Hi
With XenApp / RDSH, it’s relatively strait forwards to design as the vGPU configuration options are pretty standard. Basically, 8GB is the number you should "typically" be looking to use for XenApp, and the configuration options would be as follows:
The most cost effective (cheapest) solution is to still use the M10 for XenApp deployments. The M10 has 4 GPUs on a single board, and you’ll put 2 of those boards in a single 2U server. This will give you the capability of running 8 XenApp VMs per Server, each with an 8A vGPU profile.
A more future proof configuration would be to replace 1 M10 with 2 T4s (or 2 M10s with 4 T4s). This will give you the same amount of Framebuffer to share between your XenApp VMs, but the T4 will provide better performance and functionality and the T4 is more power efficient as well. Then (as mentioned earlier) change the vGPU scheduler on the T4 to "Fixed" and allocate the same 8A vGPU profile to the XenApp VMs. You don’t need to change the Scheduler on the M10, as each XenApp VM has its own dedicated GPU.
You will want more than 2 T4s per server, or you’ll need more servers to cater for that amount of users. So scale up, not out. If you have 400 users and want 16 XenApp VMs that equates to 25 users per XenApp VM. With 4 T4s installed, you’ll have 8 XenApp VMs per DL380.
To account for N+1 (physical resilience, image updates, user load balancing) you’re going to need 3 DL380 servers each with 4 T4s installed to cater for those numbers, assuming that you can actually support 25 users per XenApp VM without impacting the experience. User density on the XenApp VMs will vary depending on utilisation, so it’s very important to test first in a POC before finalising any specifications or quantity of Servers required.
The DL380 G10 will actually support up to 5 T4s (Virtual GPU Certified Servers | NVIDIA GRID), which means you could host 10 XenApp VMs per DL380. This would reduce your user density per XenApp VM down to 20, which may be a better number to target.
vGPU Profile options for the M10 and T4 are available here:
M10: https://docs.nvidia.com/grid/latest/grid-vgpu-user-guide/index.html#vgpu-types-tesla-m10
T4: https://docs.nvidia.com/grid/latest/grid-vgpu-user-guide/index.html#vgpu-types-tesla-t4
But as said, the best profile for higher density XenApp VMs will be to use the 8A profile.
If you’re supporting 10 XenApp VMs / 200 users per Server, don’t forget to consider the CPU. You should be looking at something with more Cores, rather than higher Clock. Here are some better options to consider:
Platinum 8280: Intel Xeon Platinum 8280 Processor 38.5M Cache 2.70 GHz Product Specifications
Platinum 8260: Intel Xeon Platinum 8260 Processor 35.75M Cache 2.40 GHz Product Specifications
Gold 6252N: Intel Xeon Gold 6252N Processor 35.75M Cache 2.30 GHz Product Specifications
Due to the nature of the workload, you don’t need such a high Clock, and having more Cores will reduce the CPU overcommit.
As a starting point for your POC, you should be looking at 8 vCPUs / 32GB RAM / 8A vGPU with the aim of supporting 20-25 users per XenApp VM. Your VMs should be running on All Flash / SSD storage as well (not cheap / slow spinning disks). You can then monitor the hardware utilisation for each component and tailor the specs to suit the user experience, performance and user density.
Regards
MG