TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER – JULY 2017

VMWARE HORIZON 7
INSTANT-CLONE DESKTOPS
AND RDSH SERVERS
VMware Horizon 7.x
 VMWARE HORIZON 7 INSTANT-CLONE DESKTOPS AND RDSH SERVERS

Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
JMP – Next-Generation Desktop and Application Delivery Platform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Instant-Clone Use Cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Cloning Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Full Clones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Linked Clones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Instant Clones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

How Instant-Clone Desktop Pools and RDSH Server Farms Are Created . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Publishing the Master Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Provisioning Instant-Clone VMs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What Happened to These Linked-Clone Settings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Benefits of Using Instant Clones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Simple Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Easy Management of OS and Software Updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Smaller Load on vCenter Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Simplified Desktop Pool and Server Farm Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Automated Management Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Server Farm Maintenance Schedules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Monitoring Management and Maintenance Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Reduced Storage Costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Instant-Clone Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Additional Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

About the Authors and Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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Introduction
VMware Horizon® 7 remotely delivers a Windows desktop and apps experience to a user’s endpoint
device from centralized VMware vSphere® enterprise servers. In comparison to physical desktops, virtual
desktops and published applications improve IT responsiveness, and the centralized delivery enhances
application and data security.

The VMware Instant Clone Technology included in the View component of the Horizon 7 Enterprise
Edition and Horizon Apps Advanced Edition improves and accelerates the process of creating cloned
virtual machines over the previous View Composer linked-clone technology. In addition, instant clones
require less storage and less expense to manage and update because the desktop is deleted when the
user logs out, and a new desktop is created using the latest master image.

For Just-in-Time Desktops, you can combine instant clones with VMware App Volumes™ and VMware
User Environment Manager™ to create disposable desktops that retain user customizations, personas,
and user-installed apps from session to session, even though the cloned desktop is destroyed when the
user logs out. Users experience a stateful desktop, while the enterprise realizes the economy of stateless
desktops. Just-in-Time Desktops are part of the JMP desktop and application delivery platform, a
feature of the Horizon 7 Enterprise Edition.

For Just-in-Time Apps, App Volumes attaches applications to the RDSH server at boot time. User
Environment Manager retains user preferences and applies contextual policy management. RDSH farms
are created using Instant Clone Technology, and the RDSH server VMs can be refreshed according to a
recurring maintenance schedule. Just-in-Time Apps are also part of JMP, and are included in Horizon 7
Enterprise Edition and Horizon Apps Advanced Edition.

This white paper is for Horizon 7 administrators who are considering using instant clones. It provides a
technical explanation of Instant Clone Technology and its benefits and limitations. This paper is intended
both for readers who are familiar with the View Composer linked-clone technology and for readers who
are new to the topic.

JMP – Next-Generation Desktop and Application Delivery Platform

JMP (pronounced jump) represents capabilities in VMware Horizon 7 Enterprise Edition that deliver Just-
in-Time Desktops and Apps in a flexible, fast, and personalized manner. JMP is composed of the
following VMware technologies:
• VMware Instant Clone Technology for fast desktop and RDSH provisioning
• VMware App Volumes for real-time application delivery
• VMware User Environment Manager for contextual policy management

JMP allows components of a desktop or RDSH server to be decoupled and managed independently in a
centralized manner, yet reconstituted on demand to deliver a personalized user workspace when
needed. JMP is supported with both on-premises and cloud-based Horizon 7 deployments, providing a
unified and consistent management platform regardless of your deployment topology. The JMP
approach provides several key benefits, including simplified desktop and RDSH image management,
faster delivery and maintenance of applications, and elimination of the need to manage “full persistent”
desktops.

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Instant-Clone Use Cases

If you want to use instant clones for virtual desktops, you create one or more pools of instant clones.
Like View Composer linked-clone pools, instant-clone pools have been tested to support up to 2,000
desktops in a pool. To use instant clones for published applications, you create a farm of instant-clone
RDSH servers.

Instant clones fit several use cases in enterprise environments:

• For task workers, where everyone in the pool requires the same applications, and a specific desktop
need not be dedicated to a specific user
• Where you want to take advantage of the benefits of cloned desktops, and provide personalization
with other VMware products such as App Volumes and User Environment Manager
• Wherever you previously used View Composer floating desktop pools or RDSH farms that used a
naming pattern

Cloning Technology
A clone is a copy of a master virtual machine with a unique identity of its own, including a MAC address,
UUID, and other system information. Instant clones represent the newest generation of cloning
technology, after full clones and View Composer linked clones.

Full Clones
A full clone is an independent copy of a virtual machine (VM). It shares nothing with its master VM, and
it operates entirely separately from the master VM used to create it.

Linked Clones
A linked clone uses significantly less storage space than a full clone because it accesses software on
shared virtual disks. Because of this sharing mechanism, a linked clone must always have access to the
disk used for cloning.

To make a linked clone, you take a snapshot of the master VM and then the cloning process creates a
replica VM to use for cloning. The linked clone shares virtual disks with the replica VM. The differential—
the bits of software that are unique to the linked clone—is stored in a diff disk or redo disk. This
arrangement allows the linked clone to occupy a smaller amount of physical disk space than the master
VM but still access the software installed on the shared virtual disks. You can create hundreds of linked
diff disks from one replica, reducing the total storage space required.

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Instant Clones
Like a linked clone, an instant clone shares virtual disks with the replica VM after the linked clone is
created. The process of creating instant clones differs from that used for linked clones in the following
way: The cloning process creates a running parent VM from the replica VM. At creation time, the instant
clone shares the memory of the running parent VM from which it is created.

Instant clones use copy-on-write for memory and disk management. Instant clones are based on a
running parent VM, derived from a master VM. (For terminology, see Table 1.) At the instant when an
instant clone is created from a running parent VM, any reads of unchanged information come from the
already existing running parent VM. However, any changes made to the instant clone are written to a
delta disk, not to the running parent VM. This strategy preserves security and isolation between the
instant clones by ensuring that
• Each instant clone is immediately accessible.
• Changes do not affect the shared data and memory of the running parent VM on which all other instant
clones are based. Sharing the memory of a running parent VM at creation time enables instant clones
to be created within a few seconds and instantly powered on. An instant clone requires no boot time
when the cloning process is finished.
• After creation, the clone is linked to the replica VM and not to the running parent VM. You can delete
the running parent VM without affecting the instant clone.

Because an instant clone can be created so quickly, an instant-clone desktop does not need to persist
after a user logs out. Instead, the instant clone is deleted when the user logs out. Depending on the
number of spare VMs configured for the desktop pool, a new instant clone might be created immediately
after a used instant clone is deleted. In this manner, users get a newly created desktop whenever they
log in. If the master image—the master VM snapshot used to create the pool—has been updated since
the last login, the user gets the new image.

Note: The instant clone is deleted when the user logs out, not necessarily when the user disconnects. If
the user disconnects the session, the virtual desktop remains, unless the administrator has configured
the user to be automatically logged out after disconnecting.

For RDSH server farms, the instant clone is deleted and recreated according to a recurring maintenance
schedule set by the administrator.

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The following table summarizes the types of VMs used or created during the instant-cloning process.

TERM DESCRIPTION

Master VM The VM that you create and configure as the model for the virtual desktops or
RDSH servers you plan to deploy.

Master VM snapshot A reproduction of a master VM exactly as it was when you took the snapshot. The
snapshot includes the state of the data on all VM disks.

Internal template VM A linked clone of the master VM, based on the master VM snapshot. This VM is
used for the AD domain join.

Replica VM A thin-provisioned full clone of the internal template VM. The View Storage
Accelerator feature uses a content-based read cache digest of this VM.

Running parent VM A linked clone of the replica VM, based on a snapshot the system takes of the
replica VM.

Instant clone A desktop VM or RDSH server VM created from the memory and disk of the
running parent VM. After the instant clone is created, it shares the read disks of the
replica VM, exactly like a linked clone.

Table 1: Instant-Clone Terminology

Figure 1 shows the process of creating the various types of VMs that ultimately produce an instant clone.

Master VM Snapshot

Internal Template VM

Replica VM

Running Parent VM

Instant Clone

Figure 1: Instant-Clone Sequence

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How Instant-Clone Desktop Pools and RDSH Server Farms Are Created
Creating an instant-clone desktop pool or RDSH server farm is a two-part process:
• Publishing—also called priming—the master image
• Provisioning the VMs in the pool or farm

Publishing the master image can take from 7 to 40 minutes, depending on the type of storage you are
using. Provisioning the VMs takes only 1 or 2 seconds per VM. You can perform these tasks at separate
times, so that the provisioning process occurs either at a scheduled time or immediately after the
publishing process is complete.

Publishing the Master Image

The Add Desktop Pool wizard or the Add Farm wizard in Horizon Administrator guides you through the
process of publishing the master image—that is, using the specified VM snapshot and creating all the
required types of internal VMs, including the running parent VMs. Completing the wizard for instant
clones is similar to adding any type of pool or farm in Horizon Administrator, except there are fewer
settings to configure.

Publishing the master image means completing the process to create running parent VMs so that the
system is ready to instantly clone VMs during the second part of the pool- or farm-creation process.

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Figure 2 depicts the VMs that get created as part of this process and shows an example of where each
VM might be stored. In this first example, the VMs are stored on separate datastores, as in a tiered
storage model.

Datastore A:
Magnetic Disk
1
Master

2
Template

Datastore B:
Flash Device
3
Replica

Datastore C: Magnetic Disk Datastore D: Magnetic Disk

ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host

Parent Parent Parent Parent Parent

Instant-Clone Desktops Instant-Clone Desktops

Figure 2: Creating Instant-Clone Desktops and Storing Replicas on Separate Datastores for Tiered Storage

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The following steps describe the publishing process shown in Figure 2.

Note: The figure shows virtual desktops, but the process is the same for RDSH VMs in a server farm.

1. In the Add Desktop Pool wizard or Add Farm wizard, you select a snapshot of a master VM to use for
the instant-clone pool or farm.
After you complete the wizard, the instant-clone engine performs the rest of the steps.
2. The instant-clone engine uses the master VM snapshot that you specified to create one internal
template VM on the same datastore as the master VM. This internal template VM is linked to the
master VM. The internal template VM is used to create the replica VMs.
The system performs a domain join on this internal template VM, which ensures that all the proper
Windows registry keys and settings are correctly populated. This process involves a reboot.
Using this internal template VM for the domain-join process means that the process is performed
only once on one VM. Without the internal template VM, the domain-join process would have to be
performed on all the replica VMs that are created during the next step of the process.
3. One or more replica VMs are created from the internal template VM. The replica VM is a thin-
provisioned full clone of the internal template VM. The replica VM shares a read disk with the instant-
clone VMs after they are created. A content-based read cache (CBRC) digest is created. (For more
information about this digest file, see the vSphere blog about View Storage Accelerator.)
While completing the wizard, you can choose to place the replica VM on a different datastore from
the instant-clone VMs in the desktop pool or server farm, just as you can for View Composer pools.
For example, in a tiered storage scenario such as that shown in Figure 2, you can store the replica VM
on a solid-state, disk-backed datastore. Solid-state disks have low storage capacity and high-read
performance, typically supporting 20,000 IOPS.
If you choose to have replica VMs on the same datastores as your instant clones, one replica VM is
created per datastore, as shown in Figure 3.
4. The system takes a snapshot of each replica VM and uses it to create one running parent VM per
VMware ESXi™ host per datastore. The running parent VM’s memory and disks are used to create the
instant clones.
Note: Although the running parent is used to create the instant clone, after the clone is created, the
clone is linked to the replica VM and not to the running parent VM. You can delete the running parent
VM without affecting the instant clone.
Important: If you use the same master VM snapshot for multiple pools or farms, those pools or farms
use the same running parent VMs. If additional pools or farms use additional datastores or ESXi hosts,
additional running parent VMs are created for the ESXi hosts and datastores.

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In Figure 3, replica VMs are placed on the same datastores as the instant clones. One replica VM is
created for each datastore.

Datastore A:
Magnetic Disk
1
Master

2
Template

Datastore C: Magnetic Disk Datastore D: Magnetic Disk

3 3
Replica Replica

ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host

Parent Parent Parent Parent Parent

Instant-Clone Desktops Instant-Clone Desktops

Figure 3: Placing Replica VMs on the Same Datastores as Instant Clones

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Provisioning Instant-Clone VMs

After the master image is published and the running parent VMs are created, the provisioning of instant
clones can begin. The instant-clone engine performs the following tasks to create instant clones:

1. The engine brings the running parent VM to a quiescent, or quiet, state and then forks it using the
vSphere vmFork technology. The forking process is like creating two similar branches of
development so that disk and memory can be shared.
2. The engine customizes each forked instant clone. This ClonePrep process performs the following
customization tasks, all without requiring a reboot:
• Gives the VM a unique MAC address
• Changes the Active Directory password
• Joins the machine to the Active Directory domain
This domain join does not require a reboot because the associated internal template VM was already
joined to the domain and rebooted during the publishing process described earlier.
• Activates the Microsoft license
You can use scripts for the ClonePrep process so that one script runs immediately after a clone is
created and another script can run before the clone is powered off. These scripts can invoke any
process that can be created with the Windows CreateProcess API, such as cmd, vbscript, exe, and
batch-file processes.
The provisioning process does not require power operations, and the clones are forked from a running
parent VM, so the process takes only a couple of seconds. Figure 4 shows the steps in the provisioning
process for instant clones as compared with the View Composer provisioning process for linked clones.

Timelines illustrative – not drawn to scale

Cloning

Reconfig

Power-On

Cloning with vmFork

Customize

Power-On
Checkpoints

Power-On Customize
Ready for Ready for
Login Login
User Login User Login
Login Login
Finished Finished

View Composer Clones Instant-Clone Technology

Figure 4: View Composer Process for Creating Linked Clones Compared to the Process for Creating Instant Clones

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Figure 5 shows the entire process of publishing the image and provisioning the instant-clone VMs. The
publishing process, which comprises the first 10 of the 12 steps in the diagram, can be completed ahead
of time so that when it is time to create the pool, VMs appear virtually instantly, just in time for users to
log in.

Initial Pool Creation – Walk-Through

1 Template is created, powered on, cloned from master VM,

joined to domain.

2 Template is powered off.

3 Replicas are placed on selected datastores.

4 Replica is reconfigured.

5 Replica is powered on and placed on ESXi host in the cluster.

6 Replica shuts down.

7 CBRC digest is created on replica.

8 Snapshot is taken of replica VM.

9 Parent VMs are cloned to each ESXi host on each datastore.

10 Parent VMs are powered on.

11 Desktop VMs are created (vmFork) and powered on.

12 Desktop VMs are customized (ClonePrep).

Priming: 20-40 Minutes Push: @1 Second per Desktop

Figure 5: Instant Clone Process from Publishing to Provisioning

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What Happened to These Linked-Clone Settings?

If you are already using View Composer linked clones and are planning to replace them with instant
clones, you will find that the wizard for creating instant clones requires less information. The following
View Composer settings are not needed for instant clones.
• Delete or refresh machine on logout – An instant clone desktop is always deleted whenever a user
logs out. An instant clone with the newest image is ready when the user logs in again.
• Remote machine power policy – Instant clones are always powered on. If an instant clone is powered
off, the user is logged out. When a user logs out, the VM is deleted and recreated.
• Allow users to reset their machines – To reset the machine, the user is logged out. When a user logs
out, the virtual desktop is deleted. If a virtual desktop freezes, the administrator can use a recover
operation, which deletes the current VM and creates a new one.
• Redirect Windows profile to a persistent disk – To accomplish the same effect, use App Volumes.
• Disposable file redirection – With instant clones, the virtual desktop is deleted when the user logs out.
• Select separate datastores for persistent and OS disks – Deciding whether to use separate datastores
is not necessary because with instant clones, there are no persistent disks. You can use App Volumes
instead of using persistent and OS disks.
• Minimum number of ready (provisioned) machines during View Composer maintenance operations
– With instant clones, you do not use recompose operations, which typically occur during scheduled
maintenance windows. Instant clones are provisioned so rapidly that maintenance operations are not
required.
• Reclaim VM disk space – Reclaiming disk space is not needed because the virtual desktop is deleted
when a user logs out. For RDSH server farms, the VMs in the farm are deleted and recreated according
to a maintenance schedule. VM disk space does not have much time to grow. The space-efficient disk
format (SE sparse), with its wipe and shrink process, is not needed.

These settings are automatically enabled:

• Use View Storage Accelerator – View Storage Accelerator is automatically enabled. Clone-level CBRC
is no longer needed, so you do not need to specify the level of CBRC. Master VMs and replicas still use
CBRC, and the CBRC digest is calculated automatically.
• Transparent page sharing scope – Transparent page sharing is automatically enabled at the VM level.

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Benefits of Using Instant Clones

Instant clones are easy to implement and manage and offer significant savings by reducing storage
costs and support costs. Instant Clone Technology does not require a database or a separate dedicated
server, so overall support costs for the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) are reduced, as is the
complexity of future infrastructure upgrades.

You can also use VMware vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler™, VMware vSphere High Availability
(HA), and VMware vSphere vMotion® with instant clones.

Simple Setup
Instant Clone Technology is built into the Horizon 7 server and agent components and does not require
a separate server or database:
• The instant-clone engine is a Java app that runs on the Tomcat server. One Connection Server 7.0 (or
later) instance in a replicated group runs the engine. If the server fails, another one takes over.
Connection Server 7.1 or later is required for instant-clone RDSH server farms.
• The instant-clone information is stored in VMware vCenter Server® (vSphere Version 6 Update 1 or
later) rather than in a separate database.
• Horizon Agent 7.0 (or later) with the instant-clone component has code for instant clones and the instant-
clone customization engine. Horizon Agent 7.1 or later is required for instant-clone RDSH server farms.
Important: When you install the agent, you can select either the instant-clone component or the View
Composer linked-clone component. You cannot install both components in the same VM.

Easy Management of OS and Software Updates

To manage OS patches and software updates with instant clones, you use the push-image operation for
desktop pools or the Schedule Maintenance option for RDSH server farms. You make changes to the
master VM and take a snapshot or use a snapshot from a different master VM. You can recreate the pool
or server farm from any snapshot of any master VM.

You can then either push the new image out immediately or schedule it for a more convenient time. The
process for publishing a new image takes from 7 to 40 minutes (depending upon the storage used) and
occurs when you complete the Push Image wizard page for desktop pools, or when you schedule an
immediate maintenance operation for a server farm. The instant clones are then created within seconds
at the time you specify. You can force users to log out or wait until the next time they log out to get the
new image.

The push-image operation for instant clones achieves the same goal as the recompose operation for
View Composer linked clones. However, the recompose operation is a much slower process and requires
you to plan for desktop maintenance windows to perform the operation at off-peak hours. Because the
provisioning of instant clones is significantly faster than that of View Composer linked clones, instant
clones eliminate the need for maintenance windows.

Unlike linked clones, instant clones do not need to be recomposed, refreshed, or rebalanced. For VDI
desktops, when a user logs out of the desktop, that desktop gets deleted and recreated. This approach
to desktop deletion and recreation staggers the patching operation across desktops, eliminates boot
storms, reduces storage IOPS, and creates less of a load on the vCenter Server.

For RDSH server farms, you do schedule maintenance, but the time required is much less than for a
View Composer recompose operation, and you can specify that a number of RDSH servers remain
available during the maintenance window.

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Smaller Load on vCenter Server

Three types of VMware vCenter Server calls are made during the View Composer cloning process:
cloning, power cycle, and reconfiguration. Table 2 contrasts the number and types of calls required by
View Composer and instant clones.

vCENTER SERVER CALL TYPE LINKED CLONES INSTANT CLONES

Cloning 1 clone call 1 vmFork call

Power cycle 2 power-cycle calls 0

Reconfiguration 3–4 reconfiguration calls 0

Table 2: Loads on vCenter Server for View Composer Linked Clones Compared to Instant Clones

Although vmFork calls do place a higher load on vCenter Server than linked-clone calls, the instant-
clone process eliminates the power-cycle and reconfiguration calls. The result is a significantly lower
overall load on vCenter Server. And fewer calls per task means fewer opportunities for errors to occur.

Simplified Desktop Pool and Server Farm Management

With instant clones, many management tasks are automated, and architectural elements are eliminated.
For example, a separate database and dedicated server are not used.

Automated Management Tasks

The following tasks are automated:
• If you edit a pool or server farm to add or remove datastores, rebalancing the VMs occurs when a new
clone is created, such as when a user logs out or during a farm maintenance operation, or when you
increase the size of the pool or farm.
Note: Instant-clone pools and farms can be on the same ESXi host as View Composer linked-clone
pools and farms and can share the same datastores.
• Outdated images are cleaned up. If a pool or farm is deleted, or when a new image is pushed, the old
image is unpublished, including the running parent VMs, the internal template VM, and the replica VM
or VMs. If you cancel a push operation, the primed image is rolled back and deleted.
• Automatic recovery scenarios are built in. VMware HA can power on VMs if a vSphere host fails. The
instant-clone engine powers on running parent VMs if they are powered off for some reason.
• If the Connection Server host controlling the instant-clone engine goes down, the instant-clone engine
moves to another instance in the cluster.

Server Farm Maintenance Schedules

For RDSH server farms, you can schedule maintenance on the farm to delete the VMs in the farm and
either recreate them from the current master image or create VMs from a new master image snapshot.
With instant-clone desktops, the desktops are destroyed and recreated fairly frequently, every time the
user logs out. To achieve the same goal with a server farm, you set a recurring maintenance schedule to
restore the operating system disk of each VM in the farm to its original state and size.

With instant-clone desktops, you use a push-image operation to manage OS patches and software
updates. To achieve the same goal with a server farm, you set a one-time immediate maintenance
schedule, or you can select an updated VM snapshot for the recurring maintenance schedule.

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For both types of server farm maintenance schedules, options are available for waiting until all users log
out before starting maintenance or for displaying a warning to end users that they will be automatically
logged out in a certain number of minutes. You can also specify that a certain number of RDSH servers
are always available, even during maintenance operations. For step-by-step procedures, see Publishing
Applications with VMware Horizon 7.

Monitoring Management and Maintenance Operations

You can easily monitor the following operations in Horizon Administrator:
• Current image, pending image, current state, and current operation are displayed on the Summary tab
of the Pool Details page or Farm Details page, along with a starting time stamp for the push operation,
which is useful for troubleshooting.
• The Inventory tab of the Pool Details page or Farm Details page identifies which VMs are using which
image during a push.
• Tasks to switch users to a new image appear on the Tasks tab of the Pool Details page or Farm Details
page.
Reduced Storage Costs
Instant clones share the virtual disk of a replica VM and therefore consume less storage than full VMs. In
addition, because instant clones are created at a high speed, you do not need to provision a large
number of VMs up front or have many spare VMs. You can provision on demand and size desktop pools
or server farms based on the number of concurrent users. For this reason and others, when compared
with View Composer linked clones, instant clones can reduce the amount of hardware you need. Other
reasons include
• For desktop pools, when a user logs out, the desktop VM is deleted and a new desktop is created,
automatically controlling VM growth. You do not need to refresh the desktop pool.
• For server farms, the VMs are deleted according to a recurring schedule set by the administrator.
• View Storage Accelerator is automatically enabled. This feature uses the CBRC feature in vSphere
hosts to cache VM disk data.
• Transparent page sharing is automatically enabled.
• VMFS, VMware vSAN™, and NFS disks are supported.

To help you determine storage requirements, Table 3 lists the various types of VMs that get created as
part of the publishing process. The disk space usage shown is for general reference only. These numbers
are not intended to provide sizing guidance for every environment. In this example, a 60-GB VM is used,
but because the VMs are thin-provisioned, only 2.5 GB per VM is used to start with.

NUMBER OF OBJECTS VM TYPE DISK SPACE USED

1 Master 60.0 GB

1 Internal template 55.0 MB

1 per datastore Replica 21.0 GB

1 per ESXi host Running parent 2.5 GB (primarily swap)

1 per desktop Instant-clone desktop 2.5 GB (growth on use)

Table 3: Disk Usage for a Pool of Windows 7 Instant-Clone Desktops

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Note: If multiple pools or farms use the same master VM snapshot, the publishing process is performed
only once. For example, if four infrastructure VMs (master, internal template, replica, running parent) are
created during the publishing of one image, and you create 10 pools or server farms from that image, the
same four infrastructure VMs are used for all 10 pools or farms, as long as the pools or farms use the
same datastores and ESXi hosts.

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Instant-Clone Restrictions
The instant-clone feature has the following limitations:
• Only Windows 7 and Windows 10 guest operating systems are supported for single-user desktop
pools.
• For RDSH servers, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016 are
supported, and you must use Horizon 7 version 7.1 or later.
• To use App Volumes with RDSH instant-clone server farms, you must assign App Volumes AppStacks
to Active Directory OUs rather than groups. Contact Global Support Services for the App Volumes
2.12.3 hot patch. This fix will also be included in general releases of App Volumes later than 2.12.
• To use the 3D Renderer feature, which includes hardware acceleration for graphics such as vGPU, you
must use Horizon 7 version 7.1 or later. Only desktop pools are supported, not RDSH server VMs.
• You can have up to four monitors if you use Horizon 7 version 7.1 or later and Horizon Client 4.4 or later.
The maximum display resolution of each monitor is 2560 x 1600 pixels.
• You cannot use Sysprep with instant clones, so all instant clones in a pool share the same system ID
(SID). Some legacy applications might require a unique SID.
• If you want instant clones to reuse pre-existing computer accounts in Active Directory, you must use
Horizon 7 version 7.2 or later. This feature is not supported in earlier versions.
• Virtual Volumes and VAAI (vStorage APIs for Array Integration) native NFS snapshots are not
supported.
• Local ESXi datastores are supported only if you use Horizon 7 version 7.2 or later.
• IPv6 is not supported.
• To assign multiple network labels to a pool, to use multiple VLANs, you must have Horizon 7 version 7.1
or later.
• You cannot clone automated pools of instant clones.

The workaround for these limitations is to use View Composer linked clones. Check the release notes for
the most up-to-date information and to find out whether these limitations have changed.

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Additional Resources
VMware Instant Clone Technology for Just-In-Time Desktop Delivery in Horizon 7 Enterprise Edition
(VMware blog post)

Publishing Applications with VMware Horizon 7

Reviewer’s Guide for View in VMware Horizon 7: Instant Clones

Setting Up Published Desktops and Applications in Horizon 7

Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon 7

View Administration

View Installation

VMware Horizon 7 Enterprise Edition Reference Architecture

VMware OS Optimization Tool

About the Authors and Contributors

Caroline Arakelian, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, End-User-Computing Technical Marketing,
VMware, and Jim Yanik, EUC Architect, EUC Technical Marketing, VMware, wrote this paper.

Contributors to this document include:

• Fred Schimscheimer is a Staff Engineer in the End-User-Computing Office of the CTO, VMware.
• Graeme Gordon is a Senior EUC Architect, EUC Technical Marketing, VMware.

To comment on this paper, contact VMware End-User-Computing Technical Marketing at

euc_tech_content_feedback@vmware.com.

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