CTX138217 - IntelliCache Reduction in IOPS: XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 on XenServer 6.1 - Citrix Knowledge Center http://ow.ly/o3Ma4 The purpose of this document is to provide testing results based on MCS-delivered streamed virtual desktops leveraging IntelliCache

1. 1
IntelliCache Reduction in IOPS:
XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 on XenServer 6.1

2. 2
Table of Contents
Objective.......................................................................................................................................................3
Hardware ......................................................................................................................................................3
Common Testing Infrastructure....................................................................................................................4
Virtual Desktop Software Configuration.......................................................................................................4
Virtual Desktop Hardware Configuration .....................................................................................................4
Test Methodology.........................................................................................................................................4
IntelliCache Stages........................................................................................................................................5
Write Cache Non-Persist:..........................................................................................................................5
1. Cold Cache: ...................................................................................................................................5
2. Warm Cache:.................................................................................................................................5
Write Cache Persist:..................................................................................................................................5
Results...........................................................................................................................................................5
Results from Half Enclosure (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:......................................................................6
IOPS: Central Storage – Non-IntelliCache Baseline...............................................................................6
IOPS: Central Storage – IntelliCache Persist .........................................................................................6
Results from Full Enclosure (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing:.......................................................................7
IOPS: Central Storage – Non-IntelliCache Baseline...............................................................................7
IOPS: Central Storage – IntelliCache Persist .........................................................................................7
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................................8
Supplemental:...............................................................................................................................................9
Login VSI: Results from Half Enclosure Non-IntelliCache Baseline (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:...........9
Login VSI: Results from Half Enclosure IntelliCache Persist (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:....................10
Login VSI: Results from Full Enclosure Non-IntelliCache Baseline (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing:..........11
Login VSI: Results from Full Enclosure IntelliCache Persist (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing: ....................12

3. 3
Objective
The purpose of this document is to provide testing results based on MCS-delivered streamed virtual
desktops leveraging IntelliCache. The data within this document is based on a half enclosure test of 8
nodes in a single pool, a SMB (Small Business) deployment, and a full enclosure test of 16 nodes divided
into two pools, a SSE (Small-Scale Enterprise) deployment.
The components that were used in both of these environments included XenServer 6.1 (for the
virtualization infrastructure) including up to hotfix E003, XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 Platinum Edition, Licensing
Server 11.10 VPX, Web Interface 5.4, UPM 4.1.1.5 and SQL Server 2008 R2.
Hardware
The information below outlines the type of hardware that was used for the specific area of the
environment and what server roles used which hardware:
Blade Enclosure
Model# Blade System c7000 Platinum Enclosure G2
Firmware 3.70 Oct 01 2012
XenServer Hosts
Model# ProLiant BL460c Gen 8 Blade Server
CPU Dual Eight (8) Core CPU @ 2.60Ghz Intel Xeon E5-2670
Memory 256Gb
Storage Two (2) 400GB SSD (RAID 0)
Network HP FlexFabric 10Gb 2-port 554FLB Adapter
Firmware I31 02/25/2012
AD, STAT, PVS and XS
(Infrastructure)
Model# ProLiant BL460c Gen 7 Blade Server
CPU Dual Six (6) Core CPU @ 2.67Ghz Intel Xeon X5650
Memory 192Gb
Storage Two (2) 136GB (RAID 1)
Network FlexFabric Embedded Ethernet
Firmware I27 05/05/2011
VDA Storage
Type Storage Area Network (SAN)
Raid Configuration Raid DP (Raid-6) 64-bit – 20 Disk Aggregate (2 Raid Groups)
Disk Drives 3.5” SAS 15K RPM 450GB
Networking Dual 10GbE

4. 4
Common Testing Infrastructure
The common infrastructure is defined as the group of core component servers that were directly related
to both of the testing scenarios. This infrastructure was made up of the following components:
 2 Active Directory controllers: One (1) physical server and one (1) virtual machine
 1 STAT, SQL & VSI file share server: One (1) physical server
 1 PVS server: One (1) physical server (hosting client launchers and XenMetrics virtual machines)
 1 PVS SQL Database server: One (1) virtual machine
 2 servers running XenServer 6.02 (for STAT client and XenMetrics hosting)
 1 XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 DDC server: One (1) virtual machine
 1 XenDesktop SQL Database server: One (1) virtual machine
 1 License Server: One (1) virtual machine
 2 Central Storage PerfMon Collectors: Two (2) virtual machines
NOTE: This infrastructure was shared and unchanged per test phase.
Virtual Desktop Software Configuration
 Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x86 (32-bit)
 Office 2010 Professional SP1 x86 (32-bit)
 LoginVSI 3.6
 Citrix Profile Management Agent 4.1.1.5
 Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent 5.6
Virtual Desktop Hardware Configuration
VDA Configuration
OS Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x86
HDD 40GB
HDD #2 1GB (Differential)
HDD #3 16MB (Identity)
vCPU 1
Memory 1024MB
SWAP 2048MB
Test Methodology
The goal of these tests were to determine scalability on the HP BL460c G8 blades as defined above. Our
first test included a half enclosure (8 nodes deployed in a single pool) with 1,350 VDAs equally deployed.
From there we moved on to a full enclosure (16 nodes divided into two pools) test with 2,700 VDAs equally
deployed.
Tests were conducted using a third party tool called LoginVSI 3.6. This application runs a predefined VSI
medium workload. The session’s response times were monitored via this tool to produce a score, VSI Max
score, designed to give the maximum number of desktops a given host could support. The total number
of sessions (VSI Max) would equate to the maximum VM density in a single server scenario. STAT, an
internal performance tool, was used as a client launching mechanism to drive these sessions, capture
system performance and monitor their state.

5. 5
IntelliCache Stages
Write Cache Non-Persist:
1. Cold Cache:
For the first Login VSI test run, we used VMs that were booted and left to idle for 1 hour. After
idling, Login VSI launched users to begin testing. Once the users had logged in, the Login VSI
medium workload is started. After all users have successfully run the workload, each user is then
automatically logged off. XenServer stores the data read from the shared storage in the local Read
Cache.
2. Warm Cache:
After XenServer populates the Read Cache with the initial log‐on data, the VMs can then obtain
most of their data from the local Read Cache, but it is still not completely populated. After idling
for another hour, the second Login VSI test is now executed. Continuing with a medium workload,
XenServer stores any remaining data read from the shared storage in the local Read Cache. The
local Read Cache is now populated and ready for fully persistent testing.
Write Cache Persist:
3. After the VMs are idle for another hour, the final Login VSI medium workload test is now executed,
fully utilizing the populated XenServer Read Cache. This is the test that we utilize for our
IntelliCache performance figures.
Results
In our half enclosure environment, enabling IntelliCache resulted in a 99.9% decrease in IOPS on shared
storage with a decrease from 21,799 IOPS to just 21 IOPS. In our full enclosure environment, enabling
IntelliCache resulted in a 99.7% decrease in IOPS on shared storage with a decrease from 39,207 IOPS to
just 126 IOPS.
To understand these findings, we will outline them on the next page.

6. 6
Results from Half Enclosure (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:
IOPS: Central Storage – Non-IntelliCache Baseline
IOPS: Central Storage – IntelliCache Persist
*This data was collected directly from the central storage device during the VSI Medium Workload Test.
22728.98
10819.99 10979.38
0.00
5000.00
10000.00
15000.00
20000.00
25000.00
Baseline
Half Enclosure (1,350 VDA) Baseline Test
Max Total IOPS Max Read IOPS Max Write IOPS
51.13
22.18
15.31
11.72
1.29 5.86
10.58
22.18
15.31
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
IntelliCache Cold Cache IntelliCache Warm Cache IntelliCache Persist
Half Enclosure (1,350 VDA) IntelliCache Test
Max Total IOPS Max Read IOPS Max Write IOPS

7. 7
Results from Full Enclosure (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing:
IOPS: Central Storage – Non-IntelliCache Baseline
NOTE: The central storage device was at max CPU load during our dual pool baseline (non-IntelliCache) testing.
IOPS: Central Storage – IntelliCache Persist
NOTE: The central storage device was at max CPU load during our dual pool (IntelliCache Cold Cache) testing.
*This data was collected directly from the central storage device during the VSI Medium Workload Test.
29281.26
23455.11
15751.61
0.00
5000.00
10000.00
15000.00
20000.00
25000.00
30000.00
35000.00
Baseline
XS 6.1 Dual Pool (2,700 VDA)
Non-IntelliCache Baseline Testing
Max Total IOPS Max Read IOPS Max Write IOPS
3188.63
103.21 93.63
3183.35
8.57 88.6427.57 103.21 37.73
0.00
500.00
1000.00
1500.00
2000.00
2500.00
3000.00
3500.00
IntelliCache Cold Cache IntelliCache Warm Cache IntelliCache Persist
XS 6.1 Dual Pool (2,700 VDA)
IntelliCache Testing
Max Total IOPS Max Read IOPS Max Write IOPS

8. 8
Conclusion:
Based on our half enclosure (1,350 VDA) and full enclosure (2,700 VDA) tests, we can conclude that by
enabling IntelliCache we see about a 100% reduction in IOPS on the shared storage system after the read
cache is fully populated on the local XenServer host. Scaling out the XenServer host beyond Single Server
as previously documented by Jeffry Kuhn* shows absolutely no loss in reduction of IOPS when utilized in
SMB (Small Business) and SSE (Small-Scale Enterprise) deployments.
*PLEASE REFER TO CTX134613 - OPTIMIZING STORAGE FOR XENDESKTOP WITH XENSERVER INTELLICACHE

9. 9
Supplemental:
Login VSI: Results from Half Enclosure Non-IntelliCache Baseline (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:
VSI Detailed:
VSI Scatter:

10. 10
Login VSI: Results from Half Enclosure IntelliCache Persist (8 Node, Single Pool) Testing:
VSI Detailed:
VSI Scatter:

11. 11
Login VSI: Results from Full Enclosure Non-IntelliCache Baseline (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing:
VSI Detailed:
VSI Scatter:

12. 12
Login VSI: Results from Full Enclosure IntelliCache Persist (16 Node, Dual Pool) Testing:
VSI Detailed:
VSI Scatter: