Virtual Desktop and Session Host Configuration
This domain tests creation and hardening of virtual desktops and RDSH session hosts on AHV, plus the image and pool settings that make them reliable. It covers VM sizing, guest integration, AD join, GPU, and session-host roles.
Core rules
- Size vCPU and memory from measured user density. Avoid huge vCPU counts per desktop; they increase CPU ready and reduce consolidation. Reserve memory only where the hypervisor or application requires it.
- Install Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) for snapshot consistency, guest monitoring, and file-level restore. Install the correct VirtIO drivers before cloning.
- Generalize images with Sysprep or cloud-init, join the domain at first boot, and validate DNS and time sync.
- Use categories and affinity/anti-affinity rules to spread session hosts across AHV hosts; keep paired brokers or infrastructure VMs apart.
- For RDSH, install the session-host role, register with the broker, size for per-user sessions, and separate profile storage from the host OS disk.
- GPU profiles (vGPU or passthrough) must match the workload and AHV support matrix; not every desktop needs a GPU.
Worked example
A 120-user RDSH pool runs Office and a browser. Build a golden image with NGT, VirtIO, the RDSH role, and the broker agent; Sysprep; deploy 8 session hosts at 8 vCPU and 32 GB each; apply anti-affinity; put FSLogix profiles on Nutanix Files. Reasoning: 15 users per host is a starting estimate, to be validated with actual CPU and logon testing; anti-affinity limits host loss.
Traps
Cloning a non-generalized image; forgetting NGT; over-sizing vCPU; placing all session hosts on one host; using desktop OS images for RDSH; assuming GPU always improves Office performance.