VDI in the hyperconverged data center

As organizations implement VDI for users with more demanding workloads, the compute and memory requirements for each individual desktop increase. HCI merges compute, storage, and networking together through software-defined storage such as VMware vSAN and virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere. This all-in-one-place model has many attractive benefits, including streamlining deployment and management. In supporting a VDI environment, it is vital to right-size the HCI solution hardware to match the number of virtual desktop users your business requires. See the diagram below to see how Intel technologies and VMware software work together to meet your VDI needs.

Extending the ability of a server cluster to support more virtual desktop users can ultimately affect user experience and the capital outlay an organization must make when implementing VDI on HCI. We explored the impact that the latest Intel Xeon Scalable processors and the new Intel Optane PMem and Intel Optane SSDs would have on VMware Horizon virtual desktop count for hyperconverged infrastructures.

What we found

For testing, we compared three different memory configurations on a cluster comprising four servers powered by dual Intel Xeon Gold 6258R processors with VMware vSphere software-defined VMware vSAN to simulate a hyperconverged VDI environment. The only way the cluster configuration differed was the amount and type of memory. We kept storage and network resources identical for both all tests to quantify the performance benefits of PMem without any other variables. We used the VMware View Planner 4.3 benchmark tool to simulate VDI users to show how the latest processor and memory advancements can support more VDI users in a heavy compute and memory environment . We chose the high memory test profile—allocating16GB per VDI session—to showcase the effect memory-hungry workloads have on HCI. The View Planner high memory profile (workload) simulates today’s typical power user by logging into the Microsoft Windows virtual desktop and launching common applications—Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word—while simultaneously opening browser tabs and interacting with a large number of websites in Google Chrome.

The cluster powered by dual Intel Xeon Gold 6258R processors and Intel Optane SSDs and Intel 3D NAND SSDs with 384GB of DDR DRAM supported 160 VMware Horizon virtual desktop users. When we upgraded the memory configuration of that cluster to 96GB DDR DRAM and 512GB Intel Optane PMem, the solution supported 200 virtual desktops, a 25 percent increase in virtual desktops supported.

When we upgraded the memory configuration again with 192GB DDR DRAM and 1024GB PMem, the cluster supported an impressive 300 virtual desktops, an 87 percent increase over the base DRAM-only configuration.³ While many assume that VDI is a CPU-bound workload, CPU and memory are equally important in VDI environments and a bottleneck to either of these resources hurt performance and scaling.

By extending the capabilities of your server cluster to support more virtual desktop users, your organization can plan for business growth, delay additional hardware purchases, and potentially put off renting or building new space to house infrastructure to meet growing demand.

Conclusion

If your organization is reaping the benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure with VMware vSphere and VMware vSAN, you could improve your virtual desktop capabilities by choosing servers with the latest Intel Xeon Gold 6258R processors and Intel Optane SSDs and Intel 3D NAND SSDs and then adding Intel Optane PMem. In these tests, configuring the cluster with 96GB DDR DRAM and 512GB Intel Optane PMem increased virtual desktop count by 25 percent compared to the cluster with 384GB DDR DRAM alone, while configuring the cluster with 192GB DDR DRAM and 1024GB PMem increased VDI desktop count by 87 percent over the baseline configuration.