Previously, we went over how power management works with XenDesktop 5. Why? Was it because I have nothing else to talk about? No. I went over this because many people are wondering why they would need to change the settings. If you have no idea what I’m talking about with regards to power management, check out the previous blogs:
The question now comes down to why you would ever change the power management functionality. The function and the buffer levels are perfect for every situation right?
Wrong. In fact, I’ve already seen a few designs where these settings needed to be modified to fit in with the business climate. Here are a few examples:
- A desktop group has exactly 750 users. To prevent a boot storm from impacting the environment, the available desktop count is set at 750 desktops 1 hour before the start of the workday. Because no more users are supposed to use the desktop group, this organization didn’t want to have a buffer. Power management was disabled for this group. Another recommendation would be to drop the buffer to 1% (7 desktops) so if a user’s virtual desktop crashed, they could immediately go to another pooled desktop.
- A desktop group had 25 users. With the default buffer setting at 10%, only 2 desktops were added. The organization wanted a higher buffer to help reduce load during a change in shifts as well as unforeseen issues. The buffer setting was increased to 25% for this desktop group (6 desktops).
These are just two examples from two different scenarios. In some situations 10% equates to too many desktops, and in other scenarios 10% is too few. Adjusting these levels based on your desktop group and user behaviors helps provide an environment that can meet the user demands.
Daniel – Lead Architect
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