Optimizing Citrix® XenDesktop® for High Performance

Book excerpt: Successfully deploy XenDesktop sites for a high performance Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) About This Book Size the VDI environment so the administrator has breathing room to design and build their XenDesktop systems efficiently Use desktop virtualization tools to provide users fast, convenient access to their Windows Desktops Understand the key pinch points in the resource layers such as; the Client layer, Network Layer, Access Layer, Control Layer, Services Layer and Resources Layer Who This Book Is For Citrix XenDesktop High Performance is written for administrators who would like to deploy Citrix XenDesktop in their enterprises with the aim of providing high efficiency. Basic familiarity with Citrix XenDesktop is assumed. What You Will Learn Understand key concepts, terminology, and system requirements Discover how components work in regards to virtualization and performance Identify architectural resource layers and components Explore the hypervisor virtualization software that runs on top of the hardware and learn how to tune it for maximum performance Analyze client hardware and software, including thin clients and mobile devices In Detail Citrix XenDesktop is a suite of desktop virtualization tools designed to provide users with fast and convenient access to their Windows desktops and applications through any device. Virtual desktops mean that rather than setting up hundreds or thousands of individual computers in an enterprise, companies can instead opt to create servers with large amounts of memory, disk, and processing resources, and use virtualization to offer these resources to end users. The result of this is that users are provided with an experience that appears to be identical to having an individual desktop PC. Each user has some disk space, processor time, and memory allocated to them, as though it is present on their own physical machine, when in reality, the resources are physically present on a centralized server. This book starts by answering the basic questions you need to ask when considering XenDesktop, followed by methods of how you can properly size your server infrastructure for XenDesktop. You'll discover how to optimize the virtual machines used in XenDesktop, how to optimize your network for XenDesktop, and how to optimize the hypervisor and the cloud. You'll also learn how to monitor XenDesktop to maximize performance. By the end of the book, you will be able to plan, design, build, and deploy high performance XenDesktop Virtualization systems in enterprises. You will also know how to monitor and maintain your systems to ensure smooth operation. Style and approach This book is an all-inclusive guide that uncovers hidden and previously unpublished performance improvement areas for any XenDesktop site.