machine creation services (mcs) citrix xendesktop 5
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Machine Creation Services (MCS)Citrix XenDesktop 5
Jits LangedijkSr. Consultant Application & Desktop Delivery
@JRLangedijk
JitsLangedijk
Agenda• Citrix XenDesktop 5.x• Why MCS?• Where can I “find” MCS?• What does MCS do exactly?• How does MCS work?• What is IntelliCache?
• What about PVS?
XenDesktop 4 XenDesktop 5
• Farm
• Desktop Group
• DDC / Broker / Controller
• IMA datastore
• Terminal Services
• Site
• Catalog with Desktop Group
• XenDesktop Controller
• SQL database
• Removed Dependency
Citrix XenDesktop 5 (december 2010)
XenDesktop 5.5 (August 2011)
• Second Generation Flash Redirection• Windows Media Redirection• Multi-Stream ICA (UDP for audio)• MS RemoteFX Support• Windows 7 Aero Redirection• HDX 3D Pro• HDX Plug-N-Play• Desktop Director 2.0
XenDesktop 5.6 (march 2012)
• Personal vDisk (RingCube)• SCCM 2012 support• Virtual Desktop Agent (5.5.100)• Desktop Director 2.1
Why MCS?• Single image management• Less complex infrastructure• Easy to deploy
• Citrix IntelliCache
Where can I find MCS?
• MCS is integrated in to XenDesktop 5.0 >
Desktop Machine Types
Pooled Dedicated Existing Physical Streamed
Direct copies of the master VM. Changes are not persisted. (Random / Static)
Permanently assigned to individual users. Changes are persisted.
VM’s that were previously created.
Desktops hosted on dedicated blade servers
vDisk imaged from a master target device with PVS
MCS based Virtual Desktops
New Desktop Machine Types XD 5.6• Pooled with personal vDisk
• Streamed with personal vDisk
Personal vDisk session
15:30 hr
MCS Desktop Machine Types XD 5.6• Pooled (Stateless)
– Random – Users are randomly assigned a machine at logon
– Static – Users are assigned the same machine at logon
• Dedicated (Stateful)
• Pooled with personal vDisk (next session)
Type• Machine Type
Master Image
• Master Image
VMs• Number of VMs
Accounts• Create accounts
Admini
stration
• Administration
Summary• Summary
Create Catalog with MCS
Create Catalog with MCS
• Create machine accounts
• Create a proviosiong scheme by copying master VM
• Create machines using the provisioning scheme
• Add machines to the broker catalog
Hypervisor
Storage
What does MCS do exactly?Admin selects “Golden Master Image”, this is copied as Full Clone and becomes the “Golden Master VM Image”
Admin Provisions ‘x’ VM’s
1 2 3 4
MCS creates an ID Disk and a Difference Disk and attaches them to each VM
MCS Powers up the VM, obtains Identity from the ID Disk
OS Reads come from the Base
OS Writes go to the Diff DiskGolden Master ImageGolden Master VM Image (BASE)
DIFFID
DIFFID
DIFFID
DIFFID
What does MCS do exectly?Each VM consists of three “parts”
1 – Master VM
2 – Difference Disk (diff disk)
3 – Identidy Disk (ID disk)
The ID Disk
• The Identidy disk• 16 MB in size• Contains the “Identidy” of the virtual machine
• A file called ‘CTXSOSID.INI’, The ListOfDDCs key
• Attached as a second disk to the VM at creation• Remains untouched for the lifetime of the VM
The Diff Disk
• The Difference disk• The “primary” disk for the provisioned machine• Created by making a difference disk to the master image• Destroyed at VM boot (Pooled)• Persistent at VM Boot (Dedicated)
SQL Server
Machine CreationServices
BrokerServices
InfrastructureServices
XenDesktop Controller
Broker Service
Machine CreationService
AD Identity Service
Machine Identity Service
Host Service
ConfigurationService
Desktop Studio Desktop Director
Virtual DesktopAgent
Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 “Small Overview”
• Machine Creation Service• Responsible for the creation of the VMs
• AD Identity Service• Creates / Manages AD computer accounts and passwords of VM.
• Machine Identity Service• Create DIFF and ID disks for VMs• Manages storage attached to provisioned VMs
• Machine Identity Agent (VDA based)• Component that resides on the VDA that ensures VDA Identity within the domain• Maintains the computer AD password of the Virtual Desktop
Machine Creation Services consists of…
• Provisioning process consists of 2 mechanisms• Creation of a Provisioning Scheme• Creation of Machines
• The Provisioning Scheme defines• Name, CPU Count, Memory size, Master Image VM,
Identity Pool, Hosting Unit, Boot Behaviour
• Tasks on the Provisioning Schemeare synchronous• i.e. you cannot provision and delete at the same time
Machine Creation Process
A
A A A A A A
A
A A A A A A
Master VM
consolidate B
B B
B B B B B B B B B B B B
Snapshot chain is consolidated for performance into new Golden Master VM Image
Desktop Group is updated to reference new Golden Master VM Image
New “image” is propagated to Virtual Machines at reboot
1. Master Image created through XenDesktop MCS
2. VM is configured to use Master Image
3. VM using Master Image is started
4. XenServer creates read cache object on local storage
5. Reads in VM being done from local cache
6. Additional Reads done from SAN when required
7. Writes will happen in VHD child per VM
8. Local “write” cache is deleted when VM is shutdown/restarted
9. Additional VMs will use same read cache
XenDesktop
NFS Based Storage
VMVM
VMXenServer
Master ImageCache0011010100110101
011001
00110101
IntelliCache
Provisioning Services:
Provisioning Services
Storage
Machine Creation Service:
Hypervisor(s)
• Caches ‘base image’ in RAM for fast delivery
StorageHypervisor(s)RAM
Cache
• Caches ‘base image’ in RAM for fast delivery
What about PVS?
1100 Desktops on XS MCS PVS
Total IOPS 18,000 11,000
Read:Write IOPS ratio 50:50 10:90
Average IOPS per desktop 16 10
What about IOPS?
XenDesktop MCS produces about 1.5x more IOPS than PVS
Stated by Citrix!!
Summary• Citrix XenDesktop 5.6• Why MCS?• Where can I “find” MCS?• What does MCS do exactly?• How does MCS work• IntelliCache
