1. Deep Dive on Personal vDisk
Stephan Pfister Jozsef Rozsahegyi
Conapro GmbH, Zug Conapro GmbH, Zug
stephan.pfister@conapro.net jozsef.rozsahegyi@conapro.net
2. Agenda
• Personal vDisk (PVD) overview
• Install and Config
• The disk in Personal vDisk
• Technical Internals
• Advanced Config
• Troubleshooting and Support
4. VDI Desktop Models – Pooled Desktops
No personalization
Poor user acceptance
Limited scope/user base
Common Base Image
Operating System
Reduced storage requirements
BASE / PARENT VM
Centralized management
Uptime & predictability
4
5. VDI Desktop Models – Assigned Desktops
User Profile & User Profile & User Profile &
Increased storage
Settings Settings Settings
-------------
Departmental
-------------
Departmental
-------------
Departmental
High per user cost
Applications Applications Applications
-------------
User Installed
-------------
User Installed
-------------
User Installed
Increased management overhead
Applications Applications Applications
-------------
Local Peripherals
-------------
Local Peripherals
-------------
Local Peripherals
Complex and unique base images
Base Image Base Image Base Image
Operating Operating Operating
Highly personalized for users
System System System
Increased user acceptance
VM1 VM2 VM3
5
6. Citrix Personal vDisk
User Profile & User Profile & User Profile &
Settings Settings Settings
------------- ------------- ------------- Enterprise scope
Departmental Departmental Departmental
Applications Applications Applications
------------- ------------- ------------- Highly personalized for users
User Installed User Installed User Installed
Applications Applications Applications
------------- ------------- ------------- Increased user acceptance
Local Peripherals Local Peripherals Local Peripherals
PVD 1 PVD 2 PVD 3
Reduced infrastructure reqs.
Common Base Image Centralized management
Operating System Uptime & predictability
BASE PARENT VM
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7. Delivering and Managing the PvD Desktop
1. Common Base Setup
» Install OS, common apps and VDA in base VM
» Create VM pool and entitle
2. User Access
User’s Workspace
» Login through Xen Desktop Client
» PVD assigned on first login
» Locally administered dept. apps
» User installed apps
Common Base Image
» Streamed apps
3. Image Update Operating System
» Update base VM without affecting any user personalization
8. Are PvD enabled desktops for everyone?
• Users needing control and personalization beyond a roaming profile
○ Today many opt for dedicated which is a poor on mgt and storage cost model
• A means to manage app sets beyond the base image
• Blindly deploying PvD as the default desktop could be costly
○ Over delivering on personalization capabilities will come at infrastructure costs
○ You don’t need to provide call center employees a PvD enabled desktop
10. Install
• New option in meta-installer (VDA) to
‘enable’ PvD
• Installs no matter selection
○ Disabled means PvD Service will be
running but will remain idle
○ Enable later by running inventory
• You cannot disable once enabled
○ Would need to revert to a snapshot when
PvD was disabled
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20. PvD – The User’s Disk
• PvDs are created and attached by Studio, ViaB and PvS wizards
• They are formatted during first PvD boot
• UserData.v2.vhd (located on the root of the PvD)
○ Contain everything not in the user’s profile (aka not in c:users)
○ Sized according to the allocation split (default is 50/50)
○ A .thick_provision sparse file exists to display the correct amount of free space to user
21. The P: Drive …
Hidden and captures all
machine state (aka data not in
c:/users) – Merged as c: drive
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22. PvD Factory Reset
• Separating the user profile area from the
application area allows the App VHD to be
deleted and profile saved
• We call this “Factory Reset, and is available in
Desktop Director
App
Profile PvD
VHD
23. PvD Allocation Split (v5.6)
• Separates the user profile data from the application data
App
Profile PvD
VHD
24. PvD Allocation Splits (v5.6)
• Different allocation splits can be used
• For example …
15GB PvD with 30/70% ratio …
Profile App
PUD
(4.5GB) VHD (10.5GB)
25. NEW: Dynamic Allocation (v5.6.5+)
• Dynamically adjusting free space as needed
• For example …
26. NEW: Dynamic Allocation (v5.6.5+)
• As free space is reduced on one side, will shift space on a reboot
• Based on a free space threshold (configurable)
• For example …
App VHD grows into any
unused profile space,
until threshold reached
27. PvD Expansion
• Either expand on the hypervisor console …
○ Or use the PoSH script
• For example …
PvD increased to 15GB …
App
Profile (5GB) PUD
VHD (5GB)
28. PvD Expansion
• VHDs will adhere to allocation ratio on PvD when resizing …
• For example …
50/50 split preserves desired allocation ratio
App
Profile (7.5GB) PUD
VHD (7.5GB)
29. Machine Creation Services with PvD adds PVDisk
Windows 7
Master
VHD Chain
Diff Disk ID Disk
Virtual Desktop 1
• This part is seen by the Personal vDisk
• This part is hidden from
user as Drive P:
user
• Used for USERDATA e.g.
• Merged with the Diff Disk
My Documents
• Seen by user as Drive C:
• Free space is the split • PVDisk auto-created during • E.g. Installed apps
allocation catalog creation by copying PvD
template from Base VM
• 10GB by default with 50 / 50
split for User Data / App Data
Storage Subsystem
30. Provisioning Services with PvD
Windows 7
Master
Streamed vDisk
Streamed PVS Write
vDisk Cache
Streamed Desktop 1
• This part is seen by the Personal vDisk
• This part is hidden from
user as Drive P:
user
• Used for USERDATA e.g.
• Merged with the Diff Disk
My Documents
• Seen by user as Drive C:
• Free space is the split • PVDisk is auto-created during • E.g. Installed apps
allocation catalog creation by copying PvD
template from Base VM
• 10GB by default with 50 / 50
Storage Subsystem
split for User Data / App Data