VDI Local Storage Vs. Shared Storage

[MatthewDay]

Good Morning Everyone,

I am getting ready to implement VDI in my Vmware infrastructure
and have encountered the question of Shared Storage vs. Local Storage for my VM’s.
Through the research I have found online, this seems to be a highly debated
topic, however the debates I find seem to be dated by 2-3 years.

I am wondering if any of you could share your experiences
with either type of storage and the Pro’s and Con’s associated with each. For example,
I’ve heard that the only avenue of management for Local Storage is through a
Web Portal, vs. the ability to manage Shared Storage through Vcenter.

Again, any discussion regarding this topic would be greatly
appreciated. I would like to get as much information as possible before I make
the decision.

Quick info on my environment:

100 Users

Persistent Desktops

2 servers dedicated to VDI (Both 128GB RAM, 8 – 900GB SAS
drives, etc)

We currently have a NetApp SAN solution in place. Looking to
reduce if local storage is feasible.

[bayupw]

Hi

Components that requires shared storage are:

- Management VMs such as: vCenter Server, Database Server (if separated), View Management VMs

- User Data

- parent base image

Do you host the Management VMs on that 2 servers as well?
Or do you have separate ESXi hosts for those Management VMs?

The virtual desktops can be placed on local storage, it would be better if you use SSD for local storage (don't forget the cache).

In my opinion, local storage is more suitable for Stateless Desktops.

There is a reference architecture for stateless desktops on local solid-state storage that you can follow here: http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/view/VMware-stateless-virtual-desktops-ref-arch.pdf

[MatthewDay]

Hi Bayu

All my Management VM's are being hosted in a sperate ESXi cluster. I intend to use the 2 servers as just VDI hosts.

[TedH256]

I would consider adding a 3rd host and then using vSAN, which is shared storage created out of local disks. Requires three hosts, and each host needs one SSD drive.

This is purpose-built storage - a fantastic choice for View desktops. It is much better to keep View off of your main storage array anyway, unless you have carefully considered IOPS requirements ///

[ReinerHeinz]

Virtual disk latency is a key defining property is perceived user performance.  If you go with shared storage then look for something optimised for low latency.

[Gaurav_Baghla]

Hello Mathew I agree with ted and you can use Vsan for the best performance and apart from that if you are not thinking of adding an extra server and an extra license for Vsan Go for Local Storage specially SSD and you would always have nice Performance.

1)Make Sure you enable Storage Accelerator AKA CBRC

2) Use Space Efficient Sparse Virtual Disks