Citrix Systems provides server and desktop virtualization, networking, and cloud computing technologies including Xen open source products. It was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Citrix's products include XenApp for application virtualization, XenDesktop for desktop virtualization, and NetScaler for load balancing.

1. What is the Citrix?
Citrix Systems, Inc. is an American multinational software
company founded in 1989, that provides server and desktop
virtualization, networking, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and
cloud computing technologies, including XEN open source
products.
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Izaak Salman

2.  The Citrix and Microsoft relationship is based upon a 20-year alliance, which began in 1989 when Citrix licensed the OS/2 source code.
 Citrix obtained a source code license to Microsoft's Windows NT 3.51. In 1995, Citrix shipped a multiuser version of Windows NT with remote
access, known as WinFrame. This product was a unique offering, targeting the needs of large enterprises.
 During the development of WinFrame for Windows NT 4, Microsoft decided that it did not want to license Windows NT 4 source code to Citrix.
Not only that, Microsoft threatened to build its own version of WinFrame. Citrix and Microsoft entered negotiations about how best to resolve
this dilemma. After negotiations, Microsoft agreed to license Citrix technology for Windows NT Server 4.0, resulting in Windows Terminal
Server Edition. Citrix agreed not to ship a competing product but retained the right to sell an extension to Microsoft's products, initially under
the name MetaFrame. This relationship continued into the Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 eras, with Citrix offering Metaframe
XP and Presentation Server.
 On February 11, 2008, Citrix changed the name of its Presentation Server product line to XenApp.
 The core technology that Microsoft did not buy was the ICA protocol. Microsoft derived the work for RDP (T.share) protocol from NetMeeting,
which originally derived from a deal with PictureTel (now known as Polycom).
 In January 2008, Citrix announced an expanded alliance with Microsoft to deliver a set of virtualization solutions to address the desktop and
server virtualization markets to ensure broad interoperability between their technologies.
 In February 2009, Citrix extended its collaboration with Microsoft in the server virtualization market with “Project Encore”. This was heralded
by a new product, Citrix Essentials, that offers advanced management for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V.
 In July 2009, Citrix and Microsoft announced joint plans to simplify desktop computing by extending their desktop virtualization partnership.
 Technology integration so enterprise IT organizations can manage both distributed and centrally hosted applications using Citrix XenApp and
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
 Extension of XenApp support for Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) to enable self-service delivery of applications on any device using
Citrix Receiver and Citrix Dazzle
The Virtualization Game is Changing
History:
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3. Technologies for virtualization
An overview of XenApp and Desktop virtualization.
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4.  Contents:
 Solution
 Citrix XenApp
 Citrix XenDesktop
 Web Interface
 Citrix PVS and VDI
 Citrix VDI-in-a-Box
 Citrix App Streaming
 Citrix XenServer
 Citrix NetScaler
The Virtualization Game is Changing
Turn shifts in the industry to your advantage
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5.  More and more IT leaders are recognizing the value of virtual computing – improved flexibility, security, productivity
and mobility. This is creating new possibilities for personal efficiency and business speed.
 XenApp - Secure desktop and application access solution that provides administrators granular application-level
control while empowering users with access from anywhere.
Going virtual with HP - Citrix
Solution
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With the secured XenApp architecture each and every enterprise can now centralize
and consolidate its application and data stock while providing its employees with a
single but stable access facility which works independently of their current location.
XenDesktop - accelerates desktop
transformation by delivering high-
performance personal desktops and apps
with all the flexibility, performance and
user experience of a PC, but optimized for
network, server and storage resources.

6. XenApp on-demand application delivery
XenApp Architectural Components
 What is the XenApp?
 A XenApp farm is a logical group of servers that can be managed as a single entity. Applications can be made available
by installing or streaming them to a server or user device.
 The primary architectural components of a XenApp farm are:
 Web Interface - Provides a cross-platform delivery point for access to applications
 XenApp - An on-demand application delivery system for all Windows applications, both client/server and desktop
 Data store database - When you deploy your server farm, it must have an associated data store. When servers in a
farm come online, they query the data store for configuration information.
 Data Collector (ZDC) A single XenApp server in each zone, called the data collector, maintains dynamic farm
information and communicates this information to data collectors in other zones.
 IMA - The Independent Management Architecture (IMA) provides the framework for all server-to-server
communication that occurs in a XenApp farm
 Zones - A zone is a configurable grouping of XenApp servers. All farms have at least one zone.
 Worker Groups - XenApp servers can be organized and used as a single unit known as a worker group. You can
configure a worker group to contain servers based on OU membership within Active Directory or assign individual
farm servers to a worker group
 Web Interface servers
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7. Citrix Web Interface
WI - Web-based access to enterprise apps
• Provides a cross-platform delivery point for access to applications
• Simplifies delivery of Citrix Receiver to user devices
• Access from desktops, laptops, PDA's
User devices with
Citrix Receiver
XenApp Web
&
Services Site
LAN User TCP-HTTP(S): 80/443
Session virtualization
Servers and VM
To Account
Authority and
Enterprise
Applications
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8. WI and components
Web Interface and Citrix XenApp Components
1. User access to Web Interface - WI authenticate user credential from AD and give Access to applications.
2. XenApp farm delivering virtual applications and Server Desktops to the end-user
3. Citrix License Server verifying licensing and issue to user when connection establish.
4. Data store records and keeping all data for servers and application properties to function properly.
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9. XenApp Reference
XenApp Reference architecture
 A XenApp farm is a logical group of servers that can be managed as a single entity. Applications can be made available
by publishing on server, installing or streaming them to a server or user device.
 The primary architectural components of a XenApp farm are:
 License Server
 Web Interface
 SQL Data store Database
 XenApp Data Collector
 XenApp servers
 Worker groups
 Zones
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10.  The XenApp Reference Design is designed to be scalable and resilient for ease of implementation, high availability, and
ease of maintenance.
 The Server Configuration Tool (SCT) allows you to configure a server role. The SCT can be started from the XenApp
Server Role Manager or from the command line (XenAppServerConfiguration.exe). The Server Configuration Tool is
also used for wizard-based configuration of XenApp.
 All XenApp servers can host sessions. The XenApp server mode specifies whether the server can only host sessions
(session-host only mode, also called session-only) or if it can also perform the controller functions of being elected a
data collector and hosting the XML broker (controller and session-host mode, also called controller).
 While configuring servers as session-only can improve performance (particularly in large farms with multiple zones),
ensure you have sufficient servers configured in controller mode that can serve as backup data collectors for your
zones. A XenApp server configured in controller mode monitors other controller servers in the XenApp farm and
triggers data collector elections when necessary.
 The Citrix XML Service must run on a server configured in controller mode.
 Application enumeration and resolution are invoked only on servers configured in controller mode.
 The AppCenter can discover and connect only to servers configured in controller mode.
 Every zone and every farm must have at least one server configured in controller mode.
 If you plan to migrate an earlier XenApp version to XenApp 6.5, the migration operation must be run on a XenApp 6.5
server configured in controller mode.
Citrix XenApp Servers
Deliver Windows apps as an on-demand service
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11. XenApp 6 for Windows Server 2008 R2
Easier management, improved performance
 Simplify management and reduce complexity
 Manage XenApp using familiar group policy style management
 Create policies as Citrix IMA and/or Active directory group policies
 Assign policies to user or server groups for automated configuration
 Single application management console modeled after MMC 3.0
 Active Directory Group Policy extensions enable policy-based management of XenApp
 Broader peripheral support enables enhanced Citrix HDX experience
 PowerShell 2.0 enables automation of management workflows
 Citrix performance improvements for R2 result in at least 15% more users per server
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12. Virtualization Map
Primary Components of Virtualization
 Reference
Citrix NetScaler
Merchandising Server
Enterprise app store
Citrix Receiver
with plug-in
Web Interface and XML
Service
XenApp Virtualization
TS/RDS Servers
Enterprise
SQL Database
XenDesktop
VDI
PVS
Provisioning
Servers
Users
Employees, road warriors,
contractors, temps,…
Devices
Mac, Windows,
Linux, Smart Phones
Locations
Hotel, Home, Small office, …
Access Gateway
Enterprise Storage
v-disks, images, packages
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13. XenDesktop
Citrix XenDesktop - XenDesktop foundation
 The major modules and components of the XD are:
1. Hosted VDI Desktop Conceptual
2. Network infrastructure
3. Active Directory
4. Access infrastructure
5. Delivery Controller
6. Provisioning Server
7. VDI Image
 Hosted VDI Desktop FlexCast model
 They are all remote from the user’s end point device
 They all require the XenDesktop virtual desktop agent
 They all require XenDesktop controller’s for connectivity
 Optimized Storage Space
 Reduce Storage IO
 Read IO activity can be reduced by using XenServer Intelli Cache.
 As Provisioning PVS services executes on Windows Server 2008R2,
 Read IO activity can also be reduced for Streamed desktops by utilizing Windows system cache
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14.  Within the context of a larger end-to-end virtualization solution, Provisioning Services plays a fundamental role central
to the standardization of server and desktop images across an organization.
 Standard Image
 Multiple target devices share the same vDisk image.
 The vDisk is configured in read-only format and any
 changes made by the target device are stored in
 a write-cache file.
 Private Image
 Each target device is provided with an assigned vDisk.
 The vDisk is configured in read/write format allowing
 any changes to be saved for further use.
 Differencing Disks
 Multiple target devices share the same vDisk image.
 The vDisk is configured in read-only format and any
 changes made to the target device are stored in a
 differencing disk file.
 Upon restart, the differential cache file is saved
Provisioning Services PVS
PVS and vDisk Types
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15. Citrix App Streaming
Application Virtualization
 Application virtualization provides one of the key components of dynamic assembly, the separation of applications
from the underlying OS. Separating the application from the OS enables management of the application and its total
life-cycle as a discreet object. A further advantage to this separation of OS and application is the ability to deliver and
manage a single application image across CSP tenants, personalized for each tenant’s SLA through the policies
associated with that tenant’s worker group based partition.
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16. Hosted VDI & Shared Desktops
XenDesktop VDI types
 Hosted VDI desktops
 Hosted Shared
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Offer a personalized Windows® desktop
experience, typically needed by office workers,
which can be securely delivered over any
network to any device. This option combines
the benefits of central management with full
user personalization, and can generally support
up to 150 desktops per server.
Hosted Shared desktops provide a locked
down, streamlined and standardized
environment with a core set of applications,
ideally suited for task workers where
personalization is not needed – or allowed.
Supporting up to 500 users on a single server,
this model offers a significant cost savings over
any other virtual desktop technology.

17. FlexCast delivery technology
Deliver a variety of desktops
 Local VM-based desktops – this model is still in its infancy of evolution as far as being readily deployed in production
environments but is uses the client hypervisor and client resources to host a virtual OS utilizing but still allowing
centralized management and being able to take the client offline. This is not part of the XenDesktop 4 model as of yet
but definitely fits into the menu for FlexCast Delivery Technology.
 Local Streamed desktops – This model is used with a provisioning server that streams the operating system and
needed resources to the memory of a local user’s workstation or thin client. This is very cost-effective and a means of
using older workstations longer. It also allows the administrator to centrally manage and have more control over the
user device. This is not recommended to deploy for remote access users.
 Hosted Blade PC desktops – this is where user’s PCs are racked or installed on blade servers located within a data
center. This is not considered a scalable nor cost-effective option but typically implemented for security reasons.
 Hosted VM-based desktops – this is hosted virtual desktops known commonly as VDI. VDI stands for Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure of Virtual Desktop Interface. This is where each user has their own separate operating system and
resources divided up from a single host.
 Hosted shared desktops – you’re probably already very familiar with this but this is the Microsoft Remote Desktop
technology or Citrix XenApp technology where users access a published desktop that shares the resources of a
Windows server using the multi-win kernel technology. Administration is centrally managed but allowing users to have
published desktops rather than published applications requires more administration to implement controls and
desktop customization.
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18. .
 Support for “vApps” or Virtual Appliances
 OVF definition of Virtual Appliance
Citrix XenServer
XenServer 6.0 runs on the Xen 4.1 Hypervisor
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 Optimized for XenDesktop
 GPU Pass-through Support Intelli Cache
 Improved performance & scale IaaS Cloud
 Open vSwitch as default network stack
 Virtual Appliance, OVF improvements
 Various platform improvements
 Microsoft System Center Integration
 Management of XenServer infrastructure via System
Center VMM
 System Center Operations Manager pack for
monitoring

19.  Provides web-base, Admin Console for configuring plug-in packages and deliveries
 Virtual Appliance installable on any version of XenServer 5 or VMware, Citrix XenServer is free
 Central point of control and delivery for Citrix Receiver for Windows and Mac
 Manages and controls plug-in delivery to Citrix Receiver client software on user devices
 Notifies administrators of available plug-in updates
 Produces administrative reports
 Shipped as a pre-configured Virtual Appliance
 Imports via XenServer tools or VMware OVF Tool 1.0
 Configured using web-based administration console
 Integrates with Active Directory (configured as part of the initial setup)
Merchandising Server
Central point of control and delivery for Citrix Receiver
Citrix Merchandising
Server
Client delivery and synch
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20.  Citrix NetScaler is:
 The NetScaler system is an integrated Web application delivery controller that slashes server and bandwidth
requirements, cutting the costs of delivering enterprise applications in half. The NetScaler system gives IT managers
the ability to instantly tap unrealized efficiency gains across all phases of the application lifecycle, without having to
become application experts.
 An asymmetrical solution
 A complete traffic management platform for all types of traffic
 A highly effective solution for optimizing HTTP traffic
 A solution designed from the ground up for high speed and performance
 nCore
 Citrix NetScaler nCore technology dramatically increases the performance and scalability of NetScaler at no additional
cost. nCore technology breaks the single CPU performance barrier that limits the performance, scalability, and
extensibility of most Web solutions.
NetScaler
The best SSL VPN for XenApp or XenDesktop solution
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21.  VDI-in-a-Box give a wide berth to some of the stings of other VDI solutions. In the figure below, which is from the Citrix
web site, you can see a side-by-side look at traditional VDI vs. VDI-in-a-Box.
 VDI-in-a-Box is an easy, affordable, all-in-one desktop virtualization solution that makes the benefits of desktop
virtualization available to every business.
 Work anywhere on any device using HDX-enabled Windows PCs, Macs, Tablet platforms such as Apple, Android, HP
and RIM, using the Citrix Receiver.
 Provide personalized desktops where users can install their own applications and store their configuration,
personalization and data.
 Reduce downtime with all the standard automatic features the end-user never sees: built-in high-availability, grid-wide
virtual IP address, Active Directory fail-over, and Follow-me desktops, data and apps.
VDI-in-a-Box: How it Works
Personalized virtual desktops for less
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22.  By adding native support for Windows Server 2008 R2 on the Branch Repeater, the IT manager continues to benefit
from the improved security and management functionality of the new Windows platform while optimizing all the
WAN data to and from the branch.
 Features:
 Natively integrated Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition OS (64-bite)
 File, print, DHCP, DNS, WINS, DFS
 Read-only Domain Controller (RODC)
 MMC, WMI, SCOM manageability
 Benefits
 Simplify IT by consolidating servers in the branch
 Leverage existing Windows management tools and expertise
 Interoperates with other Branch Repeater, Repeater and Branch Repeater VPX solutions
Branch Repeater running Windows
Accelerate, controls and optimizes services
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23.  The fundamental approach behind thin-client computing is simple. Instead of running all
 applications locally on PCs with all of the associated challenges and costs, applications run
 centrally and simply deliver screen updates and inputs to clients.
 The financial case is clear: thin-client computing can save 30%-70% of your IT costs.
Thin Client Device
What is an HDX Ready Thin Client?
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Uniquely intelligent zero client delivering new levels of
simplicity and value for computing.
• Affordable, Flexible Zero Computing
First-of-its kind HP Smart Client delivers a robust, no-
compromise user and IT experience at just US$199
• Unique device purposing
Optimized for Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop & HDX, or
choose to deploy or repurpose for VMware View or
Microsoft Session Virtualization via RDP
• Intelligent Zero Clients
No-touch device automatically inherits configuration
from data center
• Powerful, Yet Efficient

24.  If you have questions or need more information, please reference the following:
Resources
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Izaak Salman