VMware Reference Architecture

VMware, Cisco, & Atlantis Computing Solution Overview

• Atlantis ILIO Diskless VDI 3.2™
• VMware View™ 5.1 with Persona
  
• VMware ThinApp
• VMware View Planner
• Cisco UCS B230 M2 Blade Servers
  

Executive Summary

VMware View transforms enterprise desktop computing by lowering the total cost of desktop computing and providing the end user flexibility. However, VDI infrastructure storage selection and design is critical to its success. The storage infrastructure CAPEX cost for VDI can be very high and contributes significantly to the overall VDI cost and performance issues.

Atlantis ILIO Diskless VDI simplifies stateless virtual desktop deployments by completely eliminating the storage normally needed to run virtual machines. ILIO Diskless VDI is a unique software-only solution that leverages the server RAM as primary storage to create a high performance datastore used by VMware View. There is no storage of any kind (SAN/NAS/SSD) in the deployment to support the desktop VMs. User profiles are redirected to an external shared storage. This approach significantly simplifies the overall VDI architecture and allows customers to scale VDI with just servers and software – greatly reducing deployment risks due to storage sizing and network.

• Amazing user experience – Faster than PC even with iPads
• Lowest OPEX – Lower expenses through elimination of storage related OPEX: rack space for SAN/NAS, power consumption, cooling costs, and cost of repair/maintenance of disk-based storage
• Simplifies deployment – No storage to design, install or provision. Network design is greatly simplified as all operating system IO traffic remains local
• Easy to manage – Install, provision and administer desktops at a large scale simply from Atlantis ILIO Center – streamlining daily tasks and improved overall monitoring

Table 1. Test Results

Key Highlights – View 5 Reference Architecture

• 120-140 desktops per Cisco UCS B230 M2 with 256 GB memory.
• 227 IOPS throughput per desktop providing amazing user experience
• 12 second boot time for Windows 7 desktops
• View planner application response time 0.53 seconds
• Fast provisioning, refresh and recompose time for View composer
• Scale-out design allowing large VDI deployments with just servers and software
• No storage sizing needed and simple to implement design
• 275 MB storage capacity needed per View linked clone desktop

Figure 1. VMware View Application Response Time