XenServer 6.0 includes enhancements to simplify management, improve performance and scale, and integrate additional high availability and disaster recovery capabilities. Key features include integrated StorageLink for storage management, workload balancing via a virtual appliance, vApps for controlling VM startup order in HA and DR scenarios, and support for Microsoft SCVMM and SCOM. GPU pass-through and IntelliCache are optimized for XenDesktop deployments.

1. XenServer 6.0
Workshop
Christian Ferber
Systems Engineer Datacenter & Cloud
Server Virtualization

2. Agenda
• General Enhancements
• Workload Balancing
• StorageLink
• High Availability / Site Recovery
• IaaS Cloud Improvements
• Microsoft SCVMM and SCOM Support
• Optimized for XenDesktop

3. General Enhancements

4. Simplicity & Ease of Use
• Installation, upgrade and
management of a XenServer
environment has been
drastically simplified
• Integrated StorageLink
• Workload Balancing Virtual Appliance
• Integrated Site Recovery
• vApps
• Rolling Pool Upgrade Wizard
• Simplified Installer

5. Rolling Pool Upgrade
• Fully automated upgrades
(after pre-checks)
• Requires HTTP, NFS or FTP
share
• Semi-automated upgrades
• CD or PXE
• Dedicated for full release
upgrades

6. Performance & Scale Improvements
• 16 vCPU per VM
• 128Gb Memory per VM
• 1TB Physical RAM support
• XenCenter now parallelizes
XenAPI operations

7. New guest support
• Updated Guest Support
• Debian Squeeze 6.0 64-bit
• Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.0 (32 and 64-bit)
• SLES 10 SP4 (32 and 64-bit)
• New Guest Support
• Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 (32 and 64-bit)
• Experimental Guest Support
• CentOS 6.0 (32 and
64-bit)
• Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10 (32 and 64-bit)
• Solaris 10

8. Migration / Import / Export of VMs
• XenConvert now focused on P2V
• Fully supported VM disk and OVF appliance import directly from
XenCenter
• Change parameters during Import wizard
• Name
• vCPU
• vMemory
• Virtual Interfaces
• Target SR
• Run operating fix-ups to remove system drivers, vm tools, etc.
from incoming image

9. Live Demo
XenServer basic functionalities

10. Workload Balancing

11. WLB Process
• See details in WLB admin guide
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX127330

12. WLB XenServer 6.0 value
• Reduced footprint
• Reduced add-on costs as
• no additional Windows license required
• no additional database license required
• Ease of use
• Building-block concept, WLB scales with each pool

13. WLB XenServer 6.0
• Move from Windows installed service to Linux appliance
• Integrated PostgreSQL database vs. SQL server
requirement
• Import appliance – configure - go
• 1 WLB appliance per pool
• Retired support for report subscriptions

14. Live Demo
WLB

15. Integrated
StorageLink

16. StorageLink – Enhanced Storage Integration
XenServer(s)
Management
Communication
Fast cloning
Snapshots
Data Communication Deduplication
Recovery
...

17. XenServer StorageLink Evolution
StorageLink Gateway Integrated StorageLink
+ FibreChannel & iSCSI + FibreChannel & iSCSI
+ add. storages (e.g. EMC) + add. storages in future
- high availability required (e.g. EMC)
- additional Windows lic + integrated high availability
+ no Windows license
+ NetApp
+ Dell Equalogic
StorageLink Adapter StorageLink Adapter
+ NetApp + NetApp
+ Dell Equalogic + Dell Equalogic
- iSCSI only - iSCSI only
XenServer <5.5 5.5 – 5.6 SP2 6.0

18. Integrated StorageLink Architecture
XenServer Host
XAPI Daemon
SMAPI
CSLG
LVM NFS NetApp …
Bridge
EQL NetApp SMI-S …

19. Integrated StorageLink - Screenshots

20. Live Demo
StorageLink

21. High Availability

22. Hochverfügbarkeit
Protected Protected
Device Drivers Device Drivers Device Drivers
Do not Protected
XenTool Stack restart XenTool Stack XenTool Stack
Xen Hypervisor Xen Hypervisor Xen Hypervisor
Bare Metal Hardware Bare Metal Hardware Bare Metal Hardware
Remote VM Guest Storage

23. XenServer 6.0 HA solution
• XenServer 5.6 SP2 and older
• Quorum requires iSCSI or FC LUN
• XenServer 6.0
• Quorum can be on iSCSI, FC or NFS

24. Site Recovery

25. vApps
• Introduction of vApp object in XenServer 6.0
• Instance for grouping of VMs and defining start order
• 1 VM can be part of 1 vApp
• Several vApps can be created

26. vApp: VM start order
• To be used for
• HA
• Disaster Recovery
• Start order number
• Start delay: „How long
should VM wait to do next
vApp action?“

27. XenServer Disaster Recovery Evolution
StorageLink XenServer Disaster
SiteRecovery Recovery
+ high automation + support for virtually all
- high storage dependency storages
- only NetApp and HP + independent on storage
Lefthand mirroring solution
- StorageLink gateway VM + LVM FC / iSCSI
- add. Windows license + XenServer and XenCenter
- additional management GUI integration
manually using metadata manually using metadata manually using metadata
import / export import / export import / export
XenServer <5.5 5.5 – 5.6 SP2 6.0

28. Disaster Recovery Architecture
XenServer Disaster Recovery
in case of failure of Site A
VM VM VM VM VM VM
1 2 n 1 2 n
XenServer XenServer
Pool A Pool B
Data Replication
by Storage
Storage A Storage B

29. XenServer 6.0 Disaster Recovery
• Support for all HCL listed storages (LVM, iSCSI/FC)
• Leverages storage vendor replication solution
• Full wizard based XenCenter integration
• Leverages vApps for controlled recovery
• Test / failover / failback support
• No management VM required

30. Live Demo
vApps / HA / Site Recovery

31. Networking Improvements

32. Open Virtual Switch for XenServer
• Strong interest for Software-Defined
Networking & OpenFlow in Cloud
• XenServer Virtual Switch provides
“open” alternative to proprietary
networking stacks
• Provides layer for future ecosystem
value add
• Open vSwitch default networking stack
in XenServer 6.0

33. Open Virtual Switch for XenServer
• Open vSwitch is the default network stack in
XenServer 6.0
• Linux Bridge users will be automatically upgraded
to Open vSwitch
• Reverting to Linux Bridge is possible through CLI
• Future networking enhancements will be focused
on Open vSwitch

34. Active-Backup Bonding Support
• Added to XenServer
5.6 FP1 for Linux
Bridge
• CLI only in 5.6 FP1
• Added support for
Active-Backup for
Open vSwitch
• Configurable through
XenCenter

35. MS SCVMM / SCOM
support

36. Support for SCVMM and SCOM
• XenServer 6.0 supports SCVMM
and SCOM
• Management of XenServer VMs via System
Center Virtual Machine Manager
• System Center Operations Manager pack for
monitoring
• Support for various VM and host
operations and monitoring
• Certain Host/Pool management
operations still in XenCenter (e.g.
HA, DR)

37. SCVMM & XenServer Capabilities
• VM Deployment • Host Management
• VM Template and Services Deployment • Dynamic Optimization
• Intelligent Placement (Host Rating) • Power Optimization
• Support for PV and HVM Virtual Machines • Maintenance Mode
• VMM Templates (not XenServer Templates) • Storage Repositories
• VM Migration • Network
• XenMotion (within the attached Resource • OOB Integration
Pool) • Support for logical networks
• LAN Migration between XenServer and the • Network Topology View
VMM Library
• No V2V (use P2V instead)

38. Support for SCVMM
• SCVMM communicates with
CIMOM in XenServer which
communicates with XAPI
• Requires SCVMM 2012
• Very easy to setup
• Delivered as Integration Suite
Supplemental Pack
• Add Resource Pool or host
• Secure communication
using certificates

39. SCVMM Screenshots

40. Support for SCOM
• Monitor XenServer hosts through System Center Operations
Manager
• Support for SCOM 2007 R2
• Part of Integration Suite Supplemental Pack
• Monitor various host information (considered Linux host)
• Memory usage
• Process information
• Health status
• Requires Enterprise or Platinum

41. SCOM Screenshots

42. Live Demo
SCVMM Integration

43. XenServer for XenDesktop

44. XenServer integrated HA for management / API
• No single point of failure by pooled architecture
• Management HA integrated, no extra service
• XenDesktop support for XenServer HA / Master failover
1.2
1.1
1.3
XenDesktop Controller XenServer Pool

45. XenDesktop
XenServer – Best platform for XenDesktop
XenServer
• >50% of XenDesktop deployments run on XenServer
• XenServer Enterprise included in XenDesktop
• XenServer reduces server and storage cost massively
Windows 7 Windows 7
50% lower central storage cost
by IntelliCacheTM 1 n
Best support for HDX 3D desktops
by GPU Pass-Thru
More desktops per server
by Dynamic Memory Control IntelliCacheTM
and more … Storage XenServer

46. 2 deployment options for XenDesktop VMs
Machine
Provisioning
Creation
Server
Services
(PVS)
(MCS)

47. Storage I/O for desktop deployment
Provisioning Windows Cache Target side cache option
Storage
Server
Provisioning Server Hypervisor
(PVS)
I/O + Space
Machine Storage Hypervisor
Creation
Services
(MCS) Array side caching
Storage I/O + Space Storage Hypervisor
Cache
• While MCS provides advantages like ease-of-use or simple architecture all I/O
hits storage capacity

48. IntelliCacheTM
Local storage caching for Machine Creation Services
Machine
Creation I/O + Space
Services Storage Hypervisor
(MCS) Target side caching
Storage IntelliCacheTM
XenServer
• IntelliCacheTM enhances machine creation service by target side caching
architecture
• XenDesktop deployments scale with each server added
• Inexpensive local storage reduces TCO

49. IntelliCacheTM in action
XenServer Host
Pooled R/W Cache
at runtime
Desktops
Intellicache
Read Cache
NFS Shared Storage
Base Disk
Clones per VM

50. Live Demo
IntelliCache

51. GPU Pass-through Support
• Enables high-end graphics in
VDI deployments with HDX 3D
Pro
• Optimal CAD application
support with XenDesktop
• More powerful than
RemoteFX, virtual GPUs, or
other general purpose graphics
solutions

52. Benefits of GPU Pass-through
Without GPU pass-through, each With GPU pass-through, hardware
user requires their own Blade PC costs are cut up to 75%
GPU cards
XenServer Host

53. GPU Pass-through: How does it work
• Identical GPUs in a host auto-create a
GPU group
• The GPU Group can be assigned to set of
VMs – each VM will attach to a GPU at
VM boottime
• When all GPUs in a group are in use,
additional VMs requiring GPUs will not
start
• GPU and non-GPU VMs can (and should)
be mixed on a host
• GPU groups are recognized within a pool
• If Server 1, 2, 3 each have GPU type 1, then VMs
requiring GPU type 1 can be started on any of those
servers

54. Initial Supported Hardware – Limited HCL
• Server
• HP ProLiant WS460c G6 Workstation series*
• GPU (1-4 per host)
• NVIDIA Quadro 4000, 5000, 6000
• NVIDIA Tesla M2070Q
• Support for Windows guest only
• Self Certification kit TBD
• Important: Combinations of servers +
GPUs must be tested as a pair

55. Live Demo
GPU Pass-Thru

56. Summary

57. Citrix XenServer 6.0 Family
• Site Recovery
Platinum • Provisioning Services for Physical Servers
• GPU Pass-Thru
• Monitoring Pack for SystemCenter Operations Manager
• Workload Balancing incl. Power Management
• StorageLinkTM Advanced Storage Management
• IntelliCacheTM for XenDesktop Storage Optimization
Enterprise
• Role-based Administration
XenServer • Live Memory Snapshots Includes also
Premium • Provisioning Services for Virtual Servers Provisioning for
Editions • Web Management Console with delegated Administration physical
desktops
• Automated VM Protection and Recovery
• Distributed Virtual Switching included in
• Mixed Resource Pools by CPU Masking
Advanced XenDesktop
• Dynamic Memory Control
• High Availability for XenDesktop related
• Performance Reporting and Alerting workloads
• Management Integration with SystemCenter Virtual Machine Manager
• SAN Boot Multipathing Support
XenServer Free • Active Directory Integration
• Storage Snapshots
• No socket restriction
• XenCenter Management incl. shared storage and XenMotionTM