Tintri XenDesktop Technical Solution Overview
Tintri XenDesktop Technical Solution Overview
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Before VDI and XenDesktop.......................................................................................................................... 1
Critical Success Factors ................................................................................................................................. 2
Planning for Desktops and Applications ................................................................................................... 2
Server and Storage Infrastructure ............................................................................................................ 2
Solution Architecture Overview.................................................................................................................... 3
Rapid Provisioning, Cloning and Recomposition .......................................................................................... 4
Key Operations Dependent on Storage .................................................................................................... 4
Uniquely Powerful and Efficient ................................................................................................................... 5
Thin provisioning, In-line Data Deduplication and Compression.............................................................. 5
Automatic VM Alignment ......................................................................................................................... 5
Additional Information.................................................................................................................................. 5
Tintri VMstore Overview........................................................................................................................... 5
NFS and vSphere Best Practices ................................................................................................................ 5
Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction
CITRIX XenDesktop is a leading desktop virtualization solution that delivers users desktops and
applications to their favorite devices, whenever and wherever they needed. Centralized images at the
heart of a XenDesktop deployment are efficiently maintained and updated as-needed by system
administrators.
XenDesktop presents desktops and applications to client devices through Catalogs. Whether users are
accessing lightweight mobile applications or industrial strength engineering applications, the
concentrated demands on the core network, server, and storage resources necessitates a closer look at
how VDI works, and what steps must be taken to ensure a successful deployment.
Among the key pillars supporting a virtual desktop infrastructure, such as XenDesktop, the Hypervisor
(host) servers, and networking, the storage platform serves as the foundation upon which the entire
deployment is built. Poorly implemented, storage can cripple a VDI deployment. Consequently, many
companies over-provision costly traditional storage in an attempt to mitigate risks.
This paper briefly discusses how Tintri VMstore can empower XenDesktop in the most demanding of VDI
deployments, predictably, reliably, and cost effectively.
Desktop Catalog B
Desktop Catalog C
Xen Desktop
Hypervisor Hosts
(vSphere)
Figure 2 depicts a typical scenario in which Tintri VMstore is deployed with VMware vSphere Hypervisor
servers, and XenDesktop. Tintri VMstore devices are added to vSphere as datastores, allowing vSphere
and XenDesktop to leverage Tintri VMstore for VM and virtual desktop deployments and operations.
VMs that are pre-existing or created dynamically, with or without persistent user settings, are published
to XenDesktop clients through Catalogs. Tintri VMstore operates as the fast, high-density, and scalable
engine that empowers XenDesktop to efficiently service its clients.
Tintri VMstore has proven performance supporting 1,000 Hosted Virtual Desktops and in excess of
45,000 to 70,000 low-latency IOPS per 3-U, 13.5TB appliance. This includes the provisioning,
operational, and boot storm loads associated with the virtual desktops, not just the steady state
operational workloads. Factoring in the ability to handle the large spikes of activity that occur during
provisioning and booting operations is a major consideration that cannot be overlooked.
Storage that cant efficiently handle these loads will negatively impact the entire XenDesktop
environment. Tintri VMstore is purpose-built for aggregated and demanding virtualization workloads.
Automatic VM Alignment
Tintri VMstore intrinsically understands each virtual disk, and dynamically
adapts on-the-fly to each guests internal (vDisk) file system layout when VMs
are created, copied, or vMotioned onto the VMstore. No special software is
required in the guests. Tintri VMstores user interface even includes an Aligned
I/O % column to visually verify alignment in real-time for each individual VM.
Additional Information
This paper provides a quick glance at the full power of Tintri VMstore. For more detailed information,
please see the following documents on Tintris website:
Summary
Deploying a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with XenDesktop provides numerous benefits to
organizations, system administrators, and end users, by delivering desktops and applications to devices
whenever and wherever they are needed.
Two of the critical success factors that should be considered in a XenDesktop deployment are the
planning and validation of desktops and application software, and the infrastructure that will provide
the foundation responsible for the operational success of XenDesktop.
Tintri VMstore is purpose-built for virtualization and offers a highly available, scalable, and easily
deployable storage foundation for VDI in a tightly integrated, compact, high-performance package.