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16 Jul2017

Migration, Integration and Configuration of Citrix Cloud deployments - Recommended Reading

It is a common to be asked is there "a good blog or document that covers the subjects of migration, integration and configuration of Citrix Cloud deployments?". 

There are a number of excellent resources around - here's a recommended list to get you started. By all means drop me a line if you find (or create) something new.

Getting Started With Citrix Cloud

Here's a useful session presented at Citrix Synergy 2017  "What’s new with Citrix Cloud and what’s to come " showing what Citrix cloud features are available as of time: how Citrix Cloud components integrate, where they can fit and what is coming next. 

There is a focused summary specifically on Citrix Essentials from Marius Sandbu Citrix Moving Forward with Citrix Cloud and Essentials Package ; with a links to a useful article on the Citrix Smart Tool SmartScale to limit resource utilisation Citrix SmartScale and Microsoft Azure

From that, I'd move on to a curated Citrix Cloud How To - XA/XD leverage services like Azure, and linking Cloud Connectors: this has a number of other resources you can follow up on.

Then I'd put the kettle on, and invest in a whole packet of biscuits, for the two hours of Citrix Cloud Master Class 101 - Part 1: which talks about and through a number of services including Citrix's Customer Success Management service. Lots of key Citrix people delivering this a long useful resource Part 2 should be out Sept 13/14th.

 

Assess, Connect, Build

Let's not be at home to Mr Cockup

Not at Home to Mr Cockup

I had the opportunity to shadow RDS Gurus when they test drove XenApp Essentials;  which they wrote up here Test-Driving XenApp Essentials which includes a walkthrough of getting the service up and running which followed up on handy A Beginner’s Guide to XenApp and XenDesktop on Azure

If you're considering delivery at a high level, a cloud hosted service is little different in terms of recognised overall project steps from any XA/XD implementation: you're going to do some form of assessment, you going to put the resource in place and then build it out - before you go on to manage and monitor.

There's a good session from Synergy 2017 on this process for  XenApp/XenDesktop in Azure talking about architecture, concepts and design decisions and some lessons learned (e.g.D2v2 instance is the most optimal for XA which gets @ 19 task, 15 knowledge user (YMMV) )  - SYN318 A to Z: best practices for delivering XenApp, XenDesktop  - you can download the deck from that session here

Then there's Nick Ritalin's blog on Citrix Scalability in a Cloud World which has onward links to performance benchmarks on AWS and Azure using LoginVSI.

There is a XenApp and XenDesktop on Azure Cost Calculator with a spreadsheet version for Citrix AWS Calculator. 

In terms of security, check out Aaron Parker's post on Integrating Citrix NetScaler with Azure AD and Conditional Access. 

 

If not Cloud, Then What?

There might be a think that you are thinking along the lines of "given all this information, is my on-premises deployment of Citrix Software still relevant?" In which case, you should read fellow CTP Chris Rogers' blog On Prem is Dead. Long Live on Prem! Or alternatively, All Round Nice Guy and EUC Realist Chris Marks, wrote a very readable piece on why Cloud is not a Strategy: most notably because Chris' point is to encourage you to focus on the future of your business not on the future of you adopting "Cloud".

 

Always Learning

There are, of course, a number of forums and user groups you can attend. Don't forget the Design and Architecture forum on Citrix User Group community and attending your local @mycugc event.

There are a number of webinar resources you can make use of - Delivering and Optimizing Citrix from Microsoft Azure by CTPs David Brett and Marius Sandbu for example which is being shown on 20th July - you can sign up here

 

23 May2017

State of VDI and SBC Union Survey 2017 Report Published and Done

The industry’s biggest (almost) annual survey has been conducted for 2017, and the responses were overwhelming. These responses have been captured in a report that is available for free at http://www.vdilikeapro.com. The State of the VDI and SBC Union 2017 is truly unique because it’s unbiased, independent, powered by the community and the results are available for everyone—free of charge. The State of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Server Based Computing (SBC) Union gives valuable insights into real-world deployments, configuration and usage, both on-premises and in public cloud environments, from more than 580 survey responses.

The goal of the survey, executed by Ruben Spruijt, CTO Atlantis Computing, and Mark Plettenberg, Product Manager Login VSI, is to share insights about usage, configuration and trends in the VDI/SBC industry. What I think is impressive, is that ControlUp also provided valuable information on VDI and SBC usage using their anonymous data set of almost one million concurrent users and more than 800 customers. These results combined with VDILikeAPro information are available in the full report.

The 2017 survey shows that trends are clearly changing. Since the last report was published in 2015, is is evident that there is a stronger focus on application remoting in public cloud scenarios: with what looks to be a small decline in the number of new VDI environments. Arguably, this can be partly explained by IT-admins from smaller environments showing more interest in DaaS. Providing DaaS, anywhere access, centralized management and flexible working are the key drivers for VDI usage. While SBC was much more focused on cost-reduction, customers chose other reasons to use VDI.

From the results, it looks like many respondents are also evaluating Windows 10 in VDI, both on-premise and in a public cloud. It'd be fair to say Windows 10 could well be a key driver for stronger VDI adoption while organizations are also increasing their focus on security.  

All this and more is included in the report providing valuable insight into where the industry is going, helping you make choices for your environment going forward. You can find out all the detail by downloading the free report - State of the VDI and SBC Union 2017

10 May2017

See You at Citrix Synergy: SYN416 XenServer for VMware admins

Are you a VMWare admin? Used to architecting your Citrix XenDesktop/XenApp deployments within a VMWare environment. Ever thought about XenServer? Bet you’re thinking about XenServer now I’ve mentioned it… Ever wondered what would stop you from deploying on XenServer?  Bet you’re thinking about it now…

Citrix Synergy is in Orlando, Florida, USA May 23-25 2017. Citrix Synergy is the global event where the Citrix community of customers, prospective customers, partners and industry influencers come together for strategic insights and professional networking. I am honoured to be on Featured Speakers list, and for all of those who are asking - yes Jim Moyle will indeed be sitting beside me, warming his toes by the fire and mumbling about how he has to bring his own tea. 

What is SYN416 / XenServer for VMware admins All About?

Citrix XenServer is the underlying infrastructure powering multiple Citrix core offerings. While many Citrix admins use XenServer to host Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp services, many VMware admins have yet to make a move. In this Fireside Chat, we’ll start conversations about similarities, differences and drivers for staying or moving. We’ve a range of topics to talk about that includes topics on key differences between VMware vShpere and Citrix Xenserver that include Versions and Licensing, Core Architecture, Managment, Load Balancing, High Availability, DR, Migration and Performance. And in what we hope will be a fun and exciting change - you the audience get to choose which order we get to do the topics in to help you make a informed choice of which platform to build on going into 2017 and beyond.   

 

Talk about Taxation?

We’ll consider the license options and cost implications of implementing XenServer as opposed to VMware. Open to a conversation on if it is truly a Tax, or merely moving money from one offshore account to another?

 

Architecture Differences

We’ll consider XenServer’s core architecture – and its differences and nuances in comparison to VMware.

We’re ready to look at respective tools, at XenServer’s unique offerings, High Availability, Disaster Recovery and consider requirements and performance between the two environments. As I say, the agenda can practically be your own – such is this new fireside side chat format.

Where would you like to go on that particular Thursday?

 

 

Don't Just See It - Be It. 

Jim and I have got our notes (almost) prepped for sure: but if you have a burning question or idea you’d like help with: by all means get in touch either via www.mycugc.org, via twitter  or in the comments here. 

 

Join Us, We May Have Marshmallows

So, join me and fellow Citrix Technology Professional Jim Moyle at Citrix Synergy 2017 SYN416 / XenServer for VMware Admins, for a relaxed and informal discussion to insight into how you can best deliver your XenApp/XenDesktop environment going forward in 2017 and beyond. And if you don’t come for that – come to find out what these three slides are actually going to be about (by all means submit your answers, there could well be prizes)

 

Date: May 25, 2017

Time: 4.00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Orange County Convention Center, West Concourse, West Hall C, Synergy Park, Fireside 1

We look forward to seeing you. For those who have never met us, we'll be the guys at the front.  

09 May2017

See You at Citrix Synergy: SYN306 - Solving PVS Challenges with Simple Shell Scripts

Want to maintain and grow your Citrix Provisioning Services estate reliably – but also want free time to do the cool IoT stuff or even just hang out with family and friends?

Citrix Synergy is in Orlando, Florida, USA May 23-25 2017. Citrix Synergy is the global event where the Citrix community of customers, prospective customers, partners and industry influencers come together for strategic insights and professional networking. I am honoured to be on Featured Speakers list, and for all of those who are asking - yes Jim Moyle will indeed be standing beside me, keeping it real and filling in all the advanced technical content. 

What is SYN306 - Solving PVS Challenges with Simple Shell Scripts All About?

While scripting is unlikely to bring about World Peace, it can help solve a lot of problems to make day to day tasks reliable and consistent. In this Synergy Session Jim and I will look at automation techniques for roll-out, updates and migration. Building on practical examples from field implementations we've been involved in, we'll cover differences in SDK versions that PVS brings to the scripting table and look at some practical examples for PVS scripting that we’ve encountered. 

 

Pester Testing

One of the scripting items we’ll look at and demonstrate is how to Pester PVS. Pester is a test framework for PowerShell. It provides a language that allows you to define test cases, and the Invoke-Pester cmdlet to execute these tests and report the results. We’ll talk through how existing publically available scripts can be used to apply testing and validation using the Pester framework to ensure you’ve a consistent environment – either in a single sites or across multiple pods.

If you are really lucky we might even talk about Desired State Configuration a little bit.

Synergise Scripting

Citrix Synergy is indeed a great event to share ideas, understand new concepts and get great insight. In this session we’ll not only share with you some useful scripts, tips and insights – but give insight into how you can share, develop and contribute to scripts in the Citrix community

 

 

Don't Just See It - Be It. 

Jim and I have got our examples for sure: but if you have a burning question or idea you’d like help with: by all means get in touch either via www.mycugc.org, via twitter  or in the comments here. 

 

Join Us, We May Have Cookies

It'd be great to see you at Citrix Synergy 2017 for SYN306 - Solving PVS Challenges with Simple Shell Scripts. Come to learn how to give more power to your PVS deployments through scripting. And if you don’t come for that – come for true examples Northern Grit should the demos go south. 

It’ll be worth the early start, you mark my word. 

Date: May 24, 2017

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Location: Orange County Convention Center, West Concourse, Valencia BC

We look forward to seeing you. For those who have never met us, we'll be the guys at the front.  

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