancing. This module will be added via the command line tool using a Virtual Management Appliance (vma) in vcenter. This tool will allow for easy configuration of iscsi on each host. Some key settings that will be used as part of the configuration: Sets 2 IP Addresses for ISCSI on each host Specifies NIC (vmnic2, vmnic3) Sets the Jumbo Frame Settings (MTU not supported with ISCSI offload on Broadcom NIC s) Initializes software iscsi Sets IP for the EqualLogic Storage group. Once the MPIO setup is complete the ESXi host is ready to access the storage and to either create or connect to VMFS data stores. The MPIO plugin will configure the correct multi-pathing for the data stores also. Note: The iscsi VLAN s need to be tagged on both iscsi VMkernel ports, as the iscsi VLAN is sharing the link with the Management Network. The MPIO script does not complete this step and this has to be performed on each host in vcenter. Each host will have dedicated LUNS assigned that will be visible to all hosts in that specific cluster Management Server High Availability The applicable core Citrix roles will be load balanced via DNS in stacks <500 users. Beyond that number, NetScaler vapps will be introduced to manage load-balancing efforts. This is called out in the scale up scenarios. Configuration and sizing of NetScalers is out of scope for this document, please refer to the applicable Osprey documentation 86 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

90 efforts requiring the use of NetScaler. XenDesktop, PVS, and vcenter configurations are stored in SQL which will be protected via the SQL mirror. Citrix license server will be protected from host hardware failure and Citrix licensing grace period by default. If customer desires, it can be optionally protected further via the form of a cold stand-by VM residing on the opposite mgmt host. A vsphere scheduled task to clone the VM should be created to keep the stand-by VM current. Note In the HA option, there is no file server VM, it s duties have been replaced by the clustered FS7500 NAS head. Role vcpu RAM (GB) vnic OS vdisk (GB) Data vdisk (GB) Mgmt Host OS XenDesktop Controller #1 XenDesktop Controller #2 Citrix Web Interface #1 Citrix Web Interface #2 Citrix License Server (Primary) *Optional* Citrix License Server (Cold Stand-by) Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R2 VMware vcenter Windows Server 2008 R2 Provisioning Server #1 Provisioning Server #2 SQL Server (principal) SQL Server (Mirror) SQL Server (Witness) Total for Host #1 Total for Host # Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R Windows Server 2008 R DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

91 14.5 Provisioning Services High Availability The following components of the Provisioning Server Hierarchy will be delivered in a highly available configuration: Provisioning Server Database Storage Device (Network Share, SAN, or NAS) vdisk Shared Storage System (Network Share, SAN, or NAS). With the HA feature, a target device can connect to its vdisk through any Provisioning Server listed in the boot file. The HA feature is enabled on the Properties Options tab for the vdisk. The target device attempts to connect to one Provisioning Server at a time, in the order listed. If the attempt fails, it tries the next Provisioning Server in the list. If the attempt with the last server in the list fails, it repeats the process. From the Console Tool menu, you use the Configure Bootstrap option to add a Provisioning Server to the list. The connecting Provisioning Server does not necessarily become the Provisioning Server that accesses the vdisk on behalf of the target device. The connecting Provisioning Server chooses the Provisioning Server that accesses the vdisk according to the Boot Behaviour property of the connecting target device. The HA feature requires that each Provisioning server has access to a shared copy of the database, an identical copy of the vdisk and the ability to write to the Write Cache. Within the environment the database will be hosted on the clustered SQL server not one of the Provisioning servers and as such the SQL platform will ensure the database remains available. The vdisks and Write Cache can be configured in two ways: A shared storage system that ensures the availability of the Provisioning Server database, and vdisks, assuming that the Write Cache is hosted on the Provisioning server Each Provisioning server has access to an identical copy of the vdisk via the same local path, and the Write cache located on the target device Within the environment the second option will be utilised, this is commonly referred to as a distributed model because the vdisks are located on each Provisioning server not on a shared storage platform. Each Provisioning Server will be responsible for the Write cache of each desktop that it is hosting. This Write cache will be readable by the resilient Provisioning Server and as it is held on the target device (in this case virtual machine). In the event of a Provisioning Server failure, all desktops that were hosted will transfer to an alternate provisioning server for that site and users will be unaware of the failure. Streaming Services run under a user account with Service account credentials. The Service account credentials (user account name and password) will be a domain account that is 88 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

92 configured on each Provisioning Server, in order to access the Streaming Service and the shared database Windows File Services High Availability High Availability for file services will be provided by the FS7500 clustered NAS head. To ensure proper redundancy, the NAS should have its cabling split between the switches, please refer to HA cabling diagram in Section 9.2 above as both NAS heads will need to be cabled accordingly. The FS7500 has no support for 802.1q (VLAN tagging) so connecting switch ports should be configured with native VLANs, both iscsi and LAN/ VDI traffic ports. Best practice dictates that all 12 ports (4 front, 8 back) be connected on both controller nodes. The backend ports are used for iscsi traffic to the storage array as well as internal NAS functionality (cache mirroring and cluster heart beat). Front-end ports can be configured using Adaptive Load Balancing or a lag (LACP). Because the original file server VM was configured to use RDMs to access the storage LUNs, migration to the NAS will be simplified by changing the presentation of these LUNs from the VM to the NAS. The FS7500 is configured using the familiar EQL Group Manager Load Balancing Depending on which management components are to be made highly available, the use of a load balancer may be required. The following management components require the use of a load balancer to function in a high availability mode: Web Interface Server Licensing Server XenDesktop XML Service XenDesktop Desktop Director Provisioning Services TFTP Service This load balancing solution can be either a customer provided solution, or implementation of Citrix s Netscaler VPX 200 (see below) NetScaler VPX 200 The NetScaler VPX 200 appliance will be hosted on one or more of the Management Servers. If these servers are made highly available, the Netscaler VPX s will be protected against hardware failure at this level. In addition the appliances will be configure as a High Availability cluster which will allow administrators to manage all configuration from a single appliance and the secondary (passive) appliance will automatically update itself, in the event of a failure on the active appliance the secondary appliance will detect it s missing partner and assume the role of the active appliance. Visit to learn more about Citrix Netscaler VPX. 89 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture

93 15 Alternative File Storage with the FS7500 The Dell EqualLogic FS7500 is a unified, scale-out NAS solution that works with EqualLogic PS Series arrays to combine both NAS and SAN storage in a single, flexible architecture designed to optimize both performance and capacity. It can be used in the DVS stack to replace the virtual file server, bringing greater scalability for file services to the solution. While many storage solutions tend to experience performance degradations as you increase their capacity, the FS7500 offers almost linear scalability; that is, as you increase the number of controller pairs or EqualLogic PS Series arrays, the FS7500 delivers a proportional increase in storage performance. This is a key feature because consolidating virtual workloads can cause unexpected demand bursts in your storage capacity and performance. The scalability of performance with capacity eases this common stumbling block. The FS7500 system can be quickly added to an existing EqualLogic SAN environment to create a NAS service. Because workloads in virtual environments can be deployed or moved quickly to meet business needs, it is not uncommon to experience high volatility in storage demand. As a result, the ability to add or move NAS or SAN storage quickly and easily, without disrupting operations, is a great advantage especially as more and more applications are virtualized. 90 DVS Enterprise 6020 Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture