EMC PROVEN END-USER COMPUTING SOLUTION ENABLED BY EMC VMAX

Transcription

1 White Paper EMC PROVEN END-USER COMPUTING SOLUTION ENABLED BY EMC VMAX Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 with Provisioning Services 6.1 for 5000 Desktops Including: Citrix XenDesktop Citrix Provisioning Services EMC Symmetrix VMAX EMC Proven Solutions Abstract This document describes an EMC end user computing solution for 5000 desktops with Citrix XenDesktop and Provisioning Services. December, 2012

2 Copyright 2012 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA. Published December, 2012 EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. EMC 2, EMC, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the technical documentation and advisories section on the EMC online support website. EMC PROVEN END USER COMPUTING SOLUTION Enabled by EMC VMAX Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 with Provisioning Services 6.1 for 5000 Desktops Including: Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix Provisioning Services, and EMC Symmetrix VMAX White Paper Part Number H

3 Contents Chapter 1 Executive Summary 11 Introduction Document purpose Target audience Business needs Chapter 2 Solution Overview 15 Solution overview Chapter 3 Solution Technology Overview 19 The technology solution Citrix XenDesktop Citrix Personal vdisk Citrix Profile Manager Citrix Provisioning Services Virtualization VMware vsphere EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vstorage API for Array Integration Support Storage EMC VMAX Series EMC FAST VP for VMAX EMC Unisphere for VMAX EMC VNX Series Chapter 4 Solution Architectural Overview 25 Overview of solution Solution purpose Solution validation Reference workload Defining the reference workload

4 Contents Solutions architecture Key Components Server configuration guidelines vsphere memory virtualization Memory configuration guidelines Network configuration guidelines Link Aggregation for EMC VNX VLAN Storage configuration guidelines Chapter 5 Configuration Guidelines 35 Configuration overview Deployment process Pre-deployment tasks Overview Deployment prerequisites Prepare servers Prepare switches, connect network, and configure switches Overview Configure infrastructure network Configure storage network Configure VLANs Complete network cabling Prepare and configure the VMAX storage array Overview Set up initial VMAX configuration Provision storage for VMFS datastores Configure initiator groups Configure port groups Configure masking views Configure FAST policy Prepare and configure the VNX storage array Overview Set up initial VNX configuration Provision storage for CIFS shares Install and configure vsphere hosts and vsphere management infrastructure Overview Install vsphere

5 Contents Configure vsphere networking Connect VMware datastores Install and configure SQL server database Create a virtual machine for Microsoft SQL Server Install Microsoft Windows on the virtual machine Install SQL Server Configure database for VMware vcenter Configure database for VMware Update Manager VMware vcenter Server deployment Overview Create the vcenter host virtual machine Install vcenter guest OS Create vcenter ODBC connections Install vcenter Server Apply vsphere license keys Install the EMC VSI plug-in Citrix XenDesktop Controller deployment Install server-side components of XenDesktop Configure a site Add a second controller Install Desktop Studio Prepare master virtual machine Citrix Provisioning Server deployment Run the Provisioning Servers Configuration Wizard Configure provisioning server inbound communication options Configure the PVS bootstrap file Change the master virtual desktop vdisk to Standard Image mode Set the master virtual desktop vdisk to cache on device hard drive Conclusion Appendix A References 61 References EMC documentation Other documentation

6 Contents 6

7 Figures Figure 1. Solution architecture Figure 2. Reference Architecture Figure 3. vswitch configuration Figure 4. Create Storage Group Figure 5. Hosts - Create Initiator Group Figure 6. Configure Port Group Figure 7. Create Masking View Figure 8. VDI FAST Policy Figure 9. VNX storage pool for file layout

8 Figures 8

9 Tables Table 1. Virtual desktop characteristics Table 2. Solution hardware Table 3. Solution Software Table 4. Reference virtual desktop parameters Table 5. Deployment process overview Table 6. Tasks for pre-deployment Table 7. Deployment prerequisites checklist Table 8. Tasks for switch and network configuration Table 9. Tasks for VMAX storage configuration Table 10. Tasks for VNX storage configuration Table 11. Tasks for installing and configuring hosts and management structure Table 12. Tasks for SQL Server database setup Table 13. Tasks for vcenter configuration Table 14. Tasks for XenDesktop Controller Setup Table 15. Tasks for Provisioning Server Setup

10 Tables 10

11 Chapter 1 Executive Summary This chapter presents the following topics: Introduction Target audience Document purpose Business needs

12 Chapter 1: Executive Summary Introduction Document purpose Target audience EMC Proven Solution validated and modular architectures are built with proven superior technologies to create complete virtualization solutions that enable you to make informed decisions regarding the hypervisor, compute, and networking layers. By reducing server virtualization planning and configuration burdens, EMC Proven Solution infrastructures accelerate your IT Transformation by enabling faster deployments, greater flexibility of choice, increased efficiency, and lower risk. This document describes an EMC end-user computing solution for 5000 desktops with Citrix XenDesktop and Provisioning Services. It is intended to be a comprehensive guide for the technical aspects of this solution. Server capacity is provided in generic terms for required minimums of CPU, memory, and network interfaces; you may select server and networking hardware that meet or exceed the stated minimums. This document is intended to be a comprehensive guide for the technical aspects of an EMC Proven End User Computing Solution for 5000 desktops with Citrix XenDesktop and Provisioning Services. It covers the architectural considerations, sizing and scaling, procedures, and best practices for planning, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining the solution. Server capacity is provided in generic terms for required minimums of CPU, memory, and network interfaces; you may select server and networking hardware that meet or exceed the stated minimums. The reader of this document is expected to have the necessary training and background to install and configure Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix Provisioning Services, VMware vsphere, EMC Symmetrix VMAX, and associated infrastructure as required by the implementation of the solution described in this document. External references are provided where applicable and it is recommended that the reader be familiar with these documents. Readers should also be familiar with the infrastructure and database security policies of the customer installation. Possible audiences for this document include: distributors, value-added retailers, independent system vendors, technical consultants, and sales representatives. These audiences willcan use the document to design, develop, build, sell, and deploy this solution. 12

13 Chapter 1: Executive Summary Business needs Customers require a scalable, tiered, and high-availability infrastructure on which to deploy their end-user computing infrastructure. Several new technologies are available to assist them in virtualizing their desktops, but they need to know how to use these technologies to maximize their investment, support service-level agreements, and reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO). This solution addresses the following challenges: Availability: Stand-alone servers incur downtime for maintenance or unexpected failures. Clusters of redundant stand-alone nodes are an inefficient use of CPU, disk, and memory resources. Server management and maintenance: Individually managed desktops require significant repetitive activities for monitoring, problem resolution, patching, and other common activities. This is labor intensive, costly, error-prone, and inefficient. Security, downtime, and outage risks are elevated. Ease of solution deployment: While small and medium businesses must address the same IT challenges as larger enterprises, staffing levels, experience, and training are generally more limited. IT generalists are often responsible for managing the entire IT infrastructure, or reliance is placed on third-party sources for maintenance or other tasks. Perceived complexity of the IT function raises fear of risk and may block adoption of new technology. Therefore, simplicity of deployment and management are highly valued. Storage efficiency: Storage added locally to physical servers or provisioned directly from a shared resource or array leads to over-provisioning and waste. 13

14 Chapter 1: Executive Summary 14

15 Chapter 2 Solution Overview This chapter presents the following topic: Solution overview

16 Chapter 2: Solution Overview Solution overview This EMC Proven Solution was validated using the EMC VMAX 10K and VMwarevirtualized Windows Server platforms to provide the storage and computer resources for a Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 environment of Windows 7 virtual desktops provisioned using Citrix Provisioning Services 6.1. Planning and designing the storage infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop environment is a critical step because the shared storage must be able to absorb large bursts of input/output (I/O) that occur over the course of a workday. These bursts can lead to periods of erratic and unpredictable virtual desktop performance. Users may adapt to slow performance, but unpredictable performance will frustrate them and reduce efficiency. To provide predictable performance for a virtual desktop infrastructure, the storage system must be able to handle the peak I/O load from the clients while keeping response time to a minimum. Designing for this workload involves the deployment of many disks to handle brief periods of extreme I/O pressure, which is expensive to implement. This solution uses EMC Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtualized Pools (FAST VP)Tiering to reduce the number of disks required. The solution described in this document includes servers, storage, network components, and Citrix and VMware software packages. The solution allows customers to quickly and consistently deploy a virtualized infrastructure to consolidate their virtual desktop environment. Figure 1on page 17 provides a graphical representation of the key components of the solution, and how these components are interconnected. 16

17 Chapter 2: Solution Overview Figure 1. Solution architecture Built on the strategy of simple, intelligent, modular storage, EMC Symmetrix VMAX incorporates a highly scalable Virtual Matrix Architecture that enables VMAX arrays to grow seamlessly and cost effectively from an entry-level configuration into the world s largest storage system. VMAX supports EFDs, FC drives, and SATA drives within a single array, as well as an extensive range of RAID types. The VNX storage array is a multi-protocol platform that supports the Fiber Channel (FC), Internet Small Computer System Interface (iscsi), network file system (NFS), and Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols based on the customer s specific needs. This solution is validated using CIFS for data storage. This solution requires the presence of Active Directory (AD), Domain Name Resolution (DNS), and dynamic IP address assignment using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The implementation of these services is beyond the scope of this guide, but all three are considered pre-requisites for successful deployment. In addition, the DHCP server must have sufficient free IP addresses to assign one to each of the virtual desktops that will be created as part of the solution. 17

18 Chapter 2: Solution Overview 18

19 Chapter 3 Solution Technology Overview This chapter presents the following topics: The technology solution Citrix XenDesktop Citrix Provisioning Services Virtualization Storage

20 Chapter 3: Solution Technology Overview The technology solution Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 This document describes the architecture of an EMC end-user computing solution for 5000 virtual desktops deployed using the following technologies: Virtualization platform VMware vsphere 5 Virtual desktop platform Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 Virtual desktop deployment platform Citrix Provisioning Services 6.1 Storage platform EMC VMAX 10 K and EMC VNX5500 This document validates the performance of the solution and provides guidelines for building similar solutions. Chapter 4 provides details on all the components that make up the reference architecture. Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 delivers Windows desktops as an on-demand service to any user, any device, anywhere. Powered by Citrix HDX technologies, XenDesktop quickly and securely delivers any type of virtual desktop, or any type of Windows, web, or software-as-a-service (SaaS) application, to all the latest PCs, Macs, tablets, smart phones, laptops, and thin clients with a high-definition user experience. Citrix FlexCast delivery technology enables IT to optimize the performance, security, and cost of virtual desktops for any type of user, including task workers, mobile workers, power users, and contractors. XenDesktop helps IT rapidly adapt to business initiatives by simplifying desktop delivery and enabling user self-service. The open, scalable, and proven architecture simplifies management, support, and integration. Citrix Personal vdisk Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 introduces the Personal vdisk feature, which allows users to preserve customization settings and user installed applications in a pool-based desktop. This is accomplished by redirecting the changes from the user s pooled virtual machine to a separate disk called personal vdisk. During runtime, the content of the personal vdisk is blended with the content from the base VM to provide a unified experience to the end user. The personal vdisk data is preserved during reboot/refresh operations. Citrix Profile Manager Citrix Profile Manager 4.1 preserves user profiles and dynamically synchronizes them with a remote profile repository. Citrix Profile Manager does not require the configuration of Windows roaming profiles, eliminating the need to use Active Directory to manage Citrix user profiles. Citrix Profile Manager provides the following benefits over traditional Windows roaming profiles: With Citrix Profile Manager, a user s remote profile is dynamically downloaded when the user logs in to a XenDesktop desktop. XenDesktop downloads persona information only when the user needs it. 20

21 Citrix Provisioning Services 6.1 Chapter 3: Solution Technology Overview The combination of Citrix Profile Manager and pooled desktops provides the experience of a dedicated desktop while potentially minimizing the amount of storage required in an organization. Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) takes a very different approach from traditional desktop imaging solutions by fundamentally changing the relationship between hardware and the software that runs on it. By streaming a single shared-disk image (vdisk) instead of copying images to individual machines, PVS enables organizations to reduce the number of disk images that they manage. As the number of machines continues to grow, PVS provides the efficiency of a centralized management with the benefits of distributed processing. As machines stream the disk data dynamically in real time from a single shared image, the machine image consistency is ensured. In addition, the configuration, applications and even OS of large pools of machines can change completely during the reboot operation. Virtualization The virtualization layer is a key component of any end user computing solution. It allows the desktop resource requirements to be decoupled from the underlying physical resources that serve them. This enables greater flexibility in the application layer by eliminating hardware downtime for maintenance, and even allows the physical capability of the system to change without impacting the hosted desktops. VMware vsphere 5 VMware vsphere 5 is the market-leading virtualization platform used across thousands of IT environments around the world. VMware vsphere 5 transforms a computer s physical resources by virtualizing the CPU, RAM, hard disk, and network controller. This transformation creates fully functional virtual desktops that run isolated and encapsulated operating systems and applications just like physical computers. The high-availability features of VMware vsphere 5 are coupled with DRS and vmotion, which enable the seamless migration of virtual desktops from one vsphere server to another with minimal or no impact to the customer s usage. This reference architecture leverages VMware vsphere Desktop Edition for deploying desktop virtualization. It provides the full range of features and functionalities of the vsphere Enterprise Plus edition, allowing customers to achieve scalability, high availability, and optimal performance for all of their desktop workloads. vsphere Desktop edition is intended for customers who want to purchase only vsphere licenses to deploy desktop virtualization. EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware EMC Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) for VMware vsphere is a plug-in to the vsphere client. It provides a single management interface that is used for managing EMC storage within the vsphere environment. Features can be added and removed from VSI independently, which provides flexibility for customizing VSI user environments. Features are managed by using the VSI Feature Manager. VSI provides a unified user 21

22 Chapter 3: Solution Technology Overview experience, which allows new features to be introduced rapidly in response to changing customer requirements. The following features were used during the validation testing: Storage Viewer (SV) Extends the vsphere client to facilitate the discovery and identification of EMC storage devices that are allocated to VMware vsphere hosts and virtual machines. SV presents the underlying storage details to the virtual datacenter administrator, merging the data of several different storage mapping tools into a few seamless vsphere client views. Storage Management Simplifies storage administration of the EMC VMAX and VNX storage platforms. It enables VMware administrators to provision new Network File Systems (NFS), Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) datastores, and RDM volumes seamlessly within vsphere client. Refer to the EMC VSI for VMware vsphere Product Guides on EMC Online Support for more information. vstorage API for Array Integration Support Hardware acceleration with VMware vstorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) is a storage enhancement in vsphere 5. It enables vsphere to offload specific storage operations to compatible storage hardware such as the VMAX and VNX series platforms. With storage hardware assistance, vsphere performs these operations faster and consumes less CPU, memory, and storage fabric bandwidth. Storage EMC VMAX Series Built on the strategy of simple, intelligent, modular storage, EMC Symmetrix VMAX with Enginuity version 5876 incorporates a highly scalable Virtual Matrix Architecture that enables VMAX arrays to grow seamlessly and cost-effectively with the business needs of the customer. VMAX supports EFDs, FC drives, and SATA drives within a single array, as well as an extensive range of RAID types. The EMC Enginuity operating environment provides the intelligence that controls all components in the VMAX array, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and security. EMC FAST VP for VMAX EMC Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtualized Pools (FAST VP) combines the advantages of Virtual Provisioning with granular tiering at the sub-lun level. It automatically implements non-disruptive changes to storage allocations and optimizes the use of a storage configuration composed of different drive technologies. These optimizations take full advantage of the fast response time of Flash drives and provide the most cost-effective use of a mixed drive type configuration while providing the best performance. EMC Unisphere for VMAX Unisphere for VMAX is an advanced Graphical User Interface that provides a common EMC user experience across storage platforms. Unisphere for VMAX enables customers to easily provision, manage, and monitor VMAX environments. 22

23 Chapter 3: Solution Technology Overview EMC VNX Series The VNX Series is optimized for virtual applications delivering industry-leading innovation and enterprise capabilities for file, block, and object storage in a scalable, easy-to-use solution. This next-generation storage platform combines powerful and flexible hardware with advanced efficiency, management, and protection software to meet the demanding needs of today s enterprises. The VNX series is powered by the Intel Xeon processor for intelligent storage that automatically and efficiently scales in performance, while ensuring data integrity and security. 23

24 Chapter 3: Solution Technology Overview 24

25 Chapter 4 Solution Architectural Overview This chapter presents the following topics: Overview of solution Reference workload Solutions architecture Server configuration guidelines Network configuration guidelines Storage configuration guidelines

26 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Overview of solution This document describes the reference architecture of the EMC Citrix XenDesktop with PVS solution for EMC VMAX, and provides guidelines for building similar solutions. This architecture requires CIFS shares for storing user data. A VNX 5500 was used to provide the requisite shares during testing, but any CIFS-based file services should suffice, assuming that they provide sufficient performance and capacity. One optional method to provide the shares is a VNX VG8 gateway, which is used in tandem with an existing block-based storage array to provide file services. Solution purpose Solution validation EMC Proven Solutions are built with proven superior technologies to create a complete virtualization solution that allows you to make an informed decision in the hypervisor, compute, and networking layers. By eliminating server virtualization planning and configuration burdens, EMC proven solutions accelerate your IT transformation by enabling faster deployment, more choices, higher efficiency, and lower risk. This reference architecture is intended to be a comprehensive guide to every aspect of this solution. Server capacity is provided in generic terms for required minimums of CPU, memory, and network interfaces; the customer is free to select the server and networking hardware of their choice that meet or exceed the stated minimums. The specified storage architecture, along with a system meeting the server and network requirements outlined, has been validated by EMC to provide high levels of performance while delivering a highly available architecture for your private cloud deployment. Reference workload Each EMC Proven Solution balances the storage, network, and compute resources needed for a specified number of virtual desktops which have been validated by EMC. In practice, each virtual desktop has its own set of requirements which rarely fit a predefined idea of what a virtual desktop should be. In any discussion about virtual infrastructures, it is important to first define a reference workload. Not all desktops perform the same tasks, and it is impractical to build a reference that takes into account every possible combination of workload characteristics. Defining the reference workload To simplify the discussion, we have defined a representative customer reference desktop workload. By comparing your actual customer usage to this reference workload, you can extrapolate which reference architecture to choose. 26

27 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview For EMC solutions, the reference workload is defined as a single virtual machine. This virtual machine has the following characteristics: Table 1. Virtual desktop characteristics Characteristic Virtual desktop operating system Value Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit SP1 Virtual processors per virtual desktop 1 RAM per virtual desktop Available storage capacity per virtual machine I/O operations per second (IOPS) per virtual machine I/O pattern 1 GB 10 GB % Random/40% Sequential I/O read/write ratio 5:95 Solutions architecture This specification for a virtual machine is not intended to represent any specific desktop. Rather, it represents a single common point of reference against which other virtual machines can be measured. An EMC virtual desktop solution is validated at different points of scale. These defined configurations form the basis of creating a custom solution. These points of scale are defined in terms of the reference workload. Note: Due to the concept of a reference workload, which is applied as a core piece of the EMC Proven Solution program, you cannot assume that because there are 5000 desktops to consolidate into the EMC Proven Solution infrastructure, you need 5000 reference virtual machines. You should evaluate your workload using a single reference virtual machine and extrapolate that information to arrive at an appropriate point of scale. 27

28 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Figure 2. Reference Architecture Key Components VMware vsphere 5 Provides a common virtualization layer to host a server environment. The specifics of the validated environment are listed in Table 2 on page 29. vsphere 5 provides highly available infrastructure through such features as: vmotion Provides live migration of virtual machines within a virtual infrastructure cluster, with no virtual machine downtime or service disruption. Storage vmotion Provides live migration of virtual machine disk files within and across storage arrays with no virtual machine downtime or service disruption. vsphere High Availability (HA) Detects and provides rapid recovery for a failed virtual machine in a cluster. Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) Provides load balancing of computing capacity in a cluster. Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (SDRS) Provides load balancing across multiple datastores, based on space use and I/O latency. VMware vcenter Server 5 Provides a scalable and extensible platform that forms the foundation for virtualization management for the VMware vsphere 5 cluster. All vsphere hosts and their virtual machines are managed from vcenter. 28

29 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview VSI for VMware vsphere EMC VSI for VMware vsphere is a plug-in to the vsphere client that provides storage management for EMC arrays directly from the client. VSI is highly customizable and helps provide a unified management interface. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 VMware vcenter Server requires a database service to store configuration and monitoring details. A Microsoft SQL 2008 R2 server is used for this purpose. Fiber Channel Network Storage traffic between the vsphere hosts and the VMAX 10K is carried over an FC network. IP Network All network traffic is carried by a standard Ethernet network with redundant cabling and switching. User and management traffic is carried over a public network while VMware vmotion traffic is carried over a private, non-routable subnet. Shared Infrastructure DNS and authentication/authorization services like Microsoft Active Directory can be provided via existing infrastructure or set up as part of the new virtual infrastructure. EMC VMAX 10K array Provides storage by presenting Fibre Channel LUNs to vsphere hosts for 5000 virtual machines. EMC VNX5500 array Provides storage by presenting CIFS file shares for the 5000 virtual desktops. Table 2. Solution hardware Hardware Qty Configuration Notes EMC VMAX 10K 1 Two bays, two engines, Four directors configured with: One hundred sixty 300GB, 15k rpm 3.5 in FC disks (+ spares) Twenty-four 2TB 7,200 rpm 3.5 in. NL SAS disks (+ spare) Thirty-two 100GB 3.5 in. Flash drives (+ spares) EMC VNX Three data movers (2 active and 1 passive) Six disk-array enclosures (DAEs) configured with: Five 300 GB, 15k-rpm 3.5-in. SAS disks Sixty-seven 2 TB, 7,200 rpm 3.5-in. NL-SAS disks Three 200 GB, 3.5-in. Flash drives VMAX shared storage for vsphere datastores Optional VNX shared storage for CIFS-based user data 29

30 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Hardware Qty Configuration Notes Intel-based servers 10 GB Ethernet switches 36 Memory: 144 GB of RAM CPU: Two Intel Xeon E GHz decacore processors Internal storage: One 73 GB internal SAS disk External storage: VMAX 10K (FC) NIC: Dual-port Broadcom NetXtreme II Base-T adapters HBA: ISP2532-based dual port 8 Gb Fibre Chennel to PCI Express HBA Virtual desktop vsphere clusters 3 Infrastructure server vsphere cluster 2 Forty-eight 10Gb ports Redundant 10 GB host connections 8 GB Fibre Channel switches 4 Twenty-four 8 GB Fibre Channel ports Redundant FC configuration 30

31 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Table 3. Solution software Software Version VMAX 10K (shared storage, virtual machine datastores) Enginuity Unisphere for VMAX VNX5500 (optional shared storage, CIFS file systems) VNX OE for File Release VNX OE for Block Release 32 ( ) EMC VNX and VMAX vsphere plug-ins VSI for VMware vsphere: Unified Storage Management Version 5.4 VSI for VMware vsphere: Storage Viewer Version 5.4 VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.4 vsphere servers vsphere (821926) VMware Servers OS Windows 2008 R2 SP1 VMware vcenter Server 5.0 Update 1 Citrix Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 Citrix Personal vdisk Citrix Provisioning Services 6.1 Virtual desktops Note: This software is used to generate the test load. OS VMware tools Microsoft Office MS Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 (32-bit) build Office Enterprise 2010 SP1 Internet Explorer Adobe Reader X (10.1.4) McAfee Virus Scan 8.7 Enterprise Adobe Flash Player 11 31

32 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Software Version Bullzip PDF Printer Login VSI (EUC workload generator) 3.6 Professional Edition Server configuration guidelines vsphere memory virtualization VMware vsphere 5 has a number of advanced features that help maximize performance and overall resource utilization. This section describes the performance benefits of some of these features for an EMC Proven Solution deployment. Memory compression Memory over-commitment occurs when more memory is allocated to virtual machines than is physically present in a VMware vsphere host. Using sophisticated techniques such as ballooning and transparent page sharing, vsphere is able to handle memory over-commitment without any performance degradation. However, if more memory than is present on the server is being actively used, vsphere might resort to swapping out portions of a VM's memory. Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) vsphere uses a NUMA load-balancer to assign a home node to a virtual machine. Because memory for the virtual machine is allocated from the home node, memory access is local and provides the best performance possible. Applications that do not directly support NUMA also benefit from this feature. Transparent page sharing Virtual machines running similar operating systems and applications typically have identical sets of memory content. Page sharing allows the hypervisor to reclaim the redundant copies and keep only one copy, which frees up the total host memory consumption. If most of your application virtual machines run the same operating system and application binaries, then total memory usage can be reduced to increase consolidation ratios. Memory ballooning By using a balloon driver loaded in the guest operating system, the hypervisor can reclaim host physical memory if memory resources are under contention. This is done with little or no impact to the performance of the application. Memory configuration guidelines This section provides guidelines for allocating memory to virtual machines. The guidelines outlined here take into account vsphere memory overhead and the virtual machine memory settings. vsphere Memory Overhead There is some associated overhead for the virtualization of memory resources. The memory space overhead has two components: The fixed system overhead for the VMkernel Additional overhead for each virtual machine 32

33 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Overhead memory depends on the number of virtual CPUs and configured memory for the guest operating system. Consult VMware vsphere Resource Management Guide for the system overhead and the sample overhead memory size of different virtual machines configurations. Allocating Memory to Virtual Machines The proper sizing of memory for a virtual machine in EMC Proven Solution architectures is based on many factors. With the number of application services and use cases available, determining a suitable configuration for an environment requires creating a baseline configuration, testing, and making adjustments, as discussed later in this document. Table 4 details the RAM and vcpu configuration of the virtual desktops used to test this solution. Table 4. Reference virtual desktop parameters Characteristic Value Virtual processors per virtual machine 1 RAM per virtual machine 1 GB Note: Virtual machines require a certain amount of available overhead memory to power on. When considering the memory sizing of the virtual machines, you should be aware of the amount of this overhead. Network configuration guidelines This section provides guidelines for setting up a redundant, highly-available network configuration. The guidelines take into account VLANs and Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) on EMC unified storage. For detailed network resource requirements, please refer to Table 2 on page 29. Link Aggregation for EMC VNX VLAN A link aggregation resembles an Ethernet channel, but uses the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) IEEE 802.3ad standard. The IEEE 802.3ad standard supports link aggregations with two or more ports. All ports in the aggregation must have the same speed and be full duplex. In this solution, Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is configured on the VNX, combining multiple Ethernet ports into a single virtual device. If a link is lost in the Ethernet port, the link fails over to another port. All network traffic is distributed across the active links. VLAN trunking is used to separate network traffic among different workflows. Ensure adequate switch ports for the storage array and vsphere hosts that are configured with a minimum of two VLANs for: Virtual machine networking, vsphere management, and CIFS traffic (customer- facing networks, which may be separated if desired). vmotion (private network) 33

34 Chapter 4: Solution Architectural Overview Figure 3 shows a sample vsphere vswitch that is configured with dedicated VMkernel ports for vmotion and vsphere management, each utilizing a different VLAN. In addition, a virtual machine port group was created for use by the virtual desktops. Figure 3. vswitch configuration Storage configuration guidelines VMware vsphere provides host-level storage virtualization. It virtualizes the physical storage and presents the virtualized storage to virtual machines. A virtual machine stores its operating system and all other files which are related to the VM activities in a virtual disk. The virtual disk can either be a single file or multiple files. VMware uses virtual SCSI controller to present a virtual disk to a guest operating system running inside the virtual machine. A virtual disk resides in a datastore. This solution uses LUNs formatted with the VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) as virtual machine datastores. VMFS VMFS is a cluster file system that provides storage virtualization optimized for virtual machines. It can be deployed over any SCSI based local or network storage. EMC PowerPath EMC PowerPath is host-based software that provides automated data path management and load-balancing capabilities for heterogeneous server, network, and storage deployed in physical and virtual environments. PowerPath uses multiple I/O data paths to share the workload, and automated load balancing to ensure that data paths are used efficiently. The PowerPath/VE plug-in for vsphere is installed using the vsphere Update Manager. The process to distribute the plug-in and apply the required licenses is described in PowerPath/VE for VMware vsphere Installation and Administration Guide. To enable the plug-in after installation, reboot the vsphere server. 34

35 Chapter 5 Configuration Guidelines This chapter presents the following topics: Configuration overview Pre-deployment tasks Prepare servers Prepare switches, connect network, and configure switches Prepare and configure the VMAX storage array Prepare and configure the VNX storage array Install and configure vsphere hosts and vsphere management infrastructure Install and configure SQL server database VMware vcenter Server deployment Citrix XenDesktop Controller deployment Citrix Provisioning Server deployment

36 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configuration overview Deployment process The deployment process is divided into the stages shown in Table 5. Upon completion of the deployment, the infrastructure will be ready for integration with the existing customer network and server infrastructure. Table 5 lists the main stages in the solution deployment process. The table also includes references to sections where relevant procedures are provided. Table 5. Deployment process overview Stage Description Reference 1 Verify prerequisites Pre-deployment tasks Obtain the deployment tools Prepare the servers for use Configure the switches and networks, connect to the customer network Install and configure the storage arrays Configure optional storage for CIFS-based user data Install and configure the servers Install and configure database Install and configure vcenter Server Install and configure XenDesktop Controllers Install and configure Provisioning Services servers Deployment prerequisites Prepare servers Prepare switches, connect network, and configure switches Prepare and configure the VMAX storage array Prepare and configure the VNX storage array Prepare and configure the VNX storage array Install and Configure vsphere Hosts and vsphere Management Infrastructure Install and configure SQL Server database VMware vcenter Server deployment Citrix XenDesktop Controller deployment Citrix Provisioning Server deployment 36

37 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Pre-deployment tasks Overview Pre-deployment tasks include procedures that do not directly relate to environment installation and configuration, but whose results will be needed at the time of installation. Examples of pre-deployment tasks are collecting hostnames, IP addresses, VLAN IDs, license keys, installation media, and so on. These tasks should be performed before the customer visit to decrease the time required onsite. Table 6. Tasks for pre-deployment Task Description Reference Gather documents Gather the related documents listed in the References section. These are used throughout the text of this document to provide detail on setup procedures and deployment best practices for the various components of the solution. Appendix A: EMC documentation on page 61 Appendix A: Other documentation on page 61 Gather tools Gather data Gather the required and optional tools for the deployment. Confirm that all equipment, software, and appropriate licenses are available before the deployment process. Collect the customer-specific configuration data for networking, naming, and required accounts. Table 7 Deployment prerequisites Table 7 itemizes the hardware, software, and license requirements to configure the solution. Table 7. Deployment prerequisites checklist Requirement Description Reference Hardware Physical servers to host virtual servers: Sufficient physical server capacity to host 5000 desktops VMware vsphere 5 servers to host virtual infrastructure servers (Note: This requirement may be covered in the existing infrastructure) Networking: Switch port capacity and capabilities as required by the virtual server infrastructure Table 2 EMC MAX10K storage array with the required disk layout EMC VNX5500 multiprotocol storage array with the required disk layout Software VMware vsphere 5.0 installation media 37

38 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Requirement Description Reference VMware vcenter Server 5.0 installation media Citrix XenDesktop installation media EMC PowerPath Virtual Edition EMC PowerPath Viewer EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Unified Storage Management EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Storage Viewer EMC Powerlink EMC vstorage API for Array Integration plug-in Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 installation media Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 installation media (suggested OS for VMware vcenter) Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or newer installation media (Note: This requirement may be covered in the existing infrastructure) Licenses VMware vcenter 5.0 license key VMware vsphere 5.0 license key Citrix XenDesktop license file EMC PowerPath Virtual Edition license files Microsoft Windows 7 license key (Note: This requirement may be covered by an existing Microsoft Key Management Server (KMS)) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (or higher) license key (Note: This requirement may be covered by an existing Microsoft Key Management Server (KMS)) Microsoft SQL Server license key (Note: This requirement may be covered in the existing infrastructure) 38

39 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Prepare servers Server capacity is required for two purposes in the solution: To support the new virtualized server infrastructure To support the required infrastructure services such as authentication/authorization, DNS, and database For information on minimum infrastructure server and desktop hosting requirements, refer to Table 2 on page 29. If existing infrastructure services meet the requirements, the hardware listed for infrastructure services will not be required. Prepare switches, connect network, and configure switches Overview This chapter provides the requirements for network infrastructure needed to support this architecture. Table 8 provides a summary of the tasks for switch and network configuration and references for further information. Table 8. Tasks for switch and network configuration Task Description Reference Configure infrastructure network Configure storage network Configure VLANs Configure Fibre Channel zones Complete network cabling Configure storage array and vsphere host infrastructure networking. Configure the Fiber Channel storage network. Configure private and public VLANs as required. Using single initiator zoning, configure zones for all the Fiber Channel hosts. Connect the switch interconnect ports. Connect the VMAX ports. Connect the VNX ports. Connect the vsphere server ports. Install and Configure vsphere Hosts and vsphere Management Infrastructure Configure storage network Your vendor s switch configuration guide Configure infrastructure network The infrastructure network requires redundant network and Fiber Channel links for each host, the storage array, the switch interconnect ports, and the switch uplink ports. This configuration provides both redundancy and additional network bandwidth. This configuration is required regardless of whether the network infrastructure for the solution already exists or is being deployed alongside other components of the solution. 39

40 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configure storage network The infrastructure Fiber Channel network requires redundant Fiber Channel switches, as well as links for each vsphere host and the storage array. This configuration provides both redundancy and additional storage network bandwidth. Each vsphere host should be connected to two different Fiber Channel switches, and each switch should be connected to multiple directors on the storage array. Each Fiber Channel connection between the vsphere host and the VMAX storage array should be placed in a separate Fiber Channel zone. Configure VLANs Complete network cabling Ensure adequate switch ports for the storage array and hosts that are configured with a minimum of two VLANs for: Virtual machine networking, vsphere management, and CIFS traffic (customer- facing networks, which may be separated if desired) VMotion (private network) Ensure that all solution servers, storage arrays, switch interconnects, and switch uplinks have redundant connections and are plugged into separate switching infrastructures. Ensure that the existing customer network is completely connected. Note: At this point the new equipment is being connected to the existing customer network. Be careful that unforeseen interactions do not cause service issues on the customer network Prepare and configure the VMAX storage array Overview This section describes how to configure the VMAX storage array. In the solution, VMAX series provides LUNs that will be used to create VMFS datastores for virtual machine storage. Table 9. Tasks for VMAX storage configuration Task Description Reference Set up initial VMAX configuration Provision the VMAX including network information, port groups, storage pool configuration, Unisphere for VMAX, and FAST VP policies. Configure storage groups Configure initiator groups Configure masking views Configure a storage group for each of the vsphere clusters and create the required LUNs. Configure initiator groups and add the applicable host initiators to each group. Configure a masking view for each initiator group, selecting the associated initiator group, port group, and storage group. Unisphere for VMAX Installation Guide Unisphere for VMAX Product Guide 40

41 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Set up initial VMAX configuration Configure the IP address information and other key parameters such as DNS and NTP on the VMAX. In addition, configure the port groups, storage pool, FAST VP settings, and the Unisphere for VMAX virtual appliance. The reference documents listed in Table 9 on page 40 provide more information on how to configure the VMAX platform. Provision storage for VMFS datastores Use the Unisphere Storage Storage Groups menu to create a storage group to associate with each vsphere cluster, and configure the required number of LUNs of the size required based on the per-desktop storage requirements. An additional storage group will also be required if the VMAX will host the infrastructure servers required to implement the solution. For this system we are creating one, 1.7 TB LUN for each VDI server. Figure 4. Create Storage Group 41

42 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configure initiator groups Use the Unisphere Hosts Initiator Groups menu to create an initiator group for each of the storage groups and populate it with the vsphere host FC initiator values. In some cases multiple initiator groups may be required; however, in this case all the initiators can be configured in one initiator group. Figure 5. Hosts - Create Initiator Group 42

43 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configure port groups Use the Unisphere Hosts Port Groups menu to create a port group that includes all the ports available to the hosts through the switch. In this case all hosts are available on all ports in the VMAX. Figure 6. Configure Port Group 43

44 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configure masking views Use the Unisphere Hosts Masking Views menu to create a masking view for each of the storage groups, including the storage group, port group, and initiator group created in previous steps. Where possible, the vsphere clusters should be distributed evenly among each of the available port groups. Figure 7. Create Masking View 44

45 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Configure FAST policy Use the Unisphere Storage FAST menu to create the VDI FAST policy and to associate the VDI-Storage groups with the policy. Setting the FAST policy to 100% for each tier allows FAST the most flexibility to place data in the correct storage type. Figure 8. VDI FAST Policy 45

46 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines Prepare and configure the VNX storage array Overview This section describes how to configure the VNX storage array. In the solution, the VNX series provides CIFS shares for user data. Set up initial VNX configuration Configure the network interfaces, IP address information, and other key parameters such as DNS, NTP, and CIFS servers on the VNX before storage provisioning. The reference documents listed in Table 10 provide more information on how to configure the VNX platform. Table 10. Tasks for VNX storage configuration Task Description Reference Set up initial VNX configuration Provision LUNs Configure the IP address information and other key parameters on the VNX. Create LUNs that will be presented to VNX datamovers to create a NAS pool. VNX5500 Unified Installation Guide Unisphere System Getting Started Guide Your vendor s switch configuration guide Configure CIFS server Provision CIFS file shares Configure CIFS services and join the CIFS server to the existing Active Directory domain. Create file systems that will be used for CIFS file shares. Provision storage for CIFS shares Complete the following steps in EMC Unisphere to configure CIFS file systems on the VNX array that will be used to store user data: 1. Create a block-based RAID 6 storage pool that consists of sixty four (for 2 TB NLSAS disks. Configure these as eight RAID 6 (4+2) groups. Note: You should also create your Hot Spare disks at this point. Please consult the EMC VNX5500 Unified Installation Guide for additional information. 2. Using the pool created in step a, provision twenty 2 TB LUNs and present them to the Data Mover using the system-defined NAS storage group. 3. Configure CIFS services on the array, and create and join a CIFS server to the existing Active Directory domain. 4. Create multiple file systems from the NAS pool to use as CIFS file shares. The validated solution used two 10 TB file systems for user data and two 2.5 TB file systems for user profile data. 46

47 Chapter 5: Configuration Guidelines The relationship between the disks, LUNs, dvols, and file systems is depicted in Figure 9. Figure 9. VNX storage pool for file layout 47