2013 Citrix VDI in A Box Overview

January 2013
Director Private Cloud Services

Michael Fraser
VDI-in-a-Box
Technical Overview
Architecture
Sizing
VDI-in-a-Box with other Citrix technologies
VDI-in-a-Box versus VMware View

Agenda
Citrix Confidential - Do Not Distribute
An affordable turnkey software solution providing
high-performance, high-definition virtual desktops

All-in-one virtual desktop solution

Simple to install runs on off-the-shelf servers

Simple to use over 1B devices supported

Simple to manage single point-and-click console

Simple to scale on-demand scaling
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box
Citrix Confidential Do Not Distribute
VDI-in-a-Box grid eliminates cost, complexity
SAN Storage
Active
Directory
VM Manager
Connection
Broker
Server
with Hypervisor
as VM Host
Full Redundancy for High-Availability
Load Balancer
VDI-in-a-Box
Virtual Appliance
VDI-in-a-Box
Built-in High-Availability
On-demand Scaling
Built-in Citrix HDX
Runs on off-the-shelf servers
Multi-hypervisor support
Citrix Profile Manager

User Data
VDI-in-a-BOX: An All-in-One Virtual Desktop Soln.
All key features are built-in:
Connection brokering
Dynamic provisioning
High-availability
Load balancing
On-demand scaling
Citrix HDX user experience
Linked clones

Access from virtually any device with
Citrix Receiver

Open architecture runs on the most
popular hypervisors:
Citrix XenServer
Microsoft Hyper-V
VMware vSphere (ESXi)
VDI-in-a-Box
Hypervisor
vdiMgr
Logical Shared Storage
User
Management
Dynamic Desktop
Provisioning & Management
Template
Management
High-Availability Grid Engine
Connection
Broker
Load Balancer

Virtual
Desktop

Virtual
Desktop

Virtual
Desktop

Virtual
Desktop
DAS
VDI-in-a-Box is easy to deploy and manage
Active
Directory
Server
with Hypervisor
+ VDI-in-a-Box
Virtual Appliance
Install
Hypervisor
Import VDI-in-a-
Box Appliance
Import Image
Configure
Templates
Assign User
Accounts
READY!
Install additional
Servers
Point to 1st
Server
READY!
User Data
Central management
Intuitive wizard-driven UI
Easy to monitor &
manage

Single Grid-wide management console
Definitions:
Image: OS + the applications
Template: Image + Policies
Desktop: A template instance
Templates generate desktops from
images based on policies
Policies
Amount of memory for each desktop
Access controls for local USB devices
Number of desktops
Refresh policy

Images, Templates, and Desktops
Images
Desktop
Image (e.g.
Accounting)
Templates
Acct Exec
Desktops
Acct Standard
Temps
What is a linked clone?
Copy of a virtual machine
Shares the parent VM (disk) for
reads
Reads & writes to a Difference disk
Linked clone technology saves
disk storage
Note: A Linked clone requires
access to the parent VM
Linked Clones for Optimizing storage
Golden image
Desktop 4
Desktop 3
Desktop 2
Desktop 1
1GB
25GB
1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB
20GB
Grids High Availability Operation
A collection of vdiServers connected by an IP
network
Can be increased and decreased on-demand
Made to look as if it is one logical server
Log on to any vdiManager and manage the
entire grid
System automatically provisions and load
balances across the vdiServers in the grid
Connect users to any available server in the
grid
Provides built-in high availability
VDI-in-a-Box Grid
vdiMGR2
vdiMGR4
vdiMGR1 vdiMGR3
GRID
Basic Grid Failover Concepts
Multiple servers connect to create a grid
Periodically each server performs a self-check
Issues reported in the Recent Events & Tasks and in syslog
Heartbeat between servers used to ensure grid health
Servers that fail to respond to heartbeat requests are labeled
Missing
12
Sizing your VDI-in-a-Box
deployment
Sizing for 200 desktops
Assume 50 desktops per server
Need 4 servers
N+1 Model: Need a 5
th
for high-availability
VDI-in-a-Box uses hot-sparing
40 desktops per server during normal operations
50 desktops per server during failure

An example sizing a VDI-in-a-Box grid
Needed for
high-availability
VDI-in-a-Box is an out-of-band management component
Use hypervisor sizing and performance guidelines
Four core components to sizing

Sizing individual servers in a grid
CPU
Number of
CPUs
Number of
cores
Type of CPU:
Hyper-threading
Memory(RAM)
VDI-in-a-Box
Hypervisor
Variety of Desktop
OS being virtualized
Reserve set aside
for server
operations
Disk
Protocol
Type of disk
Speed
Storage
Number of
Desktops
Number of
images
Size of each
image
6 to 10 desktops per CPU core
For CPUs with hyper-threading (2 threads per core) for example
Intel Nehalem, you can safely double the lower limit
Varies with the type of desktop users
Use a number in the higher end of this range (10) for task workers and a
number in the lower end of the range (6) for desktops that are more heavily
used.
What type of CPU do I need?
0.5 - 1 GB for Windows XP
1.5 - 2 GB for Windows 7 desktops
At least 1 GB for the hypervisor
At least 1 GB for the VDI-in-a-Box appliance
10% reserved for server operations
How much Memory(RAM) do I need?
Hard drives
Recommended: SAS 15K (preferred) or SATA/SAS SSD
SAS 10K
Desktop requirements (rough rule of thumb for steady state!)
Windows XP desktops 5 to 10 IOPS
Windows 7 desktops 10 to 20 IOPS
Rough rule of thumb on the number of disks
4 disks for a server with 25 or more desktops
6 to 8 disks for a server with 50 or more desktops
10 to 12 disks for a server with 75 or more desktops

How many disks do I need?
If using 10K
RPM disks use
the higher
number in each
range
VDI-in-a-Box uses disks to maintain
Golden images
Disk space for the desktops
System state information
Redundant copies stored on other servers in the grid
Hence Raid 0 is sufficient and provides the best performance
Disk failures are common & can reduce MTBF of a server
Use Raid 1 or Raid 1-0 to protect server from disk failure
Using Raid 1 or Raid 1-0 halves the storage capacity
For 1TB per server, provide 2 TB of disk capacity

Do I need RAID configuration?
And it is Repeatable too..
50 virtual desktops
with High Availability
50 virtual desktops
100 virtual desktops
with High Availability
Server specs for
supporting 50 desktops:
Dual Intel Xeon 4-Core processors
32GB RAM for XP(2x for Win7)
1TB 10K RPM SAS Drives, Raid 0
or Raid10

High-Availability
Multiply as needed, N+1

Example product:
Dell Poweredge R710
Citrix technologies that work with
VDI-in-a-Box
VDI-in-a-Box leverages the Citrix product
portfolio
Active
Directory
Servers with Hypervisor
User Data
Single Sign-on via
Citrix Access Gateway
Support for 1B devices
with Citrix Receiver
Excellent high-definition
user experience with
Citrix HDX
Citrix Profile Manager
GoToManage
+ VDI-in-a-Box
Virtual Appliance
VDI-in-a-Box versus VMware View
Cost & Complexity are leading roadblocks!
Adoption of Virtual Desktops
2%
4%
8%
17%
30%
40%
Security/Compliance
Missing functionality
Other
End user reluctance
Complexity
Cost
Source: Virtualization Market Report by a leading industry analyst, October 2010
VMware View VDI-in-a-Box
Cost
Heavy infrastructure, multiple moving
parts, requires overprovisioning
Inexpensive off-the-shelf servers,
scale on-demand
Skillset
Datacenter: Windows, Virtualization,
SAN, Network
Windows
Infrastructure
Desktop brokers, Provisioning Servers,
Desktop Hosts, SANs, Interconnects,
Clustered DB
Off-the-shelf desktop host servers with local
storage
End-user
experience
Primarily LAN-based, requires hardware
support
Citrix HDX technology delivers rich LAN and
WAN experience without hardware support
Device coverage
Limited device support Over 1B devices supported via
Citrix Receiver
Pricing
2 Editions $150 View Enterprise
$250 for Premier includes linked
clones, Persona management, ThinApp
etc. )
All functionality including linked clones and
profile management for $160/CCU
At a glance: Easy and Affordable Virtual Desktops
Enterprise VDI VMware View
SAN
Storage
Load
Balancers
Connection
Brokers
Management
Servers
Active
Directory
Desktop
Compute
Servers
Enterprise VDI
Load
Balancers
SAN
storage
C
O
M
P
L
E
X
I
T
Y

Benefits VMware View Citrix VDI-in-a-Box
Zero overhead
Built-in connection broker
Built-in load balancer
Built-in High-Availability (HA)
No shared storage
Easy, integrated solution
One single package to manage
Built-in linked clones
Built-in profile management
Requires no datacenter expertise
Choice of hypervisor platforms
Linear on-demand scaling
Rich anytime, any device access
High-definition user experience on any network
Broad device coverage
VDI-in-a-Box vs. VMware View
C
O
M
P
L
E
X
I
T
Y

VDI-in-a-Box delivers you more
VMware View Citrix VDI-in-a-Box
REAP
Repeatable
Easy
Affordable
Predictable
No-Compromise
Dynamic desktop provisioning
Built-in HA w/o shared storage
No-think on-demand scaling
Rich high-definition user experience
Cost and Overhead
No shared storage overhead
No management servers, high-speed interconnects
VMware view editions
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box: Simple All-in-one VDI design
Active
Directory
User
Data
SAN
Storage
Load
Balancers
Connection
Brokers
Management
Servers
Active
Directory
Desktop
Compute
Servers
Enterprise VDI Citrix VDI-in-a-Box
Grid of Off-the-
shelf servers
running
VDI-in-a-Box
appliance
VDI-in-a-Box eliminates expensive infrastructure
Enterprise VDI
Desktop servers
Microsoft VDA
Hypervisor

Provisioning and mgmt server
Connection broker
Other mgmt components (e.g. Composer)

Shared storage
High-speed interconnect
Management servers
Windows Server OS for management
components (e.g. vCenter, View, Composer)
Clustered SQL (for HA of management
databases)
VDI-in-a-Box
Desktop servers
Microsoft VDA
Hypervisor

VDI-in-a-Box appliance
These components are not
needed with VDI-in-a-Box
View Connection Server
View Composer
View Administrator(installed with Connection Server)
View Persona Management

VERSUS

VDI-in-a-Box virtual appliance

Core Software Bill of Material
View Composer requires a SQL database
A must - MS SQL or Oracle
MS SQL Express license with vCenter can be used by View Composer
Sharing the same SQL Server instancce as vCenter Server is *not preferred*
Additional database management efforts; Potential need for a DBA
View Connection Server Event Database
Is optional however, log file has limited information
SQL database preferred

VERSUS
No SQL database required with VDI-in-a-Box
Need for external SQL Database
Create View Composer database
Install View Composer service on the vCenter Server
computer
Optimize your View infrastructure to support View Composer

VERSUS

VDI-in-a-Box virtual appliance has Linked Clones technology
built-in
Linked Clones: View Composer
View Connection Server to be installed on DEDICATED
physical or virtual machine
Not to install on a system that performs any other functions
or roles. E.g. Not to use the same system that is used to host
vCenter Server
For performance and availability consider replicated
instances of View Connection Server
VERSUS
VDI-in-a-Box virtual appliance has connection brokering
technology built-in

Connection Brokering: View Connection Server
View does not have
built-in Load Balancing
Load balancers are third-
party components.

VERSUS
VDI-in-a-Box virtual
appliance has load
balancing built-in

Load Balancing: View relies on external 3
rd
party
External
Third-party
components
providing Load
Balancing for
View
VDI-in-a-Box VMware View
Cost Less than half the cost to deploy
and manage. Complete all-in-one
solution.
Heavy infrastructure, multiple
moving parts
Skillset Windows Datacenter: Windows, Virtualization,
SAN, Network
Infrastructure Off-the-shelf desktop host servers
with local storage
Desktop brokers, Management
Servers, Desktop Hosts, SANs,
Interconnects, clustered DB
End-user experience Citrix HDX technology delivers rich
LAN and WAN experience without
hardware support
Primarily LAN-based, requires
hardware support
Device coverage Over 1B devices supported via
Citrix Receiver
Limited device support
Compete with View
No matter how you slice it! It gets expensive
View Premier
View Enterprise
View Free
View Free, No
SAN
VDI-in-a-Box
1330
1230
1080
806
410
-User Persona Management, -Linked Clones
-Persistent desktops unless more $ for DAS
-Additional DAS expense
C
O
S
T

VMware's one-size approach fits nobody
Overpriced
Over-complicated
Yet less functional when compared against View Enterprise edition
VDI-in-a-Box wins against VMware View
Eliminates infrastructure half the cost
Simpler to setup and manage half the expertise required
Broader coverage with Citrix Receiver double the devices
Better WAN experience with Citrix HDX double the deployment scenarios

Long and short: One-size does not fit all!
All-in-one VDI software
Simple: Designed for Windows administrators
Affordable: Delivers virtual desktops for less than a $500 PC
Runs on off-the-shelf servers cuts out 60% of VDI costs
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box

2013 Citrix VDI in A Box Overview

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January 2013

Director Private Cloud Services

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