This document provides guidance for a Citrix Service Provider ("AzureCSP") on designing a hosted desktop solution on Microsoft Azure. It outlines AzureCSP's business objectives of providing a month-to-month hosted desktop subscription service for 5000 subscribers with minimal upfront costs. The technical design includes Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop, along with Active Directory, DNS/DHCP and SQL Server on Azure. It describes four service tiers: Basic, Premium and Dedicated desktops, plus custom offerings. The solution is designed to be highly available and scalable to meet AzureCSP's goals of delivering desktops and applications to small-to-medium businesses from any device.
Move your desktop to the cloud for $1 day Desktone
This webinar will explore the reasons for changing traditional desktop computing strategies, why cloud-hosted virtual desktops are a compelling solution for many businesses, and how to leverage cloud-hosted desktops for Windows 7 migrations, mobile and departmental workers, and disaster recovery scenarios.
OpenStack VDI and DaaS with Leostream and the Teradici Pervasive Cloud Comput...Leostream
OpenStack makes a solid choice for your VDI platform. Maximize return on investment and optimize the end-user experience with a robust connection broker and high-performance virtual workspaces solution that can turn your OpenStack cloud deployment into a VDI power house.
Move your desktop to the cloud for $1 day Desktone
This webinar will explore the reasons for changing traditional desktop computing strategies, why cloud-hosted virtual desktops are a compelling solution for many businesses, and how to leverage cloud-hosted desktops for Windows 7 migrations, mobile and departmental workers, and disaster recovery scenarios.
OpenStack VDI and DaaS with Leostream and the Teradici Pervasive Cloud Comput...Leostream
OpenStack makes a solid choice for your VDI platform. Maximize return on investment and optimize the end-user experience with a robust connection broker and high-performance virtual workspaces solution that can turn your OpenStack cloud deployment into a VDI power house.
Presentation gives more insight about what is Converged Infrastructure , types of Converged Infrastructure and its benefits. Also it provides details about various Converged Infrastructure vendors in market and their shares.
DEVNET-1008 Private or Public or Hybrid ? Which Cloud Should I choose?Cisco DevNet
With the advent of cloud computing, the choices for delivery and consumption of applications have drastically increased. With choices comes complexity. Enterprises often find themselves struggling to decide if public, private or hybrid cloud is the best choice for their needs. This session will talk about the pros and cons of public, private and hybrid cloud. It will also describe how Cisco Intercloud Fabric (ICF) can provide the best of both worlds.
What is the role of clouds in driving substantial IT organizational change? Adopters of private clouds are looking for more agility and speed, according to IT market research highlighted in the presentation.
These business benefits are made possible by the adoption of cloud automation. The presentation examines automation advantages such as:
• Reducing management costs while also cutting cloud deployment time
• Cutting complexity via standardization
• Optimizing resource utilization
• Accelerating service delivery times.
Power to Change also spotlights specific gains achieved by Dow Jones & Co.’s adoption of VMware cloud automation software, including an 80% improvement in operational efficiency and substantial operational savings.
Learn how adopting cloud automation tools will provide a competitive edge to your organization.
We identify the key challenges associated with switching to cloud DBMS environments and provide proven best practices for making your transition to the cloud successful. RDX currently supports dozens of cloud systems.
The webinar provides our experiences with the cloud and its hidden impact on IT support. A video recording of the webinar is included.
VMware Outlines Its Own Journey to the CloudVMware
See how VMware, pioneers of the software-defined data center, are implementing their own IT transformation to take advantage of the benefits provided by an SDDC architecture.
Gartner report on cloud360 cloud management platformCognizant
Gartner Research has released a report emphasizing Cognizant Cloud360’s capabilities to empower enterprises in embracing cloud-enabled environments, with industry-leading platforms. According to Gartner, the key value adds of this product are cost-effective application management, seamless IT service delivery with self-service, enterprise compliance & governance and protection of existing IT investments. The report explicates why Cognizant’s Cloud360 becomes an ideal partner for enterprises planning operations in the cloud.
Learn more about Cloud360 here - http://www.cognizant.com/cloud/cloud360
Contact Us
cloud360@cognizant.com
The Webinar takes participants through the entire cloud migration life-cycle – from initial analysis to final migration. We evaluate the leading cloud DBMS offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle. We also compare IaaS and DBaaS to better understand the two architectures and identify the most appropriate use case for each platform.
We finish by providing RDX’s recommended database migration procedures and the vendor utilities you can leverage to ensure trouble-free cloud transitions. Learn from experts who have migrated dozens of on-premises systems to the cloud!
CXO's need to equip themselves with the right information to provide answers to their board. This slide deck will cover the four important topics that must be addressed and explores the most important tactical question: How easy is it to migrate existing applications and infrastructure to the cloud.
Syn254 showdown aws vs. azure for desktop delivery - finalHenrik Johansson
The time has come to make your move to the public cloud. But which one? This session will conduct a showdown between two of the biggest players, which also happen to be strong Citrix partners: Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. We will compare their feature sets, service offerings and technologies and explain how these affect your ability to deliver desktops via a public cloud. Target features will include automation, deployment and backup; cost models such as bring-your-own-license; load balancing, traffic optimization and external access; and integration with on-premise clouds.
In this session you will:
• Understand the technology, cost and licensing differences between AWS and Azure
• Hear about their SaaS/IaaS options
• Receive guidance on which cloud is better for your organization
This 2nd-annual research report from DABCC and eG Innovations provides the results of a comprehensive survey of the Citrix user community – exploring the current state of Citrix performance management with a goal of helping Citrix users better understand current challenges, technology choices and best practices in the Citrix community.
The survey results have been compiled into a data-rich, easy-to-digest report to provide you with benchmarks and new insights into the best practices for effective Citrix performance management.
Presentation gives more insight about what is Converged Infrastructure , types of Converged Infrastructure and its benefits. Also it provides details about various Converged Infrastructure vendors in market and their shares.
DEVNET-1008 Private or Public or Hybrid ? Which Cloud Should I choose?Cisco DevNet
With the advent of cloud computing, the choices for delivery and consumption of applications have drastically increased. With choices comes complexity. Enterprises often find themselves struggling to decide if public, private or hybrid cloud is the best choice for their needs. This session will talk about the pros and cons of public, private and hybrid cloud. It will also describe how Cisco Intercloud Fabric (ICF) can provide the best of both worlds.
What is the role of clouds in driving substantial IT organizational change? Adopters of private clouds are looking for more agility and speed, according to IT market research highlighted in the presentation.
These business benefits are made possible by the adoption of cloud automation. The presentation examines automation advantages such as:
• Reducing management costs while also cutting cloud deployment time
• Cutting complexity via standardization
• Optimizing resource utilization
• Accelerating service delivery times.
Power to Change also spotlights specific gains achieved by Dow Jones & Co.’s adoption of VMware cloud automation software, including an 80% improvement in operational efficiency and substantial operational savings.
Learn how adopting cloud automation tools will provide a competitive edge to your organization.
We identify the key challenges associated with switching to cloud DBMS environments and provide proven best practices for making your transition to the cloud successful. RDX currently supports dozens of cloud systems.
The webinar provides our experiences with the cloud and its hidden impact on IT support. A video recording of the webinar is included.
VMware Outlines Its Own Journey to the CloudVMware
See how VMware, pioneers of the software-defined data center, are implementing their own IT transformation to take advantage of the benefits provided by an SDDC architecture.
Gartner report on cloud360 cloud management platformCognizant
Gartner Research has released a report emphasizing Cognizant Cloud360’s capabilities to empower enterprises in embracing cloud-enabled environments, with industry-leading platforms. According to Gartner, the key value adds of this product are cost-effective application management, seamless IT service delivery with self-service, enterprise compliance & governance and protection of existing IT investments. The report explicates why Cognizant’s Cloud360 becomes an ideal partner for enterprises planning operations in the cloud.
Learn more about Cloud360 here - http://www.cognizant.com/cloud/cloud360
Contact Us
cloud360@cognizant.com
The Webinar takes participants through the entire cloud migration life-cycle – from initial analysis to final migration. We evaluate the leading cloud DBMS offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle. We also compare IaaS and DBaaS to better understand the two architectures and identify the most appropriate use case for each platform.
We finish by providing RDX’s recommended database migration procedures and the vendor utilities you can leverage to ensure trouble-free cloud transitions. Learn from experts who have migrated dozens of on-premises systems to the cloud!
CXO's need to equip themselves with the right information to provide answers to their board. This slide deck will cover the four important topics that must be addressed and explores the most important tactical question: How easy is it to migrate existing applications and infrastructure to the cloud.
Syn254 showdown aws vs. azure for desktop delivery - finalHenrik Johansson
The time has come to make your move to the public cloud. But which one? This session will conduct a showdown between two of the biggest players, which also happen to be strong Citrix partners: Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. We will compare their feature sets, service offerings and technologies and explain how these affect your ability to deliver desktops via a public cloud. Target features will include automation, deployment and backup; cost models such as bring-your-own-license; load balancing, traffic optimization and external access; and integration with on-premise clouds.
In this session you will:
• Understand the technology, cost and licensing differences between AWS and Azure
• Hear about their SaaS/IaaS options
• Receive guidance on which cloud is better for your organization
This 2nd-annual research report from DABCC and eG Innovations provides the results of a comprehensive survey of the Citrix user community – exploring the current state of Citrix performance management with a goal of helping Citrix users better understand current challenges, technology choices and best practices in the Citrix community.
The survey results have been compiled into a data-rich, easy-to-digest report to provide you with benchmarks and new insights into the best practices for effective Citrix performance management.
How to Avoid the Top 7 Mistakes Made When Managing Citrix PerformanceeG Innovations
Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop are two of the most performance-sensitive applications being used in enterprise networks today. Citrix performance management is of critical importance because even a small glitch – anywhere in your infrastructure – can negatively affect the user experience and, ultimately, result in lost business revenue.
These slides are from our recent webinar, ‘How to Avoid the Top 7 Mistakes Made When Managing Citrix Performance’, where Raymond Otero, Manager of End-User Computing, Anexinet – a leading Citrix Gold Solution Advisor, and Srinivas Ramanathan, CEO of eG Innovations, discussed the top seven mistakes that IT professional make when managing their Citrix-based services as well as the best practices to address and avoid these mistakes to ensure a positive user experience and business continuity.
In October 2017, Nutanix announced support for Citrix XenServer, bringing the most popular application and desktop virtualization hypervisor to Nutanix's Enterprise cloud infrastructure.
With numerous XenServer innovations opened up to Nutanix customers, including graphics, security and VM disk provisioning, these slides cover the latest technical enhancements between companies that are taking the cost and complexity out of IT.
Citrix Desktop Master Class – What’s New in XenApp/XenDesktop 7.11 - Sept 2016Lee Bushen
Video recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGHdTX202_U
Technology experts Lee Bushen and Patrick Irwin unpack the new features of XenApp & XenDesktop, 7.11 (pronounced “Seven-Eleven”), released in September 2016.
Highlights:
- Windows Server 2016 Day 1 Support
- Microsoft Enhancements (Hyper-V, App-V, UWP, Azure)
- Management (New Helpdesk features, Self-Service PW, Telemetry)
- Usability (User Zone Preference, HDX Adaptive Display v2, GPUs, Linux Apps)
- Workspace Environment Manager (Formerly Norskale)
The Top Eight Best Practices for Deploying XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6eG Innovations
Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 are fast becoming the standard platforms for deploying application and desktop virtualization. Based on the new Flexcast Management Architecture (FMA), XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 provides a unified platform that makes application and desktop delivery fast and easy.
See our recent webinar slides for the Top Eight Best Practices for Deploying Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 to learn how to take advantage of all the new Citrix features and enhancements to improve the security, manageability and remote access of your virtual applications and desktops.
SYN 305: Architecting Citrix on Microsoft AzureCitrix
You can deliver shared hosted apps, desktops, and Server VDI from Azure. We can show you how!
Watch the full session on SynergyTV and follow along with these slides.
http://live.citrixsynergy.com/2016/player/ondemandplayer.php?presentation_id=c520cdde-a60f-473b-914d-172b2bfbfe4f
Citrix Desktop Master Class - Dec 2016 - Moving to Citrix CloudLee Bushen
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdRIBJ7u7zM&t=2551s
Want to move some of your XenApp/XenDesktop servers to the Cloud but don’t know where to start?
Lee Bushen and Patrick Irwin cover the top questions asked by our customers when considering such a move. Live Demos of creating a Citrix Cloud-controlled XenApp system, and migrating existing servers to it.
•What is “Citrix Cloud” and why should I consider it?
•Where does everything go and how secure is it?
•Demo: 15 minutes to get a service up in the Cloud
•Who owns what, and how do you ensure availability?
•Demo: Migrating existing XenApp servers to Citrix Cloud
•Hybrid cloud – How do I get the best of both worlds?
Gartner TOP 10 Strategic Technology Trends 2017Den Reymer
Gartner TOP 10 Strategic Technology Trends_2017
http://denreymer.com
Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Machine Learning
Intelligent Apps
Intelligent Things
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Digital Twins
Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers
Conversational Systems
Digital Technology Platforms
Mesh App and Service Architecture
Adaptive Security Architecture
The cloud platform is getting more and more attractive to the computing world. Azure is a new cloud system from Microsoft that allows applications to run from a remote connected system, hosted in a Microsoft data center, and store data in the cloud. The platform consists of three main parts – Development runtime, Azure runtime and Applications like SQL Azure. In this business focused session you will see the main business overview of this cloud platform.
Katpro Technology, a IT solutions company, announced it has been selected by Microsoft Co-corporations as a windows Azure Circle Partner.The Partnership will provide katpro with the ability to service customers needs in the area of cloud, training and support material provided by Microsoft.
RapidScale, a managed cloud services provider, delivers world-class, secure, and reliable cloud computing solutions to companies of all sizes across the globe. Its state-of-the-art managed CloudDesktop platform and market-leading cloud solutions are the reasons why RapidScale is the provider of choice for leading MSOs, VARs, MSPs, Carriers and Master Agents throughout the United States. RapidScale is not only delivering a service but also innovating advancored solutions and applications for the cloud computing space. RapidScale’s innovative solutions include CloudServer, CloudDesktop, CloudOffice, CloudMail, CloudRecovery, CloudApps, and more. For more information on RapidScale, visit www.rapidscale.net.
Synergy 2015 Session Slides: SYN105 Leverage Citrix Workspace Cloud For Your ...Citrix
Get this slide deck from the SYN105 session at Citrix Synergy 2015 to learn about how Citrix Workspace Cloud fits into your enterprise IT infrastructure.
MSHOWTO ile Tech Summit 1'de Bende Özgür Çebi ile birlikte Citrix on Azure oturumunu gerçekleştirdim. Bu oturuma ait sunumu bu adresten inceleyebilirsiniz.
Check out this presentation and learn how the new SaaS-based monitoring service from eG Innovations helps Citrix customers with performance management of their digital workpace 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/
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
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
The Citrix Storage planning guide provides a list of best practices, recommendations and
performance related tips that cover the most critical areas of storage integration with Citrix
XenDesktop. 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
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 describes how XenServer provides and keeps track of the storage supplied to its guests. The first section
is a reminder of how Linux looks at storage and the second section builds on that to explain XenServer storage. Basic
knowledge of Linux is required, as some standard tools are used.
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/
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
NetScaler Deployment Guide for XenDesktop7Nuno Alves
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.
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
SAP Sapphire 2024 - ASUG301 building better apps with SAP Fiori.pdfPeter Spielvogel
Building better applications for business users with SAP Fiori.
• What is SAP Fiori and why it matters to you
• How a better user experience drives measurable business benefits
• How to get started with SAP Fiori today
• How SAP Fiori elements accelerates application development
• How SAP Build Code includes SAP Fiori tools and other generative artificial intelligence capabilities
• How SAP Fiori paves the way for using AI in SAP apps
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
2. CSP Hosted Desktop on Windows Azure Design Guide
citrix.com
About this
design guide
The Citrix Design Guide provides
an overview of the Citrix Service
Provider Hosted Desktops on
Azure solution architecture and
implementation. This design has
been created through architectural
design best practices obtained
from Citrix Consulting Services
and thorough lab testing, and
is intended to provide guidance
for solution evaluation and the
introduction of proof of concepts.
The Design Guide incorporates
generally available products into the
design, and employs repeatable
processes for the deployment,
operation, and management of
components within the solution.
3. 3CSP Hosted Desktop on Windows Azure Design Guide
citrix.com
With the introduction of Azure support for Remote
Desktop Services Subscriber Access Licenses
(RDS SALs) a broad set of opportunities to leverage
Azure for hosted Windows desktops and applications
begin to unfold. As a platform Microsoft Azure
provides a robust, state of the art infrastructure
and global presence for service providers.
Citrix Service Providers, enabled through the implementation of the Citrix Service
Provider Reference Architecture for Multi-tenant hosted desktops, and the Citrix
Service Provider subscription licensing program now have the opportunity to rapidly
grow their business within a region or globally by leveraging Citrix hosted capabilities
on the Azure platform.
This document provides high-level design guidance using a sample
implementation of XenApp 6.5 within the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud. Used
in conjunction with the Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture these
documents provide basic best practice guidance for service providers looking
to leverage Citrix and Microsoft cloud technologies to deliver a state of the art
solution for their subscribers.
Use Case
Let’s assume “AzureCSP” is a Citrix Service Provider with plans to leverage
Microsoft and Citrix products to deliver a Hosted Desktop solution to multiple small
and medium businesses across several vertical markets, including; accounting
firms, legal practices, real estate, and healthcare. The AzureCSP hosted solution
will provide value to the customers (tenants) by enabling access to Windows
desktops and applications from any device. Another compelling benefit of this
service is that it can remove the tenants’ in-house human resource and capital
investment requirements for the installation, configuration, maintenance and
support of Windows desktops and applications, replacing it with a month-to-
month hosted subscription managed by AzureCSP.
The objective of this guide is to outline AzureCSP’s business considerations, and
how hosting their hosted Service in Azure could address them.
Business objectives
• Provide a month-to-month hosted desktop subscription service for
5000 subscribers
• Manage the service within a multi-tenant environment to gain economies of scale
• Start this service with minimal to no capital investment by AzureCSP
4. 4CSP Hosted Desktop on Windows Azure Design Guide
citrix.com
• Provide tenants with access to cloud hosted desktops and applications
managed by AzureCSP
• Tenants will use their own devices
• Provide a degree of IT self-service for some tenants
• Provide a tiered selection of; Basic, Premium and Dedicated hosted
desktop services
Technical objectives
• Quickly design and implement environment to establish the value and metrics.
• Ensure high availability of critical components to ensure business continuity.
• Implement an “n+1” highly available solution to avoid any business interruption.
• Support access from subscriber-owned devices that vary in form factor and
operating system
Citrix Service Provider Hosted Desktops on Azure
AzureCSP selected a combination of XenApp and XenDesktop as their solution
since they enable the best user experience across the public internet from any
device according to independent analysis, and after reviewing the Citrix Service
Provider Reference Architecture and Microsoft’s Windows Azure IaaS capabilities,
they believed they could build a solution without a large upfront capital investment.
The Citrix Hosted Desktop solution on Azure consisted of many components.
• Citrix XenApp 6.5 Delivery controllers and Hosted Shared Workers
• Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 Delivery controllers and Server VDI Workers
• Citrix License Server
• Citrix CloudPortal Services Manager 10
• Citrix EdgeSight 5.2.1
• Citrix Web Interface 5.4
• Citrix Secure Gateway
• Citrix Service Provider Automation Pack
• Citrix Cloud Provider Pack (Includes App Orchestration)
• Citrix Receiver
5. 5CSP Hosted Desktop on Windows Azure Design Guide
citrix.com
• Citrix Receiver – Citrix Receiver is an easy-to-install client software that lets
you access your docs, applications and desktops from any of your devices
including smartphones, tablets and PCs.
• Citrix XenApp 6.5 Delivery controllers and Hosted Shared Workers –
The XenApp components are used to deliver shared hosted applications and
desktops within the multi-tenant Hosted desktop solution.
• Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 Delivery controllers and Server VDI Workers – The
XenDesktop components are used to manage and deliver dedicated “Server
VDI” Windows desktops within the multi-tenant Hosted Desktop solution.
• Citrix License Server – The Citrix License Server hosts all of the licenses
that enable the CSP environment as well as providing the tools to enable CSP
reporting of month-to-month usage back to Citrix.
• Citrix CloudPortal Services Manager 10 – Citrix CloudPortal Services
Manager will be used to provision applications, back-office services and
desktops to multiple tenants from a single interface. This component also
enables a CSP to provide self-service provisioning capabilities for their tenants
that may require this level of service.
• Citrix EdgeSight 5.2.1 – Citrix EdgeSight provides a detailed, end-to-end view
of the hosted desktop environment for pro-active support and maintenance, as
well as re-active troubleshooting of the complete Hosted desktop system.
• Citrix Web Interface 5.4 – Citrix Web Interface provides a web-based logon
point that enables subscribers to view and access their application and desktop
resources as published by AzureCSP.
• Citrix Secure Gateway – Citrix Secure Gateway is installed on Windows
Servers to provide a SSL secured proxy from subscriber end-point device,
through the public internet to AzureCSP hosted applications and desktops.
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• Citrix Service Provider Automation Pack – The Citrix Service Provider
Automation Pack streamlines the installation and configuration of the Citrix
XenApp Farm, providing a consistent and relatively hands-free build of a Citrix
best practices XenApp solution for CSPs.
• Citrix Cloud Provider Pack (Includes App Orchestration) – The Citrix
Cloud Provider Pack enables many of the latest available CSP specific
technologies, including; App Orchestration, Local App Access, and the Citrix
Mobility Pack.
These Citrix components communicated with each other in order to deliver a
secure remote access connection to the Hosted desktop, for an in-depth technical
explanation of component communication please review the Citrix Service Provider
Reference Architecture.
Citrix Service Provider Hosted Desktop on
Azure Architecture
Once AzureCSP had completed their assessment and concluded that a Citrix
hosted desktop solution on Microsoft Azure could meet their objectives,
they quickly moved into the design phase. AzureCSP needed a simple, easy
process to determine the hardware and storage sizing to support their individual
implementation based on the needs of their subscribers. AzureCSP used Citrix
Project Accelerator-an open, web-based application where you can manage your
move to virtualized desktops and applications based on best practices of Citrix’s
top consultants - to assist with the user assessment and environment design.
In conjunction with project accelerator guidance, AzureCSP made the following
design decisions:
• Although Project Accelerator was designed for Enterprise deployments of Citrix
technologies its output could be used as a foundational design to work from in
conjunction with the Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture.
• For a robust solution high availability is important, so an “N+1” configuration was
chosen to ensure that the solution sizing included a spare server to handle user
capacity in the event of a failure.
• All subscribers would need to connect to AzureCSP over an encrypted connection.
• In addition to the Citrix hosted desktop enabling products, Active Directory,
DNS/DHCP, and SQL Server would need to be provisioned in Azure for
this solution.
• A variety of healthcare, legal and financial applications, as well as MS Office
would be made available as a part of the monthly subscription.
• Four different pricing tiers for services, requiring three different base desktop
types would be offered to tenants;
–– A Basic Desktop – consisting of a Windows desktop, anti-virus, Microsoft
Word, Excel and Internet Explorer, plus Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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–– A Premium Desktop – consisting of the Basic Desktop, plus the appropriate
LOB applications for a particular vertical market as available and manage by
AzureCSP.
–– A Dedicated Desktop – consisting of a Windows VDI desktop that would
enable virtually any application to be installed and managed either by
AzureCSP or the subscriber if agreed. These desktops are most usually
allocated to a niche of users within an organization, typically an application
developer or a multi-media content developer or team.
–– Custom Hosted Desktop services for larger organizations with complex
application and self-service IT needs. This tier of services is not covered in this
guide although Citrix hosted desktop on Microsoft Azure could certainly be
used as a part of the custom solution.
The following architecture is a visual representation of the solution as recommended
by Citrix Project Accelerator. Additional considerations that leverage this output
as the base are documented later in this guide. The following diagram represents
AzureCSP’s projected hardware, and infrastructure requirements based on a total
subscriber base of 5000, spread over the 3 primary pricing tiers as discussed above.
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Figure 1: Project Accelerator OutPut for AzureCSP
Each layer of the architecture diagram is discussed in detail below:
User Group
The User Group layer represents the subscriber types that will access the
AzureCSP services from their own end-point devices. Although the graphic
represents these devices as “Thin Clients” these devices can be anything from
a SmartPhone, Tablet, PC, Mac, or Linux desktop or laptop. These user groups
represent subscriber requirements and use cases across multiple tenants. The
details of what is delivered to these different user groups is enabled within the
Desktop layer which address after the Access Layer section below.
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Figure 2: User Group
AzureCSP requires the following Citrix components on each subscriber’s end-
point device:
• Citrix Receiver – Citrix Receiver is an universal thin client that runs on virtually
any device operating platform, including Windows, Mac®
, Linux®
, iOS®
and
Android®
. This is the one client users need to access business-critical apps
and data from today’s latest tablet and smartphone devices and improve their
mobility. Citrix Receiver can be downloaded and installed by each employee on
their personal devices.
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Access layer
The access layer consists of the servers responsible for providing connectivity to
the CSP on Azure environment.
Figure 3: Access layer
AzureCSP’s solution required the following Citrix components to provide secure
remote access:
• Web Interface and Secure Gateway Services – Web Interface is combined
with Citrix Secure Gateway to provide secure access to advertised desktop and
application services from Azure provisioned Windows Server instances. Web
Interface sites can be aggregated to present both XenDesktop and XenApp
resources in a single view from a single logon point for subscribers. Another
advantage of using Web Interface in this scenario is that the App Orchestration
technology currently available in the XenApp 6.5 Cloud Provider Pack can also
orchestrate the provisioning of multi-tenant Web Interface sites based on pre-
configured App Orchestration catalog parameters.
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Web interface services
Instances 2 Web Interface Server VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
Processor 2 vCPUs
Hard Drive 60 GB
Installed software
Web Interface Web Interface 5.4
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
IIS 7.5
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Windows PowerShell 2.0
MSFT Management Console 3.0
SQL Database SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Ports utilized
Web Interface 80, 443
Citrix Secure Gateway
Instances 2 Secure Gateway Server VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
Processor 2 vCPUs
Hard Drive 60 GB
Installed software
Web Interface Citrix Secure Gateway
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
IIS 7.5
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Windows PowerShell 2.0
MSFT Management Console 3.0
Ports utilized
Citrix Secure Gateway 443
Desktop layer
The Desktop layer represents the separate pricing tiers that AzureCSP plans to
make available to tenants. As you can see, Azure CSP has assumed that the
majority of Hosted desktop subscribers will use the Basic Desktop offering (3000
projected), half that many will use the Premium offering, and only 500 will require a
Dedicated Desktop subscription.
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Figure 4: Desktop layer
AzureCSP’s solution required the following Citrix components to provide the
Desktop Layer, this layer is similar to the Multi-tenant Hosted desktop and
Management modules within the Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture,
as a result AzureCSP cross referenced the output of the Project Accelerator with
the CSP Reference Architecture, and the VM Instances available on Azure to
determine the proper VM sizes for each component:
• Citrix XenApp 6.5 Delivery controllers and Hosted Shared Workers –
The XenApp components are used to deliver shared hosted applications and
desktops within the multi-tenant Hosted desktop solution.
• Citrix XenDesktop 5.6 Delivery controllers and Server VDI Workers – The
XenDesktop components are used to manage and deliver dedicated “Server
VDI” Windows desktops within the multi-tenant Hosted desktop solution.
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• Citrix License Server – The Citrix License Server hosts all of the licenses
that enable the CSP environment as well as providing the tools to enable CSP
reporting of month-to-month usage back to Citrix.
• Citrix CloudPortal Services Manager 10 – Citrix CloudPortal Services
Manager will be used to provision applications, back-office services and
desktops to multiple tenants from a single interface. This component also
enables a CSP to provide self-service provisioning capabilities for their tenants
that may require this level of service.
• Citrix EdgeSight 5.2.1 – Citrix EdgeSight provides a detailed, end-to-end view
of the Hosted desktop environment for pro-active support and maintenance, as
well as re-active troubleshooting of the complete Hosted desktop system.
XenDesktop Controller Servers
Instances 2 XenDesktop Controller VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
Processor 2 vCPUs
Disk 60 GB HD
Installed software
XenDesktop Version 5.6 Feature Pack 1
• XenDesktop Controller
• Desktop Studio
• Desktop Director
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Internet Information Services (IIS) and
ASP.NET
2.0
Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package, Second
Edition
Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable
Package
Windows PowerShell 2.0
SQL Database SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Ports utilized
XenDesktop Controller 8080
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XenDesktop Controller Servers
Instances 4 XenApp Controller VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
Processor 2 vCPUs
Disk 60 GB HD
Installed software
XenDesktop Version 6.5 Feature Pack 1
• XenApp
• Service Provider Automation Pack
• Cloud Provider Pack
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
Internet Information Services (IIS) and
ASP.NET
2.0
Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package, Second
Edition
Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable
Package
Windows PowerShell 2.0
SQL Database SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Ports utilized
XenDesktop Controller 8080
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Control layer
The control layer contains all the infrastructure components required to support the
access and desktop layers. The Access Controllers and Desktop Controllers were
previously discussed in their respective sections. This section outlines AzureCSP’s
implementation of the Infrastructure Controllers and Control Hosts on Microsoft
Windows Azure IaaS.
Figure 5: Control layer
According to the Project Accelerator AzureCSP’s Hosted desktop solution
required the following Citrix and Microsoft infrastructure components within the
control layer:
• Active Directory – Citrix hosted desktops leverages Active Directory for
authentication and policy setting enforcement on both users and computers.
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Active Directory Controller
Instances 2 Active Directory Controller VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
Processor 2 vCPUs
Disk 60 GB HD
Installed software
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Windows PowerShell 2.0
Ports utilized
Active Directory
• SQL Server Database – Provides the foundation for the overall hosted desktop
solution by storing all configurations, desktop and utilization information.
EdgeSight and CloudPortal Service Manager also depend upon SQL Server
Database Services.
SQL Server Requirements
Instances 3 SQL Server VMs
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 16 GB RAM
CPU 4 vCPUs
Disk 60 GB
Installed software
SQL Server version SQL 2008 R2
Authentication Mixed
TCP/IP Enabled
Named Pipes Enabled
IP Address 10.250.18.50
Port 1436
Disk space data files 60Gb
Disk space log files 20Gb
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Ports utilized
1436
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• License Server – The license server manages all of the Citrix licenses required
to support the environment.
License Server requirements
Instances 1 License Server VM
Virtual Machine configurations
Memory 4 GB RAM
CPU 2 vCPUs
Disk 60 GB
Installed software
Citrix License Server 11.10.0
Windows Server Windows Server 2008 R2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Ports utilized
Citrix License Server 2700, 7279
Management and operations
For day to day administration Desktop Director was leveraged to manage and
support the environment. Support staff and administrators were granted access to
the console.
Administrators for the Dedicated Desktops manage the site using Desktop Studio.
This console handles all site level responsibilities including policies, device and user
allocations. Only senior administrators are granted access to the Desktop Studio.
The console was installed on each XenDesktop controller for high availability.
Additional tools are available to support managing the environment:
• Delivery Services Console – The Delivery Services Console is a tool that snaps
into the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and enables you to perform
a number of XenApp management functions. With Delivery Services Console
AzureCSP can set up and monitor servers, server farms, published resources, and
sessions. They can set up policies and printers, configure Citrix Receiver client
application access, and find troubleshooting information. In addition, AzureCSP
can manage load balancing, diagnose problems in their farms, view hotfix
information for their Citrix products, and track administrative changes.
• License Administration Console – Use this console to manage and track
Citrix software licenses.
• SpeedScreen Latency Reduction Manager – Use this tool to configure local
text echo and other features that improve the user experience on slow networks.
The Project Accelerator outputs provide the base sizing and architecture for
AzureCSP’s CSP on Azure solution. The following sections provide additional
considerations, tools and optimizations specific to CSP multi-tenancy and the
Azure IaaS platform itself. Taken into consideration together a complete solution
was implemented in Azure.
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Solution capabilities and constraints
Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture modifications within Azure
The solutions and capabilities outlined in this section influenced the CSP
Reference Architecture when implemented in the Azure environment. All three
multi-tenant isolation models from the CSP Reference Architecture (Farm Isolation,
Server Isolation, and Session Isolation) can be hosted within Azure, although there
are some networking specifics within Azure today that require a simplification
of the firewall and networking scheme as documented in the CSP Reference
Architecture. As a result single-farm multi-vLAN solutions are not recommended
within a pure Azure environment today. Citrix will continue to work with Microsoft
to investigate various multi-tenancy opportunities and alternatives as both of our
service provider roadmaps evolve. The diagram of this modified architecture
below illustrates the recommended design within Azure while maintaining the core
practices documented in the CSP Reference Architecture.
Fig A1.1
The following sections outline some of the considerations within Azure that have
influenced this design.
Azure as an IaaS platform
The Azure platform has evolved to include several Infrastructure as a Service
enabling technologies. This section provides a brief overview of those technologies
that are leveraged as a part of the Citrix solution on Azure.
More information about Azure IaaS and Windows VM Instance capabilities can be
found at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/windows/.
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Networking
Windows Azure Virtual Networking enables a secure environment for each
Azure tenant. The example in this guide uses a single virtual network for all CSP
management and tenant workloads.
More information regarding Azure Networking can be found at http://www.
windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/services/networking/.
Storage
The scenario in this document leverages Azure shared storage as provided to the
VM instances provisioned within Azure. In addition a Windows Server 2008 R2 File
Server has been configured within Azure as a shared file service for the storage of
user profiles and data. Additional storage can be allocated within the environment
as required for other workloads not documented in this guide.
More information about Azure storage can be found at http://www.windowsazure.
com/en-us/manage/services/storage/.
Important!: Due to the fact that Citrix Provisioning Service is not supported
with Azure at this time the storage calculations from the Project Accelerator can
differ significantly from the storage actually used. Please confirm your storage
requirements as part of your cost models.
Provisioning
The provisioning of VM Instances within Azure is accomplished through manual
creation of the instances through the Azure portal. Larger scale environments can be
provisioned using Azure PowerShell scripting. The appendix of this guide provides
some sample scripts used to provision various instances and workloads within
Azure. The portal UI examples in this guide are used for the sake of clarity, while it is
generally recommended that a CSP leverage the Azure PowerShell scripts to ensure
continuity when provisioning instances over time or at larger scale.
More information about Azure PowerShell and other command line tools can be
found at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/downloads/#cmd-line-tools.
Secure access
For the scenario in this guide, secure access to CSP workloads within Azure is
provided through the Citrix Secure Gateway when connecting directly across the
public internet to Azure hosted workloads.
More information about Citrix Secure Gateway can be found at http://www.citrix.
com/edocs.
Microsoft instances and services used for this guide
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Instances were used for all
Windows Servers in this Guide. Some of the Roles and Services enabled on
various servers include:
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• Active Directory Services
• File Services
• Internet Information Services
• Microsoft SQL Server 2010 Service Pack 2
• .NET 3.5
• .NET 4.0
• Remote Desktop Services
• Remote Desktop Service License Server
Citrix components supported in Azure
The following Citrix components are currently supported within Azure.
• Citrix XenApp 6.5 Delivery controllers and Hosted Shared Workers
• Citrix XenDesktop5.6 Delivery controllers and Server VDI Workers
• Citrix License Server
• Citrix CloudPortal Services Manager 10
• Citrix EdgeSight 5.2.1
• Citrix Web Interface 5.4
• Citrix Secure Gateway
• Citrix Service Provider Automation Pack
• Citrix Cloud Provider Pack (Includes App Orchestration)
Automation and orchestration
Automation and Orchestration of Citrix XenApp 6.5 Farms within the Azure
environment is enabled through Citrix App Orchestration 1.0 from the March 2011
Citrix Cloud Provider Pack. All XenDesktop 5.6 Server VDI Farms and workloads
must be manually provisioned at this time. All VM instances are manually created
for this guide but Azure PowerShell scripting should be used for continuity at larger
scale. Sample scripts as used by Citrix are provided in the Appendix.
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Scenario: Azure as the CSP’s primary datacenter
Sample architecture
The management network
The CSP Active Directory Forest
The Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture leverages Microsoft Active
Directory and Group Policy for several key capabilities. Leveraging Active Directory
enables standards based, streamlined provisioning and management of tenant
and subscriber environments, configuration and orchestration of Citrix workloads,
and the provisioning of various back office services such as; Microsoft Exchange
and Microsoft Lync Services, all of which should be managed through Citrix
CloudPortal Services Manager. It is recommended that a pair of Active Directory
servers be provisioned within Azure to provide high availability of AD services
as well as to provide the best performance when larger scale environments
are anticipated.
Shared storage services
Shared Storage within the design is enabled through Windows Server 2008 R2
with the File Services Role installed. User’s Roaming Profile paths and a user home
drive are mapped to this file server for basic functionality. Additional shares can be
created as necessary.
Hosted shared desktops and the shared XenApp 6.5 Farm
For this scenario a single XenApp 6.5 Farm is used to deliver Hosted Shared
Desktops and Applications. XenApp Session Host Workers can be shared across
multiple tenants when using the Session Isolation mode…
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(Figure A2.1)
… or groups of XenApp Worker Servers can be isolated for each tenant within the
same farm using Citrix Worker Groups to enable Server Isolation mode.
(Figure A2.2)
These modes of isolation and others are detailed in the CSP Reference Architecture
document. Both of these multi-tenant modes provide the greatest density of Hosted
desktop services available in the market today while also providing appropriate
levels of isolation and security for different target tenant markets. These two modes
represent a large percentage of current production Hosted desktop deployments
and have proven cost effective for businesses from the micro scale of 2-5 users,
to much larger organizations that may require Windows desktop and application
services for more than a thousand users per tenant.
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Server VDI and the shared XenDesktop 5.6 Farm
A single XenDesktop 5.6 Farm can be used to deliver Server VDI desktops from
Azure. These desktops provide many of the benefits of Client based VDI while
using the Windows Server Operating System Instances that are available through
Azure. More detail on Citrix XenDesktop Server VDI capabilities can be found in the
Citrix Cloud Provider Pack documentation available to Citrix Service Providers and
on the XenApp 6.5 Downloads page at http://www.citrix.com/downloads.
The shared web interface server
For this scenario Web Interface is combined with Citrix Secure Gateway to
provide secure access to advertised desktop and application services from Azure
provisioned Windows Server instances. Web Interface sites can be aggregated
to present both XenDesktop and XenApp resources in a single view from a single
logon point for subscribers. Another advantage of using Web Interface in this
scenario is that the App Orchestration technology currently available in the XenApp
6.5 Cloud Provider Pack can also orchestrate the provisioning of multi-tenant Web
Interface sites based on pre-configured App Orchestration catalog parameters.
Provisioning with Citrix CloudPortal Service Manager
CloudPortal Services Manager provides a single pane of glass for provisioning
and management of Desktops, Applications and Back Office Services such as
Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Lync across multiple tenants. There are
no special considerations when implementing CPSM within an Azure hosted
CSP environment.
More information on CloudPortal Services Manage can be found at http://www.
citrix.com/products/cloudportal-services-manager/overview.html.
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Monitoring with Citrix EdgeSight
EdgeSight integration provides HDX monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities.
Use of EdgeSight can also simplify Citrix CSP License reporting, for use in CSP
billing systems as well as for their monthly license reporting.
The EdgeSight inherent multi-tenant architecture enables CSPs to delegate
certain reporting and monitoring capabilities to their tenants. There are no
special considerations when implementing EdgeSight within an Azure hosted
CSP environment.
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Building the multi-tenant Hosted Desktop Network
Considerations when building the base Azure virtual networks and active
directory VM instances
As stated earlier, a single virtual network is used for this scenario. Below is a brief
walk-through of how a Virtual Network would be created for this scenario using the
Azure Portal.
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Starting with a blank Azure Subscription…
Create a network
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Once the virtual network is in place the Active Directory Forest and Controllers
must be created…
Creation of the Active Directory Servers can be accomplished through either
manually provisioning the instances through the Azure Portal or by using the Azure
PowerShell.
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In the Portal, click on Virtual Machines, then click “Create a virtual machine” …
Click “From Gallery”
For this example we will use the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Template from the
Azure Gallery.
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Click the right facing arrow to indicate you are ready to proceed…
Next we will name this VM instance csp-ad01 and choose the small instance type.
You may choose a larger instance depending upon the scale of you offering…
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Provide a unique administrator name for this instance. Once it is running you
will want to disable the default administrator account to provide a higher level of
security for this VM.
Click the right facing arrow to indicate you are ready to proceed…
Provide the DNS name for this instance and assign it to the Affinity Group that was
created within your Virtual Network.
Click the right facing arrow to indicate you are ready to proceed…
Accept the defaults for the next panel and Click the check mark to complete
the wizard.
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Once the provisioning of the VM has finished you should see the instance in a
running state.
This same basic procedure can be followed to provision all of the VM instances
required for the environment. As an AD controller you will next need to install the
AD roles for your environment.
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A great Microsoft blog post on how to create AD controllers in Azure through
PowerShell can be found at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/
services/networking/active-directory-forest/.
Once the networking and VM instances are in place the standard XenApp and
XenDesktop installation procedures as outlined in the product documentation
and CSP implementation guides should be followed. There are no special
considerations when implementing XenApp and XenDesktop delivery controllers or
worker servers within an Azure hosted CSP environment.
Citrix Multi-tenant Farm creation is accomplished through the use of the App
Orchestration technology available in the Citrix Cloud Provider Pack. The initial
environment configured by the CSP Automation Pack and the Citrix Cloud Provider
Pack enables the basic Hosted desktop service that can then be customized and
expanded based on your business needs.
The CSP Automation Pack will create a basic environment within Azure as shown
in Fig A3.1.
Fig A3.1
Once this first XenApp Farm is created additional farms and workloads can be
provisioned within the environment using Citrix App Orchestration. The complete
environment will reflect the Citrix products in Fig A3.2.
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Fig A3.2
A few suggestions for securing Azure iaaS VM instances.
• Rename the local administrator account.
• Disable the local administrator account and create some uncommonly named
user account for administrative access.
• Choose strong plus complex passwords, or passphrases. Not simply one or the
other. The OS can enforce complexity but not strength.
• A dictionary attack is likely to hit “P@ssw0rd” but it is unlikely to hit “Just a city
boy, born and raised in South Detroit”.
• Denying user access after X failed logon attempts (lock the account). This is a
Local security policy if not domain joined, or a Domain policy if joined. Consider
an automatic (timed) unlock as well, or you could have no recourse but to
destroy your machine.
• Do not allow the creation of the default RDP public endpoint. This is only
possible through the API / PowerShell. Or delete the auto created endpoint after
creating the machine in the Portal.
• Only create the RDP endpoint when remote administration is necessary, and
removing it after. But remember that we are human, and unless you have some
interface doing this for you, you will probably forget at some point.
• Remove the RDP endpoint and use the Virtual Network Gateway feature of
the Azure Virtual Network for secured remote administration without public
endpoints. This requires some ground based router, and the VPN is slow, but
your ports are closed.
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• Remove RDP endpoint & use Azure Connect. This is limited to IPv6 TCP traffic
only, but that should cover anything required to manage the OS.
• Avoid 3389 as the public port (I noticed my compromised machine specifically
scanning for this port to spread itself) by using a port in the ephemeral range.
• Use the Windows Advanced Firewall rules and define them appropriately.
• Use Windows IP Security Policies and tightly define the sources from which RDP
traffic can be accepted from. This is highly effective, but a pain to set up.
• Monitor the machine. Azure provides metrics through the portal and API.
Discover a baseline. Use an agent within the machine. This only detects the
compromise after it happens and is not preventative.
• Take a snapshot of the clean state. This is not a point and click thing in Azure
today, but you can work this out using the Storage cmdlets through destroying
your machine, making the diff disk, and reincarnating the machine.
Conclusion
By cross referencing the Citrix Project Accelerator and Citrix Service Provider
Reference Architecture AzureCSP was able to create a Hosted desktop solution
within Microsoft’s Azure IaaS environment. Leveraging public cloud infrastructure
such as Azure virtually eliminated AzureCSP’s initial capital investment, allowing
them to bring their new Hosted desktop service online quickly in a globally
available, state of the art cloud hosted infrastructure.
By leveraging Citrix products AzureCSP was capable of building a Hosted desktop
offering that provided tiered pricing levels based on different use cases and multi-
tenancy requirements, including self-service, at multiple layers of the virtualization
stack, while also delivering the best subscriber experience in the market as
enabled by Citrix technologies like HDX.
Additional resources
Citrix service provider web site
The CSP Toolkit
Citrix Service Provider Reference Architecture
CSP Sample Videos On CitrixTV
Citrix Project Accelerator
Microsoft Windows Azure Site
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Appendix—sample Azure PowerShell scripts
This section includes some basic information for using Azure PowerShell scripts to
build a Hosted desktop environment within Azure. The “Basics” section provides
some of the useful cmdlets you will use to configure and discover resources within
your Azure subscription, the “Examples” section contains versions of scripts used
by Citrix in testing the published scenario.
Note: The Azure PowerShell cmdlets are a work in progress.
They are currently a community contribution that is being folded into the product
lifecycle and enhanced by MSFT and properly released.
You can find the cmdlets here:
https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/downloads/.
The primary information source on using the cmdlets is this blog:
http://michaelwasham.com/ (Azure Evangelist as MSFT).
Be sure to have your Azure management certificate properly stored in your
Personal certificate store prior to connecting to your subscription.
Basics
Here are some useful commands to use the cmdlets to drive machine and
service creation.
These commands must be used to configure your Azure PowerShell session to
communicate with your specific Azure subscription.
Import the module:
import-module ‘C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft SDKsWindows Azure
PowerShellAzureAzure.psd1’
Import a settings file (this speeds up as it lists all subscriptions you have access
to—to create this file perform
Export-AzurePublishSettingsFile (Visual Studio also uses this))
Then import the settings file into your environment:
Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile ‘C:UsersPublicDocuments<your subscription>-
credentials.publishsettings’
Choose the subscription that you will interact with for your session:
Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName “<your subscription>”
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Set the default Storage account that will be used (it must be in the
same subscription)
Set-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName “< your subscription>”
-CurrentStorageAccount <your storage account>
Useful cmdlets for finding an image from which to create Virtual Machines
The filters can be changed to focus on Gallery images or images that have been
user created.
List all available images:
Get-AzureVMImage
List all available in a table:
Get-AzureVMImage | Format-Table
Find images that have been uploaded to your Storage account (‘user’ images):
Get-AzureVMImage | where { ($_.Category -eq “user”) }
Creating Virtual Machines from images
Note: by default a new service is created and the VM added, unless an existing
Service name is defined.
This same image will be used for both examples:
$svr2012Image = Get-AzureVMImage | where { ($_.Category -eq “Microsoft”) -and
($_.Label -match “Server 2012” ) -and ($_.ImageName -match “Datacenter”) }
Apply a customization configuration to the image:
$myImage = New-AzureVMConfig -Name <Your Image Name> -InstanceSize
ExtraSmall -ImageName $svr2012Image.ImageName
Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -VM $myImage -Windows -Password P@ssw0rd
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “<Your Service Name>” –VMs $myImage
A more advanced configuration that also creates endpoints and sets a Virtual
Network, DNS Settings, Affinity Group, and creates a new IaaS service:
$myImage = New-AzureVMConfig –Name <Your Image Name> -InstanceSize
ExtraSmall -ImageName $svr2012Image.ImageName
Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -VM $myImage -Windows -Password P@ssw0rd
-NoRDPEndpoint
Add-AzureEndpoint -Protocol tcp -LocalPort 3389 -PublicPort 3389 -VM
$myImage -Name RDP
Add-AzureEndpoint -Protocol tcp -LocalPort 5986 -PublicPort 5986 -VM
$myImage -Name WinRM
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Set-AzureSubnet -VM $myImage -SubnetNames IaaSSubnet
$dns = New-AzureDns -Name <Your Image Name> -IPAddress 10.104.2.4
(# This is the IP that the VM that is providing DNS within my Service )
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “<Your Image Name> “ –VMs $myImage
-VNetName VNetOne -DnsSettings $dns -AffinityGroup <Your Affinity Group>
Defining a custom DNS setting (for your DNS server, necessary for AD
domain join)
As seen above New-AzureDns created a configuration XML object that is applied
to a Virtual Network or to a Service when the first Virtual Machine is added. This
setting can only be added with the first Virtual Machine in the Service.
$dns = New-AzureDns -Name <Your Name> -IPAddress 10.104.2.4
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “<Your Name> “ –VMs $myImage -VNetName
VNetOne -DnsSettings $dns -AffinityGroup <Your Affinity Group Name>
Defining joining to an AD on provisioning
Here the -JoinDomain section is added to the Provisioning Configuration and
-WindowsDomain is used instead of -Windows
$myImage = New-AzureVMConfig -Name $role -InstanceSize ExtraSmall
-ImageName $svr2008Image.ImageName
Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -WindowsDomain -VM $myImage -Password
P@ssw0rd-JoinDomain “brianeh.local” -Domain “<Your Domain Name>
“ -DomainUserName “administrator” -DomainPassword “P@ssw0rd”
-MachineObjectOU ‘OU=TenantTwo,OU=XenApp,DC=<Your Domain>,DC=local’
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “<Your Service Name>” –VMs $myImage
Examples
These are some script samples that were created to enable working through
scenarios with Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS). As the Azure platform continues
to evolve some cmdlets and parameters may change. Please work through the
Azure help and documentation to ensure your scripts provide you with the
correct configurations.
Creating XenApp infrastructure Virtual Machines Using the July 2012
Azure Gallery Server 2008 R2 image
If the Gallery image has been updated, this will need to be modified to select
the proper one. This particular image is Server 2008 R2 SP1 Datacenter. Note
the hardcoded Virtual Network, Subnet, and Affinity Group settings; as well as
passwords and domain and OU. The Affinity Group and the Virtual Network
settings must align.
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The assumption here is that Azure will name the OS of the VMs with the Machine
Name specified and join them to my Domain Control in Azure. The Domain Controller
is located through DNS, so you must provide your own DNS. This can be done by
adding the DNS on the new AD controllers to your Azure virtual network.
This script should create images that are ready for App Orchestration 1.0 to
provide the Citrix Hosted desktop Services installation and configuration.
This Creates the IaaS Service:
$svr2008Image = Get-AzureVMImage | where { ($_.Category -eq “Microsoft”) -and
($_.Label -match “Server 2008” ) -and ($_.ImageName -match “Datacenter”) }
# Deploy the Primary Zone Data Collector and Backup Zone Data Collector and
other Windows OS infrastructure
$roles = @()
$roles += “CSPPDC”, “CSPBDC”, “CSPCSG”, “CSPWI”
$dns = New-AzureDns -Name <yourDNS> -IPAddress <IPADDR>
$infraVms = @()
foreach ($role in $roles){
$myImage = New-AzureVMConfig -Name $role -InstanceSize
<AppropriateSizeForYourScale> -ImageName $svr2008Image.ImageName
Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -WindowsDomain -VM $myImage -Password P@
ssw0rd -JoinDomain “brianeh.local” -Domain “brianeh.local” -DomainUserName
“administrator” -DomainPassword “P@ssw0rd” -MachineObjectOU ‘OU=TenantTw
o,OU=XenApp,DC=brianeh,DC=local’
Set-AzureSubnet -VM $myImage -SubnetNames Infra
$infraVms += $myImage
}
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “CSPXenApp” –VMs $infraVms -VNetName
<YourVirtualNetwork> -DnsSettings $dns
Get-AzureVM -ServiceName CSPXenApp -Name CSPCsg | Add-AzureEndpoint
-Protocol tcp -LocalPort 443 -PublicPort 443 -Name ClientFrontEnd | Update-
AzureVM
Create a number of servers from a gallery image for XenApp
session hosts:
This is similar to the above except for the naming scheme, OU, and create is
slightly different. This adds machines to an existing IaaS Service. This uses the
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same Gallery server image as the above script.
#Choose the image and set the number of session hosts.
[int32]$numXaSessionHosts = Read-Host “How many XenApp Session Hosts?”
$sessHostVms = @()
Do {
$myImage = New-AzureVMConfig -Name (“bjeXenApp3” + $numXaSessionHosts)
-InstanceSize ExtraSmall -ImageName $svr2008Image.ImageName
Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -WindowsDomain -VM $myImage -Password
P@ssw0rd -JoinDomain “<YourDomainName>” -Domain “<YourDomain>”
-DomainUserName “administrator” -DomainPassword “P@ssw0rd” -MachineObjec
tOU‘OU=SessionHosts,OU=TenantOne,OU=XenApp,DC=<YourDomain>,DC=<
YourSuffix>’
Set-AzureSubnet -VM $myImage -SubnetNames Three
$sessHostVms += $myImage
--$numXaSessionHosts
} Until ( $numXaSessionHosts -eq 0 )
New-AzureVM -ServiceName “bjeXenApp” –VMs $sessHostVms -VNetName
VNetTwo -DnsSettings $dns
# doing one big create and passing in multiple VM configurations is more reliable
than placing New-Azure VM within the loop.
Deleting all the Virtual Machines within a service:
This does delete the VHDs. If you want to leave the VHDs comment the Remove-
AzureDisk line.
# Total Clean Up.
$vms = get-azurevm -ServiceName bjeXenApp
foreach ($vm in $vms){
$osDisk = get-azureosdisk -VM $vm.vm
Remove-AzureVM -ServiceName $vm.DeploymentName -Name $vm.
InstanceName
Remove-AzureDisk -DiskName $osDisk.DiskName -DeleteVHD
}