IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 VDI Reference architecture

IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure for Microsoft Windows
Server 2012 VDI
Reference architecture

24 July 2013

Kent Swalin

© Copyright IBM Corporation, 2013

Table of contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................1
Architectural overview................................................................................................................1
Component model.......................................................................................................................2
Component relationship diagram............................................................................................................. 2
Storage model.......................................................................................................................................... 4

Operational model.......................................................................................................................5
Deployment diagram................................................................................................................................ 6
High availability (HA)................................................................................................................................ 8
VDI Management servers / Virtualization host servers............................................................................ 8
Networking ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Storage integration................................................................................................................................. 10
Sizing considerations ............................................................................................................................. 11
System configuration for 600 pooled users ........................................................................................... 13

Appendix 1: Bill of materials ....................................................................................................15
Appendix 2: Performance testing results ...............................................................................17
Performance results for virtualization host configuration 1.................................................................... 17
Processor performance graph......................................................................................... 18
Average disk queue length graph.................................................................................... 18
Average disk transfer graph ............................................................................................ 19
Memory- available bytes graph ....................................................................................... 20
Login VSI VSImax graph for one of the virtualization host nodes................................... 20
Performance results for virtualization host configuration 2.................................................................... 21
Processor performance graph......................................................................................... 21
Average disk queue length graph.................................................................................... 22
Average disk transfer graph ............................................................................................ 23
Memory-available bytes graph ........................................................................................ 24
Login VSI VSImax graph for one of the virtualization hosts............................................ 24

Resources..................................................................................................................................26
Trademarks and special notices..............................................................................................27

IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 VDI

Introduction
This document describes the reference architecture for IBM® SmartCloud® Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
with Microsoft® Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) running on Microsoft Windows® Server 2012. It should
be read in conjunction with the IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture
document available at: ibm.com/partnerworld/page/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure
The business problem, business value, and requirements are described in the IBM SmartCloud Desktop
Infrastructure reference architecture and are not repeated here. This document gives an architecture
overview and component model of the Microsoft pooled VDI and then describes the deployment model of
Microsoft pooled VDI for varying numbers of users accessing virtual Windows desktops, running on
servers that can be accessed from a variety of user devices such as tablets, thin clients, physical
desktops, and notebooks.
The intended audience of this document is IT professionals, technical architects, sales engineers, and
consultants to assist in planning, designing and implementing Microsoft VDI on IBM System x®3550 M4 or
IBM System x3650 M4 and IBM Storwize® V3700.
This instance of the architecture is based on a pooled virtual machine (VM) configuration. Pooled VMs are
non-persistent user desktops. Every user VM has a dedicated portion of the virtualization host server’s
resources to guarantee the performance for each desktop. The desktop VM is dedicated to one user while
the user is logged on. When the user logs off or restarts, the VM is returned to the pool and reset to the
pristine gold image state for the next user.
Microsoft has complementary technologies: Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Hosting (RD Session
Host) and RemoteFX which can be combined with VDI. However, these technologies are not covered in
this reference architecture.

Architectural overview
IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 VDI (IBM SmartCloud
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft VDI) is an end-to-end desktop solution that lowers the barriers
of adoption, such as cost, complexity, and coverage that are traditionally associated with the VDI
technology. It allows access to a personal desktop from anywhere, using any device. Microsoft Windows
Server 2012 is an ideal choice for desktop virtualization. It includes everything needed to set up a VDI
solution including: the connection broker, web access, gateway, and other necessary components, so no
additional third-party software is required.

Figure 1 shows the main features of the IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft VDI
reference architecture.


1

Figure 1: SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture for Microsoft VDI

This document limits the discussion to the components inside the customer’s intranet. This reference
architecture does not address the issues of remote access and authorization, data traffic reduction, traffic
monitoring, and the general issues of multisite deployment and network management.

Component model
Component relationship diagram
Figure 2 is a layered view of the IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure mapped to the Microsoft
VDI with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V hypervisor.


2

Figure 2:IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure mapped to the Microsoft VDI

The main components for Microsoft VDI using Hyper-V are explained in the following table:
Virtualization Host

Remote Desktop Virtualization Host integrates with Hyper-V
to deploy pooled or personal virtual desktop collections.

Remote Desktop Web Access
Server

Remote Desktop Web Access enables users to access
Desktop Connection through the Start menu on a computer
that is running Windows 8, Windows 7, or through a web
browser.

Remote Desktop Gateway
Server

Remote Desktop Gateway enables authorized users to
connect to virtual desktops on an internal corporate network
from any Internet-connected device.

Remote Desktop License Server

Remote Desktop (RD) Licensing manages the licenses
required to connect to a virtual desktop. You can use RD
Licensing to install, issue, and track the availability of
licenses.


3

SQL Server

SQL Server is used to store provisioning and broker
connection information. SQL server is a required component.
SQL Server 2012 standard edition or higher is recommended.

Remote Desktop Connection
Broker Server

Remote Desktop Connection Broker provides access to
virtual desktops in a virtual desktop collection. It enables
administrators to evenly distribute the load among RD
Session Host servers in a session collection or pooled virtual
desktops in a pooled virtual desktop collection.

Clients

Users can access their virtual desktop from any device
supported by the respective desktop virtualization solution;
this includes company notebooks, home PCs, thin -client
devices or tablets. IBM does not prescribe any particular
approach for clients. Customers can repurpose existing
desktops (which is typical for many deployments) or greenfield with thin- or zero-client devices. No agent is required on
either the client or VM.

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

The virtual desktop image is streamed to the user access
device using RDP.

Shared storage

Shared storage is required for this architecture. It is used to
hold cluster information for the VDI management cluster, SQL
data required for the VDI management servers, user data,
and the VDI management virtual hard disks.

File Services

The File Services role will allow the management cluster to
present the user data as virtual hard disks to the pooled VMs

Table 1: Main components of Microsoft VDI using Hyper-V

Storage model
This section describes the different types of data stored for this reference architecture.
Pooled VMs use local storage for the client VMs. The pooled desktop enables users to connect to a new
or different desktop image every time they log on while keeping aspects of user experience persistent.
This allows the usage of local storage for the VMs instead of shared storage as no user-associated data
resides persistently in the image. In case of a host failure, users can just reconnect to a desktop hosted on
another system without the need for the VM to fail over to another node. The Windows Server OS and
golden images are stored locally on the virtualization host on fast storage. The local storage on the
virtualization hosts is summarized in the following table.


4

Volumes

Use

File format

OS / Golden image

Windows 2012 host OS, local golden image

NTFS

VMs

Pooled VM Differential disks

NTFS

Table 2: Virtualization host storage

Shared storage is used as a repository for the management of VMs, management databases, user profile
and user data, and the client VMs master golden images. Whenever the golden master images are
updated, they are then transferred to each virtualization host. The following table outlines the data layout
for shared storage.
Volumes

Use

File format

Management

Management VMs

NTFS

Management databases

SQL server data

NTFS

User profile data

User profiles and user data

NTFS

Master golden images

Master gold images

NTFS

Table 3: Shared storage

Operational model
The pooled operational model is presented in this section. In order to illustrate the operational model for
different sized customer environments, three different models are provided for supporting 150, 300, and
600 users.
The VDI management cluster servers and virtualization host servers use Hyper-V as the hypervisor. The
VDI management servers, which are clustered with Windows Server 2012 clustering, have management
VMs instead of client VMs. The management VMs are shown in Figure 3.


5

Deployment diagram

Remote Desktop
Web Access 1

Management
Cluster

Remote Desktop
Gateway 1

Remote Desktop
Web Access 2

Remote Desktop
Connection
Broker 1

Remote Desktop
License Server

Remote Desktop
Connection
Broker 2

SQL 1

Virtualization
Host Servers

Remote Desktop
Virtualization Host

File
Services

Remote Desktop
Virtualization Host

Remote Desktop
Gateway 2

SQL 2

Remote Desktop
Virtualization Host

File
Services

Remote Desktop
Virtualization Host

Figure 3: Server deployment diagram

The VDI management servers have the File Services role installed to provide access to user profile data
virtual hard disks to the virtualization host servers. This enables the virtualization host servers to share
access to the user profile virtual hard disks as they reside on a cluster shared volume (CSV) disk on the
shared storage.


6

The following table summarizes the VM requirements for each management VM.

Management
server VM

Virtual
processors

Memory

Storage

Windows OS

HA available

Remote
Desktop Web
Access Server

2

4 GB

15 GB

2012

Yes

Remote
Desktop
Gateway
Server

2

4 GB

15 GB

2012

No

Remote
Desktop
License
Server

2

4 GB

15 GB

2012

No

SQL Server
(Standard
Edition or
higher)

4

8 GB

15 GB

2012

Yes

Remote
Desktop
Connection
Broker Server

2

8 GB

40 GB

2012

Yes

Table 4: Management VM requirements

The following table shows examples of typical client VM configurations.

OS

Version

Number of
processors

Memory

Network interface
card (NIC)

Mircrosoft
Windows 7
(SP1)

32-bit or 64-bit

1

512 – 2048 MB Dynamic
memory

1

Microsoft
Windows 8

32-bit or 64-bit

1

512 – 2048 MB Dynamic
memory

1


7

Table 5: Pooled client VM configuration

High availability (HA)
High availability protects all layers of this solution. This was accomplished with:




Two top-of-rack switches to provide redundancy
Hyper-V clustering in the Management layer to provide high availability
Multiple servers are used for high availability in the Virtualization host layer

In this architecture, the virtualization hosts are not clustered as the Microsoft VDI collection is capable of
spanning multiple virtualization host servers. In the rare event of a virtualization host failure, users on that
host would need to reconnect to a new VM.
The VDI management servers have a similar hardware specification as virtualization host servers do, so
you can use them interchangeably in a worst-case scenario. If a management server goes down, it can be
replaced by one of the virtualization host servers.

VDI Management servers / Virtualization host servers
At the core of the IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft VDI reference architecture,
the IBM System x3550 M4 (1U) or IBM System x3650 M4 (2U) servers deliver the performance and
reliability required for virtualizing business-critical applications in Hyper-V VDI environments.
In this architecture, storage exists on local hard disks on the virtualization hosts. Two volumes are used
per virtualization host. The first volume is configured using RAID 1 over two 200 GB solid-state drives
(SSDs) and is used for the Windows Server 2012 host OS and the local golden image. The second
volume is configured using RAID 0 and is used to host the provisioned desktop VMs along with their
respective write caches.
Pooled VMs use local storage and require the local storage on the virtualization hosts as shown in the
following table.
Volumes

Size

Number of
disks

RAID

Use

OS / Golden
image

200 GB

2

1

Windows 2012
host OS, local
golden image

VMs

1-3 TB

6 or more

0

Pooled VM
Differential
disks

Table 6: Virtualization host storage layout

Testing has shown that the local VM volume needs at least six 15k drives to support 100 to 150 users with
good performance. To support more users or if the I/O per user is higher, then eight drives have been

8

found to be effective, especially, if combined with higher powered processor and more memory. The I/O
performance is shown in “Appendix 2: Performance testing results”.

Networking
Combinations of physical and virtual isolated networks at the host, switch, and storage layers meet
isolation requirements. At the physical host layer, there are four 1Gb Ethernet devices for each Hyper-V
server.
The servers and storage maintain connectivity through multiple iSCSI connections using multipath I/O
(MPIO). Windows Server 2012 NIC teaming on the virtualization hosts provides fault tolerance to the host
management and VM communication networks.
At the physical switch layer, virtual local area networks (VLANs) provide logical isolation between various
storage and data traffic. A key element is properly configuring the switches to maximize available
bandwidth and reduce congestion. Based on individual environment preferences, you have choices
regarding how many VLANs you create and what type of role-based traffic they handle. After you make a
final selection, ensure that the switch configurations are saved or backed up.
The configurations of the five VLANS are described in the following table.
VLAN ID
VLAN 10
VLAN 20

Name
iSCSI storage network
iSCSI storage network

Description
Used for iSCSI storage traffic
Used for iSCSI storage traffic

VLAN 30

Cluster private network

Used for private cluster
communication and cluster
shared volume traffic

VLAN 40

Cluster live migration network

Used for cluster VM Live
Migration traffic

VLAN 50

Public network

Used for host management
and VM communication

Table 7: Implemented VLANs

At the physical storage layer, the IBM Storwize V3700 iSCSI ports are used for connectivity. Each
controller has two 1Gb Ethernet ports for iSCSI traffic. The use of the IBM Subsystem Device Specific
Module (SDDDSM) manages the multiple I/O paths between the host servers and storage, and optimizes
the storage paths for maximum performance. VLANs are used to isolate storage traffic from other data
traffic occurring on the switches.
VLAN 10 and VLAN 20 are reserved for server access to the iSCSI storage. All iSCSI traffic should be
isolated on VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. One switch hosts VLAN 10, and the second switch hosts VLAN 20.
Implementation of the VLAN isolation from the storage controller:



To help balance iSCSI workloads, each Storwize V3700 controller maintains two iSCSI
connections to the networks.
One connection from each controller to each switch.

9

Implementation of the VLAN isolation from each physical VDI management host:



Each physical VDI management host will have two connections to the iSCSI networks
(one to each VLAN).
Traffic isolation occurs at the switch.

Storage integration
The IBM Storwize V3700 system is used for shared storage which will host the management server VMs,
the master golden image, SQL files, and user profile data. The IBM Storwize V3700 system uses iSCSI
ports for storage connectivity to the management cluster. Each controller has two 1GbE Ethernet ports for
iSCSI traffic. The IBM Storwize V3700 system was chosen for this implementation as it is an entry-level
disk storage system designed with sophisticated capabilities unusual for a system of this class. It offers
efficiency and flexibility through built-in thin provisioning and non-disruptive migration of data from existing
storage. Built upon the innovative technology in the Storwize family, Storwize V3700 addresses block
storage requirements at an affordable price.
The following table outlines the volume requirements for shared storage. The number of disks is based on
300 GB 10K drives. Larger disk sizes could be chosen to meet the capacity needs of the client. The
24 disks in a single V3700 enclosure in the following table are based on a 600-user configuration. The
number of disks can be reduced depending on the number of users expected. Refer to the “Sizing
considerations” section for more information.
Volumes

Size

Number of
disks

RAID

Use

Management

500 GB

6

5

Management
VMs

Management
databases

200 GB

4

5

SQL Server
data

User profile
data

2 TB

10

5

User profiles

Mater golden
images

500 GB

4

1

Master Gold
Windows 8 or
Windows 7
images

Table 8: IBM Storwize V3700 storage layout


10

Sizing considerations
One of the key questions when planning a VDI deployment is the number of users supported per host.
Determining the system configuration able to support the load generated by users is a typical challenge.
VDI requires a separate VM and associated hardware capacity for every user. Although one VM can host
a relatively lightweight application (such as a data-entry application) that users access infrequently and
with low resource costs, another might host a demanding computer-aided design (CAD) application
requiring a lot of processor, RAM, disk, and network bandwidth.
The test team developed two virtualization host configurations; the first is IBM System x3550 M4 or
System x3650 M4 with 192GB of memory, two SSDs, six 300 GB 15k HDDs, and two Intel® Xeon®
processors E5-2670; the second configuration is IBM System x3650 M4 with 256 GB of memory with two
SSDs, eight 300 GB 15k HDDs, and two Intel Xeon processors E5-2680.
The two virtualization host configurations are designed to provide the flexibility for the client’s
requirements. The first configuration provides high performance with a reasonable price. The second
configuration provides more processor power, memory, and I/O if the clients VMs have a more demanding
workload.
You can find the performance characteristics for these two configurations in the “Appendix 2: Performance
testing results” section. These two configurations are shown in Table 9 and Table 10. By looking at these
configurations, you can deploy a VDI solution that balances performance, price, failover, and scalability
concerns.

Virtualization server configuration 1

Server options

Description

Server

IBM System x3550 M4
or IBM System x3650
M4

1U or 2U Rack Server

Processors

Two Intel Xeon
Processors E5-2670

20M Cache, 2.60 GHz, 8 cores

Memory

192 GB

Twelve 16GB 1.35v DDR3
RDIMMs

OS disk / Golden image

Two 200 GB SSD

RAID 1

VM differential disk

Six 15k 300GB

RAID 0

NICs

Two internal 1GbE ports

Teamed in Windows Server

OS

Windows Server 2012
Datacenter

Table 9: Virtualization server configuration 1

11

Virtualization server configuration 2

Server options

Description

Server

IBM System x3650
M4

2U Rack Server

Processors

Two Intel Xeon
Processors E5-2680

20M Cache, 2.70 GHz, 8 cores

Memory

256 GB

Sixteen 16 GB 1.35v DDR3
RDIMMs

OS disk / Golden image

Two 200GB SSD

RAID 1

VM differential disk

Eight 15k 300GB

RAID 0

NICs

Two internal 1GbE
ports

Teamed in Windows Server

OS

Windows Server
2012 Datacenter

Table 10: Virtualization server configuration 2

The test team designed these configurations to allow for sufficient resources if one of the management
servers or virtualization hosts fail.
150 users

300 users

600 users

Management servers

2

2

2

Virtualization host servers

2

4

6

Servers required

4

6

8

Management servers

2

2

2

Virtualization host servers

2

3

5

Servers required

4

5

7

Configuration 1

Configuration 2

Table 11: General sizing guideline

12

The following table shows the Storwize V3700 shared storage disk configuration sizing guidelines.
Storage volumes

150 users

300 users to 600 users

Management VMs

4

6

Management
databases

2

4

User profile data

6

10

Master golden images

4

4

Total disk drives

16

24

Table 12: Storwize V3700 disk configuration

System configuration for 600 pooled users
Figure 4 shows the deployment diagram for an IBM System x3550 M4-based solution that can support 600
pooled users. It is an option to use IBM System x3650 M4 servers instead of System x3550 M4 servers
depending on your needs or hardware availability.


13

2 x IBM x3550 M4
2 x Intel E5-2650
64GB
4 x 300GB 10K

Management

6 x IBM x3550 M4
2 x Intel E5-2670
192GB
2 x 200GB SSD
6 x 300GB 15K

Virtualization
Hosts

IBM Storwize V3700
24 x 300GB 10K

Storage

Juniper EX2200 Top of Rack
Network Switches - 1GbE

Network

Figure 4: Physical system configuration for 600 pooled users

The following table summarizes the servers and user configuration for the virtualization hosts during
normal activity and after a host failure.

Virtualization host server

Normal operating mode

Failover mode

Server 1

100 users

120 users

Server 2

100 users

120 users

Server 3

100 users

120 users

Server 4

100 users

120 users

Server 5

100 users

120 users

Server 6

100 users

0 users

Total users

600 users

600 users

Table 13: Virtualization host server user configuration

14

Appendix 1: Bill of materials
The following parts list was generated with the online IBM hardware configurator. All the parts might not be
available in all geographies.
Single System x3550 M4 virtualization host configuration 1
Quantity

Description

Part
number

1

IBM System x3550 M4

7914AC1

1

x3550 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x16 LP Slot)

A1HJ

1

x3550 M4 4x 2.5" HDD Assembly Kit

A1HG

1

Select Storage devices - no IBM-configured RAID required

5977

1

IBM System x Gen-III CMA

A229

1

x3550 M4 PCIe Gen-III Riser Card 2(1 x8 FH/HL Slot)

A1HK

1

IBM System x3550 M4 2.5" Base Without Power Supply

A1H3

1

IBM System x 750W High Efficiency
Platinum AC Power Supply

A1H5

1

Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2670 8C 2.6GHz 20MB 115W W/Fan

A2B5

1

x3550 M4 plus 4x 2.5" HDD Assembly Kit

A1HN

1

IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit

A2U6

12

16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.35V) PC3L-10600 CL9 ECC DDR3 1333MHz
LP RDIMM

A1QT

1

Intel Xeon Processor E5-2670 8C 2.6GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz
115W

A2B2

1

ServeRAID M5110 SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x 

A1WW

1

ServeRAID M5100 Series 512MB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for IBM
System x

A1J4

1

2.8m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable

6311

2

IBM 200GB SATA 2.5" MLC HS SSD

A2FN

6

IBM 300GB 15K 6Gbps SAS 2.5" SFF HS HDD

A283

1

IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit

A228

1

IBM System x Power Supply Filler for x3550 M4 and x1200 Enclosure

A1HF

1

x3550 M4 System Level Code

A1HB

1

ServeRAID M5100 Series 875mm Flash Power Module Cable

A22C

1

IBM System x3550 M4 Planar

A1H9

1

Windows Server 2012 (5731-W12) Per 2 Processor Server Datacenter

5731W12


15

Single System x3650 M4 virtualization host configuration 2
Quantity

Description

Part
number

1

IBM System x3650 M4

7915AC1

1

System x3650 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x8 FH/FL + 2 x8 FH/HL Slots)

A1JT

2

IBM 200GB SATA 2.5 inch MLC HS SSD

A2FN

1

System x3650 M4 8x 2.5" HS HDD Assembly Kit

A1JX

1

IBM System x Gen-III CMA

A229

1

x3650 M4 PCIe Gen-III Riser Card 2 (1 x8 FH/FL + 2 x8 FH/HL Slots)

A1JU

2

IBM System x 750W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply

A1H5

1

Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB 130W W/Fan

A1L3

1

ServeRAID M5110e SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x

A2N2

1

IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit

A2U6

16

16GB (1x16GB, 1.5V)PC3-10600 CL9 ECC DDR3 1333MHz LP
HyperCloud DIMM

A2R1

1

Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz
130W

A1KS

2

4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable

6263

1

IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit

A228

1

IBM System x3650 M4 Planar

A1KH

1

x3650 M4 Plus 8x 2.5" HS HDD Assembly Kit with Expander

A1JY

8

IBM 300GB 15K 6Gbps SAS 2.5" SFF HS HDD

A283

1

Windows Server 2012 (5731-W12) Per 2 Processor Server
Datacenter

5731W12


16

V3700 iSCSI shared storage
Quantity

Description

Part
number

1

IBM Storwize V3700 SFF Dual Control Enclosure

207224C

24

300GB 10K 2.5 inch HDD

ACLJ

Top of rack switches
Quantity

Description

Part
number

2

Juniper 24 Port 1Gb EX2200 Ethernet Switch for IBM System x

A13L

Appendix 2: Performance testing results
The performance analysis of the reference architecture was carried out using Login VSI. Login VSI is a
software tool to test the performance and scalability of VDIs. The workload produced by Login VSI for the
current performance analysis effort was representative of a typical set of activities performed by a
knowledge worker (the medium workload). Resource utilization on the virtualization host servers were
monitored using Microsoft performance monitor. All testing was performed with Login VSI version 4.0. It
should be noted that the Login VSI VSImax as calculated in version 4 is lower than VSImax for previous
Login VSI versions to closer represent a more realistic number of users that the system can support.
The tests in this document using Login VSI used the following target client configuration:








Windows 7
Microsoft Office 2010
Adobe Reader 9.3
Doro PDF version v1.82
Adobe Flash 11 ActiveX h
Sun Java 7 Update 13
Microsoft .Net 3.5

Configuration options:
Set the tuning parameter on the Broker Server.
Set -RDVirtualDesktopConcurrency to 5 (current max)
This option sets create/update to five VMs at a time (per host) rather than one, which is the default.

Performance results for virtualization host configuration 1
The following tests show the performance for 160 users logging on during a 48-minute window with a total
run time of 60 minutes.

17

Processor performance graph
The processor graph in the following figure shows the logical processor utilization during performance
analysis of a single virtualization host server. The results show sustained logical processor percentage
runtime peaking at approximately 90%. The average logical processor percentage runtime of about
80% is ideal for an environment that is operating at the optimal combination of maximizing density,
while providing sufficient headroom to ensure that user experience is not diminished.

Figure 5: Processor utilization during a 60-minute run with 160 users logging in over the first 48 minutes

The next two graphs show two different disk performance measurements. The test team measured the
average disk queue length and the average disk transfer. These were measured to verify that there
were no issues on any of the local disk arrays.

Average disk queue length graph
The average disk queue length graph tracks the number of requests that are queued and waiting for a
disk during the sample interval and the requests in service. In Figure 6, the disk queue length in red
color in is the SSD RAID 1 array, and the line in blue color is the average disk queue for the local
storage six-disk RAID 0 array that are used to hold the differential disks for the user VMs. The average
disk queue length shows no bottlenecks on the disk drives.


18

Figure 6: Average disk queue length graph for 60 minutes

Average disk transfer graph
The following figure shows that the average disk transfer is well below the 20 ms which would indicate
a bottleneck on the disk.

Figure 7: Average disk transfer graph for a 60-minute run


19

Memory- available bytes graph
The memory graph in the following figure shows the available memory during performance analysis. It
can be seen that the available memory drops to approximately 10 GB, which shows that the system is
getting close to being constrained on memory with 160 users logged on to the system, the total
memory on the virtualization host is 192 GB. These VMs were configured to use dynamic memory;
from a minimum of 512 MB to a maximum of 2 GB. After all the users have been logged on, the
available memory returns to approximately 30 GB, which demonstrates the efficiencies provided by
Microsoft dynamic memory technology.

Figure 8: Memory-available bytes graph for 60 minute test run

Login VSI VSImax graph for one of the virtualization host nodes
The Login VSI tool generates a test score called VSImax after each successful test run. The VSImax
is the maximum capacity of the tested system expressed in the number of Login VSI sessions. The
VSImax score can then be used to determine the performance of a particular system configuration.
This graph shows that according to Login VSI, this configuration supports 157 users per virtualization
host with reasonable performance. The performance counter shows that 125 users on the System
x3550 M4 server is probably more realistic as the processor utilization with 157 users is near 95%.


20

Figure 9: Login VSI VSImax graph for one virtualization host node

Performance results for virtualization host configuration 2
The Storwize V3700 storage and network remain the same for this configuration. The management and
virtualization host servers have been changed to use the IBM System x3650 M4 server in order to use
more local disk drives for the virtualization host servers. In this configuration, there are two SSDs in a
RAID 1 configuration, eight local disks in a RAID 0 configuration, 256 GB of memory, and Intel Xeon
processors E5-2680. The tests explained in this section show the performance for 205 users logging in
during a 48-minute window with a total run time of 60 minutes.

Processor performance graph
The graph in the following figure shows the logical processor utilization during performance analysis of
a single virtualization host server. The results show sustained logical processor percentage runtime
peaking at approximately 90%. The average logical processor percentage runtime of about 80% is
ideal for an environment that is operating at the optimal combination of maximizing density while
providing sufficient headroom to ensure that user experience is not diminished.

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Figure 10: Processor utilization during a 55-minute test run with 200 users logging in over the first 48 minutes.

Average disk queue length graph
The average disk queue length graph tracks the number of requests that are queued and waiting for a
disk during the sample interval, and requests in service. In Figure 11, the disk queue length in red
color is the SSD RAID 1 array, and the blue color line is the average disk queue for the local storage
eight-disk RAID 0 array that are used to hold the differential disks for the user VMs. The average disk
queue length shows no bottlenecks on the disk drives.


22


Average disk transfer graph
The graph in the following figure shows that the average disk transfer is well below 20 ms and this
would indicate a bottleneck on the disk.



23

Memory-available bytes graph
The memory graph in the following figure shows the available memory during performance analysis. It
can be seen that the available memory never drops below 80 GB, which shows that the system is not
constrained on memory. The total memory on the virtualization host is 256 GB. The total memory for
the VMs configured on this system is 200 GB and this demonstrates the efficiencies provided by
Microsoft’s dynamic memory technology.

Figure 13: Memory-available bytes graph for the 60-minute test run

Login VSI VSImax graph for one of the virtualization hosts
This graph in the following figure shows that this configuration can support 184 users per virtualization
host with reasonable performance. The performance counters show that 138 users on each System
x3650 M4 is very realistic and that if a node were to fail the System x3650 M4 server can support 184
users. The tests show that these systems are well balanced in terms of processor, memory, and disk
configuration.


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Figure 14: Login VSI VSImax graph for one virtualization host node


25

Resources


IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture
ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/ContentHandler/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure



Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-andtechnologies/virtualization/vdi.aspx


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Trademarks and special notices
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2013.
References in this document to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them
available in every country.
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business
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current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at "Copyright and trademark information" at
www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States, other countries, or both.
Intel, Intel Inside (logos), Xeon, MMX, and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United
States, other countries, or both.
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
Information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind.
All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM
products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance
characteristics may vary by customer.
Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from a supplier of these products, published
announcement material, or other publicly available sources and does not constitute an endorsement of
such products by IBM. Sources for non-IBM list prices and performance numbers are taken from publicly
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All statements regarding IBM future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice,
and represent goals and objectives only. Contact your local IBM office or IBM authorized reseller for the
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Some information addresses anticipated future capabilities. Such information is not intended as a definitive
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any future products. Such commitments are only made in IBM product announcements. The information is
presented here to communicate IBM's current investment and development activities as a good faith effort
to help with our customers' future planning.
Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled
environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will vary depending upon

27

considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user's job stream, the I/O configuration, the
storage configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an
individual user will achieve throughput or performance improvements equivalent to the ratios stated here.
Photographs shown are of engineering prototypes. Changes may be incorporated in production models.
Any references in this information to non-IBM websites are provided for convenience only and do not in
any manner serve as an endorsement of those websites. The materials at those websites are not part of
the materials for this IBM product and use of those websites is at your own risk.


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IBM SmartCloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 VDI Reference architecture

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