User guide

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requirements to the NetApp SE and obtain appropriate storage system configuration. If required, NetApp can help
you in each phase of the process discussed above. NetApp has detailed sizing tools specific to Citrix XenDesktop
that can help architect Citrix XenDesktop deployments of any scale. The tools are designed to factor in all the
NetApp storage efficiency and performance acceleration components discussed earlier.
This step also involves planning the logical architecture (the total number of template and the associated
FlexClone volumes that should be provisioned per aggregate). The recommendation is to provision fewer large
aggregates over more, smaller aggregates. The advantages to larger aggregates are that the I/O has more disks
to write across, therefore increasing the performance of all volumes contained within the aggregate. Based on the
estimated volume size from the capacity calculations section earlier, determine the number of template and
associated FlexClone volumes that can be hosted in the largest possible aggregate. It is also a good idea to leave
some room to grow the aggregates to handle situations when unexpected growth occurs. Also, disable scheduled
aggregate Snapshot copies and set the aggregate snap reserve to zero. Make sure the data disk in the aggregate
satisfies the performance requirements for the proposed number of virtual machines for volumes to be hosted in
the aggregate.
3.4.14 Storage Architecture Best Practices
In a Citrix XenDesktop environment, the availability and performance of the storage infrastructure are very critical
because thousands of users will be affected by storage outages or performance issues. Thus the storage
architecture must provide the level of availability and performance typical for business-critical applications.
NetApp has all the software and hardware solutions that address the availability and performance for large,
scalable Citrix XenDesktop environments. For a complete Citrix XenDesktop deployment guide, refer to NetApp
TR-3795: XenDesktop on ESX with NetApp.
3.4.15 Storage System Configuration Best Practices
This section provides a high-level overview of the components and features to consider when deploying a Citrix
XenDesktop infrastructure on NetApp. For detailed information on storage resiliency, refer to the following:
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NetApp TR-3437: Storage Best Practices and Resiliency Guide
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NetApp TR-3450: Active-Active Controller Overview and Best Practices Guidelines
3.4.16 Building a Resilient Storage Architecture
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Active-active NetApp controllers. The controller in a storage system can be a single point of failure if not
designed correctly. Active-active controllers provide controller redundancy and simple automatic
transparent failover in the event of a controller failure to deliver enterprise-class availability. Providing
transparent recovery from component failure is critical as all desktops rely on the shared storage. For more
details, visit www.netapp.com/us/products/platform-os/active-active.html.
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Multipath high availability (HA). Multipath HA storage configuration further enhances the resiliency and
performance of active-active controller configurations. Multipath HA–configured storage enhances storage
resiliency by reducing unnecessary takeover by a partner node due to a storage fault, improving overall
system availability and promoting higher performance consistency. Multipath HA provides added protection
against various storage faults, including HBA or port failure, controller-to-shelf cable failure, shelf module
failure, dual intershelf cable failure, and secondary path failure. Multipath HA helps provide consistent
performance in active-active configurations by providing larger aggregate storage loop bandwidth. For
more information, visit http://media.netapp.com/documents/tr-3437.pdf.
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RAID data protection. Data protection against disk drive failure using RAID is a standard feature of most
shared storage devices, but with the capacity and subsequent rebuild times of current hard drives where
exposure to another drive failure can be catastrophic, protection against double disk failure, is now
essential. NetApp RAID-DP is an advanced RAID technology that is provided as the default RAID level on
all FAS systems. RAID-DP provides performance that is comparable to that of RAID 10, with much higher