Test Drive Citrix Storage Delivery Services Adapter for NetApp Data ONTAP

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Citrix has partnered with Nokia on ICA clients for their Symbian devices for years.  I recently did an interview with the Nokia team on use of the Citrix ICA client for Series 60 3rd Edition devices such as E61, E70 and E90 devices for their Nokia Forum Pro.  These ICA clients can be downloaded from http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/downloads/details.asp?dID=2755&downloadID=165587&pID=186.

Snippet from the interview below: 

Helping enterprise IT departments

 The Citrix XenApp Client for S60 3rd Edition devices offers some very clear benefits to IT departments as well, Marano adds. "From an IT perspective, the flexibility of mobile devices can be scary," he says. "How do you encourage people to use them, but also make sure that they are used properly and securely? With this solution, the same infrastructure being used today for external laptops and desktops can be used to deliver applications to the Series 60 3rd Edition devices. Minimizing the number of technologies used to deliver business-critical data to end users regardless of device type, by standardizing on a single platform, is a key factor to consider."

The interview gives a good overview of use Nokia S60 devices, but also provides a pretty good overview on the use of mobile devices as a whole with XenApp.

The full PDF interview can be found at: http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Developers/Success_Stories/Enterprise_&_productivity/Dev_succ_Citrix_SC_v1.0.pdf

From Frameworkx.com 

This is a ~6 min video I did right after I installed the latest build of Citrix Applications that will ship with Citrix XenApp. On this video I share my first impressions as well as a first look at the new name, branding and installing path...

Watch video at souce

Do you have an interesting story to tell about your experience with Citrix products? Are you eager to share the wisdom you have gained about the relationship between business and technology? Would you like to discuss the valuable lessons you have learned about delivering applications with the entire Citrix Community?

Submit your session idea and you could get free admission to the conference ($1395 value) and four nights in the conference hotel (over $800 value) at Citrix Synergy in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Texas. Submit your session proposal at the Call for Presentations site now.

You can get a full list of all the technical sessions at Citrix Synergy at this link.

Tell your story, share your vision, make new connections with others in the Citrix Community, and increase your own visibility. We are accepting proposals at the Call for Presentations site until April 4th. You can click here to register for Citrix Synergy.

Recently I have been working with the different teams here at Citrix implementing Provisioning Server in XenApp environments.  As we venture into this realm, we are finding remapping of drives is quite common in many 4.x, 3.x and XP implementations.  There are typically two scenarios I hear about:

• Users are confused when they perform a "Saves As" in an ICA session and they do not see their "C" drive a "C" drive.  Remapping addresses this issue minimizing support calls I image.
• Customers have spent a sizable amount of money creating application packages to work properly in a remapped environment.  To undo this would be another sizable amount of money so customers are not quick to revert. 

As Provisioning Server was introduced into the picture, people have asked... "What about the remapped drives?" Below is the explanation on how to ensure the remapping is seen when streaming a XenApp (Presentation) Server with Provisioning Server.

Below is the process to make a XenApp (Presentation) Server operable when streamed by a Provisioning Server with remapped drives are part of the baseline.

I will have a follow-on article discussing two partition scenarios coming soon!

As always, I am a huge fan of feedback, so please leave comments.

Summary

When using a Provisioning Server to stream a XenApp (Presentation) Server that has a remapped drive, Provisioning Server does not always boot with the proper drive letter therefore making the streamed target device inoperable. This article will provide the "How To" on creating a vDisk in with the Provisioning Server Image Builder when a XenApp (Presentation) Server is currently remapped.

Requirements

Requirements for completing the task and a specific knowledge and/or hardware and software requirements:

• Basic knowledge and understanding of Provisioning Server for Datacenters 4.5
• Advanced knowledge of XenApp (Presentation) Server 4.x
• Basic knowledge of Active Directory, IIS, Windows System administration and Network Terminology
• A baseline install of Windows Server 2003 with latest patches and drivers
• A baseline install of XenApp (Presentation) Server on an existing Master Target Device
• A vDisk created and ready to image
• Knowledge of the Citrix Provisioning Server PS Integration Utility: CTX116063 (http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX116063)
• Assumes default remapping of C: to M:

Background

XenApp (Presentation) Server drive letter remapping is only necessary when users will be accessing and saving data on their local client devices from ICA sessions. For example, when a user uses Microsoft Word on a XenApp (Presentation) Server and perform a 'Save As' they will be asked where to save the document. Without drive mapping, the user can become confused because their local system drive may appear as drive V (as an example). With drive remapping, their system drive will show up a drive letter C.

The advantages of remapping server drive letters are:

• Users will be able to see their own local disk drives as the correct drive letters.
• If you need to change the drive letter, the XenApp (Presentation) Server installation program provides an easy way to do this.

The disadvantages of remapping server drive letters are:

• Any previously installed applications will most likely stop working.
• Any new installed applications, patches or hotfixes may not properly install.
• In some situations, unexplainable things happen on the server.

When dealing with a Provisioning Server that is streaming a XenApp (Presentation) Server down to a target device, the drive remapping may not correctly propagate to the vDisk therefore causing the XenApp (Presentation) Server to be inoperable upon boot. Below explain how to configure a XenApp (Presentation) Server that has a remapped drive so that it functions properly when streamed by Provisioning Server.

Procedure

The steps to complete the task:

1. Boot the master target device and log on to the system as a domain administrator or a domain user.
2. Install and configure Citrix XenApp (Presentation) Server.  At the end of the installation, you will be prompted to reboot
3. Reboot the master target device.
4. When the master target device is successfully restarted, log on to the system as a local or domain administrator, or a domain user (with local install privileges).
5. Install the Provisioning Server for Datacenters Target Device client software and then shutdown the master target device.
6. Boot the master target device, enter the BIOS configuration utility and configure the boot order to PXE boot first.  Save configuration settings and continue the boot process. When PXE booting a master target device for the first time, the Provisioning Server Streaming Service will prompt for the following:
   1. Client Name - Give the master target device a meaningful name
   2. Description - Give the master target device a meaningful description
   3. Select vDisk - Select the vDisk that was created and formatted for this installation
   4. Boot From - Select boot from hard drive
7. When the master target device is successfully restarted, log on to the system as a domain administrator, or a domain user (with local install privileges).
8. Double click on 'My Computer.'
9. The drives drive will appear (assuming the defaults) as follows:
   1. System = M:
   2. CD-Rom = N:
   3. vDisk = C: 
10. Right click on 'My Computer' and click 'Manage.' 
11. The 'Computer Management' service console will open.
12. Click on 'Disk Management' to view all disks associated with the Master Target Device.
13. Right click on the vDisk drive C and click 'Change Drive Letter and Paths.'
14. The 'Change Drive Letters and Path for C: (vDisks)' dialog box will open.
15. Click on the 'Change' button.
16. The 'Change Drive Letters or Path' dialog box will open.
17. Select a drive letter greater than the remapped system drive.
18. Click 'OK' to close the 'Change Drive Letter or Path' dialog box and click 'OK' to the 'Confirm' dialog box.
19. The drive letters should be as follows (assuming system drive letter is M):
    1. System = M:
    2. CD-Rom = N:
    3. vDisk = O:
20. Install the "PVS PS Integration Utility.msi" on the master target device.
    • As noted this utility does require a logon to invoke the cpsmods.vbs, which performs a series of steps that are critical for the XenApp (Presentation) Server to fully function while being streamed by Provisioning Server.  Several scenarios for completing the logon process are outlined in: CTX116063 (http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX116063)
21. Click "Next" on the "Welcome" dialog box.
22. Select the version of XenApp (Presentation) Server currently installed on the master target device and click "Next."
23. Click "Next" on the "Confirm Installation" dialog box.
24. Click "Close" on the "Installation Complete" dialog box.
25. Upon completion of the install, an icon will be created on the desktop of the master target device called either the "CPS 4.5 Integration Tool" or "CPS 4.0 Integration Tool."
26. Double click on the icon and a dialog box will appear indicating success.
27. Click "OK" and the "Client Image Builder" will automatically open and proceed to build the image to the vDisk mapped during the PXE boot process.
28. Build the vDisk pointing the 'Destination Drive' to the proper drive letter (Note: Be sure to 'Optimize' before building the image).
29. Upon completion of the image build, shut down the master target device.
30. The vDisk is now ready to stream to multiple Target Devices using Standard Image mode.
    

More Information

For more information on drive remapping please following these links: http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article/Should-you-remap-drive-letters-when-installing-MetaFrame-Presentation-Server

http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx457309

Note: This procedure will be available with pictures as a TechNote in the Knowledge Center.  I will update with the link once it is posted.

Just before Christmas I made a post on CIO Magazine's "10 Virtualization Vendors to Watch" list. My first post was about Cirba and the second one covered VizionCore. I met with both companies at Summit. Cirba was a sponsor of Summit and George Pradel from VisionCore came down as well.

Unfortunately, travel in January to visit partners and Citrix Summit have kept me so busy I haven't had much time to continue this series. Here is the next company from the list with some added background -

Akorri -

Here is how Akorri describes their product on their website -

As with the first two partners on this list, Virtual Strategy Magazine did a podcast on Akorri -

David Marshall of VMBlog.com and the Virtualization Blog on InfoWorld recently wrote a story reviewing the accolades Akorri has received -

I found a few Akorri specific videos on the web.

First, an interview with their CEO (done by TechTargetTV ) regarding their Best of VMWorld award -

I also found these white board videos in the ZDnet "At the Whiteboard" Series done by Akorri's VP of Marketing, Tom Joyce (who has apparently been promoted to CEO since these videos were made).

Managing Application Performance Across IT Domains - At the WhiteBoard Series from ZDNet

Application Service Level Management

Akorri is certainly on the radar, and I personally expect them to be engaged in our Alliance program and Citrix Ready in the near future.

Next up is Platform Computing... 

I am going to step away from a moment from my normal blogging topics of XenServer, XenDesktop, and Provisioning Server, and blog about a project I did as a part of my last job within Citrix. This performance testing project hasn't received a lot of airtime with so many other things happening since the project was completed, so I would like to use this forum to highlight these great results.

In the summer of 2007, Citrix and IBM collaborated on joint testing of Citrix NetScaler and WanScaler at the IBM Innovation Center in San Mateo, CA. The goal of this testing was to validate the impact of NetScaler and WanScaler on end user response time for IBM WebSphere Portal, WebSphere Application Server, Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino Web Access. Load simulation was provided by Mercury LoadRunner to simulate multiple users access both WebSphere Portal and WAS over the simulated WAN link.

In this graphic, you see an overview of the test configuration -

Though not shown on this graphic, a Lotus Domino Server was also built for the testing by the staff of the IBM IIC for the testing. 

IBM WebSphere 

In this testing, we found the following results with WebSphere -

IBM WebSphere Portal

(Click on thumbnail to enlarge)

• Citrix NetScaler reduced login for WebSphere Portal by up to 50%

• Citrix NetScaler reduced standard portlet loading times by up to 44%

• Citrix NetScaler reduced Document Preview and Save time by up to 50%

• Citrix NetScaler and WanScaler combined reduced document preview and save time by up to 90%

IBM WebSphere Application Server -

• Citrix NetScaler reduced end user response time for a shopping cart application running on WAS by up to 70%

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(Click on thumbnail to enlarge)

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NetScaler compression and caching capabilities were utilized in this testing. The SSL and TCP off loading functions, EdgeSight for NetScaler and App Firewall functions can also add significant value to any WebSphere Portal or WAS deployment.

For more background on this portion of the test, see this presentation from the IBM WebSphere Portal Technical users Conference.

WebSphere Portal Technical Users Conference 2007 Presentation

Lotus Notes and Domino Web Access

Lotus Notes and Domino were also tested. Using a simulated T1, the testing measure the time it took for a standard Notes 7 client (with default install) to download and open a 5 MB attachment. This took about 44 seconds. See a video of this test at this link -

The next test was done after the cache on the client was completely cleared and the Notes client restarted. The wan simulator was monitored to ensure the file transfered again while a WanScaler appliance was running on each side on the T1 simulated link. In this test, the download and open time was slashed down to 6 seconds!

The amazing part about this test is that the compression and flow control of the WanScaler provided all the acceleration. Since this was the first time the document was downloaded through the WanScaler appliances, the WanScaler caching was not used at all.

The final test for Notes 7 was done with the WanScaler client. This client is used for individual users, not for an entire site like a WanScaler appliance. The WanScaler client download and open time was 14 seconds (compared to 44 seconds for the Notes 7 client with no wan optimization). Unfortunately there is a problem with this video.

Domino Web Access 

Our final test was with Domino Web Access and the Citrix NetScaler. In this test, we downloaded and opened a 7 MB Word document in the DWA client over the simulated T1.

 (Click on thumbnail to enlarge)

 -

The first test was done with the DWA client with the Domino compression disabled (compression is on by default). In this test, it took about 75 seconds to open the document. See the video here -

In the next test, the same 7 mb document was opened (with local cached completely cleared) again, but this time the DWA compression was enabled. This iteration took about 22 seconds to open the document. Obviously compression helps a great deal, but executing compression on the DWA server takes away CPU cycles needed for processing user requests. See the video here -

For our final test, the DWA client cache was again cleared and DWA compression disabled. The NetScaler was placed in front of the DWA server on the Datacenter side of the simulated T1 link. In this test, the document download and open time was a mere 13 seconds. See the video here -

Some certifications were awarded by IBM as a result of this testing -

Citrix NetScaler in IBM Global Solutions Directory - Ready for IBM Lotus and Ready for IBM WebSphere

Citrix WanScaler in IBM Global Solutions Directory- Ready for IBM Lotus and Ready for IBM WebSphere

As you can see, Citrix NetScaler and WanScaler can dramatically ramp up the performance of IBM WebSphere Portal, WebSphere Application Server, and Lotus Notes and Domino Web Access.

Click here for more info on Citrix NetScaler.

Click here for more info on Citrix WanScaler. 

This is my first foray into blogging. I've been struggling to find my voice and determine what I want to write about. What I have decided to do is just post on whatever is on my mind. I will do my best to post 2-3 times per week. Since I just changed positions from Product Marketing to Technical Marketing, I'll probably be posting most often on the things I learn as I re-enter the technical world. What I'd like to do is post on our feature set at least to make information easy to find. I find that we don't do a good job making more technical information available on the web. I hope I can change that. I also want to post best practice solutions that I hear about. They may not be fully vetted out but at least they'll be posted and searchable.

I've been with Citrix almost 10 years (I think I have the longest continuous tenure on the team). I used to be a Test Engineer and Systems Engineer for Citrix and 5+ years in Product Marketing has sort of dumbed me down. The folks on my team will make sure I get back up to speed quickly. I'm working with a lot of interesting people on this team so there really shouldn't be any shortage of content on my blog. Who am I working with you might ask?

• Kurt Moody - Our happy leader affectionately referred to in the Citrix Community as Dr. Love. I am sure there is an interesting story behind that tag but I'll let him tell it (probably related to what a nice guy he is). Anyway, Kurt is an old timer just like me (I think his total years at Citrix add up to more than me though). He actually used to be a Product Manager at Citrix for VideoFrame. He did a great job with it but other forces prevented the product from having a long successful life. Anyway, he left Citrix for a short time (a couple of years I think) and until recently was working remotely from us in North Carolina. He was recently promoted to manager after Bill Carovano moved on the build out the XenServer field engineering team. Kurt is an extremely talented guy. He used to have his own data center running out of his home. We share a lot of the same beliefs but, to the core, Kurt is a much better Christian than I am. I think he is currently struggling with the rebalance of tech knowledge that occurs when you move into a management position. I think it's funny. We'll see what happens. Anyway, we're lucky and happy to have him.
• Jonathan Henderson - I think Jonathan has been with Citrix for about 3 years or so. He came to us from Lending Tree. From what he's said, it was "his turn" to find a new job after a stint of failed start-ups and bouncing around for various reasons out of his control. He had a great time at Lending Tree and was instrumental in developing their web services site. We are lucky to have him. He's technically savvy and works on product demo's and virtually anything else we throw at him. He's had UI design experience and his passion (from what I can see) is multi-media. He's got his own personal video studio and his house is super decked out with a movie/game room and AppleTV... etc. etc. etc (Can you say gadget freak! Jonathan takes the cake but at least he's practical about it... kinda). Check out Jonathan's personal blog.
• Frank Andersen - Frank is the newest Citrite in the group. He's been here almost a year and a half. There are only two things I've got to say about Frank. He is extremely intelligent (it's like having a wiki in a person... really) and probably one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I'm a New Yorker so I can be pretty abrasive at times (that's an understatement) but Frank is very tolerant of me and I can appreciate that and am thankful for it. It's people like him that really teach me a lot about myself. Anyway, Frank is almost entirely dedicated to helping the XenDesktop/Desktop Server team with their technical marketing needs. He's our guru in that area and has played a key role in improving that product.
• Pete Schulz - OK... Can I just say... this guy is hella talented. Pete came to us (as I understand it) from the Innovex acquisition in Feb 2000 (So I think he's been here about 7 or 8 years). He's been a consultant, developer and test engineer for us as well. He lives in Colorado feeding his brain a steady stream of both useful and useless information. Hes a gadget freak and a huge Microsoft guy. He stays abreast of Microsoft developments on our team including Terminal Services, Windows Server, Vista, Management tools, Softgrid and even licensing. He's got his family addicted to watching recorded Windows Media Center shows on their numerous XBox 360's. Anyway, Pete's one of my idols. Doesn't make you feel stupid even when you know you are.
• Donnie Page - Donnie is another old timer. He's been with Citrix since 1999. He's been through Technical Support, Technical Marketing, Program Management (working with Product Management) and has done way too much event support (Seriously). Anyway, he left Tech Marketing for a short time but is back where he belongs. He's currently rebuilding our lab after the acquisition attack we've had over the past couple of years. We just can't seem to keep our lab populated and organized with so much research going on. Anyway, Donnie is happy to be back and we're lucky to have him.

So, that's my team. A hell of a group. I really am in good company. I've been with Citrix for 10 years, half of which have been spent in non-technical positions. I have a long road back to my roots but this team has been really amazing. I hope you enjoy my blog. Again, I am guessing that it will most likely be a collection of best practices that I am just super excited about but which many of you will probably tag as "rookie" issues. I'm sure they'll be of use to someone. Well, Happy New Year folks.

Vinny Sosa