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© Copyright IBM Corporation, 2013

IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure with Citrix XenDesktop

Reference architecture

06 August 2013

IBM Systems and Technology Group ISV Enablement Team



Table of contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1

Architectural overview ............................................................................................................. 1

Component model .................................................................................................................... 2

Citrix XenDesktop provisioning ................................................................................................................ 4

Storage model .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Operational model .................................................................................................................... 7

Compute servers ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Management servers ............................................................................................................................. 11

Systems management ........................................................................................................................... 13

Shared storage ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Networking ............................................................................................................................................. 18

Deployment models ............................................................................................................................... 20

Appendix A. Bill of materials ................................................................................................. 26

BOM for compute servers ...................................................................................................................... 26

BOM for management servers ............................................................................................................... 30

BOM for systems management ............................................................................................................. 33

BOM for shared storage......................................................................................................................... 33

BOM for networking ............................................................................................................................... 36

BOM for racks ........................................................................................................................................ 37

BOM for IBM Flex Chassis .................................................................................................................... 38

Resources ............................................................................................................................... 39

Trademarks and special notices ........................................................................................... 40



1

Introduction

This document describes the reference architecture for using Citrix XenDesktop 5.6. It should be read in conjunction with the IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture available at ibm.com/partnerworld/page/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure.

The intended audience for this document is technical IT architects, system administrators, and managers interested in deploying a Citrix XenDesktop VDI solution.

The business problem, business value, and requirements are described in the IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture and not repeated here for brevity. This document gives an architecture overview and component model of the Citrix XenDesktop and then describes the Deployment model of Citrix XenDesktop using different numbers of users.

Architectural overview

Figure 1 shows all of the main features of the IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure (SDI) reference architecture with Citrix XenDesktop.

XenDesktop Pools

Stateless Desktops

Hype

rvis

or

SharedStorage

FIR

EW

AL

L

FIR

EW

AL

L

CitrixNetscaler

or 3rd party VPN

InternetClients

Web Servers

ConnectionBroker(DDC)

Internal Clients

Active Directory, DNS SQL Database Server Provisioning Server (PVS)

Dedicated Desktops

Hyperv

isor

License Server Machine Creation

Services

Virtual Applications

Hyperv

isor

Figure 1: SDI reference architecture with Citrix XenDesktop

This reference architecture also does not address the issues of remote access and authorization, data traffic reduction, traffic monitoring, and general issues of multi-site deployment and network management. This document limits the discussion to the components inside the customer’s intranet.



2

Component model

Figure 2 is a layered view of the SDI mapped to the Citrix XenDesktop virtualization infrastructure.

Support ServicesSmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure - Citrix XenDesktop

Management Services

Web Server

PVS and MCS

Desktop Delivery Controller

Directory

OS Licensing

DHCP

DNS

Client Devices

ClientReceiver

Shared Storage

VMRepository

Difference and Identity Disks

UserData Files

UserProfiles

NFS and CIFS

Ma

na

gem

en

t P

roto

co

ls

XenDesktop SQL Server

HTTP/HTTPS ICA

XenDesktopData Store

AdministratorGUIs for Support Services

License Server

DesktopStudio Client

ReceiverClient

Receiver

Hypervisor

VMAgent

VMAgent

Hypervisor

Dedicated Desktops

Stateless Desktops

Local SSDStorage

VMAgent

VMAgent

VMAgent

VMAgent

VMAgent

Su

pp

ort

Se

rvic

e P

roto

co

ls

Hypervisor

PublishedApplication

Published Desktops and Apps

PublishedDesktop

PublishedDesktop

PublishedApplication

Hypervisor Management

vCenter Server

vCenter SQL Server

Figure 2: Component model for Citrix XenDesktop

The main components for Citrix XenDesktop are described as follows. The IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture document available at ibm.com/partnerworld/page/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure can be used as a guide.

• Desktop Studio Desktop Studio is the main administrator GUI for Citrix XenDesktop. It is used to configure and manage all of the main entities including servers, desktop pools and provisioning, policy, and licensing.



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• Web Interface The Web Interface provides the user interface to the XenDesktop environment. The Web Interface brokers user authentication, enumerates the available desktops and, upon launch, delivers an .ica file to the Citrix Receiver on the user‘s local device to initiate a connection. The Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) file contains configuration information for the Citrix receiver to communicate with the virtual desktop. Because the Web Interface is a critical component, redundant servers must be available to provide fault tolerance.

• Desktop delivery controller

The desktop delivery controllers (DDC) are responsible for maintaining the proper level of idle desktops to allow for instantaneous connections, monitoring the state of online and connected desktops, and shutting down desktops as needed.

A XenDesktop farm is a larger grouping of virtual machine servers. The primary DDC is configured as the XenDesktop farm master server. The master focuses on farm management while an additional DDC acts as a dedicated XML server. The XML server is responsible for brokering user authentication, resource enumeration, and desktop launching. Because a failure in the XML service results in users being unable to start their desktops, it is recommended that you configure multiple controllers per farm.

• PVS and MCS Provisioning Services (PVS) is used to provision stateless desktops and Machine Creation Services (MCS) is used to provision dedicated desktops. See “Citrix XenDesktop provisioning” on page 4 for details.

• License Server The Citrix License Server is responsible for managing the licenses for all XenDesktop components. XenDesktop has a 30-day grace period that allows the system to function normally for 30 days if the license server becomes unavailable. This grace period offsets the complexity of otherwise building redundancy into the license server.

• XenDesktop SQL Server Each Citrix XenDesktop farm requires a SQL Server database called the data store that is used to centralize farm configuration information and transaction logs. The data store maintains all static information about the XenDesktop environment. Because the XenDeskop SQL server is a critical component, redundant servers must be available to provide fault tolerance.

• vCenter Server Using a single console, vCenter Server provides centralized management of the virtual machines for the VMware ESXi hypervisor.

Redundancy for vCenter Server is achieved through VMware HA. The vCenter server also contains a licensing server for VMware ESXi,

• vCenter SQL Server vCenter Server for VMware ESXi hypervisor requires a SQL database. The vCenter SQL server could be Microsoft® Data Engine (MSDE), Oracle, or SQL Server. Because the vCenter SQL server is a critical component, redundant servers must be available to provide fault tolerance. Existing customer SQL databases (including respective redundancy) can be used.



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• Client devices XenDesktop supports a broad set of devices, including PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones, and thin clients, along with all major device operating platforms, including Apple iOS, Google Android, and Google ChromeOS. XenDesktop enables a rich, native experience on each device, including support for gestures and multi-touch features, customizing the experience based on the type of device. Each client device has a Citrix Receiver, which acts as the agent to communicate with the virtual desktop using the ICA/HDX protocol.

• VDA Each virtual machine (VM) needs a Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) to capture desktop data and send it to the Receiver in the client device. The VDA also emulates keyboard and gestures sent from the Receiver. Note that the VDA is different for HDX 3D Pro because it has to capture data from a GPU rendering a 3D scene.

ICA is the Citrix display protocol for both 2D and 3D VDI.

• Hypervisor XenDesktop has an open architecture that supports the use of a number of different hypervisors, such as: VMware ESXi (vSphere), XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V.

• Shared storage Shared storage is used to store user profiles and user data files. Depending on the provisioning model used, different data is stored for VM images. See “Storage model” on page 6 for more details.

Citrix XenDesktop provisioning

Citrix XenDesktop has two primary provisioning models:

• Provisioning Services (PVS)

• Machine Creation Services (MCS)

It is recommended to use PVS or MCS for provisioning stateless desktops and MCS for provisioning dedicated desktops.

Provisioning Services (PVS)

Hosted VDI desktops can be deployed with or without Citrix PVS. The advantage of using PVS is that you can stream a single desktop image to create multiple virtual desktops on one or more servers in a data center. Figure 3 outlines the sequence of operations run by XenDesktop to deliver a hosted VDI virtual desktop.

As soon as the virtual disk (vDisk) master image is available from the network, the virtual machine (VM) on a target device no longer needs its local hard drive to operate; it boots directly from the network and behaves as if it were running from a local drive on the target device. This is why PVS is recommended for stateless virtual desktops. PVS is not generally used for dedicated virtual desktops because the write cache is not stored on shared storage.

PVS is also used with Microsoft Roaming Profiles (MSRPs) so that the user’s profile information can be separated out and reused. Profile data is available from shared storage.

It is a best practice to use snapshots for changes to the master VM images and also keep copies as a backup.



5

vDisk

Write Cache

SnapshotMaster Image

Provisioning Services ServerVirtual Desktop

Request for vDisk

Streaming vDisk

Figure 3: Using PVS for a stateless model

Machine Creation Services (MCS)

Unlike PVS, MCS does not require additional servers. Instead, it uses integrated functionality built into the hypervisor (VMware ESXi, Citrix XenServer, or Microsoft Hyper-V) and communicates through the respective APIs. Each desktop has one difference disk and one identity disk (see Figure 4).The difference disk is used to capture any changes made to the master image. The identity disk is used to store information such as device name and password.

Figure 4: MCS image and difference/identity disk storage model



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There are three types of Image Assignment Models for MCS:

• Pooled-random. Desktops are assigned randomly. When they log off, the desktop is free for another user. When rebooted, any changes made are destroyed.

• Pooled-static. Desktops are permanently assigned to a single user. When a user logs off, only that user can use the desktop, regardless if the desktop is rebooted. During reboots, any changes made are destroyed.

• Dedicated. Desktops are permanently assigned to a single user. When a user logs off, only that user can use the desktop, regardless if the desktop is rebooted. During reboots, any changes made will persist across subsequent restarts.

MCS thin provisions each desktop from a master image, using built-in technology to provide each desktop with a unique identity. Only changes made to the desktop consume additional disk space. For this reason, MCS dedicated desktops are used for dedicated desktops.

Storage model

This section describes the different types of shared data stored for stateless and dedicated desktops.

Both stateless and dedicated desktops should have these common shared storage items:

• The master VM image and snapshots using Network File System (NFS) or block I/O shared storage.

• The paging file (or vSwap) is transient data that can be redirected to NFS storage. In general it is recommended to disable swapping, which reduces storage use (shared or local). The desktop memory size should be chosen to match the user workload rather than depending on a smaller image and swapping which reduces overall desktop performance.

• User profiles (from MSRP) are stored using CIFS.

• User data files are stored using CIFS.

Dedicated desktops or stateless desktops that need motion require the following items to be on either NFS or block I/O shared storage:

• Difference disks are used to store user’s changes to the base VM image. The difference disks are per user and could become quite large for dedicated desktops.

• Identity disks are used store the machine name and password. Identity disks are very small.

• Stateless desktops can use local solid state drive (SSD) storage for the PVS write cache, which is used to store all image writes on local SDD storage. These image writes are discarded when the VM is shut down.



7

Operational model

The operational model covers both stateless and dedicated desktop models. Stateless desktops that require motion are considered the same as dedicated desktops as they both require shared storage. In some customer environments, both stateless and dedicated desktop models might be required, thus needing a hybrid operational model.

The operational model is broken down into four areas of compute servers, management servers, storage, and networking. This reference architecture first describes the performance requirements of both stateless and dedicated virtual desktops and then describes the storage configuration that meets those requirements.

In order to illustrate the operational model for different sized customer environments, four different models are provided for supporting 600, 1500, 4500, and 10000 users.

Compute servers

Compute servers are servers that run a hypervisor and host Citrix XenDesktop virtual desktops. There are several considerations for the performance of the compute server including the processor family and clock speed, the number of processors, the speed and size of main memory, and local storage options.

The use of Aero theme in Microsoft® Windows® 7 or other intensive workloads has an impact on the maximum number of virtual desktops that can be supported on each compute server. Windows 8 also requires slightly more processor resources than Windows 7 whereas not much difference has been observed between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7. Although it is possible to use a slower processor and still not exhaust the processor power, it is a good policy to have excess capacity.

Another important consideration for compute servers is system memory. For stateless users, the typical range of memory required for each desktop is between 1.5 GB and 4GB and for dedicated users, the range of memory for each desktop is between 2GB and 6 GB. High-end computer-aided design (CAD) users needing 3D VDI technology might require between 8 and 16 GB of RAM per desktop. In general, power users that require larger memory sizes also require more virtual processors. This reference architecture standardizes on 1.5 GB per desktop as the minimum requirement of a Windows 7 desktop. The virtual desktop memory should be large enough so that swapping is not needed and vSwap can be disabled.

To be cost-effective, each server should support as much memory as possible. At the time of publication, 32 GB DIMMs are much more than twice the cost of 16 GB DIMMs. Until the price of the 32 GB DIMMs is reduced, it is recommended to stay with 16 GB DIMMs. With 16 GB DIMMs, IBM servers can support up to 384 GB of system memory.

Depending on the size of each VM, servers could be used with 192 GB, 256 GB, or 384 GB of system memory. The hypervisor typically uses up to 4 GB of system memory and the remainder can generally be divided among the desktops. The more desktops supported, the larger the amount of memory used by the hypervisor. Figure 5 on page 8 shows the number of users that can be supported given the VM size (on the horizontal axis) and the amount of system memory.

See page 26 for the bill of materials for compute servers.

For the purposes of this discussion, the VMware ESXi 5.1 hypervisor is always used. This hypervisor is convenient because it can boot from a USB flash key and does not require any additional local storage. For the VMware ESXi hypervisor, the number of vCenter clusters depends on the number of compute servers. A ratio of 8 servers per cluster is recommended although more are supported.



8

50

75

100

125

150

175

1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6

Nu

mb

er

of

VM

s

VM Size (GB)

384 256 192Memory Available on Server (GB):

Figure 5: Number of users supported by system memory and VM size

The hardware options for compute servers include two Intel processor families:

• The E5-2600 processor family is used by the IBM System x3550 M4, IBM System x3650 M4, and IBM Flex System x240.

• The E5-2400 processor family is used by the IBM Flex System x222.

The IBM Flex System x222 offers a higher density of virtual desktops for certain scenarios and in others the IBM Flex System x240 is preferred. In all cases it is recommended to try and balance the processors and system memory so that neither one is “wasted.” Spare capacity needs to be built in for failover and peak loading but it is also important not to over specify memory or processor cores that are never used.

Table 1 shows a matrix of different VM memory sizes and user types. For each of the six combinations the preferred server is listed or the combination is unlikely to occur. For the two cases where both the IBM Flex System x222 and x240 are listed, both servers have a good balance of processor and memory but the IBM Flex System x222 has a greater density.

User type 1.5 GB – 2.5 GB 2.5 GB to 4 GB Over 4 GB

Normal user (1 virtual processor)

x222 with 384 GB or

x240 with 256 GB

x240 with 384 GB Unlikely scenario (Normal users have smaller VMs)

Power user (2 virtual processors)

Unlikely scenario (power users need memory)

x222 with 384 GB or

x240 with 256 GB

x240 with 384 GB

Table 1: Positioning of IBM Flex System x222 and x240 models



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Intel E5-2600 processor family servers

Below are processor performance results for Citrix XenDesktop that shows a relatively small performance difference (5%) between 2.7 GHz and 2.9 GHz 8 core processors using the LoginVSI medium workload.

2 x E5-2680 2.7 GHz CPU 213 users

2 x E5-2690 2.9 GHz CPU 222 users

The significant extra cost of the E5-2690 model does not warrant using the faster processor as there is very little gain. In reality the memory size of the desktop is larger and therefore, the number of users on a server will be fewer than the maximum given above. Therefore the Intel E5-2680 processor is recommended as it has the best price/performance compared to the E5-2690.

For the Intel processors, the bus speed for memory that uses more than 2 DIMMs per memory lane is reduced from 1600 MHz to 1066 MHz. For dual-socket systems with 16 GB DIMMs this equates to 256 GB and 384 GB of system memory. The following results show that the reduced memory bus speed with 384 GB of system memory has a very small effect on the maximum number of users.

2 x E5-2680 2.7 GHz processor with 256 GB RAM @ 1600 MHz 213 users

2 x E5-2680 2.7 GHz processor with 384 GB RAM @ 1066 MHz 208 users

The default for this processor family is 256 GB of system memory because this size gives the best coverage for a range of VM sizes. IBM recommends using 384 GB if the VM size is 3 GB or larger.

IBM testing has shown that 125 users per server with 256 GB of memory is a good baseline and has on average 75% utilization of the processors in the server. If a server goes down, then users on that server need to be transferred to the remaining servers. For this degraded failover case, IBM testing showed that 150 users per server will have on average 90% utilization. It is important to keep this 25% headroom on servers to cope with possible failover scenarios. IBM recommends in general a failover ratio of 5 to 1.

Table 2 has the recommended number of desktops per server for different VM memory sizes.

VM memory size

1.5 GB (default) 2 GB 3 GB

System Memory 256 GB 256 GB 384 GB

Desktops per server (normal mode) 125 105 105

Desktops per server (failover mode) 150 126 126

Table 2: Recommended number of desktops per server

Table 3 shows the number of compute servers needed for different numbers of users and VM sizes. A server with 256 GB system memory is used for the 2 GB VM and a server with 384 GB system memory is used for the 3 GB VM.

Desktop Memory size (1.5 GB) 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Compute servers @125 users (normal) 5 12 36 80

Compute servers @150 users (failover) 4 10 30 68

Failover ratio 4:1 5:1 5:1 7:1



10

Desktop Memory size (2 GB or 3 GB) 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Compute servers @105 users (normal) 6 14 42 96

Compute servers @126 users (failover) 5 12 36 80


Table 3: Compute servers needed for different numbers of users and VM sizes.

For stateless desktops, local SSDs can be used to store the write-back cache for improved performance. Each stateless virtual desktop requires a cache which tends to grow over time until the virtual desktop is rebooted. The size of the write-back cache depends on the environment. Two 200 GB SAS SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration should be sufficient for most user scenarios but 400 GB may be needed. Due to the stateless nature of the architecture, there is little added value in configuring reliable SSD drives in more redundant RAID configurations.

Intel E5-2400 processor family servers

The server under consideration for VDI using the E5-2400 family of Intel processors is the super-dense IBM Flex System x222 model, which actually consists to two separate end-points; two separate halves that are combined together into the same physical space as used by an IBM Flex System x240 model. Because this is two nodes in one, chassis switches require firmware “upgrade 1” at a minimum to support 28 internal ports instead of the default 14.

Each half of the x222 has 2 processors and 192 GB of system memory for a total of 4 processors and 384 GB for each x222. The number of users supported by one half of the IBM Flex System x222 is as follows:

2 x E5-2470 2.3 GHz CPU 152 users

The maximum number of users supported by a full x222 is 304 users. It is recommended to use the full 192 GB of memory per half of an x222 in order to balance processor and memory.

IBM testing has shown that 102 users per half of an x222 with 192 GB of system memory is a good baseline. For the degraded failover case, then users need to be transferred to the remaining servers, which means 125 users per server. Table 4 has the recommended number of desktops per x222 for different VM memory sizes. IBM recommends in general a failover ratio of 5 to 1.

VM memory size

1.5 GB (default) 2 GB 3 GB

System memory 384 GB 384 GB 384 GB

Desktops per server (normal mode) 204 (2 x 102) 158 (2 x 79) 104 (2 x 52)

Desktops per server (failover mode) 250 (2 x125) 190 (2 x 95) 126 (2 x 63)

Table 4: Recommended number of desktops per x222

Table 5 shows the number of x222 compute servers needed for different user counts and VM sizes.

Desktop memory size (1.5 GB) 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

x222 servers @200 users (normal) 4 8 22 49

x222 servers @240 users (failover) 3 6 18 40

Failover ratio 3:1 3:1 4.5:1 4.5:1



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Desktop memory size (2 GB) 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users




Desktop memory size (3 GB) 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users




Table 5: Compute servers needed for different numbers of users and VM sizes.

The IBM Flex System x222 supports up to two 1.8 in. SATA SSDs but without a RAID controller. Stateless virtual desktops can be used with the IBM Flex System x222. However if the projected capacity for write-back cache exceeds the capacity of a single SSD (190 GB) then the write-back cache should be on shared storage rather than the local SSD.

Management servers

Management servers should have the same hardware specification as compute servers so they could be used interchangeably in a worst-case scenario. The Citrix XenDesktop management servers also use the same hypervisor but have management VMs instead of virtual desktops.

Table 6 summarizes the VM requirements and performance characteristics of each management service for Citrix XenDesktop.

Management service VM

Virtual processors

System Memory

Storage Windows OS

HA needed

Performance characteristic

DDC 4 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 Yes 5000 user connections

Web server 4 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 Yes 30,000 connections per hour

Citrix licensing server

2 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 No 170 licenses per second

XenDesktop SQL server

2 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 Yes Double the virtual processor and memory for more than 2500 users

PVS servers 4 32 GB 40 GB 2008 R2 Yes Up to 1000 desktops, memory should be a minimum of 2 GB plus 1.5 GB per image served

Table 6: Characteristics of XenDesktop management services

Traditionally PVS servers have been run natively on Windows 2008 servers. Our testing shows that they can run well inside a VM providing that it is sized per Table 6 above. Table 7 summarizes the VM requirements and performance characteristics of each management service for ESXi hypervisor.



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Management service VM

Virtual processors

Memory Storage Windows OS

HA needed

Performance characteristic

vCenter server 4 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 No Up to 2000 desktops

vCenter SQL server

4 4 GB 15 GB 2008 R2 Yes Double the virtual processors and memory for more than 2500 users

Table 7: Characteristics of ESXi management services

Table 8 lists the number of management VMs for each size of users following the high-availability and performance characteristics listed. Note that the number of vCenter servers is half of the number of vCenter clusters. This is because each vCenter server can handle two clusters of up to 1000 desktops, and each cluster exists on two vCenter servers.

XenDesktop management service VM 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Desktop Delivery Controllers

• Includes Citrix Licensing server

• Includes web server

2 (1+1)

Y

Y

2 (1+1)

N

N

2 (1+1)

N

N

2(3+1)

N

N

Web servers N/A 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1)

Citrix licensing servers N/A 1 1 1

XenDesktop SQL servers 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1)

PVS servers for stateless case only 2 (1+1) 4 (2+2) 8 (6+2) 14 (10+4)

ESXi management service VM 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

vCenter servers 1 1 3 7

vCenter SQL servers 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1) 2 (1+1)

Table 8: Management VMs needed

As documented earlier, each management VM requires a certain amount of virtual processors, memory and disk. Note that there is plenty of capacity in the management servers for all of these VMs. Table 9 has an example mapping of the management VMs to the 4 physical management servers for 4500 users.

Management service for 4500 stateless users

Management server 1

Management server 2

Management server 3

Management server 4

vCenter servers (3) 1 1 1

vCenter database (2) 1 1

XenDesktop database (2) 1 1

DDC (2) 1 1

Web server (2) 1 1

License server (1) 1



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Management service for 4500 stateless users

Management server 1

Management server 2

Management server 3

Management server 4

PVS servers for stateless desktops (8) 2 2 2 2

Table 9: Management server VM mapping (4500 users)

Note that it is assumed that common services such as Microsoft Active Directory, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), domain name server (DNS), and Microsoft licensing servers already exist in the customer environment.

For shared storage systems that only support block data transfers, it is also necessary to provide some file I/O servers that support CIFS or NFS shares and translate file requests to the block storage system. For high availability, two or more Windows storage servers are clustered.

Based on the number and type of desktops, Table 10 lists the recommended number of physical management servers. In all cases, there is redundancy in both the physical management servers and the management VMs.

Management servers 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Stateless desktop model 2 2 4 7

Dedicated desktop model 2 2 2 4

Windows Storage Server 2012 2 2 3 4

Table 10: Management servers needed

For the IBM Flex System x222, it is possible to further reduce the number of management servers by placing each management server in one half of the full x222. In particular a single x222 could have a VDI management server in one half and a Windows storage server in the other half.

See page 30 for the bill of materials for management servers.

Systems management

Assuming the use of IBM Flex System compute servers, it is recommended to have one or more IBM Flex System Manager (FSM) nodes, especially in case of the larger configurations, to provide additional systems management capability. The FSM is mandatory for PureFlex systems and optional but recommended for Flex systems.

A ratio of one FSM per sixteen chassis is recommended. See page 33 for the bill of materials for IBM Flex System Manager nodes.

Shared storage

VDI workloads such as virtual desktop provisioning, VM loading across the network, and access to user profiles and data files place huge demands on network shared storage.

Experimentation with VDI infrastructures shows that the input/output operation (IOP) performance takes precedence over storage capacity. This means that more of the slower speed drives are needed to get the required performance than higher speed drives. Even with the fastest drives available today (15k RPM), there is still can be an excess capacity in the storage system because extra spindles are needed to provide the IOP performance. From experience, this “extra” storage is more than sufficient for the other types of data needed for VDI such as SQL databases and transaction logs



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The large rate of IOPS and therefore large number of drives needed for dedicated virtual desktops can be ameliorated to some extent by caching data in flash memory or SSD drives.The storage configurations are based on the peak performance requirement, which usually occurs during the so-called “logon storm.” This is when all workers at a company arrive in the morning and try to start their virtual desktops, all at the same time.

It is always recommended that user data files (shared folders) and user profile data are stored separately from the user image. By default this has to be done for stateless virtual desktops and should also be done for dedicated virtual desktops. It is assumed that 100% of the users at peak load times require concurrent access to user data and profiles.

Stateless virtual desktops using Citrix XenDesktop are provisioned from shared storage using PVS. The PVS write cache is maintained on a local SSD. Table 11 summarizes the peak IOPS and disk space requirements for stateless virtual desktops on a per-user basis.

Citrix stateless virtual desktops Protocol Size IOPS Write %

vSwap (recommended to be disabled) NFS or Block 0 0 0

User data files CIFS/NFS 5 GB 1 75%

User profile (through MSRP) CIFS 100 MB 0.8 75%

Table 11: Stateless shared storage performance requirements

Table 12 summarizes the peak IOPS and disk space requirements for dedicated virtual desktops on a per-user basis. Stateless users requiring motion and having no local SSDs also fall into this category. The last three rows are the same as the table above for stateless desktops.

Citrix dedicated virtual desktops Protocol Size IOPS Write %

Master image NFS or Block 30 GB

18 85% Difference disks NFS or Block 10 GB

User “AppData” folder

vSwap (recommended to be disabled) NFS or Block 0 0 0

User files CIFS/NFS 5 GB 1 75%

User profile (through MSRP) CIFS 100 MB 0.8 75%

Table 12: Dedicated shared storage performance requirements

Note that the sizes and IOPS for user data files and user profiles given in Table 11 and Table 12 can vary depending on the customer environment. For example power users may require 10GB and 5 IOPS for user files because of the applications they use. It is assumed that 100% of the users at peak load times require concurrent access to user data files and profiles.

Many customers need a hybrid environment of stateless and dedicated desktops for their users. The IOPS for dedicated users outweigh those for stateless users and therefore it is best to bias towards dedicated users in any storage controller configuration.

The storage configurations presented in this section have conservative assumptions about the VM size, changes to the VM, and user data sizes to ensure that the configurations can cope with the most demanding user scenarios.



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This reference architecture describes three different shared storage solutions:

• Block I/O to V7000 storage using Fibre Channel (FC)

• Block I/O to V7000 storage using Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

• File I/O to a N series network attached storage (NAS) - block I/O is not considered

The first two V7000 solutions share the same storage configuration with just different connectivity.

See page 33 for the bill of materials for shared storage.

V7000 storage

For configuration and sizing purposes, the IBM Flex System V7000 storage node is the same as the IBM Storwize V7000 storage system and both are generically referred to in this section as simply “V7000” storage.

The IBM Flex System V7000 storage node offers better integration with a Flex chassis and the Flex System Manager (FSM). However the IBM Flex System V7000 storage node only supports up to two internal expansion units, which take up 12 valuable slots in a Flex chassis and therefore IBM recommends using external expansion units with the IBM Flex System V7000 storage node. Longer SAS cables are available to connect the external expansion units to the node canisters on the front of the IBM Flex System V7000 storage node. Each V7000 storage system supports up to 240 drives using up to 9 expansion units and up to four V7000 systems can be clustered together for a total of 960 drives.

In order to support file I/O (CIFS and NFS) into V7000 storage, it is necessary to add Windows storage servers as described in “Management servers” on page 11.

The V7000 storage system supports 8 GB of cache per canister for a total of 16 GB. This cache acts as both a read cache and a write-through cache and is very useful to cache commonly used data for VDI workloads. The read and write cache are managed separately. The write cache is divided up across the storage pools defined for the V7000 storage system.

In addition V7000 offers the IBM Easy Tier® feature, which allows commonly used data blocks to be transparently stored on SSDs. There is a noticeable improvement in performance when Easy Tier is used, which tends to tail off as more and more SSDs are added. It is recommended that around 10% of the storage space should be SSDs to give the best balance between price and performance.

The tiered storage support of the V7000 storage system also allows a mixture of different disk drives. Slower drives could be used for shared folders and profiles, whereas faster drives and SSDs can be used for persistent virtual desktops and desktop images.

Persistent virtual desktops require both a high number of IOPS and a large amount of disk space for the XenDesktop difference disks. The difference disks can grow in size over time as well. The fastest disks available for a V7000 storage system are 300 GB 15k RPM drives in a RAID 10 array. Storage performance can be significantly improved with the use of Easy Tier. If this is insufficient then SSDs or alternatives such as a flash storage system are required.

For this reference architecture, it is assumed that each user has 5 GB for shared folders and profile data and uses an average of 5 IOPS to access those files. Investigation into the performance shows that 600 GB 10K rpm drives in a RAID 10 array give the best ratio of IOP performance to disk space. It was found that 300 GB 15k RPM drives have the required performance but extra drives are needed for even when configured as RAID 5. Therefore we recommend using a mixture of both drives for persistent desktops and shared folders/profile data.



16

If users need more than 5GB then 900 GB 10k RPM drives can be used instead of 600 GB. If less capacity is needed then the 300 GB 15k RPM drives could be used for shared folders and profile data.

Depending on the number of images, one or more RAID 1 array of SSDs can be used to store the VM images. This helps with performance of provisioning virtual desktops i.e. a “boot storm”. Each image is requires at least double the space. The actual number of SSDs in the array depends on the number and size of images. In general more users require more images. Table 13 shows an example.

600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Image size 30 GB 30 GB 30 GB 30 GB

Number of images 2 4 8 16

Required disk space (doubled) 120 GB 240 GB 480 GB 960 GB

400 GB SSD configuration RAID 1 (2) RAID 1 (2) two RAID 1 arrays (4)

four RAID 1 arrays (8)

Table 13: VM images and SSDs

Table 14 summarizes the V7000 storage configuration needed for each of the stateless user counts. Only one V7000 controller is needed for a range of user counts.

Stateless storage 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

400 GB SSDs in RAID 1 for images 2 2 4 8

Hot spare SSDs 2 2 4 4

600 GB 10K rpm in RAID 10 for users 12 28 80 168

Hot spare 600 GB drives 2 2 4 12

V7000 controllers 1 1 1 1

V7000 expansion units 0 1 3 7

Table 14: V7000 storage configuration for stateless users

Table 15 summarizes the V7000 storage configuration needed for each of the dedicated user counts. The top 4 rows of the table are the same as for stateless desktops. IBM recommends clustering V7000 storage system and using a separate controller for every 2500 or so dedicated virtual desktops. For the 4500 and 10000 user solutions, the drives are divided equally across all of the controllers.



17

Dedicated storage 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

400 GB SSDs in RAID 1 for images 2 2 4 8

Hot spare SSDs 2 2 4 8

600 GB 10K rpm in RAID 10 for users 12 28 80 168

Hot spare 600 GB 10k rpm drives 2 2 4 12

300 GB 15K rpm in RAID 10 for persistent desktops

40 104 304 672

Hot spare 300 GB 15k rpm drives 2 4 4 12

400 GB SSDs for Easy Tier 4 12 32 64

V7000 controllers 1 1 2 4

V7000 expansion units 2 6 18 (2 x 9) 36 (4 x 9)

Table 15: V7000 storage configuration for dedicated users

N series network attached storage

In terms of the IBM N series range of storage systems, the largest 15k RPM SAS drive is 600 GB. These disks require a larger expansion cabinet with 24 disks in a 4U enclosure. The same number of slower-speed 10K SAS drives in a small form factor (SFF) 2.5 in. can be put in a 2U enclosure. In this case superior performance wins over the cost of rack density and the storage configurations all use 600 GB 15k RPM SAS drives.

Table 16 summarizes the N Series storage configuration needed for each of the stateless user counts.

Stateless storage 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Controller and model number N3220 A22 N3220 A22 N3220 A22 N6240 C21

10 GbE mezzanine cards 2 2 2 2

Flash cache N/A N/A N/A 512 GB

600 GB 15K rpm drives 12 20 70 164

Spare drives 2 2 2 4

EXN3000 expansion unit 1 1 3 7

Table 16: N series storage configuration for stateless users

Table 17 summarizes the N series storage configuration needed for each of the dedicated user counts. A mid-range controller with 512 MB of flash cache is used for fewer than 4000 users as it supports up to only 600 drives. A high-end controller is used for more than 4000 users because it has a larger flash cache capability, more 10 GbE ports, and can support up to 1440 drives. It is also assumed that 100% of the users at peak load times require concurrent access to user data files and profiles.



18

Dedicated storage 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

Controller and model number N6240 C21 N6240 C21 N7950T E22 N7950T E22

10 GbE cards 2 2 2 2

Flash cache 512 MB 512 MB 1 GB 1 GB

600 GB 15K rpm drives 42 100 296 630

Spare drives 6 8 24 42

EXN3000 expansion units 2 6 16 28

Table 17: N series storage configuration for dedicated users

Networking

The main driver for the type of networking needed for VDI is the connection to shared storage. If the shared storage is block-based such as the IBM Storwize V7000, then it is likely that a SAN) based on 8/16 Gbps FC or 10 GbE FC over Ethernet (FCoE) is needed. Other types of storage can be network attached using 1 Gb or 10 Gb Ethernet.

Also there is user and management virtual local area networks (VLANs) as described in the IBM SmartCloud Infrastructure reference architecture available at ibm.com/partnerworld/page/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure, which require a 1 Gb or 10 Gb Ethernet.

Automated failover and redundancy of the whole network infrastructure and shared storage is important. This is achieved by having at least two of everything and ensuring that there are dual paths between the compute servers, management servers, and shared storage.

If only a single IBM Flex chassis is used, then the chassis switches are sufficient and no additional top-of-rack (TOR) switch is needed. For rack servers or more than one IBM Flex chassis TOR switches are required.

See page 36 for the bill of materials for networking switches.

10 GbE networking

For 10 GbE networking the IBM RackSwitch G8124E and G8264R top of rack switches are recommended as they support VLANs using IBM Virtual Fabric. Redundancy and automated failover is available using link aggregation such as Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and two of everything. For the IBM Flex chassis, pairs of the EN4093R switch should be used and connected to a G8124 or G8264 TOR switch. The TOR 10GbE switches are needed for multiple Flex chassis or external connectivity. Table 18 summarizes the TOR 10 GbE network switches for each user size:

10 GbE TOR network switch 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

G8124E – 24-port switch 2 2 0 0

G8264R – 64-port switch 0 0 2 2

Table 18: TOR 10 GbE network switches needed



19

10 GbE FCoE networking

FCoE on a 10 GbE network requires converged networking switches such as pairs of the CN4093 switch or the Flex chassis and the G864CS TOR converged switch. The TOR converged switches are needed for multiple Flex chassis or for clustering of multiple IBM V7000 Storwize storage systems. FCoE also requires converged network adapters (CNAs) which have the LOM extension. Table 21 summarizes the TOR converged network switches for each user size:


G8264CS – 64-port switch (including up to 12 fibre channel ports)

2 2 2 2

Table 19: TOR 10 GbE converged network switches needed

Fibre Channel networking

Fibre Channel networking for shared storage requires switches. Pairs of the FC3171 8 Gbps FC or FC5022 16 Gbps FC SAN switch are needed for the IBM Flex chassis. For top of rack the 24-port IBM SAN24B-5 or 48-port IBM SAN48B-5 16 Gbps FC switch should be used. The TOR SAN switches are needed for multiple Flex chassis or for clustering of multiple IBM V7000 Storwize storage systems. Table 20 summarizes the TOR FC SAN network switches for each user size:

Fibre Channel TOR network switch 600 users 1500 users 4500 users 10000 users

IBM SAN24B-5 – 24-port switch 2 2

IBM SAN48B-5 – 48-port switch 2 2

Table 20: TOR FC network switches needed

1 GbE administration networking

A 1GbE network should be used to administer all of the other devices in the system. Separate 1 GbE switches are used for the IT administration network. It is recommended that redundancy is also built into this network at the switch level. At minimum a second set of switches should be available ready to go if a switch is down. Table 21 summarizes the number of 1 GbE switches for each user size:


G8052 – 48 port switch 2 2 2 2

Table 21: TOR 1 GbE network switches needed

Table 22 shows the number of 1 GbE connections needed into the administration network and switches for each type of device. The total number of connections is the sum of all of the device counts multiplied by the number of each device. This total can be used to determine the number of 1 GbE TOR switches that are needed.



20

Device Number of 1 GbE connections for administration

System x rack server 1

IBM Flex chassis CMM 2

IBM Flex chassis switches 1 per switch (optional)

IBM Storwize V7000 storage controller 4

N series storage controller 2

TOR switches 1

Table 22: 1 GbE connections needed

Deployment models

There are many different deployment models can be derived from the previously described operational

model hardware components for compute servers, management servers, system management, shared

storage and networking. There are essentially two different decisions to make:

• Rack servers, IBM Flex or IBM PureFlex systems for compute and management servers

• Type of shared storage and storage connectivity.

For the purposes of this reference architecture, the difference between IBM Flex and IBM PureFlex is that Flex is build to order and can be configured in many different ways just like rack systems whereas PureFlex is based on standardized configurations that can be extended in certain restricted ways. For IBM PureFlex, it is recommended to start with the Enterprise model that uses 10 GbE and FC into IBM Flex system V7000 storage.

Table 23 shows the combinations of compute servers and storage connectivity. The types of valid shared storage are listed for each combination.

System x servers (x3650 or x3550)

IBM Flex servers (x222 or x240)

IBM PureFlex servers (x240-based)

Block using Fiber Channel (FC)

• IBM Storwize V7000 • IBM Storwize V7000

• IBM Flex System V700 storage node


Block using Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

• IBM Storwize V7000 • IBM Storwize V7000



10 GbE File I/O (CIFS and NFS)

• IBM N series storage • IBM N series storage • Not a valid combination

Flex System Manager • Not applicable • Optional • Mandatory

TOR networking switches • Always needed • More than 1 chassis • More than 1 chassis

Table 23: Deployment model matrix



21

The number of racks and chassis for Flex or PureFlex nodes depends upon the precise configuration that is being supported, and the total height of all of the component parts: servers, storage, networking switches, and Flex chassis if applicable. The number of racks for System x servers is also dependent on the total height of all of the components. See page 37 for the bill of materials for Flex chassis and page 38 for the bill of materials (BOM) for racks. The following four examples show the deployments.

Deployment example 1

This example is for 600 stateless users using a PureFlex chassis with each of the five compute nodes supporting 125 users in normal mode and 150 in the failover case of one node not being available. Everything fits into a single Flex chassis.

Stateless virtual desktop 600 users

Compute

FSM

Compute

Compute Compute

Compute

WSS WSS

IBM Flex System

V7000 storage node

Manage Manage

Compute servers 5

Management servers 2

Windows storage servers 2

Flex System Manager 1

Total 300 GB 15K rpm drives 18

Hot spare 300 GB 15K drives 2

Total 400 GB SSDs 4

IBM Flex V7000 storage node 1

V7000 expansion units 0

Flex EN4093R switches 2

Flex FC3171 switches 2

Flex chassis 1

Total height 10U

Number of Flex racks 1

Table 24: Deployment configuration for 600 stateless users with IBM Flex System x240 servers


This example (see Table 25) is for 1500 stateless users using a Flex chassis with each of the fourteen compute nodes supporting 107 users in normal mode and 125 in the failover case of two nodes (two halves of a x222) being unavailable. Note that the failover ratio in this case is 1 to 6 instead of 1 to 5 which is achievable and allows everything to fit into a single Flex chassis.



22


Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Compute

Manage

WSS

Manage

WSS

IBM Flex System

V7000 storage node

IBM V7000

expansion unit

FSM

x222 Compute servers 8 x 2

x222 Management servers 1 x 2

x222 Windows storage servers 1 x 2


Total 300 GB 15K rpm drives 40

Hot spare 300 GB 15K drives 2

Total 400 GB SSDs 6

IBM Flex V7000 storage node 1

V7000 expansion units 1


Flex FC3171 switches 2

Flex chassis 1

Total height 12U

Number of Flex racks 1

Table 25: Deployment configuration for 1500 stateless users with IBM Flex System x222 servers


This example (see Table 26) is for 4500 stateless users using IBM Flex System based-chassis with each of the thirty-six compute nodes supporting 125 users in normal mode and 150 in the failover case.


Compute servers 36

Management servers 4

Windows storage servers 0


N series storage controller N3220 A22

Storage extensions EXN3000 x 3


Flex chassis 3

10 GbE network switches 2 x G8264R

1 GbE network switches 2 x G8052

Total height 49U

Number of racks 2

Table 26: Deployment configuration for 4500 stateless users



23

Figure 6 shows the deployment diagram for this configuration. The first rack contains the compute and management servers and the second rack contains the storage servers and disks.

EN

4091 P

ass-t

hru

E

N4091 P

ass-t

hru

E

N4091 P

ass-t

hru

M1

C11 C12

C9 C10

C7 C8

C5 C6

C3 C4

C1 C2

1 GbE Switch1 GbE Switch

10 GbE Switch10 GbE Switch

FSM M2

C23 C24

C21 C22

C19 C20

C17 C18

C15 C16

C13 C14

FSM M3

C35 C36

C33 C34

C31 C32

C29 C30

C27 C28

C25 C26

M4

Rack 2

DS4243 Extension(24 x 600GB 15k RPM)


M1 VMs

vCenter ServervCenter SQL Server

DDCPVS Servers (2)

M4 VMs

Desktop SQL ServerDDC

Web ServerPVS Servers (2)

M2 VMs

vCenter ServervCenter SQL Server

License ServerPVS Servers (2)

M3 VMs

vCenter ServerDesktop SQL Server

Web ServerPVS Servers (2)

Cxx

Each compute server has

125 user VMs

Rack 1

Fle

x C

ha

ss

is 1

Fle

x C

ha

ss

is 3

Fle

x C

ha

ss

is 2

IBM N3220 A22


Figure 6: Deployment diagram for 4500 stateless users using N series shared storage

Figure 7 shows the 10 GbE networking required to connect the 3 Flex chassis to the N series storage

controller. Redundant networking is provided at the chassis level with two EN4093R switches and at the

rack level using two G8264R top of rack switches. The detail is given for one chassis in the middle and

abbreviated for the other two chassis.



24

There are two connections between the N3220 storage and each G8264R switch and there are four

connections from each chassis to each G8264R switch. For clarity the 1 GbE management infrastructure

network is not shown.

Figure 7: Network diagram for 4500 stateless users using N series shared storage


This example is for four Flex chassis requiring a SAN Fibre Channel connection to two clustered external IBM Storwize V7000 controllers. Note that only one chassis is shown for clarity. Additional storage controller or chassis, or both, might require a SAN switch with more ports, such as the IBM SAN48B-5.



25

(24B) 3x 8GbFC

SFP 8‐Pack(24B) 3x 8GbFC

SFP 8‐Pack

SAN 24B/48B SAN 24B/48B

Storwize V7000

Midplane Connections

Management 1GbE

Data 10Gb Ethernet

Data 40Gb Ethernet

Data 8Gb LC‐LC FC

Chassis BoundaryLabel Chassis ElementsLabel Rack Mounted Elements

(Owner) Quantity Feature

DescriptionLabel

Node Bays

1 to 14

(Ch) 2x

1m QSFP+ to QSFP+

(G8264R) 4x 1m QSFP+ to QSFP+

EN4093R EN4093R

G8264R G8264R

(Ch) 1x FoD

Upgrade 1

(Ch) 1x FoD

Upgrade 1

(G8264R) 2x

10GbE 3m SFP+ DAC

(G8264R) 2x

10GbE 3m SFP+ DAC(G8264R) 2x

10GbE 3m SFP+ DAC

(G8264R) 2x

10GbE 3m SFP+ DAC

(Ch) 4x

8GbFC SFP+

FC3171

(Ch) 4x

8GbFC SFP+

FC53171

(24B) 4x

LC‐LC 5m(24B) 4x

LC‐LC 5m

Storwize V7000

(V7K) 4x LC‐LC 5m (V7K) 4x LC‐LC 5m

Figure 8: Network diagram for Flex Chassis and V7000 Fibre Channel SAN



26

Appendix A. Bill of materials

This appendix contains the bill of materials (BOMs) for different configurations of hardware for Citrix

XenDesktop deployments. There are sections for user servers, management servers, storage, and

networking. Each BOM list is for a unit item and contains a reference back to Table 23 on page 20 that

describes how many of each item is needed for a specific configuration.

The BOM lists in this appendix are not meant to be exhaustive and should always be double-checked with

the configuration tools. Note that several different configuration tools are needed depending on the type of

hardware that is being configured. Any discussion of pricing is outside the scope of this document.

Within a specific BOM section, optional items are numbered with alternatives shown as lower-case letters.

For example a fiber channel adapter for a compute server is only needed for shared storage connected

through a SAN.

For connections between TOR switches and devices (servers, storage and chassis), the connector cables

are configured with the device. The TOR switch configuration only includes transceivers or other cabling

that is needed for failover or redundancy.

BOM for compute servers

For compute servers, the following options apply to the bill of materials:

1. Shared storage connectivity

a. 10 GbE

b. FCoE or iSCSI

c. 8 Gbps Fibre Channel

d. 16 Gbps Fibre Channel

2. Dedicated or stateless servers

a. Dedicated servers or stateless servers that require motion

b. Stateless servers

3. System Memory

a. 256 GB

b. 384 GB

4. USB key for VMware ESXi hypervisor

Table 3 on page 10 and Table 5 on page 11 show the number of compute servers needed for different user counts.

IBM x240



27

Option Part Description Ea

8737AC1 Flex System node x240 Base Model 1

A1BL IBM Flex System Compute Node 2.5 in. SAS 2.0 Backplane 1

A1C2 System Documentation and Software-US English 1

A1BC IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node with embedded 10Gb Virtual Fabric 1

A1BB Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1

A1D9 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1

9220 Preload by Hardware Feature Specify 1

A1BF IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Front Bezel 1

A248 IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Air Baffle 1

Option 1

1b A2TD IBM Virtual Fabric Advanced Software Upgrade (LOM) 1

1c A1BM IBM Flex System FC3172 2-port 8Gb FC Adapter 1

1d A1BP IBM Flex System FC5022 2-port 16Gb FC Adapter 1

Option 2

2a 5977 Select Storage devices - no IBM-configured RAID required 1

2b 5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1

2b 7860 Integrated Solid State Striping 1

2b A3EW IBM 200GB SAS 2.5" MLC HS Enterprise SSD 2

2b A3EY IBM 400GB SAS 2.5" MLC HS Enterprise SSD 0

Option 3

3a A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 16

3b A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 24

Option 4

4 A3A3 IBM Flex System x240 USB Enablement Kit 1

4 A2R3 IBM USB Memory Key for VMWare ESXi 5.1 1

4 9207 VMWare Specify 1

IBM x222



A35R Intel Xeon Processor E5-2470 8C 2.3GHz 20MB 1600MHz 95W 2

A36U Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2470 8C 2.3GHz 20MB 1600MHz 95W 2

A1QT 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.35V) PC3L-10600 CL9 1333MHz LP RDIMM 24

Option 1


1c Not applicable – use 16 Gbps fiber channel

1d A3HU IBM Flex System FC5024D 4-port 16Gb FC Adapter 1

Option 2

2b A3HV IBM Flex System SSD Expansion Kit 2

2b A3AN IBM 200GB SAS 2.5" MLC HS Enterprise SSD 4

Option 4

4 A2R3 IBM USB Memory Key for VMWare ESXi 5.1 2

4 9207 VMWare Specify 2



28

IBM System x3550 M4

Option Part Description Ea 7914AC1 IBM System x3550 M4 1 A1H3 IBM System x3550 M4 2.5” Base Without Power Supply 1 A1HG x3550 M4 4x 2.5” HDD Assembly Kit 1 3792 1.5m Yellow Cat5e Cable 1 A1ML IBM Integrated Management Module Advanced Upgrade 1 A1H6 IBM System x 550W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 A1H6 IBM System x 550W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 6263 4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 A2U6 IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit 1 A1LQ Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1 A1M1 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB 130W W/Fan 1 A1H9 IBM System x3550 M4 Planar 1 A228 IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit 1 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

Option 1 1a/1b A22J Emulex Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Embedded VFA III for IBM System x 1 1a/1b 3737 3m Molex Direct Attach Copper SFP+ Cable 1

1b A2TE Emulex Embedded VFA III FCoE/iSCSI License for IBM System x (FoD) 1 1c A1HJ x3550 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x16 LP Slot) 1 1c 3591 Brocade 8Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 7595 2U Bracket for Brocade 8GB FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 3704 5m LC-LC Fiber Cable 2 1d A2XV Brocade 16Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1

Option 2 2a 5977 Select Storage devices – no IBM-configured RAID required 1 2a 8081 No 2.5” SAS HDD Selected 1 2b 5978 Select Storage devices – IBM-configured RAID 1 2b A347 ServeRAID M5110 SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x 1 2b A1WY ServeRAID M5100 Series 1GB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for IBM System x 1 2b 2302 RAID Configuration 1 2b A2K6 Primary Array – RAID 0 (2 drives required) 1 2b 2499 Enable selection of Solid State Drives for Primary Array 1 2b A3EW IBM 200GB SAS 2.5” MLC HS Enterprise SSD 2


Option 3 3a A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 16 3b A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 24

Option 4 4 A2R3 IBM USB Memory Key for VMWare ESXi 5.1 1 4 9207 VMWare Specify 1



29

IBM System x3650 M4

Option Part Description Ea 7915AC1 IBM System x3650 M4 1 A2EB IBM System x 900W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 6263 4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 A2EB IBM System x 900W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 3792 1.5m Yellow Cat5e Cable 1 A1ML IBM Integrated Management Module Advanced Upgrade 1 A1KS Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1 A1L3 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB 130W W/Fan 1 A1KF IBM System x3650 M4 2.5” Base without Power Supply 1 A1JX x3650 M4 8x 2.5” HS HDD Assembly Kit 1 A2U6 IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit 1 A1KH IBM System x3650 M4 Planar 1 A228 IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit 1 2306 Rack Installation >1U Component 1


1b A2TE Emulex Embedded VFA III FcoE/iSCSI License for IBM System x (FoD) 1 1c A1JT x3650 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x8 FH/FL + 2 x8 FH/HL Slots) 1 1c 3591 Brocade 8Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 7595 2U Bracket for Brocade 8GB FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 3704 5m LC-LC Fiber Cable 2 1d A2XV Brocade 16Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1

Option 2 2a 5977 Select Storage devices - no IBM-configured RAID required 1 2a 8081 No 2.5" SAS HDD Selected 1 2b 5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1 2b A2N2 ServeRAID M5110e SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x 1 2b A1WY ServeRAID M5100 Series 1GB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for IBM System x 1 2b 2302 RAID Configuration 1 2b A2K6 Primary Array - RAID 0 (2 drives required) 1 2b 2499 Enable selection of Solid State Drives for Primary Array 1 2b A3EW IBM 200GB SAS 2.5" MLC HS Enterprise SSD 2


Option 3 3a A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 16 3b A2U5 16GB (1x16GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 24

Option 4 4 A2R3 IBM USB Memory Key for VMWare ESXi 5.1 1 4 9207 VMWare Specify 1



30

BOM for management servers

Table 10 on page 13 shows the number of VDI management servers needed for different numbers of users. To help with redundancy, the BOM for VDI management servers should be the same as compute servers. See “BOM for compute servers” on page 26 for details.

Because the Windows storage servers use a bare-metal operating system (OS) installation, they require much less memory and can have a reduced BOM as shown below. For Windows storage servers, the following option applies to the BOM:


a. 10 GbE (Not applicable – only needed for FC connected block storage)

b. FCoE or iSCSI



IBM Flex System x240



A1BL IBM Flex System Compute Node 2.5" SAS 2.0 Backplane 1

A1C2 System Documentation and Software-US English 1

A1BC IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node with embedded 10Gb Virtual Fabric 1

A1BB Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1

A1D9 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1

9220 Preload by Hardware Feature Specify 1

A1BF IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Front Bezel 1

A248 IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Air Baffle 1

5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1

8039 Integrated SAS Mirroring - 2 identical HDDs required 1

A2XD IBM 600GB 10K 6Gbps SAS 2.5" SFF G2HS HDD 2

A292 8GB (1x8GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 4

Option 1


1c A1BM IBM Flex System FC3172 2-port 8Gb FC Adapter 1

1d A1BP IBM Flex System FC5022 2-port 16Gb FC Adapter 1

IBM x222



A35R Intel Xeon Processor E5-2470 8C 2.3GHz 20MB 1600MHz 95W 2

A36U Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2470 8C 2.3GHz 20MB 1600MHz 95W 2

A292 8GB (1x8GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 4

A36A IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps SATA 2.5'' G2 SS HDD 2

Option 1



31



1c Not applicable – use 16 Gbps fiber channel

1d A3HU IBM Flex System FC5024D 4-port 16Gb FC Adapter 1

IBM System x3550 M4

Option Part Description Ea 7914AC1 IBM System x3550 M4 1 A1H3 IBM System x3550 M4 2.5" Base Without Power Supply 1 A1HG x3550 M4 4x 2.5" HDD Assembly Kit 1 3792 1.5m Yellow Cat5e Cable 1 A1ML IBM Integrated Management Module Advanced Upgrade 1 A1H6 IBM System x 550W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 A1H6 IBM System x 550W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 6263 4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 A2U6 IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit 1 A1LQ Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1 A1M1 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB 130W W/Fan 1 A1H9 IBM System x3550 M4 Planar 1 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1 A228 IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit 1 A347 ServeRAID M5110 SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x 1 A1WY ServeRAID M5100 Series 1GB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for IBM System x 1 2302 RAID Configuration 1

5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1

A2K7 Primary Array - RAID 1 (2 drives required) 1

A2XD IBM 600GB 10K 6Gbps SAS 2.5" SFF G2HS HDD 2

A292 8GB (1x8GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 4 Option 1 1a/1b A22J Emulex Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Embedded VFA III for IBM System x 1 1a/1b 3737 3m Molex Direct Attach Copper SFP+ Cable 2

1b A2TE Emulex Embedded VFA III FCoE/iSCSI License for IBM System x (FoD) 1 1c A1HJ x3550 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x16 LP Slot) 1 1c 3591 Brocade 8Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 7595 2U Bracket for Brocade 8GB FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 3704 5m LC-LC Fiber Cable 2 1d A2XV Brocade 16Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1



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IBM System x3650 M4


7915AC1 IBM System x3650 M4 1 A2EB IBM System x 900W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 1 6263 4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 A2EB IBM System x 900W High Efficiency Platinum AC Power Supply 2 3792 1.5m Yellow Cat5e Cable 1 A1ML IBM Integrated Management Module Advanced Upgrade 1 A1KS Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 130W 1 A1L3 Addl Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 8C 2.7GHz 20MB 130W W/Fan 1 A1KF IBM System x3650 M4 2.5" Base without Power Supply 1 A1JX x3650 M4 8x 2.5" HS HDD Assembly Kit 1 A2U6 IBM System x Advanced Lightpath Kit 1 A1KH IBM System x3650 M4 Planar 1 2306 Rack Installation >1U Component 1 A228 IBM System x Gen-III Slides Kit 1 A2N2 ServeRAID M5110e SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x 1 A1WY ServeRAID M5100 Series 1GB Flash/RAID 5 Upgrade for IBM System x 1 2302 RAID Configuration 1 5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1 A2K7 Primary Array - RAID 1 (2 drives required) 1 A2XD IBM 600GB 10K 6Gbps SAS 2.5" SFF G2HS HDD 2 A292 8GB (1x8GB, 2Rx4, 1.5V) PC3-12800 CL11 1600MHz LP RDIMM 4


1b A2TE Emulex Embedded VFA III FCoE/iSCSI License for IBM System x (FoD) 1 1c A1JT x3650 M4 PCIe Riser Card 1 (1 x8 FH/FL + 2 x8 FH/HL Slots) 1 1c 3591 Brocade 8Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 7595 2U Bracket for Brocade 8GB FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1 1c 3704 5m LC-LC Fiber Cable 2 1d A2XV Brocade 16Gb FC Dual-port HBA for IBM System x 1



33

BOM for systems management

Systems management on page 13 shows the number of IBM Flex System Managers are needed for different numbers of users.

IBM Flex System Manager

Part Description Ea 8731AC1 Flex System node FSM Base Model 1 A1AW System Documentation and Software-US English 1 9220 Preload by Hardware Feature Specify 1 7860 Integrated Solid State Striping 1 A1AV IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 2.5" SFF HS HDD 1 A1CW Intel Xeon Processor E5-2650 8C 2.0GHz 20MB Cache 1600MHz 95W 1 8941 4GB (1x4GB, 1Rx4, 1.35V) PC3L-10600 CL9 1333MHz LP RDIMM 8 5420 IBM 200GB SATA 1.8" MLC SSD 2 A1AQ IBM Flex System Manager Node with embedded 10Gb Virtual Fabric 1 A1AU IBM Flex System Manager Node Backplane 1 A2H4 IBM Flex System Manager Software Stack 1 5978 Select Storage devices - IBM-configured RAID 1

BOM for shared storage

IBM V7000 storage

Table 14 and Table 15 on page 17 shows the number of V7000 storage controllers and expansion units that are needed for different user counts. For IBM V7000 storage, the following option applies to the BOM:


a. FCoE or iSCSI on 10 GbE

b. 8 Gbps Fibre Channel


IBM Storwize V7000 expansion unit

Part Description Ea 2076224 IBM Storwize V7000 Disk Expansion Enclosure 1 3253 300 GB 2.5-inch 15K RPM SAS HDD 20 3546 600 GB 10K 2.5-inch HDD 0 3514 400 GB 2.5-inch SSD (E-MLC) 4 5401 1 m 6 Gb/s external mini SAS 2 9730 Power Cord - PDU connection 1 9802 AC Power Supply 2



34

IBM Storwize V7000


3253 300 GB 2.5-inch 15K RPM SAS HDD 20

3546 600 GB 10K 2.5-inch HDD 0

3514 400 GB 2.5-inch SSD (E-MLC) 4

5305 5 m Fiber Optic Cable LC-LC 8

6008 Cache 8 GB 2

9730 Power Cord – PDU connection 1

9801 AC Power Supply 2

Option 1

1a 2076324 IBM Storwize V7000 Disk Control Enclosure 1

1a 5711 IBM 10GbE Optical SW SFP 2 pairs 1

1b 2076124 IBM Storwize V7000 Disk Control Enclosure 1

1c Not applicable

IBM Flex System V7000 storage node

Part Description Ea 4939A49 IBM Flex System V7000 Control Enclosure 1

9170 Storage Subsystem ID 01 1 AD32 300 GB 15K 2.5 inch HDD 20 AD23 600 GB 10K 2.5-inch HDD 0 AD43 400 GB 2.5 inch SSD 4 ADB1 10Gb CNA 2 Port Card 2 ADB2 8Gb FC 4 Port Card 2

IBM N series

Table 16 and Table 17 on page 18 shows the number of V7000 storage controllers and expansion units that are needed for different user counts.

N3220 controller

Part Description Ea

2857A22 IBM System Storage N3220 Model A22 1

2013 10 GbE SFP+ 4

2031 10 GbE Mezzanine 2

9000 PDU Power Cord, 42U Rack 1

9560 Dual-path FC Cabling 1

9561 Num. of SAS Storage Stacks 1

A8PH Data ONTAP Essentials 1

A8PL CIFS initial 1

A8PM NFS initial 1

A8PQ Data ONTAP 1



35

N6240 controller

Part Description Ea

2858C21 IBM System Storage N6240 Model C21 1

1055 FCoE SFP+ copper cable, 5m 4

1071 Flash Cache II 512 GB 2

1078 2-Port 10-GbE NIC SFP+ 2

2013 10 GbE SFP+ 4

2014 SFP+ Optical Mod. for 1078 4

5600 Data ONTAP Essentials 1

5601 CIFS initial 1

5608 NFS secondary 1

5610 Data ONTAP 1

5620 Flash Cache II 1




N7950T controller

Part Description Ea

2867E22 IBM System Storage N7950T Model E22 1

1040 Cluster 4X IB Fi Cable 5M 1

1043 Cu-Fi Converter - 4X IB Cable 1

1055 FCoE SFP+ copper cable, 5m 8

1072 Flash Cache II 1TB 2

1078 2-Port 10-GbE NIC SFP+ 4

1079 4-Port 8-Gbps FC HBA 2

1080 4-Port 6-Gbps SAS HBA 2

2013 10 GbE SFP+ 8

2014 SFP+ Optical Mod. for 1078 8

5900 Data ONTAP Essentials 1

5901 CIFS initial 1

5908 NFS secondary 1

5910 Data ONTAP 1

5920 Flash Cache II 1






36

EXN3000 Expansion Unit

Part Description Ea

2857003 IBM System Storage EXN3000 SAS/SATA Expansion Unit 1

1102 SAS disk power supply 1

2053 2.0 m SAS QSFP-QSFP Cable 2

2064 2.0 m SAS RJ-45 ACP Cable 2

2098 3 Gbps interface 1

4017 600 GB, 15K RPM SAS HDD 20


9562 SAS Stack Identifier 1

BOM for networking

See Networking on page 18 for the number of type of top of rack network switches needed for different user counts. For networking, the following option applies to the BOM:

1. SAN shared storage connectivity

a. 8 Gbps Fibre Channel

b. 16 Gbps Fibre Channel

IBM Rackswitch G8052

Part Description Ea 7309HC1 IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8052 (Rear to Front) 1 6201 1.5m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 3802 1.5m Blue Cat5e Cable 3 A3KP IBM System Networking Adjustable 19" 4 Post Rail Kit 1 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

IBM Rackswitch G8124E

Part Description Ea

7309HC6 IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8124E (Rear to Front) 1

6201 1.5m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2

3802 1.5m Blue Cat5e Cable 1

A1DK IBM 19" Flexible 4 Post Rail Kit 1

2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

IBM Rackswitch G8264

Part Description Ea 7309HC3 IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8264 (Rear to Front) 1 6201 1.5m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2 A3KP IBM System Networking Adjustable 19" 4 Post Rail Kit 1 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1 5053 IBM SFP+ SR Transceiver 2 A1DP 1m IBM QSFP+-to-QSFP+ cable 1 A1DM 3m IBM QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable 4



37

IBM Rackswitch G8264CS


7309HCK IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8264CS (Rear to Front) 1

6201 1.5m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable 2

A2ME Hot-Swappable, Rear-to-Front Fan Assembly Spare 2

A1DK IBM 19" Flexible 4 Post Rail Kit 1

2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

A1DP 1m IBM QSFP+-to-QSFP+ cable 1

A1DM 3m IBM QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable 4

Option 1

1a 5075 IBM 8Gb SFP + SW Optical Transceiver 12

1b Not applicable

IBM SAN24B-5

Option Part Description Ea 2498X24 IBM System Networking SAN24B-5 1 7212 12 Port Activation 1 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

Option 1 1a 2809 SFP+ Transceiver 8 Gbps SW 8-Pack 3 1b 2608 SFP+ Transceiver 16 Gbps SW SFP+ 8-Pack 3

IBM SAN48B-5

Option Part Description Ea 2498F48 IBM System Storage SAN48B-5 1

7411 12 Port Activation 2 2305 Rack Installation of 1U Component 1

Option 1 1a 2809 SFP+ Transceiver 8 Gbps SW SFP+ 8-Pack 6 1b 2608 SFP+ Transceiver 16 Gbps SW SFP+ 8-Pack 6

BOM for racks

The rack count depends on the deployment model. The number of PDUs assumes a fully-populated rack.

IBM Flex System Rack

Part Description Ea 9363RC4 IBM PureFlex System 42U Rack 1 5897 IBM 1U 9 C19/3 C13 Switched and Monitored 60A 3 Phase PDU 6

IBM System x Rack

Part Description Ea 9363RC4 IBM 42U 1100mm Enterprise V2 Dynamic Rack 1 6012 DPI Single-phase 30A/208V C13 Enterprise PDU (US) 6



38

BOM for IBM Flex Chassis

The number of IBM Flex chassis needed for different numbers of users depends on the deployment model. For IBM Flex chassis, the following option applies to the BOM:


a. 10 GbE

b. FCoE or iSCSI



IBM Flex System Chassis

Option Part Description Ea 8721HC1 IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis Base Model 1 A0TA IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis 1 A0UC IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis 2500W Power Module Standard 2 6252 2.5 m, 16A/100-240V, C19 to IEC 320-C20 Rack Power Cable 2 A1PH IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis 2500W Power Module 4 3803 2.5 m, 16A/100-240V, C19 to IEC 320-C20 Rack Power Cable 4 A0UA IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis 80mm Fan Module 4 A0UE IBM Flex System Chassis Management Module 1 3803 3 m Blue Cat5e Cable 2 5053 IBM SFP+ SR Transceiver 2 A1DP 1 m IBM QSFP+ to QSFP+ Cable 2 A1PJ 3 m IBM Passive DAC SFP+ Cable 4 A0TW System Documentation and Software - US English 1 A1NF IBM Flex System Console Breakout Cable 1 A0TD PureFlex System Expansion 2 5075 BladeCenter Chassis Configuration 4 6756ND0 Rack Installation >1U Component 1 675686H IBM Fabric Manager Manufacturing Instruction 1

Option1 1a A3J6 IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093R 10Gb Scalable Switch 2 1a A1EL IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch (Upgrade 1) 2 1b A3HH IBM Flex System Fabric CN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch 2 1b A3HL IBM Flex System Fabric CN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch (Upgrade 1) 2

1b/1c 5075 IBM 8 Gb SFP + SW Optical Transceiver 4 1b/1c 5605 Fiber Cable, 5 meter multimode LC-LC 4

1c A0UD IBM Flex System FC3171 8Gb SAN Switch 2 1d A3DP IBM Flex System FC5022 16Gb SAN Scalable Switch 2 1d A22R Brocade 16Gb SFP + SW Optical Transceiver 2 1d 5605 Fiber Cable, 5 meter multimode LC-LC 4



39

Resources

• IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure reference architecture

ibm.com/partnerworld/page/stg_ast_eis_sdi_infrastructure

• Citrix XenDesktop

citrix.com/products/xendesktop

• VMware vSphere

vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere

• IBM Flex System Interoperability Guide

ibm.com/redbooks/redpapers/pdfs/redpfsig.pdf



40

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