total solutions inc. - coretek for epic-healthcare...delivering high value and innovative healthcare...

Azure SummitHigh-End Graphical Loads on Integrated Systems

Chris Shalda

Sr. Solutions Architect, Cloud Solutions

Coretek Services

Session Agenda

Wolverine Worldwide Use Case

Citrix Primer

Citrix on Azure Deployment Options

Citrix on Azure Architecture Considerations

Citrix Cloud Benefits

Demonstration & Discussion

Introduction

Presenter Information – Chris Shalda

11 years at Coretek ServicesFirst 8 years: IT Consultant (SMB through Large Enterprise)Next 2 years: Microsoft Solutions ArchitectNow: Sr. Solutions Architect, Cloud Solutions

P-CSA (apps & infra) – Chris is 1 of about 20 P-CSAs in the US

Enjoys architecting creative solutions for the most complex business and IT problems customers face to ultimately deliver success in the cloud.

Chr i s .Sha lda@coretek .com

mailto:[email protected]

Coretek ServicesA Systems Integration and IT consulting company delivering high value and innovative Healthcare solutions. A business driven by excellent people built with strong relationships. Project Success! No Exceptions.

Headquarters

Founded in 2005

Farmington, Michigan

110+ employees

85% of Staff is the Delivery Team

Culture

101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work for

National—5 Years in a Row

Metro Detroit—9 Years in a Row

Project Success! No Exceptions.

AWARDS

Coretek Services

A Systems Integration and IT consulting company delivering high value and innovative Healthcare solutions. A business driven by excellent people built with strong relationships. Project Success! No Exceptions.

PARTNERSHIPS

Over 300,000 Virtual Desktops Deployed Nationally0144

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Coretek Resources

Coretek Customers

Wolverine Worldwide Case StudyNew Citrix Technologies & Award Winning Designs

Video

https://youtu.be/J9Wnarr4-MA

Wolverine Worldwide Case Study

The Product Development Opportunity

• Product idea to market takes 425 days

• Multiple systems contain material libraries and material costs

• Design changes are time consuming and costly

• Lack of one single version of the truth across all global functions in the Product Creation Process

The Product Development Goal

• Globally integrated virtual/digital product creation capability

• Reduce lead times and costs through virtual prototyping

• Bill Of Material construction and pattern analysis with 3D rapid prototyping and printing

• One globally accessible Single Version of the Truth

Technology Solution

Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop

Citrix NetScaler Microsoft Azure Strategies RomansCADPalo Alto with

Panorama Management

Technical Challenges

China firewall

Factories being able to access the application

• Infrastructures not within IT dept. control

Providing a fluid 3D design experience

Network latency Security

Single node Client/Server

architecture for 3D modeling and material library

solution

Different hardware resource needs

depending on time zone and

functionality

Citrix PrimerXenApp and XenDesktop

Experience

Deliver a consistent, high-definition user experience

on-demand

Security

Simplifying security and management

to streamline operations

Flexibility

Access, manage & support any device, app & cloud

&

Virtualizing Apps and Desktops

Flexible XenApp & XenDesktop Platform

One architecture for apps & desktops

Built in monitoring and support tools

One deployment supports multiple OS’es

Cloud enabled Management

Delivery Controller

XenApp & XenDesktop Platform

Win Server

2016

Apps & Desktops

Delivery Agent

Win Server

2012 R2

Apps & Desktops

Delivery Agent

Windows 10/

Linux

Apps & Desktops

Delivery Agent

One touch access to your virtual apps and desktops

Any Windows or Linux app

Any NetworkAny

Device

LaptopsTabletsSmartphones Desktops

Centralized security to protect sensitive information

User authorization required

Enable local USB devices

Allow local storage

Control cut-and-paste

Control audio/video record

Local Printing allowed

Control geographic location

Centrally secured apps or desktops in the data center delivered to any device eliminates VPN holes with ICA / NetScaler proxy

Multi-factor authentication, including SafeWord, SecureID, and RADIUS;

smartcards and biometrics with activity logging for auditing and compliance

SmartAccess™ fine-grained context-based policy controls for scenario-based access restrictions with NetScaler end point analysis

ShareFile integration for optimized on-demand, on or off-premise data sync and sharing (ShareFile purchased separately)

Drive productivity, employee retention and recruiting by supporting BYO demands

Nearly eliminate costs of employee onboarding, moves and exits

Eliminate “best-efforts” support for executives and top performers already using BYO

Leverage new devices without needing to support the hardware

Simplify IT support of BYO devices

Who are the users and their requirements

How do users gain access to our resources

What resources will we deliver to the users

How will we manage and maintain the solution

What platform(s) to use to run the solution

User Layer

Access Layer

Resource Layer

Control Layer

Hardware Layer

The Citrix 5-Layer Model

HardwareUsers

ResourceAccess

Control

Thinwire

H.264

DCR

Audio

Skype

Multimedia

Flash

Multitouch

SeamlessWindows

ICA Clipboard

Smartcards

Keyboard / Mouse

Printing

Mobile Sensors

Generic USB

Drives

Application Layer

CompressNetwork Compression

standard libraries (zlib)

Command Remoting

graphics commands

Render

Video Streaming

h.264

Render

Compress

Image Caching

jpeg, bitmap

Render

Compress

User Intent

scrolling, touching, navigating

Render

Intent

Application Layer

Adaptive Display

• Green = Video / 3D graphicsH.264 = Most efficient for video and 3D graphics, but with higher CPU usage

• Red = JPEG / ImagesThinwire = Most efficient for static images with low CPU usage

• Blue = TextOverlay lossless = Most precise for text to avoid blur

Overview

Adaptive Display

Thinwire

H.264

DCR

Audio

Skype

Multimedia

Flash

Multitouch

SeamlessWindows

ICA Clipboard

Smartcards

Keyboard / Mouse

Printing

Mobile Sensors

Generic USB

Drives

Application Layer

Adaptive Display

TCPAudio

Skype

Multimedia

Flash

Multitouch

SeamlessWindows

ICA Clipboard

Smartcards

Keyboard / Mouse

Printing

Mobile Sensors

Generic USB

Drives

Transport Layer

With TCP, as distance (latency) increases,

bandwidth utilization decreases

TCP

Adaptive TransportOverview

Adaptive Transport

(TCP or EDT)

Adaptive Display

Audio

Skype

Multimedia

Flash

Multitouch

SeamlessWindows

ICA Clipboard

Smartcards

Keyboard / Mouse

Printing

Mobile Sensors

Generic USB

Drives

SQL

Apps

Headquarters

Delivery Controller

Windows DesktopLinux Desktop

Satellite

Delivery Controller

Physical PC Windows Desktop

Satellite

Delivery Controller

SQLSQL

Single Site Implementation

Windows Desktop

Delivery Controller

Physical PC

Delivery Controller

Apps

Headquarters

Delivery Controller

Windows DesktopLinux Desktop

SQL

Satellite Satellite

Multi-site Implementation

Citrix Cloud on Microsoft AzureIntroduction

Hypervisors

Active Directory

NetScalerGateway

License Server

Studio Director

SQL

Server VDAs

Server VDAs

Server VDAs Server

VDAs

Server VDAs

Desktop VDAs

StoreFront/Receiver for

Web

Delivery Controllers

Customer/Partner managed

Apps & Desktops Management Service• Traditional Deployment

SQL


Web


Hypervisors

Active Directory

NetScalerGateway

Server VDAs

Server VDAs

Server VDAs Server

VDAs

Server VDAs

Desktop VDAs

License Server

Studio Director


Workspace Cloud (operated by Citrix)

Apps & Desktops Management Service• What’s Changed

SQL


Web


Hypervisors

Active Directory

NetScalerGateway

Server VDAs

Server VDAs

Server VDAs Server

VDAs

Server VDAs

Desktop VDAs

License Server

Studio Director


Workspace Cloud (operated by Citrix)

Apps & Desktops Management Service• What’s Changed

Cloud Connector

What is the cloud connector?Bridge the gap between the cloud and the customer's resource location

Cloud Connector

Internet facing

Customer network

• Simply to deploy; cloud managed• Does not operate as a VPN• All connections are egress (port 443 only)• Supports enterprise web proxies• Secured by service key per-connector• Self updating, evergreen

Connector to/from the cloud

HTTPS / API Calls Binary Encoded Message Passing

• Messages sent to the connector(s) rendezvous in the cloud at a special cloud service. Messages are then transferred via a Web Socket architecture

• These messages are load balanced across connectors

• Standard HTTPs Web requests …

Inbound

Outbound

Connector Communication

Simplified Setup Global POP Presence Citrix Managed

Secure delivery of virtual apps & desktops with optimal traffic routinge.g. Included with Citrix Cloud XenApp and XenDesktop Service and Workspace Services

Unified access to ICA, SaaS and corporate web apps with SSO & Advanced Authenticatione.g. Integrated with Workspace for a unified end-user experience

Easy NetScaler setup and management for XA-XD on-prem and hybrid deploymentse.g. Support for Storefront and Auth store on-premises

SaaS AppsEnterprise Cloud

Corporate DC Apps

XA / XD / XM

Secure Remote Access

NetScaler Gateway Service

• Landing page for administrators

• Navigate into service or platform interfaces

• View a summary of system objects and notifications

• View active and available services

Launchpad

• Manage a library or catalog of service offerings

• Control user and group access to apps, desktops and services using subscriptions

• Search and view offering details and assignments

Library

Unified Admin ExperienceSingle Sign on across all services in the control plane

• Create multiple resource locations to manage many datacenters and clouds

• Easily view health of connectors in each resource location; view any related alerts and messages

• Add/Remove resource locations

• Quickly download and deploy new connectors

Resource Locations

• Manage one or more domains within each resource location

• Cloud Connector discovers domains automatically during deployment

• Manage across AD forests, user and resource domains

Domains

Administrators

• Easily invite and manage administrators on the account

Notifications

• Centralized hub for notifications coming from platform and services

• Differentiate severity of notification based on type

• Act on and dismiss notifications to resolve issues

Scaling App and Desktop Workload

Deliver a compelling end user experience

Citrix Cloud on Microsoft AzureArchitecture and Design Considerations

XenApp & XenDesktop – On-Premises

XenApp & XenDesktop Service

XenApp & XenDesktop – On-Premises

55 © 2018 Citrix | Confidential Sensitivity: Public

Azure Agreement– EA, CSP or Direct (pay-as-you-go)

– Hard or soft quotas - VM core count per subscription (20 by default, per region)

• Need to create support case to increase quota - do this ahead of time

• Request approval is based on the “credit worthiness” of the account

Identity Options

– Traditional Active Directory

• Requires network connectivity to your AD infrastructure on-prem (if not a new/standalone AD forest in Azure)

– Azure AD Domain Services (AAD DS)

• Requires Azure AD Connect to sync users, password hashes and other information for access control

• Understand current limitations

– Azure AD

• Can be used as the authentication for users regardless of underlying server authentication option (traditional AD or AAD DS)

Azure Agreement and Identity Considerations


On-prem Connectivity

– Consider moving these applications to be close to Citrix workloads (in Azure)

– If applications need to stay on-prem, ensure bandwidth and reliable links are in place

• ExpressRoute

• Site-to-Site VPN

• SD-WAN

Security

– NSGs are important, but 3rd party Next Gen Firewall should be considered for better security posture

Networking and Security Considerations


Resource groups– Used to group related items together as a single administrative entity, separate resources for chargeback

– Consider resource group limits for number of resources per RG, especially quantity of VMs

• 240 VMs per catalog/RG today – 3 disks per VM, 800 disk limit per resource group

• Max API read/write requests to Azure Resource Manager are typically the limiting factor per subscription

• Typically recommended to stay under 1000 Citrix VDA workers per Azure subscription (if no other workloads in the same subscription)

– Recommended that Citrix components at least reside in a resource group that is separate than other infrastructure or application workloads

– Consider that other Azure workloads in the same Azure subscription could cause you to hit subscription limits

Resource Group Considerations

Azure Managed Disks


Choosing your disk type– Unmanaged Disk - most cost effective (thin provisioned), but slow for image updates

• Standard Storage - Max 40 highly utilized standard disks per storage account (20,000 IOPS limit)

• Premium Storage - Max 50Gbps throughput rate per storage account

• MCS should handle distributing disks for you into additional storage accounts, when needed

– Managed Disk - can be more costly (pay for full disk), but a lot less management and much faster for image updates

• 10,000 managed disks per region per subscription per disk type

• Each VM requires 3 managed disks (OS Disk, Identity Disk and Write-back Cache Disk)

• Effectively, maximum of 3,333 total Citrix VDAs per Azure subscription – but want to keep that under 1000 because of API request limits

– Cannot change storage type after catalog is created

Disks and Storage Account Considerations


Unmanaged vs. Managed Disk Performance

1000 Pooled MachinesTimes in [hours:minutes]

Unmanaged Disk Catalog Managed Disk Catalog

Create catalog 2:35 2:00

Start all machines 0:56 1:18

Stop all machines 0:51 0:51

Update catalog image 0:58 0:20

Delete catalog (Machines stopped) 0:56 1:28

Reference: https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2018/02/21/support-for-azure-managed-disks-goes-into-production/

https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2018/02/21/support-for-azure-managed-disks-goes-into-production/


File Storage

– If using profile management, need to point to file server in Azure for storage of profile data

– Consider availability needs versus cost for file server design

• Simple file server

• Storage Replica

• Storage Spaces Direct

Compute– F-series VM family for more compute heavy workloads

– D-series VM family for more memory heavy workloads

– Ideally determine a VM size that will support 6-12 user sessions

File Storage and Compute Considerations


Cost Optimization

– Set Smart Scale policies for minimizing compute costs based on your needs (schedule and load based)

• Use higher number of smaller VM sizes for XenApp where possible - allows for better power management and draining of VMs at low usage periods to reduce overall compute costs

• Configure relatively aggressive polices for idle and disconnect timers to reduce sessions being active when user isn’t actually active

– Understand your "base" Citrix VDA VMs always running

• Utilize VM Reserved Instances and Azure Hybrid Benefit for these VMs, pay as you go for rest of the Citrix VDA VMs that won't be"always on“ (Azure Hybrid Benefit requires new or existing Windows Server licensing with active Software Assurance)

• Reserved Instances can also guarantee capacity of VMs in Azure region

Estimating Cost– Two Cloud Connectors per catalog running in your Azure subscription 24x7 (A2v2 VM size)

– XenApp requires RDS CALs or Microsoft Remote Access Fee, per user

– XenDesktop requires Windows 10 Enterprise per user with SA (or through CSP subscription)

Cost Optimization and Estimation

Azure Reserved VM Instance Benefit

Pay-As-You-Go all-

inclusive Windows

Server virtual

machine

Save up to 82% with Reserved Instances and the Azure Hybrid Benefit

Reserved Instance +

Windows Server Core

meter

Up to 72%cost savings vs

Pay-As-You-Go

Reserved Instance +

Azure Hybrid BenefitUp to 82%cost savings vs

Pay-As-You-Go


• Start with pilot users first, gather feedback and make adjustments – especially user density, based on performance and user experience

• Use a phased approach to rollout to rest of users

• Have additional catalog setup for testing the next image to be deployed, add test users when ready to test

Rollout to End Users

StoreFront

Virtual Machines

Analysis

With cloud, focus on cost and not size

Power Off Savings

With cloud, focus on cost and not size

Schedule Based Scaling

Load Based Scaling

Smart Scale

• Keep apps, user data and VDAs close (can use XenApp for on-prem apps with XenDesktop VDI in Azure, for example) or consider ExpressRoute

• Windows 10 licensing in Azure – requires Windows 10 Enterprise per user

• Network connection reliability – SDWAN might be a good option

• DR with Citrix in Azure - need to make sure applications are setup for DR to Azure as well

• Azure AD - can use MFA, SSO and other identity access capabilities

• Azure AD Domain Services – don’t have to stand up traditional AD in Azure in some cases

Other Considerations

Citrix CloudBenefits

Manage both your

cloud and on-prem

virtualization

solution from one

location

Key Benefits to XenApp and XenDesktop Service

Manage apps and

desktops centrally

across multiple

geographies and

resource locations

Reduce costs with

infrastructure

managed and

monitored by Citrix

Speed app and

desktop

deployment and

time-to-

production value

Why Choose XenApp and XenDesktop Service

Easily integrate with other Citrix Cloud services to provide complete secure digital workspaces

Reduce Manual Efforts

Citrix Apps and Desktop components Citrix cloud provisioning Traditional software deployment

Delivery Controllers Cloud service Manual setup

StoreFront or Web Interface Servers Cloud service Manual setup

SQL Server data store Cloud service Manual setup

Licensing Server Cloud service Manual setup

NetScaler Gateway Cloud service Manual setup

Studio and Director Cloud service Manual setup

Server VDAs Manual setup Manual setup

Desktop VDAs Manual setup Manual setup

Active Directory integration Manual setup Manual setup

Cloud Connectors Cloud service (n/a) Cloud service (n/a)

Where Citrix Cloud Helps

Reduction in overall complexity, infrastructure, time

Traditional SWDeployment

Citrix CloudHybrid Deployment

Citrix CloudCloud Deployment

IT E

ffo

rt

Upgrade cycles

HW procurement

Capacity/sizing

Software set-up

App/OS Virtualization

SW maintenance

Admin time

Admin time

App/OS Virtualization

Software set-upHW procurement

Capacity/sizing

Admin timeApp/OS Virtualization

Software set-up

Example: XenApp and XenDesktop Service

Demo & Discussion

Thank you!

total solutions inc. - coretek for epic-healthcare...delivering high value and innovative healthcare...

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