Best Practices for VMware Horizon View VDI Based on HUAWEI OceanStor 5500 V3 This document is aimed at the scenario where HUAWEI OceanStor V3 converged storage systems are used to serve VMware Horizon View 6.1. This document focuses on how to efficiently deploy VMware Horizon View application based on HUAWEI OceanStor V3 converged storage systems (the OceanStor V3 for short), and verifies VMware Horizon View application in typical enterprise user scenarios. The best practices described in this document help you obtain higher deployment efficiency and better service quality, thereby ensuring VMware VDI's performance and availability. Yuan Chuanhu Storage Solution Dept, IT, EBG 2015-05-11 V1.1 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Contents 1 About This Document... 4 1.1 Overview... 4 1.2 About the Best Practices... 4 1.3 Intended Audience... 5 1.4 Workload Models... 5 2 Products and Technologies... 6 2.1 OceanStor V3 s... 6 2.1.2 OceanStor OS... 7 2.1.3 Next-Generation Hardware... 7 2.1.4 Convergence Design... 7 2.1.5 Virtualization, Intelligence, and Efficiency... 8 2.2 VMware Horizon View... 8 2.2.1 Overview... 8 2.2.2 Linked Clone... 9 2.2.3 User File Management... 9 2.2.4 View Storage Accelerator... 10 2.2.5 SE Sparse Virtual Disk... 10 3 Best Practices for VDI Planning... 11 3.1 Capacity Planning... 11 3.1.1 Capacity Planning for System Disks... 11 3.1.2 Capacity Planning for Data Disks... 12 3.1.3 Exemplification... 12 3.2 Performance Planning... 12 3.2.1 Disk Performance... 13 3.2.2 RAID Performance... 13 3.2.3 Exemplification... 14 4 Best Practices for VDI Storage Configuration... 15 4.1 Overview... 15 4.2 Storage Configuration... 15 4.2.1 Creating Disk Domains... 15 4.2.2 Creating Storage Pools... 16 4.2.3 Creating LUNs... 16 Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2
4.2.4 Configuring Hosts and Host Groups... 17 4.2.5 Configuring Port Groups... 17 4.2.6 Creating Mapping Views... 17 4.2.7 Configuring VAAI... 18 4.3 Best Practices on Applications... 18 4.3.1 Configuring Multipathing... 18 4.3.2 Creating Clusters... 19 4.3.3 Creating VM Templates... 19 4.3.4 Configuring View Storage Accelerator and Space Reclamation... 19 5 Example of VDI Planning and Configurations... 22 5.1 Introduction to the Verification Test... 22 5.1.1 Network Diagram... 22 5.1.2 Hardware and Software Configurations... 23 5.2 Test Results... 23 5.2.1 Medium Workload Test in a Scenario with 500 VDI Users... 23 5.2.2 Medium Workload Test in a Scenario with 1000 VDI Users... 24 Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 3
1 About This Document 1.1 Overview As virtual desktop technologies mature, an increasing number of enterprises are deploying virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to their IT architecture and transforming their office environment from traditional physical PCs to virtual VDI cloud desktops. Performance and storage capacity are major factors to be considered in planning and deploying VDI virtual desktop environments. With virtualization, hybrid, thin IT, and low carbon footprint, HUAWEI OceanStor V3 converged storage systems (the OceanStor V3 for short) are the best storage platform for the new-generation data center. It is also the optimum storage platform for constructing secure, efficient, and scalable VDI. Based on VMware Horizon View and the OceanStor V3, the best practices aim to help enterprises construct the best infrastructure for virtual desktops by fully utilizing advantages brought by the OceanStor 5500 V3. This document contains the following parts: OceanStor 5500 V3 VMware Horizon View 6.1 Best practices for VDI storage planning Best practices for VDI storage configuration 1.2 About the Best Practices The best practices involve the basic performance of the OceanStor 5500 V3. The suggestions and best practices proposed in this document are based on the following conditions: Fibre Channel storage protocol is used for its high performance. 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks are used as storage media. VDI users are office users. (For details about user types, see section 1.4 "Workload Models.") VDI desktops are linked clone desktops. The capacity for storing the desktops is negligible. All the suggestions in this document apply to only one scenario: VMware Horizon View is deployed on the OceanStor 5500 V3. In addition to this document, Huawei and its partners provide professional services to help customers complete the VDI design covered in this document. These services enable customers to build the best storage architecture and solution for their VDI environments. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 4
1.3 Intended Audience The target audiences include personnel responsible for the construction, design, management, and support of VMware VDI solutions. It is assumed that the readers are familiar with the following products and technologies: VMware vsphere and VMware Horizon View OceanStor V3 1.4 Workload Models Login Virtual Session Indexer (VSI) is a standard test tool used to test the performance and scalability of VMware Horizon View, Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services), or other Windows-based virtual desktop solutions in virtual desktop environments. The best practices discuss the workloads of office desktops only. Table 1-1 distinguishes between different workloads and associate user types with IOPS values, based on empirical values collected in Huawei lab tests. Table 1-1 Mapping between user type and IOPS User Type Description IOPS of Each User Task (light workload) Knowledge (heavy workload) Such type of users is typically engaged in data recording and paperwork, using Outlook, Excel, Word, and Web browsers (Internet Explorer or Firefox) to complete routine tasks. Such type of users has comprehensive knowledge. In addition to all tools used by task-type users, knowledge-type users need to process large-scale PowerPoint documents and perform other large file operations. Such users include business managers, management officers, and marketing engineers. 3 to 7 8 to 16 Workloads of different user types vary depending on the IOPS, read/write I/Os, and I/O size. The best practices use the medium workload type of Login VSI to simulate the workloads of knowledge-type users. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 5
2 Products and Technologies 2.1 OceanStor V3 s HUAWEI OceanStor V3 converged storage systems are next-generation converged storage products designed for enterprise-class applications. Leveraging a storage operating system with a cloud-oriented architecture, a powerful next-generation hardware platform, and a full range of intelligent management software, OceanStor V3 converged storage systems deliver industry-leading functionality, performance, efficiency, reliability, and ease-of-use. They provide data storage for applications such as large-scale database OLTP/OLAP, file sharing, and cloud computing, and can be used in industries ranging from government, finance, telecommunications, energy, to media and entertainment (M&E). Meanwhile, OceanStor V3 converged storage systems can provide a wide range of efficient and flexible backup and disaster recovery solutions to ensure business continuity and data security, delivering excellent storage services. For details about the OceanStor V3, click the following link: http://e.huawei.com/en/products/cloud-computing-dc/storage/unified-storage/mid-range Figure 2-1 OceanStor V3 converged storage systems Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 6
2.1.2 OceanStor OS OceanStor OS cloud-oriented architecture is the core of OceanStor V3 converged storage systems. Figure 2-2 Storage operating system employing a cloud-oriented architecture Convergence of SAN and NAS storage Convergence of SSD and HDD storage Convergence of entry-level, mid-range, and high-end storage systems Convergence of primary and backup storage Primary storage convergence Backup convergence Convergence of heterogeneous storage systems Third-party convergence 2.1.3 Next-Generation Hardware The OceanStor V3 employs next-generation Intel multi-core processors, PCIe 3.0 buses, 12 Gbit/s SAS 3.0 disk ports, and a variety of host ports such as 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gbit/s FCoE, and 56 Gbit/s InfiniBand. The storage system provides up to 28 GB/s of system bandwidth to meet the requirements of bandwidth-intensive application scenarios. It also offers million-level IOPS performance, outshining products from other vendors. The OceanStor V3 is equipped with exclusive SmartIO cards. A SmartIO card supports 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gbit/s iscsi, and 10 Gbit/s FCoE. Users can specify the protocols that a SmartIO card is required to support. The deduplication/compression cards used by the OceanStor V3 support lossless data deduplication and compression, efficiently reducing data storage costs. In addition, the storage system can leverage data encryption to secure data. 2.1.4 Convergence Design Convergence of SAN and NAS storage: SAN and NAS services are converged to provide elastic storage, simplify service deployment, improve storage resource utilization, and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Underlying storage resource pools directly provide both block and file services, thereby shortening storage resource access paths to ensure that the two services are equally efficient. Convergence of heterogeneous storage systems: Thanks to the built-in heterogeneous virtualization function, the OceanStor V3 can efficiently manage storage systems from other mainstream vendors and consolidate these storage systems into unified resource pools for central and flexible resource allocation. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 7
Convergence of entry-level, mid-range, and high-end storage systems: The OceanStor V3 is the only storage system in the industry that enables entry-level, mid-range, and high-end storage systems to interwork seamlessly with one another. Data can freely flow among storage products of different models without the assistance of third-party systems. Convergence of SSD and HDD storage: The advantages of traditional and solid-state storage media are combined, bringing the performance of different types of storage media into full play and striking an optimal balance between performance and cost. Convergence of primary and backup storage: The built-in backup function enables data to be efficiently backed up without additional backup software, simplifying backup solution management. 2.1.5 Virtualization, Intelligence, and Efficiency RAID 2.0+ underlying virtualization: RAID 2.0+ used by the OceanStor V3 employs two-layer virtualized management, namely, underlying disk management plus upper-layer resource management. In an OceanStor V3 converged storage system, the space of each disk is divided into data blocks with a small granularity and RAID groups are created based on data blocks so that data is evenly distributed onto all disks in a storage pool. Besides, using data blocks as the smallest units greatly improves the efficiency of resource management. SmartTier (intelligent storage tiering): SmartTier automatically analyzes data access frequencies per unit time and migrates data to disks of different performance levels based on the analysis result. (High-performance disks store most frequently accessed data, performance disks store less frequently accessed data, and large-capacity disks store seldom accessed data.) In this way, the optimal overall performance is achieved, and the IOPS cost is reduced. SmartQoS (intelligent service quality control): SmartQoS categorizes service data based on data characteristics (each category represents a type of application) and sets a priority and performance objective for each category. In this way, resources are allocated to services properly, fully utilizing system resources. SmartThin (thin provisioning): SmartThin allocates storage space on demand rather than pre-allocating all storage space at the initial stage. It is more cost-effective because customers can start business with a few disks and add disks based on site requirements. In this way, the initial purchase cost and TCO are reduced. SmartCache (Intelligent storage cache): SmartCache enables storage systems to use SSDs as cache resources to improve system read performance in scenarios where read operations are more than write operations and hotspot data exists. 2.2 VMware Horizon View 2.2.1 Overview VMware Horizon View, formerly known as VMware View, is a VDI solution that simplifies desktop management and provides on-demand services. It expands VMware server deployments to bring VDI advantages to virtual desktops. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 8
Figure 2-3 Architecture of VMware Horizon View Based on the vsphere 5.5 virtualization architecture, Horizon View 6.1 offers the following: Desktop management End user experience Flexible access 2.2.2 Linked Clone Cloud environment compatibility The best practices introduce configurations based on VMware Horizon View 6.1. This chapter covers storage cost or performance-related technologies used in the best practices. The linked clone function, provided by Horizon View Composer, can create multiple desktop images based on a golden master image. The latest View Composer version has removed the restriction of allowing a maximum of only eight hosts in a cluster. It supports large host pools, accelerates deployment and reconstruction, and ensures the instant and uniform update of any number of virtual desktops. When used in conjunction with ThinApp, Horizon View Composer reduces the total amount of images, required storage capacity, and operating costs. The best practices use the latest version of Horizon View Composer to link clone desktops, improving deployment and maintenance efficiency and reducing the required number of disks. 2.2.3 User File Management Horizon View Persona Management provides consistent personalized experience for end users and offers cost-effective stateless desktops. Such desktops bring down IT costs while providing end users with "familiar" desktop appearances (last desktop state retained) and faster login. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 9
2.2.4 View Storage Accelerator vsphere 5.0 and later versions allow VM disk data to be cached to ESXi hosts. This function is called View Storage Accelerator (VSA), which leverages content-based read cache (CBRC) of ESXi hosts. With VSA, hosts no longer need to read the entire storage operating system. Instead, it reads common data blocks from the CBRC to improve access performance. The best practices use VSA to ease the pressure of partial storms in VDI. 2.2.5 SE Sparse Virtual Disk Linked clone desktops can use SE sparse virtual disks as system disks to reclaim storage space, further reducing the storage space required by permanent desktops. The best practices use SE Sparse virtual disks to greatly save storage space and mitigate the risk of system disk capacity shortage. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 10
3 Best Practices for VDI Planning 3.1 Capacity Planning This section describes user data capacity planning. NL-SAS disks are the recommended media for storing user data. The following information must be considered for capacity planning: Actual available capacity of each disk Capacity overhead of RAID groups during storage pool creation The necessity of thin LUN provisioning to address future data growth 3.1.1 Capacity Planning for System Disks In the best practices, system disks of VDI office desktops use linked clone technology of VMware Horizon View. LUN capacity required by system disks can be calculated using the following formula: Capacity = System Disk Capacity + Number of VMs * (Swap file size + Headspace of every VM) Capacity indicates the capacity of a LUN. Number of VMs indicates the number of VMs on a LUN. Swap file size indicates the memory size of a VDI virtual desktop. Headspace of every VM includes VM files and differential data between each VM and template VM. Table 3-1 Disk utilization of different RAID levels RAID Level Space Utilization RAID 5 (4D+1P) 80% RAID 6 (4D+2P) 67% RAID 10 50% Different RAID levels have different percentages of storage space consumption to maximum allocated space in a storage pool. Therefore, based on the information in Table 3-1, the required disk storage space can be estimated using the following formula: Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 11
Total capacity = Number of LUNs * Capacity/Space utilization/0.8 The percentage of storage space consumption to maximum allocated space in a storage pool is the alarm threshold of space utilization in the storage pool. By default, the threshold is 80%. If used capacity of a storage pool in the OceanStor 5500 V3 exceeds the threshold, an alarm will be reported. The required disk quantity can be calculated using the following formula: Number of disks = Total capacity/disk capacity 3.1.2 Capacity Planning for Data Disks The required data disk capacity can be calculated using the following formula: Total capacity = Number of VMs * Data disk capacity/space utilization/0.8 The required disk quantity can be calculated using the following formula: Number of disks = Total capacity/disk capacity 3.1.3 Exemplification For details about the preceding parameters, see "Capacity Planning for System Disks." 1000 VDI office desktops are deployed, each of which is configured with 20 GB of system disks, 20 GB of data disks, one vcpu, and 1 GB RAM. The storage capacity of these desktops can be planned as follows: RAID 10 is used as a RAID policy in storage pools and 10 LUNs are created to store VM system disks. The capacity of a LUN can be calculated using the following formula: 20 GB + 100 * (1 GB + 2 GB) = 320 GB The total capacity for storing system disks can be calculated using the following formula: 10 * 320 GB/50%/0.8 = 8000 GB If 600 GB SAS disks are used and each disk has 550 GB of available capacity, the number of system disks required can be calculated using the following formula: 8000 GB/550 GB = 15 RAID 5 is adopted as a RAID policy in storage pool to store VM data disks. The total capacity required can be calculated using the following formula: 1000 * 20 GB/0.8/0.8 = 31,250 GB If 600 GB SAS disks are used and each disk has 550 GB of available capacity, the number of data disks required can be calculated using the following formula: 31,250 GB/550 GB = 57 3.2 Performance Planning Performance is a key factor in the best practices. Workloads of VDI in a steady state are mostly random small I/Os, and the storage performance is mainly determined by IOPS. Therefore, this section chooses a RAID type based on an understanding of estimated disk Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 12
performance, RAID performance overhead, and workload features of VDI in a steady state. Finally, the section calculates the number of disks enough to meet the performance requirements of storage pools with different RAID levels. 3.2.1 Disk Performance Table 3-2 Estimated IOPS of s single disk Disk Type Estimated IOPS 10k rpm SAS 150 SSD (emlc) 2500 SSD (SLC) 3500 The preceding table shows the estimated IOPS values of different disks. The IOPS value indicates the performance of a disk assuming that it meets the latency requirement. 3.2.2 RAID Performance After the type of needed disks is determined, it is necessary to understand the IOPS consumption of different RAID groups. The IOPS consumption of a RAID group is caused by its write operations, as RAID working principles suggest. The following table describes the write overhead of RAID groups. Table 3-3 Write consumption of RAID groups RAID Level RAID Penalty RAID 10 2 RAID 5 4 RAID 6 6 Based on a Login VSI benchmark test, the following tables describe the percentages of I/O writes and reads of VDI in a steady state, as well as the percentages of I/O writes and reads delivered to disks. Table 3-4 Percentages of I/O writes and reads in a steady state Read I/O Percentage (%) Write I/O Percentage (%) 20 80 Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 13
Table 3-5 Percentages of I/O writes and reads delivered to disks in a steady state Percentage of Read I/Os Delivered Percentage of Write I/Os Delivered 60 30 The required IOPS can be easily calculated using the following formulas based on the information provided in Table 3-2, Table 3-3, and Table 3-4. IOPS = (Target IOPS * Read I/O% * Disk read I/O%) + (Target IOPS * Write I/O% * Disk write I/O%) * RAID penalty -Formula 1 Based on information in Table 3-1, the required number of disks can be estimated using the following formula: Number of disks = IOPS/Estimated IOPS -Formula 2 3.2.3 Exemplification Target IOPS is obtained by the average IOPS (shown in Table 1-1) of each user multiplied by the number of users. The values of read I/O%, write I/O%, RAID penalty, disk read I/O%, and disk write I/O% are provided in Table 3-2, Table 3-3, and Table 3-4. The value of estimated IOPS is provided in Table 3-1. The calculated IOPS indicates IOPS provided by back-end disks after the performance of read hit and write cache is improved and enters a steady state. 1000 knowledge-type users (10 IOPS per user on average generated by Login VSI benchmark workloads) use RAID 10. The required performance can be calculated using formula 1. IOPS = (1000 * 10 * 20% * 60%) + (1000 * 10 * 90% * 30%) * 2 = 400 + 4800 = 6000 The number of required disks for the 1000 users can be calculated by using the calculated IOPS value and formula 2. Number of 10k rpm SAS disks = 6000/150 = 40 Based on the exemplification, Huawei recommends that customers use high-reliability and high-performance RAID 10 as the RAID level of storage pools on the OceanStor 5500 V3 when deploying a large number of VMware View linked clone desktops, if the preconditions described in this document are met. In the best practices, system disks of VDI virtual desktops occupy small storage space because they use the linked clone function. For this reason, system disk capacity will not become a bottleneck. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 14
4 Best Practices for VDI Storage Configuration 4.1 Overview This chapter describes recommended configurations for VMware View VDI on the OceanStor V3. It includes storage planning, storage configuration, cluster configuration, VM template configuration. 4.2 Storage Configuration Storage is the basis for VMware Horizon View implementation. This section describes the best practices of deploying a desktop pool based on Horizon View linked clone for knowledge-type users. The OceanStor 5500 V3 uses 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks and the Fibre Channel protocol. The configuration of storage arrays mainly involves the allocation of storage resources to hosts. Log in to OceanStor DeviceManager. For details, refer to the OceanStor 5500 V3 manual. Then complete the following configuration: Figure 4-1 Resource allocation flowchart 4.2.1 Creating Disk Domains In this white paper, 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks are used to provide storage space for virtual desktops. As user data storage requires modest performance and large capacity, NL-SAS disks are recommended. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 15
For details about determining the number of disks for linked clone desktop pools provided by VMware Horizon View, see section 3.1 "Capacity Planning" and section 3.2 "Performance Planning." Based on VMware View, it is recommended that: Different disk domains be used to provide storage space for system disks and data disks to facilitate management and maintenance. Disk enclosure amounts be averaged to storage engines for load balancing. No more than 100 disks be allocated for each tier of a disk domain. 4.2.2 Creating Storage Pools 4.2.3 Creating LUNs A storage pool, a container that stores storage space resources, is created in a disk domain. A storage pool can dynamically allocate resources from a disk domain and define the RAID level of each storage tier. A storage tier is a collection of storage media providing the same performance level in a storage pool. Different storage tiers manage storage media with different performance levels and provide different storage spaces for applications whose performance requirements vary. There are three types of storage tiers: high-performance tier that consists of SSDs (including SLC and emlc), performance tier that consists of SAS disks (including 15k rpm and 10k rpm), and capacity tier that consists of NL-SAS disks. The OceanStor V3 supports six RAID levels: RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 3, RAID 50, and RAID 1. The most commonly used RAID levels are RAID 6, RAID 10, and RAID 5. From the perspective of stripe width, RAID 6 and RAID 5 are classified into RAID 6-4 (2D+2P), RAID 6-6 (4D+2P), RAID 6-10 (8D+2P), RAID 5-3 (2D+1P), RAID 5-5 (4D+1P), and RAID 5-9 (8D+1P). In VDI scenarios, the best practices for creating storage pools for storing system disks of virtual desktops are as follows: RAID 10 is strongly recommended because this RAID level can provide high performance using minimum disks. If reliability takes precedence over performance, RAID 6 is recommended. If capacity takes precedence over reliability, RAID 5 is recommended. In VDI scenarios, the best practices for creating storage pools for storing data disks of virtual desktops are as follows: RAID 5 is strongly recommended because this RAID level can provide largest available capacity using minimum disks. If reliability takes precedence over performance, RAID 6 is recommended. If performance takes precedence over reliability, RAID 10 is recommended. During the creation of a storage pool, you can set an alarm threshold for the capacity allocation ratio. The default threshold is 80%. Capacity alarming is particularly important in scenarios where value-added features such as thin LUN, snapshot, remote replication, and clone are used. You can set a proper alarm threshold based on the speed of application data growth to prevent insufficient capacity of the storage pool from casing application interruption. A LUN is a storage unit that can be directly mapped to a host for data reads and writes. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 16
In VDI scenarios, the best practices for creating LUNs for system disks of virtual desktops are as follows: Create an even number of LUNs so that they can be evenly distributed to controllers for load balancing. When creating LUNs, do not enable SmartThin for performance consideration. Assign not more than 128 VMs for each LUN. Configure the advanced properties for the LUNs and set the prefetch policy to No Prefetch. Do not enable SmartThin for the LUNs used by system disks because the system disks occupy only a small amount of space but have demanding performance requirements. It is recommended that SmartThin be enabled for user data disks to improve storage flexibility. 4.2.4 Configuring Hosts and Host Groups You can create and manage hosts so that the hosts can obtain and use the storage resources allocated by the storage system. You can also create host groups for easily managing multiple hosts. This management mode adapts to the VMware cluster management mode. In VDI scenarios, the best practices for creating hosts and host groups are as follows: When creating a host, use the automatic scan function to scan for hosts. After creating a host, modify its initiator and disable ALUA. When creating a host group, match it with a VMware cluster and name the host group after the cluster name for easy management and maintenance. To use the automatic scan function, you need to install UltraPath on the ESX host. 4.2.5 Configuring Port Groups If a storage device is exclusively used by the VDI, it is recommended not to configure port groups. If a storage device is shared by the VDI and other services, it is recommended that port groups be configured to isolate these services from affecting each other's performance. In VDI scenarios, the best practices for configuring port groups are as follows: Add all ports that are connected to VDI hosts to a host group for simplified deployment and management. 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports are preferred for front-end connection. It is recommended that at least two front-end ports be configured on each controller for redundancy. 4.2.6 Creating Mapping Views A mapping view enables you to flexibly allocate storage resources to hosts and complete configuration on the storage array. You can determine whether to use port groups in the mapping view based on site requirements. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 17
Figure 4-2 Creating a mapping view 4.2.7 Configuring VAAI As a vsphere API of VMware, VAAI offloads storage operations to supported storage arrays for high performance and efficiency. The OceanStor 5500 V3 in the best practices supports VAAI to enable vsphere to quickly execute key tasks and reduce usage of CPU, memory, and storage bandwidth for higher performance and lower costs. The efficiency can be improved in the following scenarios: VM cloning, VM migration, and VM power-on and power-off. By default, VAAI is enabled on the OceanStor 5500 V3. 4.3 Best Practices on Applications This chapter describes the best practices for configuring VMware Horizon View based on the planning in this document and Huawei's experience. The configuration involves multipathing, VMware clusters, data stores, and VM templates. 4.3.1 Configuring Multipathing In this white paper, Fibre Channel SAN is used to provide storage resources. The redundant Fibre Channel switches provide multiple paths between the host and storage system. Therefore, the multipathing software must be used to choose the optimum path. It is recommended that UltraPath for VMware that can automatically discover and select the best path be installed. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 18
4.3.2 Creating Clusters Note the following when configuring a cluster: If HA is enabled, ensure that the cluster has sufficient VM resources and provide at least one more host for switchover. If DRS is enabled, provide a dedicated channel for vmotion. The latest Horizon View Composer supports up to 32 clustered hosts, whereas earlier versions support 8. 4.3.3 Creating VM Templates Because the best practices assume that the desktop users are knowledge-type users, ensure the following when creating and configuring a VM template: Set VM hardware version to 10. You can use SE Sparse virtual disks to improve disk utilization. If memory resources are sufficient, reserve at least 1 GB memory for each VM to prevent a waste of storage space. 4.3.4 Configuring View Storage Accelerator and Space Reclamation On the View management platform, configure the host cache size for VMware vcenter Server. Log in to VMware View Administrator, and choose View Configuration > Server > vcenter Server. Set the host cache size to 2048 MB, as shown in Figure 4-3. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 19
Figure 4-3 Configuring the host cache size and space reclamation for vcenter Server When adding a linked clone desktop pool, select Use View Storage Accelerator and use it for operating system disks, as shown in Figure 4-4: Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 20
Figure 4-4 Enabling host caching As shown in Figure 4-4, you can select a time range for host caching to avoid host resource contention during peak usage. Select the time range based on service requirements. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 21
EST...... EST Best Practices for VMware Horizon View VDI Based on HUAWEI OceanStor 5500 V3 5 Example of VDI Planning and Configurations 5.1 Introduction to the Verification Test 5.1.1 Network Diagram Figure 5-1 Network diagram for testing vcenter server Connection server AD/DHCP/DNS Login VSI VM... VM Cluster A (test management) Cluster B (service cluster) R720 RH2288 5500T 5500 V3 Management network Fibre Channel network Two switches are used in the network. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 22
Three R720 servers are used in cluster A (test cluster) to carry workloads of testing machines and management nodes. Eight RH2288 servers are used in cluster B (service cluster) to carry workloads of service VMs. 5.1.2 Hardware and Software Configurations Hardware Configurations Device Type Quantity Function Configuration 2 x 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports HUAWEI Tecal RH2288 V2 8 Provides a computing cluster to carry virtual desktops and to connect VMs. 2 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2660 @ 2.20 GHz 256 GB RAM GE network adapter 600 GB local SAS disk HUAWEI 5500 V3 1 (2 controllers) Provides high-reliability and high-performance shared storage resources for virtual desktops. 1 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2620 v2 @ 2.10 GHz Storage array cache size: 24 GB (per controller) 50 x 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks Software Configurations Component Software Version Virtualization infrastructure Virtualization management software VMware vsphere (VMware ESXi) 5.5.0 VMware vcenter 5.5.0 Virtualization desktop software VMware Horizon View 6.0.1 build-2088845 Workload test tool Login VSI 3.7 5.2 Test Results 5.2.1 Medium Workload Test in a Scenario with 500 VDI Users Figure 5-2 shows the test results after the medium workload type of Login VSI is used to simulate the workloads of 500 VDI users. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 23
Figure 5-2 Test results This test uses twenty 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks to carry VM system disks (not VM data disks). The RAID level in the storage pool is RAID 10. Five 300 GB LUNs are created, each of which carries 100 VMs. 5.2.2 Medium Workload Test in a Scenario with 1000 VDI Users Figure 5-3 shows the test results after the medium workload type of Login VSI is used to simulate the workloads of 1000 VDI users. Figure 5-3 Test results This test uses forty 2.5-inch 10k rpm SAS disks to carry VM system disks (not VM data disks). The RAID level in the storage pool is RAID 10. Ten 300 GB LUNs are created, each of which carries 100 VMs. Huawei Proprietary and Confidential Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 24
Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2015. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Trademarks and Permissions and other Huawei trademarks are trademarks of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All other trademarks and trade names mentioned in this document are the property of their respective holders. Notice The purchased products, services and features are stipulated by the contract made between Huawei and the customer. All or part of the products, services and features described in this document may not be within the purchase scope or the usage scope. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, all statements, information, and recommendations in this document are provided "AS IS" without warranties, guarantees or representations of any kind, either express or implied. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, and recommendations in this document do not constitute a warranty of any kind, express or implied. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Address: Website: Email: Huawei Industrial Base Bantian, Longgang Shenzhen 518129 People's Republic of China http://www.huawei.com support@huawei.com