Mastering Citrix® XenDesktop®

Mastering Citrix® XenDesktop®

by Govardhan Gunnala, Daniele Tosatto
Released June 2015
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781784393977

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Book description

Design and implement a high performance and efficient virtual desktop infrastructure using Citrix® XenDesktop®

  • Design, deploy, configure, optimize, troubleshoot, and maintain XenDesktop for enterprise environments and to meet emerging high-end business requirements
  • Configure Citrix XenDesktop to deliver a rich virtual desktop experience to end users
  • A comprehensive, practical guide to monitoring a XenDesktop environment and automating XenDesktop tasks using PowerShell

In Detail

Nowadays, many organizations are moving toward desktop virtualization. Citrix® XenDesktop® is the most comprehensive solution to implement a scalable and high performance virtual desktop environment.

This book will provide you with the technical skills you need to successfully design, set up, and maintain a XenDesktop® environment. This book will introduce you to the main components of a XenDesktop® infrastructure and covers how to design and install them. Through each chapter, you will quickly learn how to configure your virtual desktop environment in order to meet specific end user requirements, giving your users the freedom to work from anywhere and from any device while virtual desktops and apps are centrally maintained in your data center.

What You Will Learn

  • Understand the evolution and main components of XenDesktop® architecture in detail
  • Design and implement a XenDesktop® environment with enterprise capabilities such as high availability, scalability, app orchestration, and integration with cloud infrastructures
  • Configure Citrix® XenDesktop® for real-time advanced business use cases and optimize it for performance
  • Understand and configure the various components of networking involved in both remote and intranet access to your XenDesktop® environment
  • Discover the usage and features of Citrix®-provided tools for monitoring and troubleshooting XenDesktop® environments
  • Explore how the PowerShell SDK can help you to automate common tasks and administrative operations
  • Discover how you can use Microsoft Application Virtualization to expand your virtual desktop infrastructure to deliver virtual applications to end users

Table of contents

  1. Mastering Citrix® XenDesktop®
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Mastering Citrix® XenDesktop®
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewer
    6. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more
        1. Why subscribe?
        2. Free access for Packt account holders
        3. Instant updates on new Packt books
      2. Disclaimer
    7. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Errata
        2. Piracy
        3. Questions
    8. 1. Evolution and Core Strengths of XenDesktop®
      1. The evolution of XenDesktop®
        1. Citrix® and its vision
        2. Citrix®'s relationship with Microsoft
        3. Citrix® XenDesktop® virtualization solutions
          1. The XenDesktop® and Project Avalon roadmap
      2. XenDesktop® releases and improvements
        1. Citrix® Desktop Server 1.0
        2. XenDesktop® 2.0
        3. XenDesktop® 2.1
        4. XenDesktop® 3.0
          1. XenDesktop® 3.0 Feature Pack 1
        5. XenDesktop® 4.0
          1. XenDesktop® 4.0 Feature Pack 1
          2. XenDesktop® 4.0 Feature Pack 2
        6. XenDesktop® 5.0
        7. XenDesktop® 5.5
        8. XenDesktop® 5.6
          1. XenDesktop® 5.6 Feature Pack 1
        9. XenDesktop® 7.0
        10. XenDesktop® 7.1
        11. XenDesktop® 7.5
        12. XenDesktop® 7.6
          1. XenDesktop® 7.6 Feature Pack 1
      3. Core strengths of XenDesktop®
        1. Citrix® Receiver for any device, anytime, anywhere
        2. HDX user experience technology
          1. Intelligent redirection
          2. Adaptive compression
          3. De-duplication of network traffic
        3. FlexCast® delivery technology
          1. Hosted shared
          2. Hosted VDI
            1. Random/Non-persistent
            2. Static/Non-persistent
            3. Static persistent
          3. Remote PC
          4. Streamed VHD
          5. Local VM
          6. On-demand apps
        4. Open architecture - Cloud-ready FMA
        5. On-demand applications by XenApp®
        6. Automated application migration with AppDNA®
        7. High security and compliance standards
      4. Summary
    9. 2. Understanding the XenDesktop® Architecture in Detail
      1. Key features of the XenDesktop® architecture for businesses
      2. The evolution of XenDesktop® architecture
      3. XenDesktop® 2.0 and Independent Management Architecture (IMA)
      4. XenDesktop® 5.0 and FlexCast® Management Architecture
      5. XenDesktop® 7.0 with FMA - the unified architecture for XenDesktop® 7 and XenApp®
      6. The basics of FMA - the XenDesktop® architecture
        1. Concepts and terminologies
          1. The components of FMA
            1. Core components
            2. Additional components
          2. The features of FMA
          3. Terminology change from the IMA to the latest FMA
      7. Advanced FMA - the XenDesktop® architecture in detail
        1. The five layers of FMA
          1. Working of FMA components to deliver virtual desktops
            1. Phase 1 - User authentication and resources enumeration
            2. Phase 2 - Virtual Desktop allocation and connection establishment
      8. Designing FMA for your XenDesktop® deployment
        1. Project Accelerator
          1. The assess phase
          2. The design phase
          3. Results along with an example
      9. Summary
    10. 3. Designing XenDesktop® for Complex Environments
      1. Desktop environments
        1. The essential elements of a desktop environment
        2. Business expectations of a desktop environment
      2. XenDesktop® – Transforming desktop environments
        1. XenDesktop®
          1. Additional technologies
      3. Process of designing XenDesktop® deployments
        1. Decisions to be made at each layer
          1. User layer
          2. Access layer
          3. Desktop/resource layer
          4. Control layer
          5. Hardware layer
        2. Tools for designing XenDesktop®
          1. Project Accelerator
          2. Virtual Desktop Handbook
          3. XenDesktop® Reviewer's Guide
      4. XenDesktop® deployment architectures for complex environments
        1. XenDesktop® architecture designed for high availability
          1. Overview
          2. In-depth analysis of the HA architecture at each layer of FMA
            1. User layer
            2. Access layer
            3. Desktop/resource layer
            4. Control layer
            5. Hardware layer
          3. Best practices of HA
        2. Design considerations for a scalable deployment
          1. XenDesktop® scalability
            1. StoreFront
              1. Delivery controllers
              2. Database
              3. Provisioning technologies—MCS and PVS
              4. Open architecture and Cloud support
              5. Windows operating system and applications optimization
              6. Site capacity and multi-site deployments
            2. Hardware scalability
              1. Single server scalability
              2. Scalability with hardware assisted server technologies
              3. Storage considerations
        3. App Orchestration – multi forest Active Directory Environment
          1. Active Directory requirements
          2. DNS requirements
          3. VDA requirements
          4. SSL requirements
        4. XenDesktop® and Cloud computing integration
          1. Cloud computing for desktop virtualization
          2. XenDesktop® Cloud support
          3. CloudPlatform
          4. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Computing (EC2)
            1. AWS limitations for XenDesktop® deployment
          5. Private Cloud
            1. The deployment architecture
          6. Public Cloud (using Amazon AWS)
            1. The deployment architecture
            2. Deployment functional overview
            3. Detailed deployment procedure
          7. Hybrid Cloud (using Amazon AWS)
            1. The deployment architecture
            2. Deployment functional overview
            3. Detailed deployment procedure
      5. Summary
    11. 4. Implementing a XenDesktop® Environment
      1. Installing of XenDesktop®'s main components
        1. Installing Citrix® Licensing
        2. Understanding the site database
        3. Installing the Delivery Controller
        4. Creating the XenDesktop® site
        5. Installing Citrix® Director
        6. Installing Citrix® StoreFront
        7. Creating a Citrix® StoreFront store
      2. Summary
    12. 5. Delivering Virtual Desktops and Optimizing XenDesktop®
      1. Configuring XenDesktop® components for high availability
        1. Installing an additional Delivery Controller
        2. Installing an additional Citrix® StoreFront
        3. Making configuration changes in StoreFront
      2. Installing Virtual Desktop Agent
      3. Creating and configuring machine catalogs and delivery groups
      4. Optimizing XenDesktop® Virtual Desktop Agent for performance
      5. Managing Citrix® policies
      6. Summary
    13. 6. Configuring XenDesktop® for Advanced Use Cases
      1. Advanced use cases of XenDesktop®
        1. Implementing advanced business use cases with XenDesktop®
        2. Fine-tuning and customizing XenDesktop® for advanced use cases
      2. Configuring XenDesktop® for advanced business use cases
        1. High-end 3D business applications using GPU technology
          1. Traditional setup for high-end 3D business applications using physical desktops
          2. XenDesktop® provisioning GPU enabled virtual desktops
            1. NVidia GRID – graphics accelerated virtualization
            2. XenDesktop® 3D solution architectures using NVidia GRID technology
            3. Implementing XenDesktop® 3D solutions using NVidia GRID technology
            4. Steps to implement the GPU sharing environment using Citrix® XenDesktop®, XenServer®, and NVidia GRID
        2. Unified Communications Solutions (UCS) - audio and video conferencing applications
          1. Challenges with UCS - audio and video conferencing applications
          2. XenDesktop® support for UCS (audio and video conferencing) applications
            1. Generic HDX RealTime technologies
            2. Optimized HDX RealTime technologies
            3. Local App Access (Reverse Seamless) for the UCS applications
          3. XenDesktop® and UCS (audio and video conferencing) applications
            1. XenDesktop® optimized UCS applications
            2. Other UCS applications and XenDesktop®
            3. Configuring the UCS applications in XenDesktop®
            4. Optimized for XenDesktop® – Microsoft Lync
            5. Generic UCS application – Citrix® GoToMeeting
        3. Streaming media applications through HDX technology
          1. Components of streaming media and its setup in the traditional desktop environment
          2. XenDesktop streaming media capabilities
          3. The HDX MediaStream Flash Redirection
          4. Configuring XenDesktop® for streaming media
            1. Configuring HDX MediaStream Flash Redirection
        4. Secured Internet access through web filtering
          1. Web filtering technologies and their options
          2. Integrating web filtering technologies with XenDesktop®
          3. Further consideration for DaaS service providers
        5. Secured virtual desktops through policy restrictions
          1. Windows group policies and registry restrictions
            1. General restrictions
            2. Completely locked down or restricted service provider environments
            3. Further resources
          2. Citrix® policy restrictions
            1. Further resources
        6. Virtual desktops through low bandwidth remote and mobile user connections
          1. Remote access from home PC broadband networks
          2. Remote office WAN connections
          3. Mobile users Wi-Fi and telecom network connections
            1. High Performance Computing applications
              1. High-performance computing and Citrix XenDesktop
              2. NVidia GRID vGPUs and CUDA
      3. Advanced fine-tuning of XenDesktop®
        1. Virtual display
          1. Citrix® display delivery technologies
            1. Progressive display
            2. Legacy graphics mode - adaptive display
            3. H.264-enhanced SuperCodec
            4. Desktop Composition Redirection
            5. The HDX display delivery technologies comparison
        2. Integrating local applications
          1. Business use cases for Local App Access
          2. Configuring Local App Access
            1. Enabling Local App Access
            2. Enabling only local applications access that is published in Studio
          3. Current limitations of Local App Access
        3. Controlling seamless and in-browser access
        4. Provisioning instant virtual desktop sessions
      4. Summary
    14. 7. Networking for XenDesktop®
      1. The role of networking in XenDesktop®
        1. Overview - extranet access via NetScaler connecting to virtual desktops
          1. Phase 1 - User authentication and resources enumeration
          2. Phase 2 - Virtual desktop allocation and connection establishment
        2. Communication ports used across XenDesktop®
      2. XenDesktop® and layers of networking
        1. Networking in a traditional desktop environment
        2. Networking in virtual environments
        3. Windows networking
        4. Challenges in configuring networking for XenDesktop®
      3. Network layer components and configuration
        1. External networking
          1. The domain name provider
          2. External DNS
          3. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates
            1. How Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates secure communication
            2. Third-party Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates
            3. Installing and binding an SSL certificate for your website
        2. Planning IP addresses and VLANs
          1. Types of IP addresses
            1. Public addresses
            2. Private addresses
          2. Choosing public and private IP addresses
          3. Virtual LAN (VLAN)
        3. Firewall
          1. Network Address Translation (NAT)
          2. Port forwarding/redirection
          3. Port overloading
          4. Real-time monitoring
          5. Audit logging
          6. Configuration replication
        4. Citrix® NetScaler
          1. Components and architecture
          2. NetScaler deployment and its working
          3. NetScaler features
            1. Global server load balancing (GSLB)
            2. Load balancing
            3. NetScaler Gateway
          4. The role of NetScaler
        5. Citrix® CloudBridge
          1. The CloudBridge architecture
        6. Web proxy / filter servers
      4. Virtualization layer network components
        1. The host/management network
          1. NIC teaming/bonding
        2. The virtual machine network
          1. Full Internet access
      5. Windows networking
        1. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
          1. DHCP for multiple networks and subnets
          2. Configuring DHCP
          3. Linking DHCP and DNS
          4. DHCP for XenDesktop®
            1. DHCP for XenDesktop® using provisioning services
        2. Active Directory (AD) and domain membership
          1. Virtual desktops and AD membership
        3. Domain Name System (DNS)
          1. Configuring DNS
          2. DNS zones
            1. Types of DNS zones
            2. Classification of DNS zones
            3. Types of DNS entries
          3. Features of Windows DNS
          4. Virtual desktops and DNS
        4. Internal SSL certificates
        5. IIS hosting StoreFront sites
        6. Windows Firewall
          1. Windows Firewall and XenDesktop®
      6. Citrix® recommended network performance tuning
      7. Summary
    15. 8. Monitoring and Troubleshooting XenDesktop®
      1. Overview of monitoring and troubleshooting XenDesktop®
      2. A deep dive into monitoring and troubleshooting XenDesktop®
        1. Citrix® Director and EdgeSight®
          1. Architecture
            1. The Citrix® monitoring service
          2. Installation
          3. EdgeSight® performance management
          4. EdgeSight® network analysis
            1. Configuring EdgeSight® network analysis in Director
              1. Linking the Insight Center virtual appliance with NetScaler
              2. Linking Director Server with Insight Center
          5. Configuring Delegated Administration
            1. XenDesktop®'s built-in administrator roles for Director
          6. Using Director and EdgeSight®
            1. The dashboard view
            2. The trends view
            3. The filters view
              1. Predefined filter views
              2. Custom filter views
            4. Shadowing user sessions
            5. Monitoring licenses
        2. Citrix® Studio
          1. Common tasks for testing the XenDesktop® environment
          2. Search
          3. Configuration Logging
            1. Enabling and disabling Configuration Logging
            2. Accessing Configuration Logging data from Director
            3. Creating reports from Configuration Logging
        3. Citrix® Insight Services (CIS)
          1. Citrix® Collection Tools for Citrix® Insight Services
          2. Using Citrix® Insight Services
          3. Citrix® Scout for XenDesktop® diagnostics
            1. Included Citrix® tools
            2. Key data points collected
            3. Running Citrix® Scout
        4. PowerShell command-lets
        5. Citrix® troubleshooting tools for XenDesktop®
          1. How to troubleshoot XenDesktop® issues
            1. Refer to the right documentation
            2. Understand the XenDesktop® architecture and its setup in your environment
            3. Understanding the nature of issues
          2. Citrix® HDX monitor
            1. Features of HDX monitor
            2. HDX technologies supported
            3. Using HDX monitor
          3. Citrix® Diagnostics Toolkit
            1. Suite of tools included
          4. XDDBDiag
          5. XDPing
          6. CDF Control
          7. Citrix® Print Detective
          8. XenDesktop® Site Checker
        6. Troubleshooting knowledge for issues out of the scope of XenDesktop
          1. Network tracing for external access issues
          2. Troubleshooting at the virtualization layer
          3. Troubleshooting at the Windows layer
      3. Summary
    16. 9. XenDesktop® PowerShell SDK for Automation
      1. PowerShell SDK for automation
        1. The purpose of SDK
        2. PowerShell and its capabilities
          1. PowerShell and .NET framework
          2. PowerShell and WMI
          3. PowerShell and COM
          4. PowerShell Remoting and WinRM
          5. Target audience for PowerShell scripting
        3. PowerShell for XenDesktop®
        4. Role of automation for IT
        5. Tools for developing automation using PowerShell SDK
          1. Microsoft PowerShell ISE
          2. PowerGUI
          3. Visual Studio extensions
            1. PowerShell tools
            2. Citrix® Developer
          4. The PowerShell community – CodePlex and PowerGUI
      2. Using the XenDesktop® PowerShell SDK
        1. Installation and configuration
          1. Installing and configuring PowerShell
          2. Installing and configuring XenDesktop® PowerShell SDK
        2. Running SDK command-lets
        3. Creating PowerShell scripts
        4. Automation using PowerShell scripts
      3. A deep dive into the XenDesktop® PowerShell SDK
        1. Key notes about using PowerShell
        2. Structure of the latest PowerShell SDK
          1. Folder structure
          2. PowerShell Module adoption
        3. A complete reference of the PowerShell SDK
        4. Troubleshooting and commonly used SDK command-lets
          1. Get the license details
          2. Get XenDesktop® Site details
          3. Get XenDesktop® Site Services details
          4. Test XenDesktop® Site services
          5. Get the XenDesktop® database details
          6. Get virtual desktop details and status
          7. Get the XenDesktop® admin and user details
      4. Summary
    17. 10. XenDesktop® and App-V Integration
      1. Understanding the App-V infrastructure
        1. The App-V components
        2. Creating virtual applications using App-V
      2. Delivering App-V applications using XenDesktop®
      3. Installing the App-V client
      4. Summary
    18. 11. XenDesktop® Licensing
      1. Understanding Citrix® licensing
        1. Microsoft licensing for virtual desktops
        2. Discovering Citrix® XenDesktop® editions
      2. Allocating Citrix® licenses
      3. Summary
    19. Index

Product information

  • Title: Mastering Citrix® XenDesktop®
  • Author(s): Govardhan Gunnala, Daniele Tosatto
  • Release date: June 2015
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781784393977