7.0

Creating Instant-Clone Desktop Pools 6
To provide users access to instant-clone desktops. you must first create an instant-clone desktop pool.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Instant-Clone Desktop Pools,” on page 79
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“Add an Instant Clone Domain Administrator,” on page 81
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“Worksheet for Creating an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 81
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“Create an Instant-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 85
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“ClonePrep Guest Customization,” on page 86
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“Instant Clone Maintenance Utilities,” on page 87
Instant-Clone Desktop Pools
An instant-clone desktop pool is an automated desktop pool. vCenter Server creates the desktop virtual
machines based on the settings that you specify when you create the pool.
Similar to View Composer linked clones, instant clones share a virtual disk of a parent virtual machine and
therefore consume less storage than full virtual machines. In addition, instant clones also share the memory
of a parent virtual machine. Instant clones are created using the vmFork technology. An instant-clone
desktop pool has the following key properties:
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The provisioning of instant clones is significantly faster than View Composer linked clones.
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Instant clones are always created in a powered-on state, ready for user to log in. Guest customization
and AD domain join are completed as part of the initial power-on workflow.
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When a user logs off, the desktop virtual machine is deleted. New clones are created according to the
provisioning policy, which can be on demand or up-front.
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With the push image operation, you can recreate the pool from any snapshot of any parent virtual
machine. You can use push image to roll out OS and application patches.
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Clones are automatically rebalanced over available datastores when clones are created.
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View storage accelerator is automatically enabled.
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Transparent page sharing is automatically enabled.
Because View can create instant clones very quickly, you typically do not need to provision a large number
of desktops up front or to have a large number of ready desktops. For this reason, when compared with
View Composer linked clones, instant clones can make the task of managing a large number of desktops
easier and also reduce the amount of hardware resources that is required.
VMware, Inc.
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