Extreme VDI Scalability with Sanbolic Melio and IBM FlashSystem citrix.com/ready

Transcription

1 Extreme VDI Scalability with Sanbolic Melio and IBM FlashSystem

2 2 Executive Summary Combining innovative talents and advanced storage technologies, Sanbolic, a Citrix- Ready partner renowned for helping organizations realize the economic benefits of software-defined storage, and IBM, a Citrix Global partner and winner of the 2014 Citrix Innovation Award, jointly participated and received certification in Citrix s newly-created VDI Capacity program. Harnessing the industry-pioneering architecture, advanced storage management features, and exceptional performance and scale-out capabilities of the Sanbolic and IBM FlashSystem solution, Citrix XenDesktop customers are able to significantly reducing desktop administration and maintenance efforts while easily scaling to meet the demands imposed by the largest virtual desktop environments. The Business Challenge Although many organizations have considered deploying virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to reduce the heavy burden of managing and maintaining hundreds, or even thousands, of desktops, the cost of procuring, installing, managing, operating and maintaining a high-end storage array, which is often perceived as necessary to meet the intense I/O demands of VDI, has simply proven too high to justify its implementation. Using software-defined storage (SDS) in conjunction with a flash system however, organizations can create massively scalable, high-performing storage systems with advanced storage management capabilities provided through software. These systems, which can be introduced when new storage is needed and/or when an existing storage infrastructure requires augmentation, offer customers a cost-effective way to meet the intense demands of mid- to large-size virtual desktop environments. By implementing an SDS strategy with flash storage, organizations realize the benefits of VDI while lowering the cost of ownership for the greatest return on investment (ROI). Overview: Citrix VDI Capacity Program for Storage Partners In Q1 2014, Citrix launched a new program designed to address the storage needs of customers deploying XenDesktop using the VDI FlexCast approach. VDI introduces multiple types of data, each with its own unique requirements, to the storage infrastructure. Meeting these requirements can be accomplished through a variety of hardware- and software- based approaches, and in some cases, using a combination of the two (hybrid solutions). With so many options available, customers often find choosing the right storage solution (i.e., the one most capable of meeting initial and future requirements) to be the most difficult decision in the entire VDI deployment process. To address this predicament, Citrix constructed a turnkey VDI Capacity test rig in their Santa Clara Solutions Lab, complete with all components necessary to generate a 750 (concurrent) user XenDesktop reference workload with the exception of storage. Citrix- Ready storage partners were then invited to incorporate their solutions into the test rig to participate in a VDI Capacity test that simulated a day in the life of a 750 user Citrix XenDesktop VDI farm.

3 3 Test methodology The focus of the VDI Capacity Program for Storage Partners is on provisioning the appropriate amount of storage performance and capacity with a cost-efficient design. Using a simple, binary pass/fail methodology, if a partner s provided storage solution can successfully support a day s run to the defined user capacity while sustaining required performance metrics, the partner passes and the test ends. Once passed, Citrix will describe the storage partner as 750 User Verified for XenDesktop. Login VSI, a highly regarded and respected tool for standardized VDI performance and capacity testing, was used to generate VDI workloads and to measure performance. 750 desktops were created and launched and a workload program was utilized to simulate a typical workday. Pass/fail was determined by whether or not the storage system could successfully handle the storage demands placed on it without reaching a latency limit called VSI Max. More about Login VSI can be found here: Partner Overview A leader in software-defined storage, Sanbolic has been helping enterprise customers realize storage economies similar to those achieved by today s large cloud datacenters (i.e., Google, Facebook ) for many years. Using Sanbolic s Melio software, Citrix XenDesktop customers world-wide are consolidating storage devices (flash, SSD, HDD) into virtual pools of flexible, scalable, and highly available storage managed collectively at the host (OS) level and accessed by multiple servers (i.e., Provisioning servers, database servers, file servers, host machines, etc.) concurrently. The resulting shared or distributed storage architecture, which supports both local (single site) and geo-distributed (multi-site/dr) deployments, offers enhanced performance and scale and enables high availability of desktops, databases, and user profiles while significantly reducing data/storage administration and storage capacity requirements. XenDesktop customers leverage Melio s advanced storage management features (i.e., dynamic volume expansion, quality of service (QoS), live storage migration, cluster-aware snapshots, software-based RAID, intelligent data tiering and more) to optimize their storage infrastructures, lowering capex and opex for a superior ROI on VDI. The IBM FlashSystem family empowers organizations to take advantage of best-inbreed all flash solutions that provide extreme performance, macro efficiency, enterprise reliability and IBM MicroLatency. As a result, companies can quickly harness the value of stored data and be better positioned to compete, innovate and grow in today s real-time world. Offering flexible capacity and extreme performance for the most demanding enterpriseclass applications, including OLTP and analytics databases, VDI, technical-computing applications and cloud-scale environments, the IBM FlashSystem 840 delivers a competitive advantage for the modern enterprise. Employing IBM MicroLatency technology for accelerated response times (less than 135-microsecond access times), the FlashSystem 840 enables high density and low latency virtual desktops while delivering best-in-class reliability in a storage device that is space and power efficient. Organizations deploying XenDesktop with the IBM FlashSystem 840 possess the performance and scale-out capabilities necessary to easily support the demands of VDI environments comprised of hundreds to thousands of virtual desktops.

4 4 Partner Solution The Sanbolic and IBM FlashSystem solution used in the VDI Capacity Test Program included advanced storage management features, SDS capabilities and 32TBs of protected storage capacity (the FlashSystem 840 can scale to 40TB of protected capacity in its 2U rack mount form factor). Capable of providing over one million random IOPS, the tested solution enables XenDesktop customers to scale their infrastructures seamlessly to support tens of thousands of virtual desktops while maintaining high performance levels to ensure all users a rich desktop experience. Note: At 750 users, the Citrix VDI Capacity test program barely scratched the surface of the solution s performance and scale-out capabilities (ex. IOPS observed during boot storms averaged less than 3% of solution capability and IOPS observed during the Login VSI medium-size workload test averaged less than 8% of solution capability). A notable trait of the joint solution: a shared storage architecture that significantly reduces storage capacity requirements and consequently, storage-related cost. This powerful architecture offers a unique benefit to companies using VDI to reduce desktop management and maintenance throughout their enterprise environments as additional desktops are virtualized, the cost per desktop drops substantially, assuring customers the greatest ROI on their VDI deployments. Leveraging the solution s shared storage architecture, organizations achieve high availability of desktops, databases and user profiles -- pivotal to maintaining full visibility, management and functionality of the virtual desktop infrastructure. Customers can also expand their VDI environments to encompass multiple sites, realizing these benefits on an even greater scale while simultaneously enabling disaster recovery. What s more, with servers at multiple locations accessing a single volume concurrently, the need to replicate data between sites is eliminated, leading to additional cost savings. The result: a scalable, cost-optimizing approach to implementing disaster recovery for VDI. With its robust architecture, extensive list of enterprise-class storage management features, and exceptional performance and scale-out capabilities, the Sanbolic and IBM FlashSystem solution is the ideal choice for Citrix XenDesktop customers looking to realize the full potential of VDI to reduce the burden of desktop administration. Solution components/ Architecture Design As described in the Test Methodology section of this paper, Login VSI was used to generate VDI workloads and garner performance metrics. To determine a system s maximum user capacity, Login VSI loads the system under test with simulated user workloads using popular applications like Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Adobe PDF reader and gradually increases the number of users until the point of system saturation is met (i.e., the point where application response times increase significantly). The resulting latency in application response times offers a clear indication as to whether the system is close to or has reached overload. After a test is performed, the response times are analyzed to calculate the system s maximum active session/desktop capacity (VSImax). The following chart depicts the VSImax calculated for the tested solution under a 750 concurrent user workload:

5 5 Minimum Response Average Response Maximum Response VSI Index Average Notes: X axis denotes response times in milliseconds (ms) Y axis denotes number of concurrent sessions/users The following diagram shows the tested solution s components and connections:

6 6 Components and pricing IBM FlashSystem 840 (24TB usable with RAID 5, MT 9840-AE1): $326,200 street IBM System Storage SAN24B-4 8Gbps. FC b-type switch (2498-B24): $5,072 street Standard optical Fibre Channel cables (4): $210 street Sanbolic Melio software (11 copies): $75,000 street Cost per 750 desktops: $ (cost per desktop decreases as infra structure scales to higher desktop capacities) Additional Solution Data Deployed in XenDesktop enterprise environments world-wide, Sanbolic s Citrix-Ready certified Melio software offers VDI customers a simple, cost-effective storage solution that offers the following tangible benefits: Simplifies desktop OS image management and maintenance Reduces capacity requirements (and storage-related cost) Enhances virtual desktop performance Enables desktop, database and user profile high availability Allows infrastructure to scale seamlessly to meet the demands of tens of thousands of virtual desktops Includes advanced storage management features Includes SDS capabilities for improved storage economics Provides native support for geo-distributed (multi-site/dr) deployments (see diagram below)

7 7 IIBM FlashSystem is purposefully engineered for demanding environments that require high performance, dynamic scale and uninterrupted productivity. FlashSystem 840 highlights: Hardware-accelerated all flash array offering up to 40TB of protected capacity Support more concurrent users for online transaction processing, improve query re sponse times for analytics, shorten batch processes, accelerate backups, lower the cost per virtual desktop, and change your business by storing performance sensitive data on all flash storage Radically improve the economics of IT by improving server efficiency with IBM Micro Latency data accesses, which delays data center expansions, reduces server sprawl and decreases software licensing costs Reduce IT waste and maximize resource usage by replacing low efficiency hard disk based storage with extreme performance, high density and low power consuming flash storage Expand capacity and performance incrementally to match changing requirements Leverage IBM patented Variable Stripe RAID, redundant and hot swappable components and concurrent code load to improve availability Combining cutting-edge innovation with industry-leading storage concepts and technologies, the Sanbolic and IBM FlashSystem solution delivers performance, scale and fault-tolerance second to none. Translation: organizations deploying Citrix XenDesktop with this one-of-a-kind solution will see the return on their VDI investments improve as the number of virtual desktops continues to grow. In addition to VDI, the Sanbolic and IBM FlashSystem solution can be easily extended to support other demanding workloads that run in parallel. By ensuring the VDI solution is not an isolated silo for a single workload, customers maximize the investment and the actual usage model of the resource. Call to Action To learn more about Sanbolic Melio and IBM FlashSystem 840, visit and Additional information can also be found on Sanbolic s blog site com/?s=citrix and Citrix s blog site

8 8 Addendum Minimum storage requirements as determined by Citrix for 750 concurrent VDI desktop users: Write Cache Files: 6 GB Write cache file per user 4.5 TB minimum required Additional 2.5 TB added to LUN for overhead User Data: 30 GB allowed for each user 750 * 30 = 22 TB of required space 3 TB added for overhead Total storage capacity required: 7 TB for write cache + 25 TB for user data = 32 TB required Citrix Provided Server Configuration A single HP C7000 enclosure will be used hold the servers The enclosure will be in a separate isolated environment Servers will be BL460c G7 with 2 Procs and 192 GB of memory 1 server to contained the necessary infrastructure VMs 4 servers will contain client VMs necessary to drive work load A separate Login VSI 3.7 license will be obtained to further provide isolation VM Configuration - 32-bit Win7 1.5GB memory, 1 vcpu (11 servers will contain XD7 desktops) VM Configuration 64-bit Win7 1.5 GB memory, 1 vcpu (Servers will be Windows 2012 Hyper-V)

9 9 Citrix Provided Configuration Network Configuration FlexFabric will be configured to allow for either Ethernet or Fibre connectivity from the blades. These will be connected to a 4Gb Brocade switch Four networks will be created: Network 1 internal to HP Virtual Connect for PXE boot of VMs, 5 gb Network 2 Connection to lab storage and management, 1gb Network 3 Production network for connection between clients and XD VMs, 5 gb Network 4 will be either: Connection to vendor storage for using iscsi, 9 gb OR Fibre connection to SAN for vendor storage There will be no HA or redundancy across the NICs Network Layout

10 10 XenDesktop Configuration XenDesktop 7 will be used Provisioning will be done with PVS version Due to MCS working best with file based storage and not all vendors supporting file based storage (NFS), PVS will be used to provision the desktop VMs. This will create a write-intensive environment. One each broker (DDC) and PVS VM will be created to support the Infrastructure Storage Configuration 12 LUNs provisioned, servers connected to LUNs through HP FlexFabric, which was connected to an IBM System Storage SAN24B-4 FC b-type switch via two 8Gbps. Fibre Channel uplinks When implementing tested solution in production environment, storage capacity re quirements can be significantly reduced by provisioning a single LUN, presenting it to all host machines and formatting it with the Melio cluster file system so it can be accessed (read-and-write) by all the machines hosting virtual desktops Definitions VM definitions Infrastructure VMs: All will be 64-Bit Windows 2012 AD VM 4GB memory, 1 vcpu DDC VM 8 GB memory, 2 vcpu locally configured SQL PVS VM 4 GB memory, 2 vcpu locally configured SQL Client VMs 32-bit Win7, 1.5 GB memory, 1 vcpu XD VMs 64-bit Win8, 1.5 GB memory, 1 vcpu LoginVSI LoginVSI 3.7 will be used VSIShare will be inside the chassis IOPs medium work load will be used

11 11 Corporate Headquarters Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA India Development Center Bangalore, India Latin America Headquarters Coral Gables, FL, USA Silicon Valley Headquarters Santa Clara, CA, USA Online Division Headquarters Santa Barbara, CA, USA UK Development Center Chalfont, United Kingdom EMEA Headquarters Schaffhausen, Switzerland Pacific Headquarters Hong Kong, China About Citrix Ready Citrix Ready identifies recommended solutions that are trusted to enhance the Citrix Delivery Center infrastructure. All products featured in Citrix Ready have completed verification testing, thereby providing confidence in joint solution compatibility. Leveraging its industry leading alliances and partner eco-system, Citrix Ready showcases select trusted solutions designed to meet a variety of business needs. Through the online catalog and Citrix Ready branding program, you can easily find and build a trusted infrastructure. Citrix Ready not only demonstrates current mutual product compatibility, but through continued industry relationships also ensures future interoperability. Learn more at About Sanbolic Melio and IBM Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, an has convenire erroribus. Est et minim adolescens voluptaria, vitae legendos gubergren no cum, quo at error propriae lucilius. Ad eum nostrum vivendum, at nec inermis similique. Quod graecis inimicus nam eu, id mei epicuri adipisci similique, per no modus omittam lobortis. Id qui meis mediocritatem 2014 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, Citrix Receiver, HDX, CloudGateway, XenDesktop, XenApp, NetScaler and XenVault are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.