Deployment Questions

[hdhjclark]

I was hoping to get some assistance with a new deployment of Horizon. I am going to give a over view of the build so far.

Nutanix Cluster NX-3060-G7 with AOS 5.10.9.1 LTS it is a 3 node cluster. the hypervisors are ESXi VMware ESXi, 6.7.0, 8169922

Questions:

1. Does the VCenter this cluster is connected to, need to be a separate VCenter, dedicated to Horizon and the Cluster?
   
2. If so, Does that VCenter need to be running on that cluster or can it actually reside on my normal Server Cluster which is a traditional build HPE server cluster?
3. Are there any pre-built server OVFs/Appliances that can be downloaded for all the individual pieces of Horizon? Do I need to hand build the servers? I can't seem to find any. Similiar to VCenter Appliance.
   
4. Is Windows Server 2019 compatible for those individual server pieces?
5. Does anyone know of a good step by step guide to installing and deploying Horizon?

[RoderikdeBlock · Accepted solution]

1Does the VCenter this cluster is connected to, need to be a separate VCenter, dedicated to Horizon and the Cluster?

It doesn't have to be a separate vcenter but it is a best practice. Horizon wil create a lot of noise in the vCenter while it's creating/destroying/cloning all the time.

2 If so, Does that VCenter need to be running on that cluster or can it actually reside on my normal Server Cluster which is a traditional build HPE server cluster?

vCenter can run in another cluster with your other servers.

3 Are there any pre-built server OVFs/Appliances that can be downloaded for all the individual pieces of Horizon? Do I need to hand build the servers? I can't seem to find any. Similiar to VCenter    Appliance.

Horizon Connection and composer server have to be installed on a Windows server. You will also need an SQL server for your event database or composer database if you are planning to use Linked Clones.

4 Is Windows Server 2019 compatible for those individual server pieces?

Windows Server 2019 is supported with Horizon Connection Server 7.8 and newer.

5 Does anyone know of a good step by step guide to installing and deploying Horizon?

Carl Stalhood describes on his website how to setup Horizon step by step. https://www.carlstalhood.com/vmware-horizon-7-connection-server/

[hdhjclark]

Great answers thank you! I am currently studying the labs located at Labs.hol.vmware.com . I will visit your recommended guide next. As i was going through these labs I had another question that popped in to my head. I suppose it is more of a clarification question related to question 1.

The dedicated VCenter for Horizon makes sense, due to the high volume of traffic. Does the Nutanix cluster with its 3 ESXi hosts and 3 CVMs reside there as well as all of VDI machines? Meaning, now that I have a second VCenter up I should remove the entire cluster with ESXi and CVMs over to this new VCenter?

[RoderikdeBlock]

If you plan to run the VDI's on these hosts they have to be moved to the new vCenter.

[hdhjclark]

Thanks again!