EMC Performance Optimization for Microsoft Windows XP for the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Applied Best Practices

The current VDI platform of choice - Windows XP - was never meant to be deployed in the manner required to support a VDI use case. In its default state, the Operating System (OS) performs various activities that cause unwanted overhead in a virtualized instance of the OS and it is critical to control the OS such that it is efficient and predictable. Planning and designing the storage infrastructure is a critical step because the shared storage must be able to absorb the bursts of Input/Output (I/O) that occur during the course of a day. A flaw in the design will lead to periods of erratic and unpredictable virtual desktop performance. Users can adapt to slow performance, but unpredictable performance is sure to quickly frustrate them.