Working from the documentation, the below is my working understanding of the Composer pool creation process (clearly I am aiming to use esxi servers that have local SSD drives, just for storing replicas and clones):
Vm name | Template or snapshot | Note | Datastore |
Win7-base | Put all the base apps here: office, Adobe, Flash, etc … optimize it | Production (not ssd) | |
Clone the above, then convert to template: Win7-GoldMaster template | This can be used to easily spin up another base vm if you need to create a new template, etc … | Production | |
Win7-Parent (deployed from template above) | Install View agent here, any software that may be specific to this pool | Production | |
Create snapshot | This snapshot will be used to create replica | Production | |
Replica (based upon snapshot, created when pool is created) | The replica is the basis of the clone vms that are created in the pool | SSD | |
Clone VMs | Created automagically | Do not separate the replica and the clones (you can, but no reason to here) | SSD |
Have I left anything out? Have I mis-understood anything?
- Also I am wondering: is it "ok" or even "good practice" to create a second snap-shot from a parent Vm (in my example above "Win7-Parent")?
- Also - is there a decent way to calculate required storage? If my parent VM is say 35GB, then how big will the replicas get, and how big can I expect clones to get if I never recompose? (mostly trying to figure out how many clones + replica I can get on one hosts SSD drive) - or do I need to creat a new parent for each new pool that I want to create?
- Also - am I right in thinking that the replica should be on the SSD drive (the same datastore where the clones will be) for performance reasons?
- Also - does it make sense to use linked clones for persistent desktops? I assume that if file and profile re-direction are in place, then really it shouldn't matter whether the Vm ever gets "recomposed" or "refreshed", should it?
- What is the difference between "recomposed" and "refreshed" and "rebalanced" anyway?
Thanx for any clarification you can help me with!