VM Server and Nvidia K2 GRiD

[stevieb]

I don't know if this is of interest to anyone here. but we have just finished a deployment at work that covers the following

 

Requirements to provide 50 Workstations in centralized location for power and network redundancy

25 Compute Servers

SAN data Store

 

Compute Cluster (All data stored on SAN)

Dual E5-2667-2 (3.3Ghz 8 Core)

96 Gig Ram

1.2 TB Extreme SF Fast Cache

Nvidia GRiD K2 Graphics

2x Power Supplies

 

SAN Data Store (Tiered Storage)

400x 900Gig SAS Drive

20x 200GB Fast Cache

14x Power Supplies

 

VMs

16 Core or 32 Core

40 or 80 Gig

1536 Graphics Cores Allocated to Each 16 Core VM

3072 Graphics Cores Allocated to Each 32 Core VM

All Data Stores are located on the SAN no storage in Compute Cluster

 

NAS - Archive Solution

300x 2TB NL-SAS

 

Network

Converged Fibre SAN/10Gig Network to all Compute Clusters

Redundancy in Networking 2x Cisco Nexus Switches

 

Others

2hr UPS power supply for Primary power (Electrical Supply 1 from National Grid)

15 Minute power supply for Secondary Power (Backup Electrical Supply from National Grid alternative circuit)

secondary power supply has provision to be power by onsite generator for 30 days.

 

Backup

Local backup provided by VNX snapshot

Offisite backup provided by Veritas (Local and Offsite appliances installed in datacenter)

NAS is backed up on a Quantum Tape library and tapes rotated to secure offsite location.

[leadeater]

What are you using for the VDI tool? VMware Horizon View? Citrix XenDesktop?

[leadeater]

Also the clients must have some serious compute requirements, that VM density is terrible. Or is the farm actually deployed to serve more than the 50 in the requirements?

 

How my drives you got in that i80? Got two of them but only using 2 drives per library myself, needed the slots more than the drive capacity.

[stevieb]

We are running a VMware Sphere platform.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/

 

I am the Client!!! Designed internally to fit a certain requirement of our team.

 

Our LTO has a 4 Tape Drive and 128 Slots

 

The system is used by a total of 10 users, using our own bespoke software

 

Also you quote VM Density, why is it terrible? The system was only virtualized so we can maintain a 100% uptime using VMotion. The system is operated at 80% load 7 days a week. so any over provisioning of the CPU and Memory will provide any advantages to the work we do.

 

Virtualization was for management and reliability only. Yes we can operate 1000 normal Load PCs on this but it was built for a purpose.

[leadeater]

10 minutes ago, stevieb said:

I am the Client!!! Designed internally to fit a certain requirement of our team.

I meant the virtualized desktop, as in client vs server 

[stevieb]

The Workstations are all Win 2008 R2 Enterprise Server for compatibility issues. We are investigating upgrading to a later MS Server Version, this is being undertaken on our older platform of HP 2x Hex Core Xeons operating at 3.47Ghz

 

All software is written in house by us.

 

Attached Typical CPU usage for a single VM, Run Time is critical for us

Also I must ad that we also have a 480 CPU Hadoop Cluster, these Compute Clusters are occasionally repurposed and the Hadoop VM Cluster fired up to assist with big number crunching tasks

 

[leadeater]

13 minutes ago, stevieb said:

The system is used by a total of 10 users, using our own bespoke software

 

Also you quote VM Density, why is it terrible? The system was only virtualized so we can maintain a 100% uptime using VMotion. The system is operated at 80% load 7 days a week. so any over provisioning of the CPU and Memory will provide any advantages to the work we do.

 

Virtualization was for management and reliability only. Yes we can operate 1000 normal Load PCs on this but it was built for a purpose.

Yea figured you must be very demanding per VM, so much hardware for so few. Very nice setup anyway, VDI is an area of personal interest of mine.

 

Are the GPUs used for just compute or actual 3D rendering output to a display. That's basically why I was wondering if you were using Horizon View/XenDesktop, usually need a special client to connect to the VM to be able to actually use the 3D output. Microsoft RemoteFX can also do it too.

[stevieb]

The K2s are being used to assist with the compute function only.