Design guide for Citrix XenDesktop on NetApp Storage is published today. The Citrix XenDesktop 7.5 system, which now incorporates both traditional, hosted Windows 7 or Windows 8 virtual desktops, hosted applications, and hosted shared Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 server desktops (formerly delivered by Citrix XenApp) provides unparalleled scale and management simplicity while extending the Citrix HDX FlexCast models to mobile devices.

NetApp clustered Data ONTAP—with its key capabilities such as nondisruptive operations, unified storage, multiprotocol architecture, secure multi-tenancy, storage efficiency, read and write performance, and cost efficient data protection—is ideal for cost-effectively designing and deploying end-to-end storage solutions for desktop virtualization based on a single or mix of various XenDesktop FlexCast models.

This technical report provides key storage design and architecture best practices for deploying a mix of FlexCast technologies on a NetApp clustered Data ONTAP storage array. It also includes performance testing results and solution scalability guidelines that prove that NetApp clustered Data ONTAP can cost effectively scale to thousands of desktops without adding complexity.