4.6

Availability Considerations for Storing Replicas on a Separate Datastore or Shared
Datastores
You can store View Composer replicas on a separate datastore or on the same datastores as linked-clone virtual
machines. These configurations affect the availability of the pool in different ways.
When you store replicas on the same datastores as linked clones, to enhance availability, View Composer
creates a separate replica on each datastore. If a datastore becomes unavailable, only the linked clones on that
datastore are affected. Linked clones on other datastores continue to run.
When you store replicas on a separate datastore, all linked clones in the pool are anchored to the replicas on
that datastore. If the datastore becomes unavailable, the entire pool is unavailable.
To enhance the availability of the linked-clone desktops, you can configure a high-availability solution for the
datastore on which you store the replicas.
Linked-Clone Desktop Data Disks
View Composer creates more than one data disk to store the components of a linked-clone desktop.
OS Disk
View Composer creates an OS disk for each linked clone. This disk stores the system data that the clone needs
to remain linked to the base image and to function as a unique desktop.
QuickPrep Configuration-Data Disk
View Composer creates a second disk with the OS disk. The second disk stores QuickPrep configuration data
and other OS-related data that must be preserved during refresh and recompose operations. This disk is small,
typically about 20MB. This disk is created whether you use QuickPrep or Sysprep to customize the desktop.
If you configure separate View Composer persistent disks to store user profiles, three disks are associated with
each linked clone: the OS disk, the second desktop disk, and the View Composer persistent disk.
The second desktop disk is stored on the same datastore as the OS disk. You cannot configure this disk.
View Composer Persistent Disk
In a dedicated-assignment pool, you can configure separate View Composer persistent disks to store Windows
user-profile data. This disk is optional.
Separate persistent disks let you preserve user data and settings. View Composer refresh, recompose, and
rebalance operations do not affect persistent disks. You can detach a persistent disk from a linked clone and
attach it to another linked clone.
If you do not configure separate persistent disks, the Windows profile is stored in the OS disk. User data and
settings are removed during refresh, recompose, and rebalance operations.
You can store persistent disks on the same datastore as the OS disk or on a different datastore.
Disposable-Data Disk
When you create a linked-clone pool, you can configure a separate, nonpersistent disk to store the guest OS's
paging and temp files that are generated during user sessions. You must specify the disk size in megabytes.
This disk is optional.
When the linked clone is powered off, View Manager deletes the disposable files. Linked clones can increase
in size as users interact with their desktops. Using disposable files can save storage space by slowing the growth
of linked clones.
The disposable-data disk is stored on the same datastore as the OS disk.
VMware View Administration
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