Deploying desktops on virtual machines that are managed by vCenter Server provides all the storage efficiencies that were previously available only for virtualized servers. Using View Composer increases the storage savings because all virtual machines in a pool share a virtual disk with a base image.
Managing Storage with vSphere vSphere lets you virtualize disk volumes and file systems so that you can manage and configure storage without having to consider where the data is physically stored.
Reducing Storage Requirements with View Composer Because View Composer creates desktop images that share virtual disks with a base image, you can reduce the required storage capacity by 50 to 90 percent.
Storage Sizing for Linked-Clone Desktop Pools View provides high-level guidelines that can help you determine how much storage a linked-clone desktop pool requires. A table in the Add Desktop Pool wizard shows a general estimate of the linked-clone disks' storage requirements when the pool is created and as the linked clones grow over time.
Storage Overcommit for Linked-Clone Virtual Machines With the storage overcommit feature, you can reduce storage costs by placing more linked-clone virtual machines on a datastore than is possible with full virtual machines. The linked clones can use a logical storage space several times greater than the physical capacity of the datastore.
Linked-Clone Data Disks View Composer creates more than one data disk to store the components of a linked-clone virtual machine.
Storing Linked Clones on Local Datastores Linked-clone virtual machines can be stored on local datastores, which are internal spare disks on ESXi hosts. Local storage offers advantages such as inexpensive hardware, fast virtual-machine provisioning, high performance power operations, and simple management. However, using local storage limits the vSphere infrastructure configuration options that are available to you. Using local storage is beneficial in certain View environments but not appropriate in others.
Storing View Composer Replicas and Linked Clones on Separate Datastores You can place View Composer replicas and linked clones on separate datastores with different performance characteristics. This flexible configuration can speed up intensive operations such as provisioning many linked clones at once or running antivirus scans.
Configure View Storage Accelerator for Desktop Pools You can configure desktop pools to enable ESXi hosts to cache virtual machine disk data. This feature, called View Storage Accelerator, uses the Content Based Read Cache (CBRC) feature in ESXi hosts. View Storage Accelerator can reduce IOPS and improve performance during boot storms, when many machines start up or run anti-virus scans at once. The feature is also beneficial when administrators or users load applications or data frequently. To use this feature, you must make sure that View Storage Accelerator is enabled for individual desktop pools.
Reclaim Disk Space on Linked-Clone Virtual Machines In vSphere 5.1 and later, you can configure the disk space reclamation feature for linked-clone desktop pools and automated farms. Starting in vSphere 5.1, View creates linked-clone virtual machines in an efficient disk format that allows ESXi hosts to reclaim unused disk space on the linked clones, reducing the total storage space required for linked clones.
Using View Composer Array Integration with Native NFS Snapshot Technology (VAAI) If your deployment includes NAS devices that support the vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI), you can enable the View Composer Array Integration (VCAI) feature on linked-clone pools. This feature uses native NFS snapshot technology to clone virtual machines.
Set Blackout Times for ESXi Operations on View Virtual Machines Regenerating digest files for View Storage Accelerator and reclaiming virtual machine disk space can use ESXi resources. To ensure that ESXi resources are dedicated to foreground tasks when necessary, you can prevent the ESXi hosts from performing these operations during specified periods of time on specified days.