This guide demonstrates how to deploy Citrix NetScaler in conjunction with Citrix XenDesktop 7 with a focus on both simplicity in configuration and advanced features not easily delivered with other products. This guide shows how to provision the XenDesktop 7 infrastructure, the NetScaler appliance and NetScaler Insight Center services to extend Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure and services to remote users in small to medium-size enterprises.
Configuring and Troubleshooting XenDesktop SitesDavid McGeough
Citrix XenDesktop introduced a number of new concepts and processes for desktop administrators. The goal of this session is to demystify these concepts and provide a tactical approach to deployment and troubleshooting of a XenDesktop environment. In this session we will demonstrate the core configuration that is required, and also cover proven troubleshooting approaches to the top three problems we see in customer deployments.
This session will take a technical look into XenDesktop 7.5 and how to approach an deployment. We’ll cover general architecture, new features and how to best move to the platform.
Webinar recording: http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/11383
10 Tips Every XenDesktop Admin Should KnowDavid McGeough
The recording of this webinar can be found here:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/549106393
PoSH scripts used in webinar
https://citrix.sharefile.com/d/s6f2aa129f424c43b
As a XenDesktop administrator, it’s your responsibility to make sure your XenDesktop infrastructure is running smoothly and your users are working efficiently. In this webinar our very own XenDesktop master, Michael Glover will guide you in utilizing our award winning solution for virtual desktop delivery, XenDesktop, with some really key tips and time savers to help you make the very most of your investment. Michael has been involved in XenDesktop from day one and has gathered a huge amount of knowledge which he would love to share with you.
During this webinar you will:
• Learn to carry out advanced administration tasks using the public PoSH SDK
• Troubleshoot and resolve serious Site issues
• Learn how to carry out real-time infrastructure testing to validate site functionality
• Learn how to use key Tools to Troubleshoot XD issues
• Gain greater in-dept knowledge of the internal workings of XenDesktop
Best practices for implementing, administering, and troubleshooting XenDeskto...David McGeough
Recording from this webinar can be found here:
http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/11549
Citrix XenDesktop introduced a number of new concepts and processes for Desktop Administrators. Understanding these advancements and their effect on is key to a stable XenDesktop environment. This session will discuss core deployment and configuration concepts and considerations and provide proven practices for troubleshooting the top three XenDesktop issues.
What you will learn
- Concepts for successful deployment of a XenDesktop site
- Configuring a typical site and understanding the common challenges
- Troubleshooting registration, connection, and machine creation issues
- Citrix Quick Launch
Recorded webinar is here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/927927145
This session will take a technical look into XenApp 7.5 and how to approach an deployment. We’ll cover general architecture, new features and how to best move to the platform.
Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) functionality targets network client machines that boot and connect to provisioning services servers under the guidelines specified in the PXE 2.1 specification. This in-depth technical session will provide a step-by-step detailed overview of the target boot process used by provisioning services versions 5.6.x and 6.x.
In this session you will learn about:
• Components and architecture of the PVS boot process
• Troubleshooting PVS boot issues
• Load balancing and failover technology
Slides zur Präsentation von Roger Bösch, Citrix, am Citrix Day 2014 von Digicomp:
XenDesktop ist Marktführer im Bereich Desktop-Virtualisierung und liefert die einzige Komplettlösung zur Mobilisierung von Windows-Anwendungen und -Desktops für beliebige Anwendungsfälle. Sie lernen die Neuerungen der aktuellen Version aus technischer Sicht kennen, erhalten Tipps und Tricks und weitere Informationen darüber, was Citrix Workspace Suite zu bieten hat.
Citrix TechEdge 2014 - How to Protect Against the Top 10 Web Security Issues ...David McGeough
This session will cover some of the industry-standard OWASP Top 10, a list describing the most prevalent security attacks on production environments. We will cover the Citrix NetScaler appliance and its role in shutting down these common vulnerabilities, and how to effectively do so through the use of the Application Firewall and protection features.
What you will learn
- How to protect against security attacks with Application Firewall
- How to reinforce your environment through NetScaler protection features
- How to simulate a vulnerable web server environment for testing
This document provides an overview of Citrix's Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol. It discusses the history and versions of ICA, describes how ICA optimizes for wide area networks through features like compression and virtual channels. It explains the different components of the ICA stack including the winstation driver, framing driver, protocol driver and more. It also covers topics like virtual channels, the Common Gateway Protocol (CGP), and how Session Reliability works.
XenDesktop 7 provides a unified architecture for delivering virtual applications and desktops from centralized resources or directly on users' devices. It simplifies installation, deployment, and management through an integrated site configuration wizard and Citrix Studio management console. FlexCast delivery technologies allow different types of virtual desktops and applications to be hosted centrally or deployed locally on physical PCs or XenClient. HDX technologies optimize the user experience on any device through features like mobile optimization, 3D graphics, and local application access.
Scaling xen desktop and xenapp with solid state drives in healthcareIntel® Software
Kaiser Permanente implemented solid-state drives to address storage bottlenecks in their virtualized Citrix XenApp environment hosting critical healthcare applications. SSDs enabled Kaiser to scale their XenApp deployment, supporting over 100,000 concurrent users on virtual desktops and applications while lowering costs. Kaiser's analysis showed SSDs allowed hosting up to 6 virtual machines per server compared to 2 with HDDs, reducing their cost per user by up to 30%. SSD performance freed access to data and kept up with the increasing demands of their virtualized environment.
SYN405: Best practices for implementing, administering and troubleshooting Xe...Citrix
Citrix XenDesktop 7.5 introduced a number of new concepts and processes for desktop administrators. Understanding these advancements and their effects is key to a stable XenDesktop environment. This session will discuss core deployment and configuration concepts and considerations, and provide proven practices for troubleshooting the top three XenDesktop issues: registration, connection and machine creation.
Citrix TechEdge 2014 - A Deep Dive Look Into Supporting XenDesktopDavid McGeough
Supporting a XenDesktop environment is not just about being able to collect and consume detailed log files and traces. The fact is, it is much more than this. A good understanding of the FMA architecture and expected behavior can go a long way to resolving various technical issues. Join Kimberly Ferrie and Mick Glover as they discuss and demonstrate how to apply this knowledge when supporting a XenDesktop environment.
What you will learn
- How the various FMA services interact with each other and the Site Database
- How to check the true state of FMA services and validate site functionality through PowerShell
- How to create various types of Service and Database Schema scripts
- How to configure Site policies to control access to resources
Citrix XenDesktop Reference Architecture for 750 usersX-IO Technologies
A reference architecture that delivers a low-cost, high performance storage solution that with no-risk consistency and simple management for the virtualization administrator.
Advanced Tools and Techniques for Troubleshooting NetScaler AppliancesDavid McGeough
This session will cover advanced techniques in troubleshooting the Citrix NetScaler Appliance using tools such as Citrix TaaS, IPMI, nsconmsg, wireshark and log analysis. We will review usages of these tools along with case studies showing how to best troubleshoot common issues seen in operating Citrix NetScaler Appliances.
What you will learn
- Various tools available to troubleshoot issues and how to use them to isolate NetScaler Issues
- Common deployment problems and how to isolate the causes
Health monitoring and alerting for xen app, xendesktop and netscalersolarisyougood
This document discusses health monitoring and alerting for Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and NetScaler. It provides an overview of health monitoring and recovery policies in XenApp 6, key monitoring commands and techniques, and how to monitor XenDesktop 5.x and Citrix services using NetScaler or Access Gateway Enterprise Edition. The document also covers various monitoring tools for XenDesktop like Desktop Studio, Desktop Director, HDX Monitor, and PowerShell, as well as how to configure alerting on XenServer hosts.
The document provides instructions on installing and configuring Provisioning Services. It discusses determining installation options, key components, integrating with Active Directory, preparing target devices, and supported operating systems, hypervisors, and databases. The summary includes an overview of Provisioning Services technology and components, farm and site design considerations, and the configuration steps to complete a Provisioning Services installation.
The document summarizes a presentation on Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) given at the E2E Virtualization Conference on May 14th 2011 in Dublin. The presentation covered what's new in PVS 5.6 SP1, the PVS architecture, differences between MCS and PVS in XenDesktop 5, automating and industrializing PVS deployments, considerations for virtualizing PVS, and best practices and tuning tips. It provided an overview of the topics that would be discussed rather than detailed information on any single topic.
The document discusses Citrix XenApp 7.6 features including Instant App Access, which eliminates long login times by keeping sessions active in the background, and Application Prelaunch and Lingering, which provide a more desktop-like user experience. It also covers Connection Leasing, which allows resources to still be enumerated if the database goes offline by accessing a local XML file, and storage optimization techniques used in XenApp 7.6 to reduce IOPS.
Troubleshooting XenApp with the Citrix Diagnostic ToolkitDavid McGeough
When problems occur, support engineers need data points, debug tracing and context information to help determine root causes. Preparation and organization of commonly used tools has always been a time-consuming challenge, especially during outages. The Citrix diagnostics toolkit (CDT) addresses these challenges by rapidly deploying a suite of tools and options in an easy-to-use structured format.
What you will learn:
• What is the Citrix Diagnostics Toolkit?
• How and when to use the CDT?
• How the CDT helps Citrix deliver better technical support?
World-wide Co. is implementing a XenDesktop 7 solution hosted on Microsoft Azure to provide secure access to desktops and applications for their accounting department. The solution will avoid the need to build new infrastructure and leverage monthly subscription funding instead of capital expenses. Based on Project Accelerator guidance and testing, the solution will include XenDesktop controllers, shared workers, and VDI workers hosted on Azure, along with Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, and SQL Server. NetScaler Gateway and StoreFront will provide secure remote access over an encrypted Site-to-Site VPN between Azure and World-wide Co.'s network. This implementation is designed to meet World-wide Co.'s objectives of quick deployment, high availability, and support
This document provides a design guide for implementing XenDesktop 7 on the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud. It outlines a sample architecture for a company called World-wide Co. that wants to host desktops and applications for its accounting department on Azure. The design includes Active Directory, SQL Server, and file servers provisioned in Azure, along with XenDesktop delivery controllers, shared workers, and VDI workers. NetScaler Gateway and StoreFront provide secure remote access via a site-to-site VPN between Azure and World-wide Co.'s on-premises network. The goal is to leverage Azure's infrastructure services to quickly deploy new desktop resources without large upfront capital costs.
This document discusses Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6. It provides an overview of the key components and architecture of XenApp/XenDesktop 7.6, which is built on the FlexCast Management Architecture. The document outlines the installation and configuration steps for a XenApp 7.6 infrastructure, including installing a License Server, SQL Server, Delivery Controllers, StoreFront, and NetScaler devices. It also discusses features of XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 like published apps and desktops, VDI, pre-launch technology, and session linger.
myTectra Offers the Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Training in Bangalore and get started to become hands on experts on Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 trained by Experienced Professional.
Transforming apps and desktops delivery, XenDesktop 7 allows customers to select, configure and scale more mobile use cases more quickly, easily and economically than ever before. This reviewer's guide is intended to provide analysts and reviewers step-by-step instructions to quickly set up a small test-lab running the latest Flexcast technology from Citrix. It guides first-time users through desktop and app virtualization terminology, and provides new and existing customers with an understanding of architecture, components, key solution scenarios and use cases, whether adopting or transitioning to XenDesktop 7 app and desktop solutions. The guide assumes basic familiarity with XenApp or XenDesktop, and expects the reader to have good knowledge of virtualization and networking.
Rajashekar.N - Senior Analyst with Citrix and VMWare SkillsRajasekhar reddy
Rajashekar is seeking a position as an IT professional with experience administering Citrix and Windows systems. He has over 6 years of experience installing, configuring, and managing Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and related technologies. He is proficient with Windows server administration and virtualization technologies like VMware.
How to Extend the App Model to Support Your User-Centric XenDesktop in the Da...Peter Daalmans
Learn how Configuration Manager 2012 R2 sits at the heart of your modern data center and how Configuration Manager 2012 can be extended with Citrix Connector 7.5, which allows you to not only manage your Citrix XenDesktop or XenApp farms but also use the extended Application Model. In this session you’ll learn how to use the Citrix Connector to manage, deploy, and make your applications available on any device, anytime and anywhere. In this deep-dive session we’ll focus on enabling flexible application deployment in VDI scenarios powered by Windows Server 2012, Citrix XenDesktop, and App-V.
This document contains a summary of Mohan Kumar Reddy's skills and experience working as a Citrix Administrator. He has over 3.8 years of experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop environments. Currently, he works as a Citrix Administrator at ipsoft global services, where his responsibilities include planning, installing, and administering XenApp 6.0, 6.5, and XenDesktop 5.6; troubleshooting issues; building machine catalogs; managing Citrix farms; and coordinating with vendors for new changes. He has expertise in virtualization concepts, Windows, and VMware skills.
Reference architecture dir and es - finalNuno Alves
Citrix Director with EdgeSight provides a complete troubleshooting window to quickly resolve issues around desktops or applications. Previous versions of XenApp leveraged EdgeSight, while XenDesktop deployments looked to Director for assistance. Starting in XenDesktop 7, these two great technologies have been merged into one central point for troubleshooting.
The purpose of this document will be to provide you an overviewof all the necessary parts required to give your company a holistic view. With this being a new product with new features, this document will provide administrators the tools to feel comfortable moving forward with monitoring of a XenDesktop 7 deployment.
This document will cover the configuration of the Director server, as well as how to interface with the Insight Center provided from our NetScaler product line. For more of an overview of the EdgeSight product, please reference the whitepapersfound at www.citrix.com/xendesktop.
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX139051
This document provides information on Allan L. Stoute's education and certifications. It then lists his work experience from 2017 to present at IBM as a VDI Administrator, from 2015 to 2017 at Avon as a Citrix Architect, and previous roles as a Citrix Architect at Arrow Electronics and Gellar & Company, and as a Senior Citrix Engineer at Ralph Lauren, United Nations, and Wachovia Corporate Investment Banking. It provides details on his responsibilities and accomplishments in each role working with Citrix technologies like XenApp, XenDesktop, and Provisioning Server.
Synergy 2015 Session Slides: SYN235 Cost-effective XenDesktop and XenApp Desi...Citrix
Get this slide deck from the SYN235 session at Citrix Synergy 2015 to learn about how you can effectively design cost-effective deployments for the SMB.
Siva Srinivasan is an experienced Citrix and VDI engineer with over 15 years of experience designing, administering, and supporting Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and VDI infrastructures. He has expertise in Citrix XenApp 6.5 and 7.x implementations, Citrix Provisioning Services, VMware Horizon View, and Citrix NetScaler. Srinivasan holds certifications in Project Management, Citrix administration, and ITIL processes. He currently works as a consultant for a Citrix migration project at Atlantic Health Systems.
Citrix provides virtualization and cloud computing solutions that allow users to access applications and desktops from any device. It discusses Citrix products like XenDesktop and XenApp for desktop and application virtualization. Citrix enables work from anywhere by providing a secure virtual workspace that employees can access using multiple devices. It also discusses the benefits of Citrix certifications for demonstrating skills in cloud computing, networking, mobility and virtualization platforms which leads to higher pay and global career opportunities.
This document provides a summary of Mohammed Shafeek's professional experience and qualifications. He has over 8 years of experience in IT, including 3 years as a Citrix Administrator. He has worked on XenApp Server 5.0, 6.5 and Windows server 2008, troubleshooting XenApp Server issues. He is proficient in installing, configuring and managing Citrix servers and applications. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication and is currently working as a Citrix Administrator for Amicorp Management India Pvt Ltd in Bangalore.
Best practices for implementing, administering, and troubleshooting xen deskt...solarisyougood
This document provides an overview of best practices for implementing, administering, and troubleshooting a XenDesktop 7.5 environment. It discusses XenDesktop architecture, design considerations, administrative habits, and troubleshooting tips. The agenda includes architecture and design best practices, administration best practices like database maintenance and monitoring with Director, and troubleshooting methodologies and common problem cases like machine creation failures and registration issues.
Keeping Pace with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x EvolutioneG Innovations
Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x have introduced radical enhancements in the delivery architecture of virtual applications and desktop infrastructures, key enhancements include new components, delivery mechanisms, protocols, configurations, and policies. Additionally, Citrix has also introduced new services, features and enhancements in the Citrix Cloud to deliver Secure Digital Workspace. In light of the magnitude of these enhancements, the best practices used for monitoring earlier versions of XenApp and XenDesktop are not sufficient any longer.
Here are some performance monitoring best practices you need to have in place to deliver a great digital workspace experience for Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x and Citrix Cloud Services.
XenDesktop Master Class - Live Installation of XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6Lee Bushen
Our “Quick-Start” session on XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 to see a live demo of a step-by-step, new-build, installation. A Recording of the Master Class is here: http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/12582
This white paper provides a three-step process to set up Citrix StoreFront 2.0 in a proof of concept environment:
1. Install and configure an initial StoreFront server, including importing an SSL certificate.
2. Configure a second StoreFront server for high availability and synchronize the deployment.
3. Configure NetScaler load balancing and Gateway for secure remote access, and test accessing applications through Citrix Receiver.
Learn about IBM SmartCloud Desktop Infrastructure with Citrix XenDesktop. This document describes the reference architecture for using Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 on VMware ESXi 5 hypervisor. This document gives an architecture overview and component model of the Citrix XenDesktop and then describes the Deployment model of Citrix XenDesktop using different number of users. For more information on IBM Systems, visit http://ibm.co/RKEeMO.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Similar to NetScaler Deployment Guide for XenDesktop7 (20)
The document discusses eG Innovations' performance management monitoring solution. It provides an overview of eG and how it can monitor virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployments. eG offers deep visibility into all layers of VDI, including the virtualization platform, connection broker, profile server, and individual user sessions. It monitors over 150 applications and infrastructure components to provide comprehensive performance monitoring of complex VDI environments.
Good news from the Worldwide Consulting Desktop & Apps (DnA) team! We’ve just finished updating theVirtual Desktop Handbook for XenDesktop 7, StoreFront 2.0 and XenServer 6.2.
The Virtual Desktop Handbook is an architect’s guide to desktop virtualization. It provides you with the methodology, experience and best practices you need to successfully design your own desktop virtualization solution.
Updates in this release include:
Resource requirements for Windows 8 and Server 2012
XD controller sizing
XenDesktop 7 policy guidelines
Database sizing for XenDesktop 7
SQL 2012 chapter
StoreFront 2.0 chapter
32-bit or 64-bit desktop OS guidance
Desktop group & StoreFront integration
In addition, we’ve also included a Citrix policy quick reference spreadsheet so that you can quickly identify default, baseline and template settings from XenDesktop 5 / XenApp 6 all the way up to XenDesktop 7. Thanks go out to Michael Havens, Maria Chang and Uzair Ali for creating this great reference spreadsheet.
I hope you find this handbook useful during your next desktop virtualization project.
And we’re not done yet, future updates will include:
Bandwidth
Hyper-V 2012
PVS 7
User data
And more …
The Virtual Desktop Handbook is not the only resource to guide you through your desktop virtualization journey. Citrix also provides Project Accelerator; an interactive online tool creating customized sizing and design recommendations based on the methodology, best practices and expert advice identified within this handbook.
You can still reach the XenDesktop 5 handbook using the old URL – CTX136546
Andy Baker – Architect
Worldwide Consulting
Desktop & Apps Team
http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/10/10/new-xendesktop-7-handbook-published/
This document provides guidance on designing network configurations for Citrix XenServer. It discusses basic XenServer networking concepts, such as connecting virtual machines to networks. It then presents several sample networking scenarios and considerations for specifying networking requirements. The document also offers recommendations for designing XenServer networks, including using the distributed virtual switch, network redundancy, and bonding. Additionally, it covers designing storage networks and verifying XenServer networking configurations.
1. XenMobile allows you to manage mobile devices, apps, and data through its main components: NetScaler Gateway, XenMobile Device Manager, XenMobile App Edition, MDX Toolkit, and Worx apps.
2. You can deploy the XenMobile components in various configurations depending on your needs, such as deploying only NetScaler Gateway and App Controller to enable remote access to apps, or deploying all components for comprehensive device, app, and data management.
3. A common deployment involves NetScaler Gateway for secure remote access, Device Manager for mobile device management, and App Controller for mobile app and data access, with optional integrations with StoreFront and ShareFile.
This document discusses how Citrix CloudBridge can optimize video delivery in XenApp and XenDesktop environments through features like video caching, disk-based compression, and Quality of Service (QoS). Video caching improves performance by serving cached video over LAN speeds. Disk-based compression reduces bandwidth usage by eliminating duplicate video content. QoS allows administrators to classify and prioritize different types of video traffic to control bandwidth utilization. Together these features enhance the user experience and reduce WAN bandwidth consumption of video streams in virtual desktop and application environments.
The document contains event log entries from Citrix services and applications. It includes information, warning, and error log entries related to services starting and stopping, license checks, configuration changes, virtual memory optimization, and HDX MediaStream for Flash. Issues include services not starting, database errors, license failures, and client incompatibility.
Citrix CloudPlatform is a turn-key cloud solution that provides fast time to value through a simple one-package installation. It is proven to scale beyond 40,000 hosts per region and multiple regions, providing users virtually unlimited computing resources on demand. It offers granular tracking and metering of resource usage for showback/chargeback. The solution is hypervisor and storage agnostic, and supports enterprise-grade networking and security for multi-tenant environments through logical and physical isolation.
Cloud portal business manager product overviewNuno Alves
CloudPortal Business Manager is a cloud services delivery platform that allows organizations to aggregate, simplify the delivery of, and provide self-service access to internal, external, and third party cloud and IT services through a centralized catalog. It automates and streamlines provisioning, billing, user management and other operational aspects of managing cloud services. Key benefits include empowering users with self-service access, delivering any type of cloud service, and helping organizations and service providers transition to and manage an IT-as-a-Service model.
Provisioning server high_availability_considerations2Nuno Alves
The purpose of this document is to give the target audience an overview about the critical components of a Citrix
Provisioning Server infrastructure with regards to a high availability implementation. These considerations focus on the
following areas:
• Virtual Disk (vDisk) Storage
• Write Cache Placement
• SQL Database
• TFTP Service
• DHCP Service
Xd planning guide - storage best practicesNuno Alves
This document provides guidelines for planning storage infrastructure for Citrix XenDesktop environments. It discusses organizational requirements like alignment with IT strategy and high availability needs. Technical requirements covered include performance needs like typical I/O rates and functional requirements like supported protocols. The document recommends avoiding bottlenecks, choosing appropriate RAID levels based on read/write ratios, validating storage performance, and involving storage vendors in planning.
This document is an introduction to Disk Storage technologies and its terminology. Within this
document basic disk and storage architectures as well as storage protocols and common fault
tolerance technologies will be discussed. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide for planning
and configuring storage infrastructures, nor as a storage training handbook.
Due to scope, this guide provides some device-specific information. For additional device- specific
configuration, Citrix suggests reviewing the storage vendor‘s documentation, the storage vendor‘s
hardware compatibility list, and contacting the vendor‘s technical support if necessary.
For design best practices and planning guidance, Citrix recommends reviewing the Storage Best
Practices and Planning Guide (http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX130632)
This document provides an overview of how XenServer manages storage supplied to virtual machines. It describes how Linux views physical disks and partitions, as well as logical volume management and network file systems. The key concepts covered include storage repositories, virtual disk images, storage attributes, and different storage types like local, NFS, Fibre Channel, and appliance-based storage. The target audience is IT specialists who need to understand XenServer's storage concepts and terminology for planning virtualized infrastructures.
Citrix XenDesktop 7 provides a unified framework for virtual desktop and application solutions based on a 5-layer model. The blueprint details architectures for standardized desktops, customizable desktops, and applications. It recommends Machine Creation Services for image delivery and defines policies, personalization settings, and control components to meet requirements for different user groups accessing resources from various locations.
XenDesktop relies on the hypervisor for many core functions, including VM creation, power operations, performance and redundancy. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to design an appropriate hypervisor infrastructure (XenServer, Hyper-V or vSphere). Otherwise, you may experience performance, functionality or even reliability issues.
Most information required to design a XenDesktop deployment on your chosen hypervisor platform is available publicly, but it can be hard to find since it’s spread across a multitude of knowledge base articles or white papers. In order to simplify and speed-up the design process, we’re in the process of consolidating the information that you need into a single document and augmenting it with recommendations and best practices. We’ve just finished incorporating the Hyper-V 2008 R2 and SCVMM 2012 planning section into the latest release of the Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook, which includes important design decisions relating to this hypervisor, for example:
Selecting and sizing the right physical hardware for virtual machines
Knowing what storage options available for Hyper-V 2008 R2
What type of networks to build on the Hyper-V host
How to size the SCVMM servers
Designing a highly available SCVMM solution
Planning an effective failover cluster
The products covered in this current release of the handbook include XenDesktop 5.6, XenApp 6.5, Provisioning Services 6.x and XenClient Enterprise 4.5. A version of the Virtual Desktop Handbook covering XenDesktop 7.x, Provisioning Services 7, Hyper V 2012 R2 and SCVMM 2012 R2 is in the works with an initial release scheduled later in Q4. As always your feedback is welcomed.
http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/09/05/citrix-virtual-desktop-handbook-hyper-v-update/
New eBook! Citrix howto build an all star app desktop virtualization teamNuno Alves
This document discusses how to build an effective team for an app and desktop virtualization project. It outlines four key competencies (prepare, assess and design, deploy, support) and the skills needed for each. It also provides principles for building a successful team, such as finding people with the right attitude, creating a learning culture, getting executive buy-in, and leveraging free resources. The overall message is that the people on the team and the skills they have are critical to the success of an app and desktop virtualization project.
CTX138217 - IntelliCache Reduction in IOPS: XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 on XenServer 6.1 - Citrix Knowledge Center http://ow.ly/o3Ma4
The purpose of this document is to provide testing results based on MCS-delivered streamed virtual desktops leveraging IntelliCache
This document provides guidelines for planning and designing a Citrix StoreFront infrastructure. StoreFront plays a critical role in user authentication, resource enumeration, and aggregation. Key recommendations include:
- Deploy at least two StoreFront servers and use an intelligent load balancer like NetScaler for high availability and load balancing.
- Implement SSL certificates to encrypt communication between Receiver and StoreFront. Also consider encrypting backend traffic between StoreFront and XenApp/XenDesktop controllers.
- Configure multiple controllers per XenApp farm/XenDesktop site and use load balancing for large environments or high login loads.
- Configure highly available internal and external beacon points to determine user network location.
- Use application
This document outlines the migration path from CloudGateway 2.6 to XenMobile 8.5. The architecture will move from StoreFront being the main authentication front-end to AppController being the main authentication front-end. The migration involves upgrading infrastructure components like NetScaler Gateway, StoreFront, and AppController in a specified order. Client devices then need to be upgraded to WorxHome and new versions of Receiver to work with the new architecture.
Citrix reference architecture for xen mobile 8 5_july2013Nuno Alves
This document provides guidance on designing Citrix XenMobile architectures. It describes the XenMobile product editions, including the MDM edition for device management, App edition for app management, and Enterprise edition for comprehensive EMM. It outlines reference architectures for each edition, noting components like the Device Manager, App Controller, and ShareFile. Guidelines are provided for proper integration and deployment of the editions according to an organization's device and app management needs.
SCREENING OF RECOMBINANTS - BLUE AND WHITE SCREENING (MCQS)sabaridaran1310
Introduction about genetic engineering
Steps in rDNA Technology
Screening of recombinants
Selection of recombinants
Blue and white screening
Alpha complementation
Beta galatosidase
X gal
Antibiotic resistance screening
Replica plate technique
Colony hybridization
Screening by Immunological assay
Immunological screening
Protein activity
Enzyme activity
MCQS RELATED TO SCREENING OF RECOMBINANTS
Project Delivery Methodology on a page with activities, deliverablesCLIVE MINCHIN
I've not found a 1 pager like this anywhere so I created it based on my experiences. This 1 pager details a waterfall style project methodology with defined phases, activities, deliverables, assumptions. There's nothing in here that conflicts with commonsense.
Generative AI technology is a fascinating field that focuses on creating comp...Nohoax Kanont
Generative AI technology is a fascinating field that focuses on creating computer models capable of generating new, original content. It leverages the power of large language models, neural networks, and machine learning to produce content that can mimic human creativity. This technology has seen a surge in innovation and adoption since the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, leading to significant productivity benefits across various industries. With its ability to generate text, images, video, and audio, generative AI is transforming how we interact with technology and the types of tasks that can be automated.
Discover practical tips and tricks for streamlining your Marketo programs from end to end. Whether you're new to Marketo or looking to enhance your existing processes, our expert speakers will provide insights and strategies you can implement right away.
Leading Bigcommerce Development Services for Online RetailersSynapseIndia
As a leading provider of Bigcommerce development services, we specialize in creating powerful, user-friendly e-commerce solutions. Our services help online retailers increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.
Multimodal Embeddings (continued) - South Bay Meetup SlidesZilliz
Frank Liu will walk through the history of embeddings and how we got to the cool embedding models used today. He'll end with a demo on how multimodal RAG is used.
Using ScyllaDB for Real-Time Write-Heavy WorkloadsScyllaDB
Keeping latencies low for highly concurrent, intensive data ingestion
ScyllaDB’s “sweet spot” is workloads over 50K operations per second that require predictably low (e.g., single-digit millisecond) latency. And its unique architecture makes it particularly valuable for the real-time write-heavy workloads such as those commonly found in IoT, logging systems, real-time analytics, and order processing.
Join ScyllaDB technical director Felipe Cardeneti Mendes and principal field engineer, Lubos Kosco to learn about:
- Common challenges that arise with real-time write-heavy workloads
- The tradeoffs teams face and tips for negotiating them
- ScyllaDB architectural elements that support real-time write-heavy workloads
- How your peers are using ScyllaDB with similar workloads
Airports, banks, stock exchanges, and countless other critical operations got thrown into chaos!
In an unprecedented event, a recent CrowdStrike update had caused a global IT meltdown, leading to widespread Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors, and crippling 8.5 million Microsoft Windows systems.
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Webinar: Transforming Substation Automation with Open Source SolutionsDanBrown980551
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1. Citrix NetScaler and Citrix XenDesktop 7.0 Deployment Guide
citrix.com
Citrix NetScaler
and Citrix
XenDesktop 7
Deployment
Guide
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Table of contents
Executive summary and document overview 3
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Overview summary 3
2. Architectural overview 4
2.1 Physical view 4
2.2 Logical view 5
2.3 Target architecture 5
Cloud infrastructure 6
3. CloudStack management infrastructure setup 6
3.1 Install Citrix XenDesktop 7 and supporting components 6
3.2 Add DDCs to XenDesktop 10
3.3 Install the Virtual Desktop Agent 12
3.4 Create machine catalogs 14
3.5 Create XenDesktop delivery groups 18
3.6 Configure StoreFront 22
3.7 Add StoreFront servers to deployment 26
Citrix NetScaler 28
4. NetScaler configuration 28
4.1 Initial configuration 28
4.2 Load balancing StoreFront—wizard 29
4.3 Load balancing StoreFront—manual setup 38
4.4 Load balancing DDCs 47
4.5 Remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway—wizard 51
4.6 Remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway—manual setup 57
5. Uncompromised monitoring 60
5.1 NetScaler Insight Center configuration and screens 60
6. Considerations and troubleshooting 65
7. Tables and references 66
7.1 Design decisions—overview 66
7.1 Design decisions—zone architecture (Phoenix) 68
7.2 Design decisions—networking 68
8. Conclusion 69
p
Click on the section
names above to navigate
to that portion of the
book and the arrow icon
to return to the table of
contents from any page.
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This guide demonstrates how to deploy Citrix
NetScaler in conjunction with Citrix XenDesktop 7
with a focus on both simplicity in configuration and
advanced features not easily delivered with other
products.
Executive summary and document overview
1. Introduction
In this guide you’ll learn how to provision the XenDesktop 7 infrastructure, the
NetScaler appliance and NetScaler Insight Center services to extend Citrix virtual
desktop infrastructure and services to remote users in small to medium-size
enterprises.
1.1 Overview summary
Best end user experience: With an integrated Citrix solution for remote and
portable workstyles, end users enjoy a seamless experience resulting in fewer help
desk calls and reduced training needs. Citrix Receiver client software is installed
on the user device (iPhone, Android phone, thin client) to allow users, by way of
the NetScaler appliance delivering high availability, scale and security, to access
their desktops, applications and data through Citrix StoreFront. StoreFront, which
ships with XenDesktop 7, authenticates users to XenDesktop sites and Citrix
XenApp farms, enumerating and aggregating available desktops and applications
into stores that users can access through Citrix Receiver or Receiver for Web.
The StoreFront database records details of users’ application subscriptions to
enable synchronization of those applications across all their devices. Benefits of
the NetScaler/StoreFront solution include one-click configuration for user setup,
local and remote access, automatically provisioned applications, self-service
simplicity, a consistent user experience across any device and persistent access to
applications and desktops.
End-to-end application visibility: New NetScaler 10.1 with HDX Insight seamlessly
integrates with Desktop Director to provide a single location for management and
monitoring of the XenApp and XenDesktop infrastructure. IT teams can drill down
into network protocols (primarily ICA) through Desktop Director to troubleshoot
individual user issues from a single console. The AppFlow capability of NetScaler
allows you to export this data to third-party tools such as Splunk for in-depth
correlation, analysis and reporting. The reports generated by NetScaler Insight
Center, such as the applications and users consuming the most resources, can
help IT determine peak usage and proactively allocate bandwidth accordingly.
Response time measurements can help detect and resolve problems before a
critical network or application failure occurs.
Enhanced security: By acting as a full proxy for ICA connections, NetScaler filters
these connections before they hit the backend server, ensuring they are attack
free. Proper integration with Secure Ticketing Authority (STA) prevents internal
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user and server data, including IP address information, from leaking. SmartAccess
allows you to control access to published XenApp virtual applications and
XenDesktop virtual desktops on a server through the use of NetScaler Access
Gateway session policies. NetScaler Access Gateway is a full-featured SSL
VPN that is an integral component of NetScaler. It gives administrators granular,
application-level control while empowering users with remote access to their virtual
desktops from anywhere.
End-to-end support from a single vendor: Integration between NetScaler and IT
Desktop Director provides a single console for troubleshooting end-user issues
concerning the network and desktops. It also helps lower support and training
costs (TCO) in the long run and enables IT teams to stay abreast of product
roadmap updates. Choosing one vendor instead of multiple providers prevents
finger pointing on integration issues.
2. Architectural overview
The environment described in this guide has been deployed on a single host,
with internal networks configured to simulate an internal corporate network and a
DMZ. The following diagrams illustrate the machines and network configuration in
this deployment.
2.1 Physical view
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2.2 Logical view
2.3 Target architecture
The following components have been installed on each of the machines:
1. Domain controller (DC)
• Active Directory domain services
• DNS
• DHCP
• Citrix License Server 11.11
2. Dynamic Delivery Controller 1 (DDC1)
• XenDesktop 7
• SQL Server Express 2012
3. Dynamic Delivery Controller 2 (DDC2)
• XenDesktop 7
4. App/hosted shared desktops (APP)
• XenDesktop 7 Virtual Desktop
Agent (VDA)
5. Windows 8 VDI (XDVDI)
• XenDesktop 7 VDA
6. StoreFront 1 (SF1)
• StoreFront 1.3
7. StoreFront 2 (SF2)
• StoreFront 1.3
8. Client machine (client)
• Citrix Receiver 3.4
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Cloud infrastructure
3. XenDesktop 7 management infrastructure setup
This section defines the steps required to build the complete infrastructure.
3.1 Install Citrix XenDesktop 7 and supporting components
The XenDesktop 7 install process is a simple next/next/finish install. The services
installed on each machine in this deployment are described in the previous section.
Once XenDesktop is installed, a site must be created. Click on Create a site
in the studio mmc, and click Next on the introduction step. On the database
configuration page, enter the details to connect to the SQL server. In this case,
SQL Server Express has been installed on DDC1 and no database has been
configured. As long as connectivity tests to the SQL Server pass, XenDesktop will
create the database automatically. Enter whatever you want the database to be
called in the database name field.
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Click Test to confirm the database can be connected to.
Configure the license server and license for XenDesktop. In this deployment the
license server has been installed on the domain controller, and we are using a
trial license.
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You may receive a certificate warning during this step if you do not have a
computer certificate on the domain controller.
Enter the hypervisor information. XenDesktop must be able to create machines
on the hypervisor, so root permission is required. Use the root account for
Citrix XenServer.
Select the network on which you would like new machines to be created.
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Select the storage location where the new devices will be placed.
Add App-V if necessary, as it was not configured as part of this deployment.
Review the settings and click Finish. A new site will be created.
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Some of the site configuration tests may fail. In this case the failed tests
were SQL Server reference schema tests, which have no impact on the
XenDesktop deployment.
3.2 Add DDCs to XenDesktop
If you are using SQL Server Express, you will have to start the browser on the
SQL Server before you can add DDCs to the site, as without the browser remote
machines cannot access the database.
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From the studio MMC, click Scale out your deployment and input the address
of the existing DDC in the deployment.
Click Yes to update the Citrix Studio database automatically.
Verify by navigating to Desktop Studio, Configuration, Controllers in the left
panel. You should see both servers listed.
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3.3 Install the Virtual Delivery Agent
The VDA must be installed on all machines that will deliver desktops or apps.
Load the XenDesktop install media onto the target machines to launch the
VDA installation.
Since we will be creating machines from this image with Machine Creation
Services (MCS), we select the first option.
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Add Citrix Receiver to the installation so that users can access applications from
within hosted desktops.
Add both delivery controllers to the configuration. These must be FQDNs, so make
sure that the machine is configured to use your DNS server and verify that the DNS
entries are correct.
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Leave the default features and firewall configuration unchanged and click
Install. The machine will restart during installation. Verify that installation has
completed successfully.
3.4 Create machine catalogs
From the studio MMC, click Create Catalog.
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Click Next on the welcome screen.
Select the type of deployment. This will be a Windows Server OS catalog for
hosting applications on RDS and hosted shared desktops.
Select virtual machines (VMs) or physical hardware and the image
management you want to use. In this case we are managing virtual machines
with MCS.
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Select the snapshot of the master image to be used for image creation.
Select machine parameters for created VMs.
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Specify the naming scheme and organizational unit (OU) for Active
Directory accounts.
Add a scope if necessary. No scope was defined for machine catalogs in this
deployment. Name the catalog and review the settings.
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Studio will begin creating the machine catalog, and this will take a while.
3.5 Create XenDesktop delivery groups
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Add StoreFront access for application access within hosted shared desktops.
Repeat as necessary for all delivery groups.
At this point, XenDesktop and apps and desktops are configured. In the next
section you’ll install StoreFront to test the configuration.
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3.6 StoreFront configuration
Once StoreFront in installed, you must switch IIS to HTTPS before
configuring StoreFront.
Go to IIS - server certificates.
We will be using a domain certificate from the domain CA.
Import or create a web certificate for the URL that the clients will be using to
access the environment. This certificate can be for the machine name. The URL
that users will enter to access the environment will point to the load balancing
server, so that server requires a matching certificate.
Edit the site bindings and add an HTTPS binding using the certificate just
added to IIS.
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Select Create New Deployment.
The Create New Deployment wizard will launch with HTTPS and the common
name of the certificate as the base URL. This is the URL that users will enter
to access the environment, and will eventually resolve to the Access Gateway
IP address.
Name the store and click Next. Enter the delivery controllers. In this case, we want
to load balance the delivery controllers with NetScaler, so each delivery controller
entered here will be the load balancing vServer VIP, not the actual DDCs. Even if
you have not configured load balancing yet, as we don’t, put in the IP of whatever
the load balancing VIP will be when it is set up.
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Access to the store typically does not need to be on SSL because it is completely
internal traffic; however, SSL can be used if the DDCs and the load balancing vServer
have certificates.
On the Remote Access page, select No VPN tunnel to specify the use of Access
Gateway in ICA proxy mode. Click Add.
Add the two DDCs as Secure Ticket Authorities (STAs).
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Click Create and Access Gateway will appear in the list of appliances.
Click Create and the store will be configured. The authentication, stores, Receiver
for Web and Access Gateway should all be configured and visible from the
StoreFront MMC.
3.7 Adding StoreFront servers to the deployment
To add servers to the existing StoreFront deployment, open the StoreFront MMC
on the machine you wish to add and click Join existing server group.
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The server will ask for the name and code of an authorizing server.
A code for authorizing a new server will be generated. Enter this code on the
server you want to join the deployment.
The server will join the deployment. Click OK.
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Citrix NetScaler
4. NetScaler configuration
4.1 Initial configuration
Once NetScaler is licensed, run the setup wizard to configure the IP address that
will be used for communication with internal servers.
In this deployment we’ve chosen to skip the configuration wizard for load balancing
XenApp and XenDesktop and perform these configurations manually instead.
Once the initial setup wizard is complete, go to Network/IPs and confirm that the
SNIP is set correctly.
Go to system/settings and configure basic features.
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4.2 Load balancing StoreFront—wizard
From the navigation tree on the left, select Traffic Management and click
on Load Balancing.
Click Load Balancing wizard.
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Click Next on the Introduction screen.
Enter SFService1 for the Name and click the New button.
Enter SF1 for the server name, click Domain Name and enter
storefront1.xd.lab. Then click Create.
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Select SSL for the protocol.
Click the Add button to add in the first service.
Enter SFService2 for the name and click the New button.
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Enter SF2 for the server name, click Domain Name and enter
storefront2.xd.lab. Then click Create.
Click the Add button to add in the second service.
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Click Next.
Enter StoreFrontLB for the name and 172.16.1.156 for the IP address. Select
SSL for the protocol.
Select both services and click Add.
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Click Next.
Click Finish to complete the wizard. Then click Exit.
It is normal for the StoreFront virtual server to be in a down state at this point. We
have created an SSL server but not added a certificate, causing the server to be in
a down state. A certificate will be added next.
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Under Load Balancing Virtual Servers, double-click the new entry of
SFVirtualServer that was created.
Click the Method and Persistence tab.
Ensure the method is set to Least Connection, persistence is set to
COOKIEINSERT and time-out value is set to 0.
NOTE: This will result in fair-share load balancing between the two servers and
ensure that open connections between clients persist to the same backend
server. A time-out of 0 means that the session will only remain valid as long as the
browser is open.
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Click OK.
Click the disk icon towards the top right and then Yes to save the running state
to disk.
Click OK on the confirmation.
Click the SSL Settings tab.
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The SFVirtualServer should now show as Up.
4.3 Load balancing StoreFront—manual setup
In this section we configure load balancing for the StoreFront servers. Go to load
balancing/servers and click Add to add the two StoreFront servers.
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Repeat for SF2.
Both servers should be enabled in the list of servers.
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Next create the SSL service on these servers. This will be the web traffic going to
the StoreFront servers.
Repeat for SF2.
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Verify that both services are up.
A load balancing virtual server can now be created to balance the two services
created previously. This server must be an SSL server to load balance SSL
services, meaning that it requires a certificate. Navigate to SSL certificates and
import the certificate used for the Access Gateway URL.
Click on Manage Certificates/Keys/CSRs under SSL/Tools
Select upload.
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Upload the StoreFront certificate and any associated intermediate or
root certificates.
In this case, the StoreFront certificate and the CA root certificate have
been uploaded.
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Navigate to ssl/certificates and click Install. Select the certificate for StoreFront.
Repeat for intermediate and root certificates.
Next select the StoreFront certificate and click Link. The root CA will be the
only option for linking in this case. Click OK.
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The certificate will now be available for use on the load balancing virtual server and
Access Gateway.
Go to load balancing/virtual servers and click Add.
Switch the protocol to SSL and enter the IP address that the virtual server will use.
This is the IP address that was entered into the StoreFront configuration as the
hostname. Select both StoreFront services.
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Change to the method and persistence tab and specify COOKIEINSERT
persistence with a SOURCEIP backup.
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Finally, under SSL settings, add the certificate for the server.
Verify that the server state is shown as Up.
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4.4 Load balance DDCs
Next we need to configure load balancing for the DDCs. Go back to load balancing
servers and add the first DDC server.
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Next, create the services for XML traffic on the DDCs. In this deployment the XML
service was left on port 80, the default. If the port was changed by the broker
service, reflect that in the services created here.
Repeat for DDC 2.
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Now, create the load balancing virtual server for the XML service. This is the IP
address that was entered for the delivery controller in the StoreFront configuration.
Note: Persistence isn’t required for the DDC XML service.
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4.5 Remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway – wizard
Log into the NetScaler GUI.
Expand Security and click Access Gateway. Click Create/Monitor
Access Gateway.
Click the Get Started button.
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Enter RemoteAccess for the Name.
IP Address: Public IP for access
Click Redirect requests from port 80 to secure port.
Then click Continue.
From the Certificate drop-down menu, select the public CA certificate for the
NetScaler Access Gateway and click Continue.
NOTE: This certificate needs to be issued from a public CA and must be previously
installed on the NetScaler appliance.
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Next is authentication. If you have previously configured LDAP authentication on
NetScaler, select the available authentication and skip to the next step.
Under Authentication Settings, click the button for Configure New and enter
the following details:
IP Address: 172.16.1.200
Base DN: cn=Users, dc=xd, dc=lab
Admin Base DN: cn=Administrator, cn=Users, dc=xd, dc=lab
Password/Confirm Password: Password1
Click Continue.
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Enter the following details for Citrix Integration Settings:
CloudGateway
Deployment Type: Windows Storefront
StoreFront FQDN: storefront.xd.lab (FQDN of storefront load balancer)
Receiver for Web Path: /Citrix/StoreWeb (url of receiver for web)
PNAgent Path: /Citrix/PNAgent/config.xml
Single Sign-on Domain: xd.lab
STA URL: http://ddc1.training.lab
Click Done.
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Under Configuration, go to Security Access Gateway Virtual Servers.
Double-click the RemoteAccess entry.
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Under Published Applications tab, click Add under Secure Ticket Authority.
Type in http://ddc2.training.lab and click Create.
Click OK.
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Go to Traffic Management Load Balancing Virtual Servers.
Double-click the entry with the name that contains http_redirect. This was
created as part of the wizard.
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Click the Advanced tab and change the Redirect URL to be in the format
https://externally-accessible-FQDN based on the IP address that was there.
4.6 Remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway – manual setup
Now that load balancing is configured, Access Gateway can be configured. In this
deployment, a second subnet was configured to act as the “WAN.” This subnet
contains only the Access Gateway VIP, a NetScaler SNIP and a client access
machine. The subnet used is 172.16.2.x/24. First configure a SNIP on this subnet; in
this guide 172.16.2.100 was used. Then go to Access Gateways/virtual servers
and click Add.
Name the server using the common name of the certificate, give it a VIP and
assign the StoreFront certificate and click Create.
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We want Access Gateway to be able to authenticate users with Active Directory, so
we added LDAP authentication to the system. Go to the system/authentication/
ldap/servers tab and click Add. Fill in the domain controller information and
click Create.
Now switch over to the Policies tab and click Add. Add the ns_true expression
to the policy and click Create.
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Now go back to the Access Gateway virtual server and switch to the
authentication tab, and click Insert Policy. Select the policy we just created
and click OK.
At this point we should be able to log into NetScaler Access Gateway.
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You land on the NetScaler Access Gateway portal because there is no session
policy defined to forward the session. That will be the next step. This step verifies
that the certificate is valid and that the authentication works.
Back on the StoreFront Access Gateway virtual server, add the two DDs as STAs.
Go to the Published Applications tab, and under Secure Ticket Authority
enter http:// followed by the IP address of the servers. Once entered, each entry
should appear up with an identifier listed.
Navigate to the Policies tab and click Insert Policy. Select New Policy. Name the
policy. Next to Request Profile, select New.
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Switch to the Published Applications tab and make the following changes:
Click the Security tab and set the Default Authorization Action to ALLOW.
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Add the ns_true expression to the policy and click Create.
Now test it out….
You should be able to log in, be forwarded to Citrix Receiver, see applications and
launch applications.
5. Uncompromised monitoring
NetScaler Insight Center is an industry-first application that consolidates end-to-
end web application data with Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure performance
data in one place for further detailed analysis. This section shows how to configure
NetScaler Insight Center to monitor the XenDesktop 7 deployment.
5.1 NetScaler Insight Center configuration and screens
Log into the NetScaler Insight Center GUI, navigate to Configuration and under
Inventory, click Add. Enter the IP, username and password of the NetScaler
appliance from which you want to collect AppFlow data.
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Click Add. Return to the Inventory screen, and the NetScaler appliance should be
listed with its IP address and hostname.
Click on the IP address of the NetScaler appliance. All load balancing vServers,
content switching vServers and NetScaler Access Gateway vServers should be
shown on the Applications List.
Navigate to the IP address and service for which you want to enable AppFlow
logging, right click and select Enable AppFlow.
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You need to define an expression for the logging. This enables you to gather data
only when a specific expression is true. To record all data from the vServer, enter
true as the expression.
Click OK.
Now there should be a green check mark with ENABLED under the insight
column header. In the screenshot below, AppFlow logging has been enabled for
the StoreFront load balancing vServer.
NOTE: AppFlow logging must also be enabled on the NetScaler side to enable
logging in Insight.
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Repeat the process for any other load balancing vServers, then use the dropdown
menu to switch to content switching vServers or VPN. The VPN category will list
all NetScaler Access Gateway appliances. If the gateway runs in ICA proxy mode
instead of VPN, check the ICA box when you complete the expression true.
Now navigate to the dashboard view and confirm that you can see the data
gathered from NetScaler Access Gateway. In this example there is logging enabled
on the StoreFront load balancing vServer, and several types of information are
available, such as:
URLs
Devices (the NetScaler instances that are in use, by number of hits)
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Clients (Infrastructure servers that NetScaler is contacting. 150,151 are StoreFront
servers, 200 is DNS resolutions, etc.)
The HDX Insight portion of NetScaler Insight Center keeps detailed information
about user ICA sessions. The following chart shows the average bandwidth,
latency, RTT, etc., for a specific user.
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Application launch history
Desktop performance and bandwidth
6. Considerations and troubleshooting
• The StoreFront servers on SSL are particularly sensitive to the persistence
settings on the load balancer.
• In this deployment, modifications have been made to the host’s file on the
StoreFront servers to resolve the FQDN of Access Gateway. These machines
also had NetScaler Access Gateway set as their default to reach the IP on the
external subnet.
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7. Tables and references
7.1 Design decisions – overview
The best practice architecture uses two StoreFront servers and two DDCs for
scale and availability. The two StoreFront servers are then configured behind a
VIP on the load balancer. Users access the StoreFront service via the VIP. This
provides increased availability to the control plane.
Decision point Design decision Justification
Management Servers
Number of
management
servers
1 (1 for virtual desktop
infrastructure,
0 for storage, 0 for
monitoring, 1 for load
balancer management
software)
High availability
Deployment
location
You can easily add another set of
management servers to the cluster
without reconfiguring the entire
infrastructure.
Deployment
hypervisor
XenServer 6.0.2
Management
server VM
properties
CPU: 2 x vCPURAM:
40 GB RAM
NIC: 2 1gbE NIC
(Vlan 100)
HDD: 100GB
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Decision point Design decision Justification
Monitoring VM NetScaler Insight
Center 10.1.
Storage: 120gB
CPU: 2x vCPU
RAM: 4gB
Operating
system
RHEL 6 (64-bit)
Management servers – load balancing
Load balancing
used
Yes
Load balancer NetScaler SDX 11500,
w/ 1 VPX instance
VIP (FQDN)
SSL encryption Yes
MySQL database
Number of
MySQL servers
(VM)
1
Deployment
hypervisor
XenServer 6.0.2
Management
server VM
properties
CPU: 2 x vCPU
RAM: 6 GB RAM
NIC: 1 x NIC
(vLAN 100)
HDD: 100GB
Operating
system
RHEL 6 (64-bit)
MySQL version MySQL 5.6
Replication No
Master:
Slave:
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7.1. Design – zone architecture (Phoenix)
We’ve labeled this deployment the Phoenix zone and it has 3 VLAN’s: Internal,
DMZ, and Client. There’s also an L3 router and a couple L2 switches, all
completely virtualized. This deployment highlights only one zone but each zone
can be replicated using different IP subnets. Each zone can be clustered. The
isolation between tenants is provided by switch-based security zones.
Availability zone(s) – 1 (it is always recommended to go with two
availability zones)
Phoenix
Deployment
location
Phoenix, AZ
Network mode Basic (L3 network
model)
The L3 network model is simple
to manage and does not restrict
the number of accounts. It also
reduces the complexity of network
management.
External
DNS server(s)
Internal
DNS server(s)
vLAN range
Guest CIDR
Public
Domain
7.2. Design decisions - networking
Decision point Design decision Justification
Distribution
switch
Cisco Nexus 7000
8. Conclusion
To conclude, it is quite apparent from this guide that the NetScaler ADC best
optimizes your XenApp/XenDesktop deployment, as follows:
• Best end-user experience with the NetScaler ADC
• End-to-end application visibility with NetScaler Insight Center
• Enhanced security with the NetScaler ADC built-in firewall
• End-to-end support from a single vendor