When considering data movement efficiency, which type of VDI workload is best suited for high IOPS?

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) workloads are characterized by the aggregation of I/O from numerous independent users. This results in a highly random I/O access pattern, as user actions are unsynchronized. The individual operations, such as operating system reads, application launches, and profile writes, are typically small block sizes (e.g., 4 KB to 8 KB). This combination of small I/O size and random access pattern creates a workload profile that is measured in Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS). Therefore, storage systems with high IOPS capabilities are best suited to handle the demanding nature of small, random VDI workloads and ensure a responsive user experience.

A. "Fixed" implies a predictable or sequential pattern, which is contrary to the highly random nature of aggregated VDI user I/O.
B. Large, random workloads are more dependent on a balance of IOPS and throughput, whereas the defining characteristic of VDI is high-frequency small I/O.
D. Large, fixed (sequential) workloads are measured by throughput (MB/s) and are typical of data streaming or backups, not VDI user activity.

1. Dell EMC. (2018). Dell EMC XtremIO X2 Storage for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure with VMware Horizon 7 - Reference Architecture. Page 10, Section "VDI workload characteristics". The document states, "VDI workloads are typically characterized by a high degree of randomness and small I/O block sizes... The I/O profile is typically 80 percent write and 20 percent read, with an average I/O size of 4 KB to 8 KB."

2. Dell EMC. (2019). Reference Architecture: Dell EMC VxBlock System 1000 with VMware Horizon 7. Page 13, Section "VDI Workload". This guide specifies, "The VDI workload is typically random in nature with a small block I/O size." This directly supports that VDI is a small, random workload.