What is VPN and How does it Works

Myths and tales of image management (Part 1) -

The desktop virtualization industry is relatively young, but it is already full of myths and tales. One of the most popular -which is told by a number of our competitors whenever they get an opportunity To- is the image management with XenDesktop. It tells customers and partners on how complex image management is to install and it is even more difficult to use.

One of my favorite statements comes from our friends at VMware. They say: "Both PVS and MCS are too hard for leaner IT teams to use, and many XenDesktop deployments blocked by the complexity of managing the image"

in this series. blog, I will try to "myth bust" these claims. But do not I will not worry mention all the "independent" studies! instead, you'll see a bunch of screenshots and videos and I'll try to be as transparent as possible on how the results were gathered.

Now, put on your helmet and follow me down in the dungeon image management see who is called "darkest" of all Citrix technologies by competitors :. Provisioning services (PVS)

This is the PVS console:

Looks scary?. eh ..

here you can see:

to create a new vDisk-which can then be disseminated down to an unlimited number of target Peripherals- you need to have some kind of IP network, a DHCP server and you need to follow these three steps:

1. install Citrix Provisioning server
2. system installation physical or virtual that can be used as a master
3. Install the PVS target device drivers on the master system

Last but not least, you must run the wizard picture on PVS the master. This wizard guides you cross the 7-step process that can be completed in a minute or two. Below you can find a video describing the full procedure:

Now the most complex part of an installation procedure / Procurement Services configuration is finished. In fact, I can already hear our competitors shout "Hey, you skipped network integration portion! Customers should consider DHCP and PXE and BDM and multi-homing and sooo much more ...! ". Well, there are certainly very large scale environments or with specific requirements you really need to spend some thoughts on how to transmit information PVS Bootstrap (DHCP, PXE or BDM) or how the traffic streaming is discharged to the dedicated network adapters (eg multi-homing). But this is not an average customer with a need for couples to hundreds or thousands of desktops. in this case, you just with the default configuration, which means:

• Do not touch your DHCP Ensure your field are available IP addresses

• .. run the PXE service on each PVS server. So do not uncheck that option during installation and go with the default.

• Just use a single network adapter PVS on your server and the target. Even a connection / s 1 Gbit can transfer round about 115 MB per second. That's a lot of data. Much more than a virtual desktop or XenApp server will be read from the disk during normal operations.

If you are one of the clients who can not go with the default configuration, see related article eDocs and the Handbook of Citrix Virtual Desktop, which provides guidance detailed design around it. That being said, back to the previous line of good. We created the new Provisioning Services vDisk. So now you can listen to the newly created vDisk for some physical systems, create a bunch of new virtual machines using the PVS installation wizard that can integrate these virtual machines in XenDesktop immediately ( I'll post a video of that later) or you assign to existing targets. Now some of you may say "Ahh ... here it comes ... This is the complicated part ... That makes PVS therefore unusable ...." I'm sorry, but I have to disappoint you. Assigning a vDisk is actually quite simple You.

1. Click on a vDisk

• drag it to a collection of devices

• Click Yes

now we can start the target. So devices, each system is booting from the exact same hard drive (or vDisk in this case). this means that each system has the same configuration and the same applications installed. But although all systems start from the same hard drive, each system has a unique name and is linked to an account single computer in Active Directory. Provisioning Services magic is that these changes are made on the fly during startup. So there is no need to run scripts and start a few times with VMware View Composer. Imagine the power that is in the management of 50, 100, 1,000, 10,000 or even more systems. To demonstrate the power PVS is, I created another short video in which I will deploy Microsoft Office 2013 Windows 8.1 target and then return to a Windows 7 image with Office installed. I know this is not really a use case in real life, but I think it's a pretty nice demo but ...

I hope I was able to break the myth of Provisioning Server is too complex for most iT staff can not cope.

in the next blog in this series, I'll take a look at XenDesktop Machine Creation Services, another beast in the image management dungeon.

PS: One final note. I am fully aware and I am sure that you are also the management of the image is more than the establishment of infrastructure and delivery of basic procedures I described in this post. We made a number of white papers discuss in detail (eg CTX133786). But the intent of this blog was to focus on some of the technical aspects in XenDesktop / PVS rather than providing an image from start to finish

-Thomas
Follow me on Twitter :. @ Tberger80

Federal Future prospects in IT - Tech Innovation in 2014 -

As we entered 2014, the Federal IT market is evaluation of priorities and opportunities in the coming year. 2013 was a year in which organisms obtained much success in their efforts to innovate IT infrastructure, but we know that opportunities to achieve more traction remain. Recently, I noticed the International Data Corporation (IDC) 2014 technology predictions of the government, and their projections are in line with what we see the future of Federal IT

IDC believes four pillars at the IT exam -. Social, cloud, big data and analytics, and mobile. In 2014, the company expects that the government will realize a transformation so that each of these four pillars advance to gain ground. Citrix, a leader in solutions for mobility and virtualization, has the capabilities to help our government partners excel in these key areas.

As the consumerization of technology continues, the public employees are increasingly expecting to leverage social-style apps for workplace productivity as they do in their ubiquitous privacy for social engagement. Citrix answers this call with our Podio and Sharefile products. Podio, a social collaboration tool, allowing users to create applications and set up workspaces to support efficient workflows. The platform includes hundreds of enterprise applications, enabling customization employees are accustomed to their personal social networks.

In addition, ShareFile allows maximum productivity for a mobile workforce. This monitoring solution data enables me IT managers to provide robust data sharing and synchronization service, promotion of mobility and collaboration for users - anywhere, on any device. Both Podio and ShareFile are robust solutions and critical for the deployment of agents to reach the new age of social workstyles.

Regarding mobility, agencies continue to gain ground with this important priority. As they do, they are increasingly understanding the need for a corporate approach to mobility management. Reply to this market need, Citrix introduced XenMobile Enterprise Edition - the first holistic approach to mobility management including the management of mobile devices, the mobile application management, and management of mobile data - and mobility is the basis strong making up IT implementations today. We see many of our customers really excel in their progress towards mobile and flexible workplace with this revolutionary solution.

Regarding the major data analysis, and the cloud, Citrix has the tools require agencies to operate safely in the cloud and manage large amounts of data. Cloudbridge provides a unified platform that connects and accelerates applications while optimizing the use of bandwidth on cloud networks. Our solution is the only wide area network (WAN) optimization solution with integrated secure connectivity transparent cloud, enabling data centers to be increased with an infinite capacity and elastic efficiency.

In addition, our NetScaler optimizes the solution secures and controls the delivery of all enterprise services and cloud computing. This solution offers high scalability for large data and analysis - with the ability to meet growing application traffic, key to the growth of many government agencies web and mobile presence. Unlike other products, the scalability of NetScaler can be increased by simply upgrading licenses without replacement hardware - save budget and unnecessary downtime. In addition, NetScaler also offers delivery of end to end any application of services - business, cloud, mobile or web -. To meet the performance and availability

In 2014, IDC also predicts that organizations will have a renewed emphasis on the connection security - a critical ongoing priority and always difficult in government. They predict a 12 percent spending authentication with up to 30 percent of government agencies to replace or upgrade their authentication systems.

Citrix XenApp, advanced solutions for virtual application delivery allows government agencies to provide safe Windows applications as mobile services. Requests will be centralized in the data center to protect all the information -. Reduce the risk of data loss or unsecure connections, further alignment with government agencies and mobile initiatives to focus on the authentication

We look forward to another year of progress in modernizing technology in government agencies and our team is equipped with leading solutions and expertise to help our government partners to achieve their innovation goals, safely and cheaply. 2013 has taught us that, although barriers may arise, vast opportunities remain for us to reach a new era of computing, and we are very happy for the trip.

Tom Simmons, vice president of the region in the public sector for Citrix Systems is available tom.simmons (AT) citrix (DOT) com.

MS Hotfix 2870165 нарушает работу перенаправления клиентской временной зоны в ICA сессии -

Доброго времени суток, уважаемые читатели. Снова с вами российский голос технической поддержки Citrix. Обратите внимание, что Microsoft изменил API и внедрил изменение фиксом 2870165. В результате перенаправление клиентской временной зоны в ICA сессии не работает. В настоящий момент Citrix работает над фиксом. Пока же рекомендуется откат фикса 2870165 как временное решение этой проблемы. Подробнее.

Last chance to register! 10 Tips Every XenDesktop administration should know -

This is your LAST CHANCE to register for this webinar month in popular support Citrix Secrets series.

This is a repeat of the January webinar, which covers 10 Tips Every XenDesktop administration should know.

This webinar will be delivered by one of our best engineers in climbing Citrix.

as an administrator XenDesktop, it is your responsibility to ensure your XenDesktop infrastructure is running smoothly and your users work efficiently. In this webinar XenDesktop our own master, Michael Glover will guide you in using our award-winning solution for virtual desktop delivery, XenDesktop, with some really key tips and time savers to help you make the most of your investment.

Michael was involved in XenDesktop from day and gathered a tremendous amount of knowledge he would like to share with you

during this webinar you :.

• Learn how to perform advanced management tasks using the SDK public POSH
• Troubleshoot and resolve the serious site
• Learn how to make real-time infrastructure tests to validate the functionality of the site
• Learn how to use the main tools for solving problems of XD
• greater dept knowledge of the inner workings of XenDesktop

Webinar Details

When: Tuesday 25th February 2014 @ 24:00 EST / 18:00 CET
How: REGISTER NOW

waiting to see many of you in line.

David McGeough
Program Manager, WW Marketing Services
LinkedIn

Follow @citrixreadiness

Citrix Partner Uproar "Citrix SalesIQ is your one source for content sales" -

Citrix SalesIQ is here The new platform is easy to use, and intuitive! you'll have access to even more content than you had before successfully kits. in addition, toolboxes consultation, promotions and incentives and other content sales previously on Partner Central is available centrally on Citrix SalesIQ.

outstanding features:

• Leads and rewards integration provides embedded tiles Citrix SalesIQ the encouragement recording
• Mobile access to your iOS device or Android device
• Visibility notes of content sales, indicating that the content is more effective
• Google-like search functionality using a variety of labels and features
• subscription services allow you to easily "follow" the latest content

First. Bookmark Citrix SalesIQ to https://citrixpartner.gosavo.com/. Also, with single-sign-on, you can easily access the platform Partner Central. We are confident that your experience will be enhanced and you will find effective content, powerful to help deepen your customer engagement and gain larger.

Read the full article.

Partners, be part of the bustle!

Citrix Partner Hubbub Partners provides an opportunity to voice your opinions, ask questions and share insightful news.

Add your voice to Citrix Partner Uproar and follow us on Twitter @CitrixPartners.

Using PKI cloud providers for authentication Cert XenMobile WorxHome Part 2 -

In my previous post, we went on the integration of Symantec PKI on that part .. 2, we will examine and configure Netscaler the configuration to provide basic authentication gateway NS Cert Worx Home and Enterprise Store.

Cheers!

Albert

http://youtu.be/0YRTiLG8IZQ

Now available: Cisco Validated Design for Citrix XenDesktop7.1 (CVD XD7 + + + NETAPP ESX) -

I really love my job. I work closely with Citrix partners (usually over a period of months) to build desktop and application reference virtual architectures, conduct performance testing, and how each solution scales. When we come to the end of a validation, it's incredibly rewarding to understand the nuances of a configuration and see the final results published in our work. And it is particularly satisfying when our tests revealed that new software and press material can withstand substantial increases user density.

Perhaps this why I am delighted with the release of a new Cisco ^® Validated Design (CVD), which documents a reference architecture and scalability testing we conducted in the last month. The architecture combines Citrix ^® XenDesktop ^® , Cisco UCS blade servers, NetApp storage and VMware vSphere to build a ready desktop virtualization solution for the enterprise. Under test, it showed excellent scalability with a heavy workload of 00 mixed spaces hosted virtual desktops (VDI) and hosted shared desktops (RDS). We capped our tests at 00 users, but the architecture can scale even beyond to meet the future growth needs. If you want to read the full CVD, Cisco published here. This blog excerpt highlights and summarizes the results of our design and testing.

Building A Scalable Architecture

The reference architecture is based on a FlexPod-key infrastructure (for example, the FlexPod data center with VMware vSphere 5.1). This enterprise solution combines a new generation of hardware and software components: Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 and Provisioning Services 7.1, VMware ESXi 5.1, B0 M3 Blade Cisco UCS with Intel ^® Xeon ^® E5 -2680v2 ( "Ivy Bridge") processor, and NetApp FAS 3240 shared storage with the Data ONTAP cluster ^{® OS} 8.2 storage. For high availability, server architecture uses an N + 1 design that includes two chassis housing two Cisco UCS blades for infrastructure servers, blades 8 for VDI workloads and 4 blades for RDS hosted shared desktop workload, as in the diagram below.

infrastructure turnkey Nature creates a compact, affordable and flexible for Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 software. The XenDesktop 7.1 unifies the functionality of XenApp and XenDesktop earlier releases by providing a single management framework and common policies provide two virtual desktops hosted and hosted shared desktops. The CVD documents a design that we stress-tested and validated with 550 hosted virtual desktops (running Windows 7) and in 1450 hosted shared desktops (using Microsoft Server 2012). NetApp FAS 3240 storage provided well managed, shared storage scale-out.

Test Methodology

To understand the methodology used to test, you can see this short, 3-minute video.

We set up the test configuration in NetApp lab in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. During each test, we captured the measures through the virtual desktop lifecycle from end to end: during the boot virtual desktop and connection desktop user (acceleration), the user simulation workload (steady state ), and the user log-offs. To generate a load in the environment, we used Login VSI 3.7 software Login VSI Inc. (http://www.loginvsi.com). This load simulation software generates desktop connections, simulate workloads, and following application responsiveness.

To begin the test, we started the performance monitoring scripts to save the resource consumption for the hypervisor, virtual office, storage and load generation software. At the beginning of each test, we took the workstations on the maintenance mode, virtual machines began, and waited for them to save. Login VSI launchers initiated desktop sessions and started user connections, which is the ramp-up phase. Once all users have been recorded in part at steady state of the trial began in which the Login VSI run the application workload (default Login VSI average workload). The average workload is the office productivity tasks for a knowledge worker "normal" and includes the Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer with Flash, PDF viewing and printing.

Login VSI loops through specific operations and measures response times in regular intervals. Response times Connection VSIMax determine the maximum number of users that the test environment can support before performance is constantly deteriorating. Because the reference response time may vary depending on the virtualization technology, using a threshold calculated dynamically based on the weighted measurements provide greater accuracy for comparisons between providers. For this reason, we also configured the software Login VSI to calculate and report response time dynamic VSImax.

We have two single server and multiple tests of server scalability, make three functional tests during each test cycle to check the consistency of our results. The test phases included:

1. The determination of the single-server scalability limitations. This calculated phase VSIMax connection for each scenario (VDI or RDS) on a single blade. In each case, the user's density was scaled until VSIMax connection has been achieved, which occurs when the CPU utilization reaches 100%.
2. Validation single server scalability at a maximum recommended density with VDI and RDS loads. The maximum recommended load for a single blade occurs when CPU usage spikes at 0-95%.
3. Validation scalability of multiple servers on each cluster workload. Using multiple blade servers, we created a separate base for VDI workloads and RDS, testing each workload group independently.
4. Validation scalability of multiple servers on an associated workload. After determining the baseline for each workload group, we combined workloads to achieve a full scale, the result of the mixed workload

Main results

Phase 1 :. Single Server Scalability Testing

In the first series of tests - tests of scalability single server -. we determined Login VSImax for virtual desktops hosted (VDI) and hosted shared desktop sessions (RDS) on a single slide

Parameter	Hosted virtual Desktops	Hosted Desktops shared
virtual CPUs	1 vCPUs	5 vCPUs
Memory	1.5 GB	24 GB
size vDisk	40 GB	60GB
Write size Cache	6GB (Thin)	50GB (Thin)
NPI virtual	1 virtual VMXNET3 NIC	1 virtual VMXNET3 NIC
vDisk OS	Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise (x86)	Windows Server 2012
additional software	Microsoft office 2010, Connection VSI 3.7	Microsoft office 2010, Login VSI 3.7
test workload	Login VSI workload " Medium "	Login VSI" Medium "workload

to find Login VSImax for virtual desktops hosted on a single slide, we used a test workload 220 users running Windows 7 SP1 sessions as an average workload (including Adobe flash content). As Figure 1 shows, Connection VSImax was reached to 202 users

Note :. Virtual desktops hosted were configured with the Windows Desktop Basic theme for Windows 7. Windows 7 allows the default Aero Glass theme that translates the user density ~ 30% less consuming more host CPU resources. Indeed, XenDesktop 7.x has a virtual software GPU (vGPU) as part of the Virtual Desktop Agent that both Windows applications and can be used for compatibility purposes. Windows applications and enable GPU hardware acceleration on detection using vGPU XenDesktop Aero rendering software (and DirectX) which consumes additional resources from the host server processors. Except office composition (eg Aero DWM) is required, it is recommended not to use Aero to reach the full potential scalability of the solution. The Windows Desktop Basic theme can be configured using the following policy.

• User Configuration Policies Administrative Templates Control Panel Personalization Load a theme
• theme file path "C: Windows Resources Ease of Access Topics basic.theme "
• user profiles must be recreated when the activation / deactivation of this setting strategy

Figure 1: Hosted Virtual Desktops, single results Server

We then watched the scalability of shared workstations hosted on Windows Server 2012 desktop sessions on a single slide. We launched 240 user sessions to test the scalability of shared workstations hosted on a single Cisco UCS B0 M3 blade-and achieved a score of 211 VSImax users (Figure 2)

Figure 2 :. Hosted Shared Desktops, single server Results

With all scalability optimally configured test, CPU resources are usually the limiting factor, what we known as the VDI and RDS single server tests. Compared to previous generation Intel Xeon past tests "Sandy Bridge" processors, the same hardware Cisco UCS B0 M3 with dual 10-core 2.7 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2680v2 "Ivy Bridge" processors supported density of about 25% larger than the user. Thus, Cisco blades with new processors enable an ultra-compact solution that can support up to 2,000 users

Phase 2 :. Single Server Scalability, recommended maximum density

After testing single server scalability, the next step was to determine the maximum recommended capacity for a single blade. The maximum recommended level of density occurs when the CPU utilization reaches 0-95%.

Under a VDI workload, the maximum recommended density is 180 hosted virtual machines on a single blade server Cisco UCS B0 M3 with dual Intel Xeon E5 2680 v2 processors and 384 GB of RAM. Running Microsoft Windows 7 (32 bit), each virtual machine has been configured with 1.5GB RAM and 1 vCPUs. Figure 3 shows that the charges VSIMax scales, as well as the CPU, memory and network settings. (Storage settings are discussed in a separate section at the end of this blog.)

Figure 3: Hosted Virtual Desktops, servers Individual results under recommended load

for shared desktops hosted (RDS), workload recommended maximum of 220 users per Cisco UCS B0 M3 blade (with double E5-2680 v2 processors and 256 GB of RAM). On each slide eight we configured Windows 2012 virtual server machines, each with 5 vCPUs and 24GB RAM. Figure 4 shows that VSIMax load scales with CPU, memory and network settings

Figure 4 :. Hosted Desktops shared, server Individual results under recommended load

Phase 3: the Cluster workload Scalability Test

in this phase, we created separate workload clusters, one for VDI and for RDS, and test them independently. In an N + 1 configuration, if one blade is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance or unplanned downtime, the remaining servers can absorb the extra load. Our goal was to create a highly available architecture so that the design could sustain acceptable performance even in case of failure of a single blade.

To properly support a total of 550 users VDI, we used four Cisco UCS B300 M3 blade, configured with virtual machines as in the single server test / recommended maximum load (1 vCPUs and 1.5GB RAM by VM). To test the cluster of VDI workload 5 shows VSIMax and CPU, memory and network settings for a representative blade

Figure 5 :. Hosted Virtual Desktops, multiple servers / Workload Cluster Baseline

to provide 1450 hosted desktop sharing, we used eight Cisco UCS B300 M3 blade and configure as in the recommended load testing single server / maximum (each blade was configured with eight Windows server 2012 R2 virtual machines and each VM was allocated 5 vCPUs and 24GB RAM). Again, our goal was to design a configuration that could support a single failure of the blade and continue to support 1450 RDS users. 6 shows VSIMax and metrics collected for a representative single blade

Figure 6 :. Hosted Shared Desktops, multiple servers / Workload Cluster Baseline

phase 4: Full-scale Mixed Workload testing Extension

in this final phase of testing we have validated the wide solution by launching LoginVSI sessions against both VDI and RDS clusters simultaneously. Cisco test protocol requires that all sessions must be started within 30 minutes and all launched sessions should become active within 32 minutes.

Our validation tests imposed starting and aggressive scenarios connection with the siege of 00 mixed office workload. All VDI and RDS VMs started and recorded with XenDesktop 7.1 Controllers delivery in less than 15 minutes, proving how quickly this desktop virtualization solution could be available after a cold start. Our test simulated a connection storm every 00 simulated users, but all users connected and started running workloads (reaching steady state) within 30 minutes without exhausting the CPU, memory, or storage.

Figure 7 shows the results of mixed workloads, large-scale tests, including graphics for VSImax and CPU, memory, and network settings collected on the VDI server and representative RDS

Figure 7 :. full scale, mixed Workload scalability results

storage Performance

The storage configuration includes a cluster with two NetApp node FAS3240 being clustered implementing Data ONTAP 8.2 and four racks of 15K RPM 450GB SAS drives. Each node was configured with a 512GB Flash Cache PCI card. . User home directories were configured on CIFS shares PVS then write caches for VDI and RDS workloads are hosted on NFS volumes

Since the test was held at the NetApp plant, we captured the storage performance data extended at each stage: startup, connection, steady state, and logoff. When testing large-scale workloads combined VDI and RDS, we recorded storage measures on the NetApp Filer and are summarized below.

Overall, the storage configuration easily handled the workload of 2,000 seats, with an average read latency of less than 3 ms and write latency of less than 1 ms. Write caching PVS showed a peak average of 10 IOPS per desktop during the login storm, with steady state showing 15-20% less I / O in all configurations. The average write cache I / O was 8k in size, with 0% write cache I / O to be written. Using NetApp Flash Cache has decreased the number of IOPS during the I / startup and connection O-intensive phases, once cached (warm cache).

Conclusion

The validated test linear scalability of the Cisco, NetApp, VMware and Citrix reference architecture. The tested configuration easily supported a 00 seat XenDesktop mix of user load VDI and RDS without overloading the CPU, memory, network and storage. In addition, the reference architecture defines an N + 1 configuration blade, creating a very reliable and tolerant design fault for virtual desktops hosted, hosted shared desktops and infrastructure services. And the new generation of Intel "Ivy Bridge" processors supports about 25% more capacity per server processors of the previous generation, allowing the system under test to support 2,000 users using only 32 rack units of single rack, keeping the power center and floor space data.

Maybe because I love what I do, but I think these results are quite exciting. Check out the full CVD posted on the Cisco website

-. Frank Anderson, Principal Solutions Architect with Citrix Worldwide Alliances