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Posts Tagged ‘VDI’

I have seen different implementations of read caching in arrays and even inside hosts, just to be able to cope with boot storms of VDI workloads. When using linked clones caching really helps; all the VDIs being booted perform massive reads from a very small portion of the infrastructure: the replica(s). VMware came up with a nice software solution to this: Why not sacrifice some memory inside the vSphere nodes to accommodate read caching there? This is what CBRC (vSphere 5) or Host Caching (View 5.1) is all about. And… It really works!

What happens during a boot storm

First of all, we need to figure out what happens during a boot storm. Even wondered just how much data Read the rest of this entry »

This year the dutch VMUG event (see www.vmug.nl) is surely going to be a great success. Again! For the first time I’ll be there as a blogger. Even better, last week I had a nice discussion with someone at IBM. They welcomed me to deliver 20-30 minutes of their presentation at the VMUG2010 event!

So be sure to visit the VMUG 2010 event, and especially the 15:50 – 16:50 session “Van Virtualisatie tot Cloud Computing: portfolio en praktijk” because I’ll be presenting there, and it is going to be really interesting too! Read the rest of this entry »

A hugely underestimated requirement in larger VDI environments is disk IOPs. A lot of the larger VDI implementations have failed using SATA spindles, when you use 15K SAS or FC disks you get away with it most of the times (as long as you do not scale up too much). I have been looking at ways to get more done using less (especially in current times, who doesn’t!). Dataman, the dutch company I work for (www.dataman.nl) teamed up with Sun Netherlands and their testing facility in Linlithgow, Scotland for testing. I got the honours of performing the tests, and I almost literally broke the sound barrier using Suns newest line of Unified Storage: The 7000 series. Why can you break the sound barrier with this type of storage? Watch the story unroll! For now part one… The intro.

What VMware View offers… And needs

Before a performance test even came to mind, I started to figure what VMware View offers, and what it needs. It is obvious: View gives you linked cloning technology. This means, that only a few full clones (called replicas) are read by a lot of Virtual Desktops (or vDesktops as I will call them from now on) in parallel. So what would really help pushing the limits of your storage? Exactly, a very large cache or solid-state disks. Read the rest of this entry »