Keeping Pace with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x Evolution

© 2017 Citrix | Confidential
Bala Vaidhinathan
CTO, eG Innovations
Amareswara Reddy
Technical Marketing Specialist, Citrix Ready
Are You Keeping Pace with
Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop
7.x Evolution?
JULY 19, 2018
Learn Best Practices to Deliver High-Performing
Applications & Desktops

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3 © 2017 Citrix | Confidential
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Infrastructure Reduction with Citrix Cloud Implementation
Citrix Cloud DeploymentTraditional Deployment
Citrix Cloud
(operated by
Citrix)
Customer/
Partner
managed

Unified Admin Experience
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Service
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Partner
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Apps and Desktops File Sync & SharingMobile App & Device Mgmt Design, Deploy, Manage
Manage Multiple XenApp/XenDesktop Resource Locations

© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com
2018: The Year of Citrix Migration
18%
29%
23%
17%
13%
Within 3 months Within 6 months Within 1 year
Already migrated Not sure, no plan as of now
70%
XenApp 6.5 is reaching EOL on
June 30, 2018
• 70% of organizations will migrate
to XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x by
the end of the year
• 87% are expected to be on 7.x by
the end of the year.
2018 Citrix Migration Survey: www.eginnovations.com/Citrix-Migration-Trends

Agenda
Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x: A Radically New
Citrix Ecosystem
Is Your Monitoring Solution XA/XD 7.x Ready?
Best Practices for Monitoring XA/XD 7.x
Go Beyond Metric Collection: Machine Learning
and AI Ops

About eG Innovations
Worldwide Locations
Global Headquarters: Singapore
US Headquarters: New Jersey
Founded in 2001
eG Innovations is a provider of enterprise-class application and IT infrastructure performance
management software that delivers end-to-end monitoring, diagnosis, reporting and analytics
across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid IT environments.
Faster diagnosis and resolution of performance problems
Enhanced service delivery and user satisfaction
Maximum business productivity and cost savings
Accelerated IT deployments and production rollouts
Improved user experience and customer satisfaction
Transform IT Service Delivery into Business Advantage

Citrix XenApp and
XenDesktop 7.x:
A Radically New Citrix
Ecosystem

Comparing XenApp 6.5 and XA/XD 7.x Architectures
StoreFront Delivery
Controller
NetScaler
License Server
Provisioning
Services
Active
Directory
Database
Hypervisor
Virtual Desktops
Desktop
VDA
Citrix End User XenApp Server
Server VDA
WEM Broker
Delivery
Group
• Major architecture overhaul from 6.5 (IMA) to 7.x (FMA)
• Unified architecture for XenApp and XenDesktop
• Many components from 6.5 replaced with new ones
Standalone XenApp 6.x architecture (IMA)
Consolidates remote access infrastructure to provide:
• SSO across to VDI, web and SaaS applications
• Remote access to all applications
• ICA proxy and secure delivery of VDI
An enterprise application store that provides
an interface for users to access virtual
desktops and applications remotely
A central management component of a XA/XD Site, which enables:
• Load management
• Communication with Storefront
• User and worker management
• Configuration and policy management
• Secure Ticket Authority for secured external connections
VDAs are available for both desktops and servers.
• Establish connection between the machine and the user device
• Verify that a Citrix license is available for the user session
• Apply policies that have been configured for the session
• Communicate session information to the Broker Service in the
Delivery Controller

What’s New in Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x
 Citrix Workspace Environment
Management (WEM)
 Adaptive Transport Protocol
 Framehawk
 Session Pre-launch and Lingering
 GPU Capabilities
 Linux VDAs
 Citrix Cloud Delivery
Citrix products are evolving with every releasee

Introducing Workspace Environment Management (WEM)
• WEM is Citrix’s Performance Management and User Environment Management tool for
all XA/XD Enterprise and Platinum Customers
• Reduces logon duration by up to 20-40%
– User logon is enabled first
– After that, other processing steps are
executed
• Intelligent resource and profile
management delivers the best user
experience and application response
time
• Analyzes user and application behavior
and intelligently adjusts RAM, CPU, and
I/O in the user workspace environment
WEM agents are installed on server and desktop VDAs

Citrix HDX Adaptive Transport
• HDX adaptive transport is a new data transport mechanism for XA/XD 7.13 and above
• Faster, more scalable, and more
interactive on long-haul WAN and
internet connections
• Improves application interactivity and
data throughput
WAN Environments (from 50 to 250 msec RTT, and 0-1% packet loss)
Client drive
Mapping
Up to 10x
improvements
Printing Up to 2x
improvements
Thinwire
Interactivity
Up to 2.5x
improvements
Generic USB Up to 35%
improvements
• ICA virtual channels automatically respond to changing
network conditions
ICA channels intelligently switch the
underlying protocol between EDT and
TCP to deliver the best performance
HDX with Enlightened Data Transport (EDT)

Framehawk
• A new ICA virtual channel, extends Citrix HDX technologies
– In static areas of the screen where the human eye can easily detect lost pixels,
Framehawk tries to extrapolate pixels so things look okay
– On a lossy network connection, Framehawk hides loss with interpolation, and the
user still perceives good image quality
– Framehawk intelligently distinguishes between different
types of packet loss
• If there is random loss, send more data to compensate
• If there is congestion loss, don't send more data as the channel is
already clogged
– Uses a data transport layer built on top of UDP

Intelligent Session Management
• Session pre-launch and lingering
– Keeps the user session open after the
user closes the app
– Provides a quick app reconnect or
enable the user to open a new app
without repeating the logon process

GPU and Linux Support
• Support for GPU acceleration with HDX 3D Pro
– Graphics-intensive applications use GPU instead of CPU
– Applicable for XenApp and XenDesktop
– Supported on Citrix, VMware and Microsoft hypervisors
– GPU passthrough and GPU sharing options
• Support for Linux VDAs
– Linux virtual desktops and application
virtualization based on an RHEL, CentOS, SUSE, or
Ubuntu distribution

Service Delivery Through
• Management servers: Reside in
Control Plane hosted by Citrix
• XenApp servers and XenDesktop
VMs: Hosted on-premise
constitute the Resource Plane
• Citrix Cloud Connector: channel
for communication between
control and resource planes
Control Plane
Resource Plane

Is Your Monitoring Solution
Citrix XenApp and
XenDesktop 7.x Ready?

Analogy: Evolution of Mobile Networks and Mobile Devices
With technology evolution, applications,
use cases and supported devices also evolve
The same applies to performance monitoring
4G3G2GG
XenApp 6.x
XenApp & XenDesktop 7.x
You must consider a monitoring
technology that is purpose-built to
support the new technology and
protocols in XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x

Proactive Monitoring: The Need of the Hour
• New components, many interactions between them
• Difficult to monitor all aspects of service operation
• Relying on user complaints is time consuming and reactive
• Test whether the entire Citrix delivery infrastructure is
functioning as expected. Run simulations and test specific
user logon and application access scenarios
Synthetic simulation of user logon, application and desktop
availability and session access is needed for proactive alerting!
of Citrix admins are looking
for proactive alerts
2016 Citrix Performance Survey by
DABCC and eG Innovations

Real User Logon Monitoring Must be Done in a Distributed
Manner
• In XenApp 6.x, logon processing only
used to happen at the XenApp server
• Now, in XA/XD 7.x, logon processing
happens in two places
─ Delivery Controller: to measure
interactive session time, brokering,
profile loading, etc.
─ XenApp server / XenDesktop VM: to
measure session establishment
Monitoring visibility is needed
at both stages!

Logon Monitoring Must Be WEM-Aware
• If WEM is used, logon time will be
much faster
• But WEM’s processing of user profile
loading, logon script execution, drive
mapping could be slow
• Even after logging in quickly, the Citrix
user will not be able to access the
application/desktop profile
• A monitoring system that is not WEM-
aware will not detect this situation
Diagram Source:
www.virtualfeller.com
Need monitoring visibility of WEM processing!

Citrix Monitoring Must Cover New Components,
Protocols and Deployments
• FMA architecture of XA/XD 7.x is very different from XA 6.5 IMA
architecture
– New components : Delivery Controller, StoreFront, VDAs, WEM, etc.
– New protocol/virtual channels: EDT, Framehawk
– New delivery model: Citrix Cloud control plane, resource plan, Cloud Connector,
public cloud, etc.
When technology evolves, monitoring must evolve too!

Monitoring Must Be FMA-Aware
• VDAs are key components of the
FMA architecture
• VDA failures can result in
apps/desktops not being available
• There could be several reasons why
a VDA may not be functioning

Monitoring Must Be GPU-Aware
• Monitoring of traditional system resources when GPUs are in
use is not sufficient:
– Which VMs are using GPU?
– Which application/processes are consuming excessive GPU?
– Is any VM over-provisioned or under-provisioned with GPU?
– When will the hypervisor run out of GPU resources?
Monitor GPU availability and utilization!!

Monitoring Best Practices
for Citrix XenApp and
XenDesktop 7.x
Infrastructures

1. Monitor logon & user experience through synthetic simulation
2. Get deep visibility into real user logon processing
3. Track processing by Citrix WEM
4. In-depth monitoring of the Citrix Delivery Controller
5. Monitor the health of desktop and server VDA
6. Identify network problem in the client side affecting session
performance
7. Monitor EDT and Framehawk performance
8. Monitor application launch time, usage and browser activity
9. Monitor vGPU utilization and availability
10. Gain performance visibility into Citrix Cloud delivery
Monitoring Best Practices for XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x

Monitor User Experience
Through Synthetic Simulation
Best Practice #1

Built-in Logon Simulator for Proactive Logon Monitoring (contd.)
Track logon availability
and performance 24x7
and identify slowness
Identify the cause of
logon slowness

Get Deep Visibility into
Real User Logon Processing
Best Practice #2

Monitoring Real User Logon
Best Practice #2
• View logon metrics from XenApp
server and Delivery Controller side
by side
• Diagnose which step is causing
slowness: brokering, interactive
session processing, user profile
loading, logon script execution, etc.
• Easily identify if logon processing
slowness is in the client side or
server side
• Track down the Group Policy
Client-Side Extension that is taking
high processing time

Track Processing by Citrix Workspace
Environment Management (WEM)
Best Practice #3

How eG Enterprise Monitors Citrix WEM
• Agent on XenApp
server/XenDesktop VM
to track WEM processing
times on the clients
• Agent on WEM broker to
track the broker’s
functioning
eG Enterprise
Web Console
XenApp and
XenDesktop VDA
WEM Broker
eG Agent
on VDA
eG Agent on
WEM Broker
Monitors WEM database connectivity,
license server connectivity, WEM
server event logs, processes, etc.
Monitor logon processing by WEM
(including initial and WEM agent
processing), CPU clamping, etc.
Best Practice #3

Monitoring Logon Processing by Citrix WEM
Citrix Director only shows
interactive session time. This
does not include WEM agent
processing time
eG Enterprise monitors
initial processing and WEM
agent processing
Monitor WEM’s external
task processing messages
and identify which task
took more time to execute
Best Practice #3

performance
(contd.)

In-Depth Monitoring of
The Citrix Delivery Controller
Best Practice #4

Monitoring the Citrix Delivery Controller
• The Delivery Controller is responsible for managing user access, and brokering and
optimizing connections
• Provides Machine Creation Services that create desktop and server images
Desktop Sessions
• User logon performance
• New user connections
• User connection failures
• Client connection failures
• Machine failures
• Configuration errors
• Unavailable licenses
• Unavailable capacity
Breakdown of Sessions
• Active sessions
• Connected sessions
• Disconnected sessions
• Preparing sessions
• Reconnecting sessions
• Non-brokered sessions
• Pending sessions
• Unknown sessions
Breakdown of Desktops
• Powered on/off
• With maintenance mode enabled
• Assigned/Unassigned
• With pending image update
• Preparing/resuming
• Start failures
• Stuck on boot desktops
• Unregistered desktops
Controller Services
• Broker service
• AD identity service
• Configuration service
• Host service
• Machine creation service
• Licensing service
• Monitoring service
• Logging service
Key Citrix Delivery Controller Metrics
Best Practice #4
Get purpose-built dashboard to monitor Delivery Controller performance, Delivery Groups,
Machine Catalogs, Brokering Machines, and the various Controller Services

Monitor the Health of
Desktop and Server VDA
Best Practice #5

Monitor Status of Citrix Server and Desktop VDA
Track the status of various VDA
services in one place, and
identify if the VDA is slow
Best Practice #5

performance
Monitoring Best Practices for XA/XD 7.x (contd.)

Identify Network Problem in the Client Side
Affecting Session Performance
Best Practice #6

Track Screen Refresh & Client Network Latency Side by Side
Compare screen refresh latency and
client network latency side by side
Best Practice #6

Monitor EDT and Framehawk
Performance
Best Practice #7

Monitoring Support for Citrix HDX Adaptive Transport
Monitor bandwidth,
roundtrip time, packet
retransmission, dropped
packets, congestions, etc.
Best Practice #7
Measure the performance of
XenApp and XenDesktop sessions
connected over EDT protocol
Diagnose deeper to view session-
wise EDT performance metrics

Deep Visibility into Framehawk Virtual Channel
Measure and report on
Framehawk latency
Best Practice #7

Monitor Browser Activity
Best Practice #8

Browser URL Monitoring Inside a Citrix XenApp Session
Identify which URL accessed by the end user
through published IE/Edge browser is causing
excess resource utilization. Is the user
accessing video content, games, etc. which is
consuming high CPU/memory?
Best Practice #8
• Browser-based applications growing in popularity (e.g., salesforce)
• When there is resource shortage, Citrix admins need visibility into
URLs accessed in the XenApp session to identify any resource-
intensive websites/URLs are being accessed

Track Session Resource Usage by Browser
Slice session resource usage metrics
by browser, and understand how
much CPU/memory is consumed by
a specific browser type
Best Practice #8

performance
9. Monitor GPU utilization and availability
Monitoring Best Practices for XA/XD 7.x (contd.)

Monitor vGPU Utilization
and Availability
Best Practice #9

NVIDIA GPU Monitoring eG Enterprise integrates with NVIDIA APIs to deliver
GPU usage monitoring at the hypervisor level
Monitor vGPU utilization per desktop VM and
measure critical metrics, such as CPU, memory,
encoder/decoder utilization, etc. This is
supported for both ‘Shared’ and ‘Pass-through’
modes of NVIDIA GPU implementation.
Best Practice #9
Measure vGPU usage per
process running in a desktop

Gain Performance Visibility into
Citrix Cloud Delivery
Best Practice #10

Monitoring Citrix Cloud Environment
eG Enterprise
Web Console
• Agentless monitoring of the
Delivery Controller in the control
plane through Citrix APIs
• Agent-based monitoring XenApp
Server, Cloud Connector,
hypervisor, AD, etc. in the resource
plane
• Agentless monitoring of
XenDesktop VMs
Best Practice #10

Citrix Cloud Topology and Dependency Mapping
Best Practice #10

Monitoring the Citrix Cloud Delivery Controller
• eG Enterprise monitors the Cloud Delivery Controller in an agentless manner
• OS-level information (resources, processes, etc.) will not be available for the Cloud
Delivery Controller because it is in the Citrix-hosted and -managed control plane
Best Practice #10

Monitoring the Citrix Cloud Connector
Monitor the availability,
response time, and content
validity metrics of the Cloud
Connector service
Monitor the health, availability
and performance of the
Windows server & OS where the
Cloud Connector is installed
Best Practice #10

Key Citrix Cloud Performance Metrics at Your Fingertips
Best Practice #10

1. Monitor user experience through synthetic simulation
4. In-depth monitoring of the Citrix delivery controller
performance
8. Monitor browser activity
9. Monitor vGPU utilization

Go Beyond Metric
Collection:
Machine Learning
and AIOps

Too Many Metrics...
How to Make Sense of Data and Get Actionable Insight?
Analyzing all metrics manually and
trying to identify the root cause of
problems is challenging
Citrix admins need artificial intelligence and automated analytics to process
metrics, correlate them across different sources, track unusual patterns and
trends, and pinpoint the root cause of problems.

Automatic Root Cause Diagnosis
Uncover the real cause of the problem.
Prove it is not Citrix!

Self-Learning Auto-Baselines

Auto-Baselining for Proactive Alerting
Automatically computed baseline
based on time of day, day of month
behavior enables proactive
detection of problems

Intuitive Dashboards

User Experience Dashboard
View user experience metrics of all
Citrix users on a single screen
Drill down to a particular user’s
real-time session metrics for
user experience analysis

Built-in Reports for Customized
for XA/XD 7.x Analytics

Citrix Reports
Get historical analytics for step-wise user
logon performance monitoring
Generate a report for top ‘n’ slow
application launches

Summary
 Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x is a radically
new ecosystem
 Your monitoring practices have to be XA/XD 7.x
ready
 Collect the right metrics, analyze them, proactively
detect and fix issues by relying on AIOps and
machine learning

Work better. Live better.
www.eginnovations.com
info@eginnovations.com
+1 (866) 526 6700
CitrixReady@Citrix.com
Thank you!
www.citrixready.citrix.com/

Keeping Pace with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x Evolution

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