Deploying XenApp and XenDesktop with BIG-IP

Brent Imhoff – Field Systems Engineer Gary Zaleski – Solutions Architect Michael Koyfman – Solutions Architect

F5’s Dynamic Control Plane Architecture

Users Availability

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Scale

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HA / DR

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Bursting

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Load-Balancing Optimization

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Network

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Application

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Storage

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Offload Resources Physical

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Security

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Network

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Application

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Data Access

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Management Integration Visibility Orchestration Virtual Multi-Site DCs Private Public Cloud

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What does F5 have to do with Citrix?

Citrix recommends an application delivery controller to maximize XenDesktop and XenApp – Providing secure remote access – Supporting shared resources – Ensuring best performance – Protecting against attacks • Customers need to choose software or hardware load balancing 3

BIG-IP APM: High Performance, Low Cost

DMZ F5 Access Policy Manager 4,000 Remote Users Internet 1,000 Wireless Users Internal LAN VLAN 1 15,000 Corporate Users Internal LAN VLAN 2 6,000 Corporate Branch Users

$188K for 26k users 25% of cost

Xen Servers

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Utilize existing user directory Consolidation: 6:1 on Access and Acceleration High performance – 26,000 users at $7+ per user Scale up to 60,000 users Flexible and centralized security policy management Integrated endpoint security checking Integrated application acceleration – up to 10x

F5 Networks, Confidential 4

APM Performance and Scalability

• Access Sessions – Application Access Proxy • SSL offload, full stateful L3 – L7 proxy • Up to 42 Gbps forwarding performance (BIG-IP 11050) – Network Access VPN • SSL VPN tunnel • Up to 10 Gbps forwarding performance – Portal Access VPN • • SSL offload, HTTP (HTML, Javascript, and CSS) content rewrite Up to 4.5 Gbps forwarding performance – Application Tunnel VPN • SSL VPN tunnel • Up to 600 logins-per-second • Designed to layer with existing F5 Security Modules F5 Networks, Confidential 5

Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop Auth Problems

• • • Costly, complex, and un-extensible Managing authentication in multiple locations Manual scripting for auth integration

Auth Mgmt

STA Citrix Web Interface Servers with ICA Internal Users NetScaler + Access Gateway

Auth Mgmt

Mobile Users Directory Citrix XML Brokers F5 Networks, Confidential 6 6

Simplified Access for Citrix XenApp

• • • Manage access from consolidated solution Eliminate Web Interface Servers and NetScalers Replace Web Interface with Portal Mode

Auth Mgmt

Citrix XML Brokers

CapEx and OpEx

BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager + Access Policy Manager Mobile Users Directory Internal Users F5 Networks, Confidential 7 7

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Simplified Access for Other Applications

Manage access from consolidated solution Leverage Credential Cacheing and Single Sign On Present OWA, VMWare View next to Citrix Apps in Portal Mode 8 Mobile Users BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager + Access Policy Manager Directory Internal Users F5 Networks, Confidential 8

Dynamic Webtop for End-Users

• • • Dynamically present Citrix Apps and Desktops Adjusts to mobile devices Unified End User Experience F5 Networks, Confidential 9

Easy Access Policy Deployment Wizards

 Deployment-specific wizards for Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop for LTM virtuals, Network Access, and Web Applications Access  Step-by-step configuration, context sensitive help, review and summary  Creates base set of objects and access policy for common deployments  Automatically branches to necessary configuration (e.g., DNS)

Deploying Citrix Globally with GTM

Geolocation services BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager L-DNS BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager Monitoring via iQuery BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager • • • • o

Global Traffic Manager improves Citrix performance

Xen App/Desktop users sent to best datacenter Continuous monitoring of entire infrastructure including network and application health Automatic failover during outages Persistence prevents broken sessions

Only ADC with Geolocation Access Rules

     VPE – Geolocation Rules Custom session variables Custom notification messages Logging Client locations Reporting

Supporting Xen with BIG-IP

Dev Central Citrix Group

Key Points about F5 Citrix Solution

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Loadbalancing XenApp and XenDesktop

– Pre-built deployment templates and deployment guides for XenApp and XenDesktop – TCP optimizations and SSL offload improve user experience and provide server offload – Provides High Availability to Web Interface and XML broker infrastructure 

Remote Access to XenApp and XenDesktop

– Transparent implementation that requires no special Gateway Direct configurations – Single policy and configuration setup, and SSO for all clients: desktop ICA, PNAgent, Receiver – Eliminates the need for Secure Ticket Authority for remote access – Eliminates the need for Citrix Access Gateway for remote access – Removes troubleshooting complexity and consolidates all remote access troubleshooting to a single point only – F5.

– Accelerates ICA data delivery of WAN links

Questions.

Summary

• Highest availability • Dramatically increase server capacity • Cross-site availability and resilience • Pre-authenticate users in the perimeter network • Seamless integration with systems management 17

Citrix related resources

• • • • • • • F5 Solution page for Citrix Solutions – http://www.f5.com/solutions/citrix/xenapp Video demo of BIG-IP deployment for Exchange Server 2010 – http://www.vimeo.com/album/1537190 F5 Deployment Guide for XenDesktop – http://www.f5.com/pdf/deployment-guides/citrix-xendesktop-dg.pdf

F5 Deployment Guide for XenApp – http://www.f5.com/pdf/deployment-guides/citrix-xenapp-iapp-dg.pdf

Application Delivery Controller Performance Reports – http://www.f5.com/pdf/reports/f5-performance-report.pdf

5 minutes or less video: BIG-IP APM and XenApp – http://devcentral.f5.com/weblogs/psilva/archive/2011/01/24/in-5-minutes-or-less-video-big-ip-apm amp.aspx

Press Release - F5 Simplifies and Centralizes Access Management for Citrix Applications – http://www.f5.com/news-press-events/press/2010/20101214.html

• F5 DevCentral Community Group: Citrix / F5 Solutions – http://devcentral.f5.com/Community/GroupDetails/tabid/1082223/asg/2040/Default.aspx

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