Intelsat IT Strategic Technologies & Initiatives Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization & Cloud Computing Shouki Souri Sr. Manager - SCS/I&T Jacqueline Lawler Principal Systems Engineer IT Engineering 1
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization & Cloud Computing - Agenda Agenda: About Intelsat Server virtualization quick overview Types of VM Techniques of VM ESOC EPOCH architecture before virtualization ESOC EPOCH architecture after virtualization Pros and Cons of server virtualization Client Cloud Computing via Citrix quick overview Major Citrix S/W Components H/W and S/W specs (XenApp) Pros and Cons of application virtualization/cloud Computing 2
Intelsat is the World s Leading Provider of Commercial Satellite Services Largest satellite operator in terms of revenue ($2.6B in 2012), capacity and geographic reach Global fleet of more than 50 in-service satellites covering 99% of the Earth s populated regions, including access to approximately 200 countries and territories Our fleet is complemented by the IntelsatOne network, which consists of more than 36,000 miles of fiber that connects our teleports and PoPs 3
Satellite Operations Experience Currently 77 satellites operated Astrium E2000 Astrium E3000 Boeing 381 Boeing 393 Boeing 601 Boeing 601HP Boeing 601MEO Boeing 702 Boeing 702MP LM 7000 OSC Star 2 SSL 1300 Omega SSL FS1300 Thales Spacebus 3000B 4
Satellite Operations Fully redundant primary and back up control centers in Washington, DC and Long Beach, CA Operational experience with all major manufacturers and satellite busses Highly functional and automated control system (combination of COTS and in-house product) provides efficient and reliable fleet operation Knowledge and experience with industry COTS satellite control products Extensive experience with satellite management, anomaly resolution and mitigation, and life extension Long Beach Sat Operations Center (LSOC) East Coast Sat Operations Center (ESOC) 5
Changing Role of CXOs CEOs & CFOs are getting more involved in IT decision making The role of IT has become strategic in many ways CIOs have a larger role to play around governance and management to enhance revenue 6
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Virtualization Overview Virtualization Decouples software from underlying hardware Encapsulates Operating Systems and applications into Virtual Machines Virtualization allows one computer to do the job of multiple computers. A Virtual Machine Virtual environments let one computer host multiple operating systems at the same time 7
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Types of Virtualization Types of Virtualization: Desktop Virtualization Server Virtualization (VMware vsphere Hypervisor ESX 4 & ESXi 5.1) Network Virtualization Storage Virtualization Application Virtualization & Cloud Computing (Citrix XenApp Server 6.5) 8
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization ESOC EPOCH Architecture - Before Over 50 EPOCH Server-based machines (FEPs, AM, ABE, COMPASS, TI/Config.) per SOC. Over 40 EPOCH Clients (TLM only Engineers Clients, labs and Full Client Ops) per SOC. 9
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization ESOC EPOCH Architecture - After Only VMware OS is installed on host machines A mix of OS and application are installed on a shared storage arrays/datastore (NetApp) in a NAS configuration NetApp utilized a snapshot/mirror technology to backup all data including OS and application 10
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Techniques of Virtualization Techniques of VMware: VMotion Storage VMotion High Availability (HA) 11
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization - VMotion VMotion allows you to quickly move an entire running virtual machine from one host to another without any downtime or interruption to the virtual machine This is also known as a hot or live migration. The entire state of a virtual machine is encapsulated and the VMFS file system allows both the source and the target ESX host to access the virtual machine files concurrently. The active memory and precise execution state of a virtual machine can then be rapidly transmitted over a high speed network. The virtual machine retains its network identity and connections, ensuring a seamless migration process. 12
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Storage VMotion Storage VMotion is a new feature introduced in ESX 3.5, it allows you to migrate a running virtual machine and its disk files from one datastore to another on the same ESX host The difference between VMotion and Storage VMotion is that VMotion simply moves a virtual machine from one ESX host to another but keeps the storage location of the VM the same, Storage VMotion on the other hand changes the storage location of the virtual machine while it is running and moves it to another datastore on the same ESX host. The virtual machine can be moved to any datastore on the ESX host which includes local and shared storage. 13
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization High Availability (HA) Continuously monitors all hosts in a cluster and restarts virtual machines affected by a host failure on other hosts Can also monitor guest OS's for a failure via a heartbeat and restart them on the same host in case of a failure Continuously monitors and chooses the optimal physical servers within a resource pool on which to restart virtual machines (if used in conjunction with DRS) 14
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Pros It saves time and money by consolidating server and other infrastructure. Makes it easier to manage. Minimal downtime maintenance and instant provisioning VM can even be provisioned with OS and applications already installed and configured = Cloning. Pooling hardware resource and dynamic resource sharing Business continuity, backups, and automated restoration 15
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization Cons Only powerful computers can successfully create virtual environment. Host needs more RAM, HD Space, etc. Note that guest OS s now run virtually from a shared storage in most cases (that OS is backed up at the storage (NetApp)) and if any VM runs locally at a host system the local disks are configured in RAID5 so that we can lose a disk and not miss a beat. Some H/W not supported USB (Sometimes) - requires additional 3 rd party SW to act as the mediator b/w the system hosting the USB stick and the VM guest OS. 3D Graphics Cards - Video is a challenge but VMware releases newer SW with better drivers so that we hopefully can drive > 24 monitor resolutions. Does not support older version of Windows (such as NT or 2000) or SPARC chipset. Issues with cloning VM (both OS and EPOCH Application) from one host to another on Solaris OS (x86), the host ID persists to the original cloned FEP, causing EPOCH to report a license issue. Sometimes the EPOCH Client need to re-licensed when VMotioned even if the MAC, IP address never changed. 16
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization - The Next Big Thing Now Next? Server Virtualization Server Virtualization SOFTWARE-DEFINED DATACENTER Software-defined Datacenter All infrastructure is virtualized and delivered as a service, and the control of this datacenter is entirely automated by software (e.g. Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), FlexPod solution). 17
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp - Project Goals Secure, centralize and homogenize the SOC user experience by: Becoming the primary method of access into flight Addressing privileged flight accesses and reducing the varying accesses into flight so those are better managed and controlled Reducing reliance on CORP PC s to access Flight (DEV, I&T, Operations, & Engineering). Centralizing available applications for all users vs. single installations and one-off systems used by a single person or group 18
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp - Introduction Citrix XenApp 6.5 for Windows Server 2008 R2 is an on-demand delivery solution that enables applications to be virtualized, centralized and managed in the DataCenter & delivered to users anywhere (mobility) at any time on any device. All processing is done by the server. All that passes between the client and the server is mouse clicks / movement and keystrokes; and all the passes between the server and the client is screen refreshes. This is done over Citrix s proprietary remote display protocol called Independent Computing Architecture (ICA). 19
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp Major Components A XenApp environment consists of three major parts: 1. A multi-user operating system: Microsoft Windows Server with the Remote Desktop Session Host feature allows multiple users to independently access a server. Users can connect to individual applications. 2. XenApp software: Citrix XenApp extends the Remote Desktop Services applications and desktops to client devices via the HDX protocol. HDX provides remote display capabilities, multimedia redirection, USB redirection, and a variety of other capabilities, depending on the client device. 3. Client devices: XenApp sessions and applications can be accessed by client devices using a software client called Citrix Plug-in/ICA protocol. 20
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp H/W and S/W Specs H/W Specs: Citrix Server Specs Dell M1000e chassis/dell PE-M620 blade server; Processor - 2x Intel Xeon E5-2640 2.50GHz, 15M Cache, 7.2GT/s QPI, Turbo, 6C Memory - 96 GB, Hard Disk - 2 x 146GB 15K RPM SAS 6Gbps 2.5in Hot-plug Hard Drive Windows OS Specs Windows 2008 R2 SP1; Roles of a typical Citrix application server = application server, RD session host configuration, Web Server (IIS); features of a typical Citrix application server = Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) Citrix application server Specs Citrix XenApp Server 6.5; patched to Citrix Rollup Hotfix R02 21
Content Delivery Intelsat SOC Architecture Server Virtualization Software-defined Datacenter 22
Content Delivery Application Requests Server Virtualization Software-defined Datacenter 23
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp Introduction User Interfaces The SOE Citrix access: 24
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp For EPOCH usage The following KISI applications are currently hosted onto Citrix Cloud: ABE Shortcuts ARES Builder application EPOCH Client (Currently EPOCH-TLM only client is being tested for phase 1). 25
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp - Advantages Main advantages to use Citrix XenApp: Seamless user experience on any device from anywhere. Minimizes cost with hardware on user clients machines. Can secure all business information in centralized application storage, delivering only to authorized persons from anywhere on any device. Mobility, giving access to applications from anywhere, reducing employee costs by eliminating unnecessary commutes to the office and creating an efficient platform for work from home or travelling. Reduces resources and costs for application distribution and management. After install applications on Citrix XenApp servers, you can easily make these applications available to XenApp users. 26
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp Advantages Cont. Minimizes impact of server failures with real load-balancing and improves application response with resources to optimize CPU and Memory on XenApp servers. During a user connection to a XenApp environment, if one XenApp server is not available, users are automatically redirected to other available XenApp server. Good security provided by SSL encryption supported and owned very good encryption on ICA protocol. Give flexibility to IT, allowing instant deployments of new applications or new users. 27
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp Disadvantages & Shortcoming Main disadvantages to use Citrix XenApp: Not much support for 16-bit Windows applications. Users report "persistence" issues when using Citrix EPOCH Client is not intended/designed to run on server-based system and some issues were recoded: Users report that when bringing up certain GUIs (other than the stream viewer) show that the streams are disconnected. This is due to how certain applications come up from a different servers due to load balancing and the user needs to open a Stream Viewer from the same server where the application is brought up from in order to connect the streams. 28
Cloud Computing via Citrix XenApp Disadvantages & Shortcoming Cont. Cannot drag/drop (such as the mnemonic browser to TM viewer) because viewer and browser for Epoch may come up on separate servers (load-balancing architecture of CTX). To fix the issue, users will have to bring up the stream viewer, and use the "Go" menu to bring up both the mnemonic browser and telemetry viewer to ensure they are both from the same server rather than load balanced. If the user chooses to bring up multiple TM viewers, they will have to utilize the "copy and paste" method. 29
Improving Data Center Operations with Virtualization & Cloud Computing Q & A Please send any questions or comments to Intelsat at the following emails: Shouki.souri@intelsat.com Jacqueline.Lawler@intelsat.com Special Thanks to: - Jacqueline Lawler, Principal Systems Engineer (Citrix and VM) - David Kelly, Principal IT Systems Engineer (VM) - Chimbu Thankachan, Manager IT Operations and Engineering 30