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
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". |
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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