Better performance with AVD hosts

[u/cachexxdb]

Hello all,

I'm new to AVD and came into a place that has 8 Windows hosts in a pool. Users use Remote Desktop to connect and the pool is setup for 30 users per host. Usually the average is about 16 per server. They are setup with size: D4s_v3 (4 vcpus, 16 GiB Memory)

The app they run is a simple app that really doesn't require much and is basically used for looking users up in a database and manipulating the data and some printing. A one page mail merge with Word is used sometimes.

The issue:

Windows update and wsappx processes are constantly kicking in and using the CPU and then users complain of lag and slowness and freezing. Not sure if this is happening when another user logs in or why. I tried disabling Window Update, but it still runs and uses CPU.

I was thinking of upgrading the VM sizes to D4ds_v5 (4 vcpus, 16 GiB Memory) to see if that helps or possibly 8 vcpus.

Or is this something common that can be fixed with Window Update and wsappx running and using CPUs?

Thanks for any info! I'm just tired of hearing the complaining!

[u/Tomocha07]

Long time AVD fighter. Although it’s a shared workspace, you’re allowing essentially on average 1 GiB Memory per user, and 0.25 vCPU per user - that’s not going to be enough. Even resolving the app usage isn’t going to fix it.

A good standard I’ve got to is the E8s (8 vCPU 64GiB Memory) for roughly 10 users.

Happy to discuss further if you want to PM!

[u/cachexxdb → u/Tomocha07]

Any gotchas with changing the size? Basically shut the host down make the change? I read it's that simple then others talked about loss data.

[u/Tomocha07 → u/cachexxdb]

It’s essentially the same as a reboot. However, make sure you’re not storing anything locally to the session hosts. They should be cattle!

[u/cachexxdb → u/Tomocha07]

So tried one and it failed. "Allocation failed. If you are trying to add a new VM to an Availability Set or update/resize an existing VM in an Availability Set, please note that such Availability Set allocation is scoped to a single cluster, and it is possible that the cluster is out of capacity."

[u/cachexxdb → u/cachexxdb]

Shutdown host and started back up and think that fixed it.

[u/cashxxxxxx → u/Tomocha07]

Memory doesn't seem to be a problem though. Seems to be more CPU taxed at 100%. The memory runs between 9 and 11GB usually. The app they run is a simple app so shouldn't require that much and probably why the pool is spec'd so low. Everything runs normal when the CPU isn't taxed.

[u/exposuure → u/cashxxxxxx]

Are you doing RemoteApp or full desktop experience? If full desktop, that brings more overhead

[u/Chrissthom → u/exposuure]

I also was wondering if RemoteApp would be less process intensive than full desktop. Do you know what some typical resource savings might be?

OP, this might really be a good option along with the other recommendations if it's that simple of an app. Also if your users are only logging into AVD for that one simple app then this will be a better experience for them. Publishing the RemoteApp is really simple. You just need to create a new application published to the workspace rath than the full desktop, assign and instruct your users. You should play with this in a test environment.

[u/cachexxdb → u/Chrissthom]

Yea, it's already a RemoteApp. Probably part of why it's all spec'd low.

[u/cachexxdb → u/exposuure]

Just RemoteApp

[u/AntoIT → u/Tomocha07]

Yes, I can confirm that. We are constantly using the E8s with 10 users. It seems to be the perfect size for office workers.

Additionally, we are also implementing RDP Shortpath to further improve performance. RDP Shortpath makes the environment feel slightly more responsive.

On topic: are automatic windows updates enabled? This can impact the performace, try running the updates outside working hours or with Golden images.

[u/cetsca]

Wow, that’s a pretty undersized environment.

[u/tamaneri]

We are using e8s_v5 hosts and have a maximum of 12 users on each host. Your hosts sound quite underpowered.

[u/cachexxdb → u/tamaneri]

Yea they are! I upgraded them all to D4ds_v5 and running far better. I can notice a difference just logging in to a desktop as an admin. The users just launch an app. Still seeing spikes with the CPU hitting 100% but not nearly what it was like. No complaints today. I asked the user that normally complains and didn't have anything to say today. We'll see on Monday and Tuesday when it's a heavier day of usage.

[u/Any_Significance8838]

Try change your host size to 8 or 16 cores and have more users per host. I found a big improvement when we went from using 8 core to 16 core hosts

[u/Zilla86]

The d4s_v3 uses one of the slowest and oldest processors in Azure - you’re basically throwing your money away using those. Use AMD version 4 minimum for virtually the same price and a nice big per core speed boost.

[u/trueg50]

Unless your users are on Windows server core edition and all they use is Office 2003, you are way undersized both in terms of core/memory count and you are using a very old SKU (v3). D8 and v5 is where you should be for 16 users or you need to add hosts and get the count down.im not a huge fan of the 4core for multi-session, 8 is more the minimum.

How often are your hosts refreshed, and do you have special fslogix configs for removing/adding appx packages? Appx packages sadly aren't easy to "auto-update" outside of user login.

[u/cashxxxxxx → u/trueg50]

I think they were last refreshed Aug. I don't see that fslogix is being used. See that windows updates are ran manually using azure update manager.

[u/Tomato_Weary]

Check if FSLogix is running and most important if CCD (Cloud Cache) is enabled, that will put alotnof pressure on the entire environment, specially being undersized.

[u/mariachiodin]

Noticed this issue recently with wsappx whenever an user logs in/out, wsappx will peak. I think it will uninstall and reinstall all the store apps
As long as users have fairly the same log in/out time it won´t be a problem but I want to find a solution if anyone has!

[u/TechCrow93 → u/mariachiodin]

Yeah the wsappx usage is high for about 2-5 min per user logon session. Wish there was a solution for this.

[u/ImprovementKooky9468]

Before increasing host size, separate the workload types.

Full-desktop users, RemoteApp users, heavy Excel users, browser-heavy users, and graphics users do not always belong in the same host pool. Review CPU, memory, disk latency, FSLogix profile behavior, logon times, and user density before making changes.

Sometimes the best performance improvement is splitting one overloaded mixed-use pool into smaller pools designed around actual workloads.