EUC2103 Storage Tips and Best Practices for VMware View Desktop Deployments

1. EUC2103Storage Tips and Best Practices for VMware View Desktop Deployments Name, Title, Company

2. . . .

3. How to Plausibly Blame the Storage Team for your View Woes

4. Disclaimer • This session may contain product features that are currently under development. • This session/overview of the new technology represents no commitment from VMware to deliver these features in any generally available product. • Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or sales agreements of any kind. • Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery. • Pricing and packaging for any new technologies or features discussed or presented have not been determined.

5. Agenda • The Problem • Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments • Storage Solutions

6. Acknowledgements • MyVirtualCloud.net – Andre Leibovici • Ryan “Sesenata y Cinco” Grendahl • Matt Eccleston – VMware Office of the CTO

7. Disclaimers • Don’t be offended if we didn’t use or mention your stuff • Don’t stalk us about your stuff • There are a lot of really great storage solutions available

8. Your Storage Vendor…

9. Disclaimers • Don’t be offended if we didn’t use or mention your stuff • Don’t stalk us about your stuff • There are a lot of really great storage solutions available • We are primarily discussing linked clones here • All examples are just that, your mileage may vary • This is a one hour presentation, not an exhaustive symposium

10. It’s Not Rocket Science

11. But It Might Be Model Rocket Science

12. Agenda • The Problem • Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments • Storage Solutions

13. The Problem • Most people think of storage in terms of capacity • You need to think of storage in terms of performance • Size doesn’t matter • OK, it matters a bit. Pure SSD will run into capacity problems • Implementing with a poor architecture is hard to correct later • Good user experience and user acceptance are critical for success • We need to make sure users are happy • Virtual desktop performance should be as good or better than a physical PC

14. Desktop IO • Who in the room knows what the average & peak IOPS are for the physical PCs in your current environment? • You are a Geek • In general, nobody knows this • In the physical desktop world, IO generally isn’t relevant • Each desktop has its own dedicated physical spindle(s) and has exclusive rights to whatever performance the disk provides. • In the virtual world it is EXTREMELY important because now we are sharing storage between desktops.

15. IOPS Terms • Minimum guaranteed IOPS • Total available IOPS divided by number of desktops • Theoretical, worst case scenario • Maximum available IOPS • Total IOPS available from storage • Theoretical, best case scenario • Average IOPS • Empirically observed load over time divided by number of desktops • Random IO • Virtual desktop IO is generally going to be random • It’s going to be slower than sequential IO We focus on Average IOPS because it is based on empirical data.

16. The Problem – An Example - Space 6 x 450GB 15K RPM SAS drives RAID10 @1.25TB usable space • Linked clones conserve a huge amount of space. • You don’t want this many VMs in a single datastore. • The available IOPS won’t support them

17. The Problem - An Example – Performance • RAID level is important!! • Write IOPS capability is dependent on RAID Level 6x 450GB 15K RPM SAS drives RAID10 @1.25TB usable space @1080 Total IOPS @540 Write IOPS

18. The Problem - An Example – Performance 6x 450GB 15K RPM SAS drives RAID10 @1.25TB usable space @1080 Total IOPS @540 Write IOPS • In summary – Even though we have capacity for a large number of VMs, we only have performance for far fewer VMs.

19. The Problem – Real World Examples • POC – Performance great, then performance terrible. • Production assembly line – Performance acceptable during normal operations – writing files or updates took hours while it took minutes on physical machines. • Why do I need so many disks? • We must get past “waste of space” syndrome and focus on performance. • Size doesn’t matter • OK, maybe it matters a little • Performance is King

20. Agenda • The Problem • Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments • Storage Solutions

21. Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • How do you figure out what you need? • No one will have any idea about their current physical environment • Unless they’re a Geek • You have what you have on physical • May have some awareness because of specialized disk IO needs • So how do we get usable numbers? • Rules of Thumb • Calculators • Assessments

22. Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Rules of thumb: • Light – 5 IOPs – Not a lot of time at desktop • Medium – 10 IOPs – Most of day at desktop – typical office worker • Heavy – 20 IOPs – Developer, Power User • You will find other rules of thumb guide numbers – that’s why they can be dangerous • Keep in mind these are average numbers • Don’t forget the Write/Read Mix • Don’t forget the Write/Read Mix • We really mean it • Need to do some planning or management for peaks - we’ll get back to that. • Use a Calculator for a better picture

23. Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Calculator: • Gives a better overall picture but uses rules of thumb numbers • Here’s a great one: • http://myvirtualcloud.net/?page_id=1076 • Talk to your storage vendor about a VDI specific storage calculator

24. Agenda • The Problem • Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments • Storage Solutions

25. Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments: • Best way to gather empirical data on disk IO needs • Some things it helps you understand: • Times of day when peak disk IO occurs • Potential areas to manage around • Antivirus scan and updates, login, and boot storm • Applications that are biggest disk IO consumers • Creates understanding of IO load from different applications • May identify areas to change operationally or potential bad virtualization candidates. • Image optimization • Turn off unnecessary services • Indexing, Prefetching, WLAN, blah, blah, blah • Windows 7 Optimization Guide hits all this

26. Assessment Example #1 4,417 Desktops

27. Assessment Example #1 Continued 4,417 Desktops Avg I/O per desktop: 6.08 Write:Read Ratio: 2:1 Max I/O per desktop: 38 Write:Read Ratio: 1:3 Building to 95th Percentile: 14

28. Assessment Example #2 5,026 Desktops

29. Assessment Example #2 Continued 5,026 Desktops Avg I/O per Desktop: 1.4 Write:ReadRatio: 1:1 Max I/O per Desktop: 4.2 Write:Read Ratio: 1:1 Building to 95th Percentile: 3.4

30. Assessment Example #3 3,046 Desktops

31. Assessment Example #3 Continued 3,046 Desktops Avg I/O per Desktop: 5.5Write:ReadRatio: 3:1 Max I/O per Desktop: 22 Write:Read Ratio: 2:1 Building to 95th Percentile: 17

32. Agenda • The Problem • Understanding Desktop IO Requirements • Assessments • Storage Solutions

33. Storage Solutions - Read IOPS • Many technologies help with read IOPS • Array based cache • RAM based, SSD Based • Flash Cache, FAST Cache • Host based cache • FusionIO/IOTurbine • View Composer storage tiering • Replica on SSD storage • Offload operations • Profile - View Virtual Profiles • User Data – Folder Redirection for Home Directory • Applications – Streamed ThinApp • No Read penalty with any RAID type. • It’s hard to overrun the Read IOPS capability since you have to build forwrite IOPS

34. Storage Solutions - Write IOPS • Helping with write IOPS is trickier • In general you need to build out the number of spindles to support write IOPS • Don’t forget the RAID type caveat • SSD writes are generally slower than reads and can degrade over time • Some vendor specific solutions may help • FAST at Rest, WAFL for example • Vendors with dedup and serializing write IO • This is where the Disclaimer slide applies • Sizing for write IOPS is probably the most critical area • Work with storage vendor to properly size your environment for write IOPS.

35. Storage Solutions - VSA • Available as an option with vSphere 5 • Look carefully at write IOPS numbers • Take replication into account • Understand the configuration and HCL limitations • Look at it as a ROBO / SMB Solution vSphere Client VSA Manager VSA VSA VSA vSphere vSphere vSphere NFS NFS NFS

36. Storage Solutions – Dealing with the Peaks • Boot Storms • Set Power policy to Always On • Antivirus • vShield Endpoint • Randomized Full Disk Scans • No Full Disk Scans • Login • View Virtual Profiles • Leave users logged in • Image Optimization • Operations • Do Builds, updates, & Disk Operations (R-R-R) at off hours • If no off hours throttle the number of operations so as not to overrun the IOPS capabilities.

37. Storage Solutions - Tips • Latency generally the best indicator of a problem • Understand the latency baseline & have a monitoring tool in place • 20ms latency is getting into trouble • 50ms will have the phones at the help desk lit up • Big latency numbers possible if you didn’t design well and will seem like service outage • Keep an eye on baseline numbers as you add desktops. • Don’t use Linked Clones if you’re not going use R-R-R features • Just use the full clones • Over time read IOPS can grow dramatically if not refreshed. • Disk Alignment • Windows 7 automatically aligned – XP misaligned • Create VMFS from vCenter • Could be up to 50% performance hit if misaligned • Manually confirm to be sure.

38. Slide with No Bullets & A Gratuitous Picture of a Yak

39. Storage Solutions – Tips Continued • Need to be aware of RAID choice impact for writes • Writes are THE most likely constraint • Consider RAID0 for Floating desktops? • Don’t worry about wasted space • I still have checks so I must still have money • Look at CapEx cost per IOP • The cheapest disks may actually be the most expensive solution • Keep power consumption in mind on OpEx cost • NFS vs Block Based Storage • Performance should be a relative wash • VAAI & ATS level the playing field in terms of VM density • No, We don’t want to have a big debate

40. Summary • Well Architected Performance = Successful Implementation • Involve partners • Storage vendor • VMware Partner or PSO • Internal storage team • Do an Assessment • Get over wasted space – See First Bullet • Pilot the environment!! • This is the only TRUE way of understanding your real IOPS situation

41. Questions??

42. Resources • Scott Lowe Blog Storage Performance vs. Cost • http://tinyurl.com/3ev597g • Andre Leibovici Blog • www.myvirtualcloud.net • Disk Alignment Blog • http://www.blueshiftblog.com/?p=300 • Great VDI Storage White Paper from Herco van Brug of PQR • http://tinyurl.com/3sd3yx5