Measuring virtual desktop resource requirements
One of the most important aspects of any Horizon design is ensuring that an infrastructure has adequate compute, storage, and network resources to host the required number of virtual desktops. Were it not for troublesome things such as budgets, we could simply purchase an excess of all three of those resources and rest easy at night. In general, our goal is to build an infrastructure that is robust enough to support our average user workload, with some capacity in reserve for growth or maintenance purposes.
Determining the resource requirements of a Horizon environment is a complicated task, and one that could fill a book by itself. While it is possible to collect desktop performance data using free tools such as Windows Performance Monitor, gathering all of the data you need would be difficult, and interpreting it is even harder.
The goal in this section is to introduce you to some tools that were created specifically to help with designing and testing virtual desktop infrastructures so that you understand exactly what is required to ensure a successful implementation.
The following products can assist in determining your resource requirements and ensuring that your vSphere infrastructure has sufficient capacity and the performance capabilities needed to ensure the desktops perform as expected. These are as follows:
- Lakeside Software SysTrack (https://www.lakesidesoftware.com/solutions/desktop-transformation) performs an extensive analysis of your existing desktop workloads, including characterizing those that would be difficult to virtualize, and helps determine infrastructure needs and optimal placement.
- Liquidware Labs Stratusphere UX (http://www.liquidware.com/products/stratusphere-UX) can assist you in determining virtual desktop resource needs and performs tasks similar to Lakeside Software SysTrack.
- Login VSI (http://www.loginvsi.com/) has created tools that can be used to test the performance of your Horizon infrastructure. Login VSI is used to run a simulated user workload in as many desktops as you want to test the performance of all layers of your virtual desktop infrastructure.
It is important to note that these software packages are typically used as part of a virtual desktop assessment project led by an outside system integrator. If your user base has varying requirements, products such as SysTrack and Statusphere UX may be the only way to find out exactly what infrastructure resources you need to ensure a successful VMware Horizon deployment.