XenDesktop Planning Guide – Site Capacity

Overview

When starting a XenDesktop 5 project, one of the first questions asked is “How many servers are required?” Recommendations to the size of a XenDesktop 5 site and the number of servers required to support a particular user load is often based on scalability tests and estimates. Due to changes in XenDesktop 5, there is a greater reliance on the SQL Database instead of on the XenDesktop Master Controller, which is now an outdated design principle.

In fact, the general recommendation with XenDesktop 5 is to provide resources to the SQL Database and add additional XenDesktop Controllers as server capacity reaches critical thresholds. The critical thresholds are important in determining how large a site can become and how many desktops a controller can adequately support. Many of the “scalability tests” done in controlled lab environments are meant for high-level planning purposes. This guide provides the details so these estimates can be put into real-world practices.

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