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VDI Design Guide—VMware Horizon on 3rd Gen AMD EPYC-based VxRail and vSAN Ready Nodes
Introduction Solution architecture Validation
Test and performance analysis methodology
Standard VDI test results and analysis
Sizing the Solution Backup and Restore Summary References Appendix A: Definition of performance metrics

Test and performance analysis methodology

Home > Workload Solutions > Virtual Desktop Infrastructure > Design and Implementation Guides > VDI Design Guide—VMware Horizon on 3rd Gen AMD EPYC-based VxRail and vSAN Ready Nodes > Test and performance analysis methodology

Test and performance analysis methodology

  • Performance analysis and characterization (PAAC) testing on Dell VDI solutions is carried out using a carefully designed, holistic methodology that monitors both hardware resource utilization parameters and end-user experience (EUE) during load-testing. This ensures the optimal combination of EUE and cost-per-user.

    Login VSI performance testing process and monitoring

    We tested each user load against four runs:

    • A pilot run to validate that the infrastructure was performing correctly and that valid data could be captured.
    • Three subsequent runs to enable data correlation.

    During testing, while the environment was under load, we logged in to a session and completed tasks that correspond to the user workload. This test is subjective, but it provides a better understanding of the EUE in the desktop sessions, particularly under high load. It also helps to ensure reliable data gathering.

    To ensure that the user experience was not compromised, we monitored the following important resources:

    • Compute host servers—Solutions based on VMware vCenter for VMware vSphere gather key data (CPU, memory, disk, and network usage) from each of the compute hosts during each test run. This data is exported to .csv files for single hosts and then consolidated to show data from all hosts. While the report does not include specific performance metrics for the management host servers, these servers are monitored during testing to ensure that they are performing at an expected level with no bottlenecks.
    • Hardware resources—Resource overutilization can cause poor EUE. We monitored the relevant resource utilization parameters and compared them to relatively conservative thresholds. These thresholds are shown in the following table. They were selected based on industry best practices and our experience to provide an optimal trade-off between good EUE and cost-per-user while also allowing sufficient burst capacity for seasonal or intermittent spikes in demand.
      Table 5. Resource utilization parameters
      Parameter Pass/fail threshold
      Physical host CPU utilization 85% 1
      Physical host memory utilization 85%
      Network throughput 85%
      Disk latency 20 milliseconds
      Login VSI failed sessions 2%

    Load generation

    Login VSI installs a standard collection of desktop application software, including Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Reader, on each VDI desktop testing instance. It then uses a configurable launcher system to connect a specified number of simulated users to available desktops within the environment. When the simulated user is connected, a login script configures the user environment and starts a defined workload. Each launcher system can launch connections to several VDI desktops (target machines). A centralized management console configures and manages the launchers and the Login VSI environment.

    We used the following login and boot conditions:

    • Users were logged in within a login timeframe of one hour.
    • All desktops were started before users were logged in.

    Login VSI workloads

    The following table describes the Login VSI workloads that we tested:

    Table 6. Login VSI workloads
    Login VSI workload name Workload description
    Task Worker A light workload that runs fewer applications and starts/stops them less frequently than the other workloads, resulting in lower CPU, RAM, and IO usage. The Task Worker workload uses the following applications:
    • Adobe Reader
    • Internet Explorer
    • Microsoft Excel
    • Microsoft Outlook
    • Microsoft Word
    It also uses native Windows apps (Notepad and 7-Zip) to complete the print and zip actions used by the workload meta functions.
    Knowledge Worker Designed for virtual machines with 2 vCPUs. This workload includes the following activities:
    • Microsoft Outlook—Browse messages.
    • Internet Explorer—Browse websites and open a YouTube-style video (480p movie trailer) three times in every loop.
    • Microsoft Word—Start one instance to measure response time and another to review and edit a document.
    • Doro PDF Printer and Acrobat Reader—Print a Word document and export it to PDF.
    • Microsoft Excel—Open a large, randomized sheet.
    • Microsoft PowerPoint—Review and edit a presentation.
    • FreeMind—Run a Java-based Mind Mapping application.
    • Other—Perform various copy and zip actions.

    Test configuration details

    The following tables list the hardware and software components of the infrastructure that was used for the PAAC test. All host machines were updated with the latest operating system and security updates.

    The following table shows the hardware components:

    Table 7. Hardware components
    Hardware type Component
    Compute host hardware 3 x PowerEdge R7525 Servers
    • 2 x AMD EPYC 7543 @ 2.8 GHz, 32-core processors
    • 2,048 GB Memory @ 2933 MT/s (32 x 64 GB DDR4)
    • Broadcom Adv. Dual 25 Gb Ethernet 25 Gbps
    Management host hardware R730
    Storage vSAN

    BOSS S2

    • 2 x 400 GB NVMe + 6 x 1.92 TB SSDs per host.
    • Two vSAN disk groups
    Network S5248-ON Switch

    The following table shows the software components:

    Table 8. Software components
    Software type Program/version
    Display protocol BLAST Extreme H.264 + Switch Codec
    Broker VMware Horizon 8
    Hypervisor vSphere ESXi 7.0.3
    SQL Microsoft SQL Server 2019
    Desktop operating system Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit (version 21H2)
    Office software Microsoft Office 365 / 2019
    Management operating system Microsoft Windows Server 2019
    Login VSI version 4.1.40.1
    Antivirus software Windows Defender
    User VM configurations

    The following table summarizes the standard PAAC VM configurations for Login VSI currently used for the various profiles/workloads tested:

    Table 9. Login VSI configurations
    Workload VM profiles
    vCPUs RAM RAM reserved Desktop video resolution Operating system
    Knowledge Worker 2 4 GB 2 GB 1920 x 1080 Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit
    Task Worker 8 32 GB 32 GB 1280 x 720 Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit
    1 The Dell Validated Design for VDI team recommends that average CPU utilization not exceed 85 percent in a production environment. A 5 percent margin of error was allocated for this validation effort. Therefore, CPU utilization sometimes exceeds our recommended percentage. Because of the nature of Login VSI testing, these exceptions are reasonable for determining our sizing guidance.