With the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop 1903 release, Machine Creation Services continues to improve! The RAM-based write cache feature has been updated and improved. I wanted to see how the new RAM-based write cache capability compared to the previous version and how it compares to a desktop without using a RAM-based write cache. First,… Continue reading Updated IO Optimization with Machine Creation Services
Tag: RAM Cache
Improving Logon Time with PVS Accelerator
The title is correct. We can improve user logon time by implementing PVS accelerator in XenServer 7.1. This actually makes perfect sense. We already showed that PVS Accelerator drastically improves VM boot times because portions of the master vDisk image are cached locally. Booting a VM equates to roughly 80% reads and 20% writes. VMs… Continue reading Improving Logon Time with PVS Accelerator
PVS vs MCS – Part 7: Summary
As Q said in the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “All good things must come to an end” and after 6 previous blogs focusing on deciding between Provisioning Services and Machine Creation Services, it is time to end. As I explained, over the past 5 years, improvements were made to Provisioning Services… Continue reading PVS vs MCS – Part 7: Summary
Machine Creation Services RAM Cache and XenServer IntelliCache
As I was discussing the storage optimization capabilities in the Machine Creation Services vs Provisioning Services debate, I mentioned the use of a XenServer RAM-based read cache. This can be misunderstood as XenServer IntelliCache (a mistake I’m sad to say I’ve made in the past). XenServer IntelliCache (released with XenServer 5.6 SP1) and XenServer RAM… Continue reading Machine Creation Services RAM Cache and XenServer IntelliCache
PVS vs. MCS – Part 3: Storage Optimization
This is part of a series comparing Provisioning Services and Machine Creation Services Part 1: Resource Delivery Options Part 2: Scalability Part 3: Storage Optimization Part 4: Deployment Part 5: On-going Maintenance Part 6: Architecture Part 7: Summary For years, storage optimization has been one of the major strengths of Provisioning Services. With PVS,… Continue reading PVS vs. MCS – Part 3: Storage Optimization
Sizing Windows 10 and Windows 7 Virtual Machines
After reviewing all of the scalability tests we conducted over the past few months, I thought it was time to revisit the recommendations for sizing Windows 10 virtual machines. I also reached out to Nick Rintalan to see if this is in line with what is currently being recommended for production environments (if you disagree,… Continue reading Sizing Windows 10 and Windows 7 Virtual Machines
Windows 10 IOPS
XenDesktop 7.7 and Windows 10
The other day, I was able to share the latest single server density results when running Windows 7 on XenDesktop 7.7. We looked at a range of parameters like: PVS vs MCS PVS Disk Cache vs RAM Cache Citrix Policies: Very High Definition vs High Server Scalability vs Optimized for WAN Windows 7 optimizations Once… Continue reading XenDesktop 7.7 and Windows 10
XenDesktop 7.7 and Windows 7
We recently completed a massive round of testing looking at many of the different deployment configurations we can do with a Windows 7 desktop in XenDesktop 7.7. We wanted to look at how different factors might impact single server scalability. PVS vs MCS PVS Disk Cache vs RAM Cache Citrix Policies: Very High Definition vs… Continue reading XenDesktop 7.7 and Windows 7
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see the value in RAM Cache
A few years ago, we replaced all of our windows in our home (I’m talking about the panes of glass you look through, not the operating system). We, of course, talked with a few different companies who stopped by, went through their product portfolio and brought along samples. One demonstration stuck with me. The sales… Continue reading You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see the value in RAM Cache
