Executive Summary: Cost Savings with ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart

Transcription

1 ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart Executive Summary: Cost Savings with ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart Saving money and preventing user interruptions from system downtime due to restarting Remote Desktop Servers August,

2 Abstract If your IT department is running Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop to serve users applications, it s running Remote Desktop Servers, and these servers need restarted regularly, either weekly or even daily. Restarts are done manually or they re automated using a script or a policy, but no matter how efficient they may seem, they all still interrupt users, cause lost productivity, are error-prone, and need maintained. Plus, they take IT staff away from carrying out their other responsibilities. ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart software restarts servers with ZERO impact to end users, and it restarts them correctly. Restarting these multi-user servers is much more complex than restarting PC desktops, and, with the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) you have invested in IT, why trust restarting these critical servers with subpar methods? ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart replaces them with one central console without impacting end users, and it pays for itself while also saving companies tens of thousands of dollars in lost productivity. Restarting Server Farms One month cost of weekly restarts: Manual Policy Script Rolling Restart $43 per server $36 per server $29 per server $6 per server Purpose Your IT infrastructure is designed for agility to meet your business needs. Rolling out systems and software to users at speed is a priority, but system availability must be at its highest level without affecting any users. The basic building blocks of the infrastructure rely heavily on Microsoft Windows with Remote Desktop Services and Citrix XenApp. Because of 3rd party applications, both the basic operating system and particularly the multi-user aspects of the system are known to benefit from regular restarts to clear errors and start fresh. Our customers typically experience that more than 75% of all errors encountered by users are fixed by restarting servers. Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 1

3 The most cost-effective way to do this is using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart. It eliminates end-user interruptions and messages about logging off, server offline issues, and maintenance windows. Installation can be carried out by your IT staff without further intervention or consultancy, and training can be completed by the engineer responsible for the original evaluation. A Quick Start wizard comes with the software, along with a Farm Calculator that shows IT staff how many groups are needed to guarantee servers are restarted within a timeframe without affecting users. ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart is a solution for any sized business: Saves Money Scripts cost companies $39 per server each month to restart. Manual restarts cost $75, policies cost $52 -Rolling Restart is only $10 Users are not impacted and therefore have no lost productivity time Certified Citrix Ready for XenApp 5.0 thru 7.5, XenServer Ready Certified VMware Ready for ESXi Specialized for Remote Desktop Services and Citrix environments Proven In use in over 25 countries Easy central interface is universally understood Flexibility to cover any requirements Dependencies Whether your server farms are divided by department, location, purpose, or continent, ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart calculates the minimum number of groups are needed and how many servers per group. IT staff can then determine how many servers being offline for new logons the farm can handle. Depending on how efficient and loaded the servers are, the software even calculates variances that are dependent on server loads, increasing the likelihood to get the servers all restarted without affecting end users. Restart Methods Restarting servers is a must, and there are basically four ways it can be done: (1) manually, (2) using a policy, (3) writing a script, or (4) using purpose-built software. Manually restarting a group of servers takes too long and is unreliable in that it introduces the possibility of user errors, administrator errors, and Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 2

4 it usually interrupts users. Scripts, while automated, are limited in what they can do and require constant maintenance by IT staff. And, scripts do nothing to manage the process. It s what s called doing a blindrestart. Most customers restart their servers a minimum of once a week. Method 1: Manual restarting A manual server restart takes anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours, depending on user load and how practical it is to interrupt users or force them to logoff. Users that are logged on are made aware of the restart, or the admin can drag servers into an Offline group, waiting for users to logoff. Either way, servers don t get restarted and admins spend time babysitting the servers and the users on the servers. 40, approx. 1.5% of users are affected 10 minutes per user lost (including lost workflow time) 20 minutes Monthly cost of weekly restarts: $43 per server Included restarts in monthly cost: 4 maximum Method 2: Script restarting The script doesn t even automate a careful administrator doing manual restarts. It s what s called doing a blind restart. Users are not 100% free from interruptions with a script, and the script runs and there is no self-checking way to stop it, nor is there a way for it to determine, on its own, parameters of the restart that are contained in ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart. Even with a script, the admin must still have PowerShell knowledge, then be able to modify the script and debug it on servers. Costs with scripted restarts (some servers will unavoidably still need intervention by IT staff): 40, approx. 2% of users are affected 10 minutes per user lost (including lost workflow time) 2 minutes (babysitting servers, fixes, verifications, maintenance, problems with blind-reboot ) Monthly cost of weekly restarts: $29 per server* Number of restarts per month: 4 maximum *Does not include costs of: ongoing setup, configuration, testing, implementation, maintenance, problem resolution, impacts to end users, or changes Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 3

5 Method 3: Policy restarting Users are not free from interruptions when using a policy. The administrator must carefully orchestrate when the servers are restarted, when the load is the least, and keep an eye on the servers during after hours, or worse yet, even instituting a limited or completely-down farm maintenance window. Costs with policy restarts: 40, approx. 8% of users are affected 10 minutes time per user lost (including lost workflow time) 2 minutes to babysit server restarts Monthly cost of weekly restarts: $36 per server Number of restarts per month: 4 maximum Method 4: Using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart Users are free from interruptions. The administrator sets up the software to adjust to their restart schedule. There are no maintenance windows, no notifications to users, and no user interruptions. Clean restarts, consistently, with Rolling Restart 40, 0% of users are affected 0 minutes time per user lost 0 minutes Monthly cost of weekly restarts: $6 per server Amount of restarts in cost: UNLIMITED Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 4

6 Software Costs Overview Restart Comparison Summary Monthly cost of weekly restarts Manual Script Policy Rolling Restart $43 per server $29 per server $36 per server $6 per server ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart gives administrators the ability to restart servers as often as needed without the added penalties of lost productivity and administrator s time with the other methods. In every case, Rolling Restart saves money and time. The more servers in your farm, the more money is saved while removing any interruptions or messages to end users. Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 5

7 For more information: Web: Facebook: Twitter: Sales: Support: Reseller: Phone/Fax: / ShutdownPlus is a registered trademark of WM Software Inc. Rolling Restart is a trademark of WM Software Inc. The information contained in this document represents the current view of WM Software Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because WM Software must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of WM Software, and WM Software cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This document is for informational purposes only. WM SOFTWARE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of WM Software. WM Software may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from WM Software, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property. Copyright WM Software Inc. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. XenApp, XenDesktop, Citrix, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Executive Summary: Cost savings using ShutdownPlus Rolling Restart 6