605: Design and implement a desktop virtualization solution based on a mock scenario Hands-on Lab Exercise Guide
Contents Overview... 2 Scenario... 5 Quick Design Phase...11 Lab Build Out...12 Implementing the Design...12 Appendix...13 FlexCast Models...13 1
Overview Hands-on Training Module Objective This training will provide hands-on experience with XenDesktop 7.5 and its various components. Prerequisites Required: Working knowledge of XenDesktop 7.x, NetScaler, StoreFront and related components. Audience Citrix customers and partners looking for hands-on-experience with XenDesktop 7.5 and its integration with NetScaler, StoreFront and additional components. 2
Lab Environment Details Active Directory App-V Server NetScaler 1 NetScaler 2 SQL Servers Web Servers Templates Delivery Controller Win 7 Temp Win 8.1 Temp PVS Win 2008 Temp Win 2012 Temp 3
List of Virtual Machines Used VM Name IP Address Description AD1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.20 Windows Server 2012. Domain Controller and DNS. AppV1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.78 MS App-V 5 Management and Publishing Server. DC1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.85 DC2.citrix.lab 172.16.10.86 NetScaler1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.10 NetScaler 10.1 VPX. NetScaler2.citrix.lab 172.16.10.11 NetScaler 10.1 VPX. PVS.citrix.lab 172.16.10.83 Windows Server 2012. Delivery Controller XenDesktop 7.5 installed not configured. Windows Server 2012. Place holder for Delivery Controller 2 XenDesktop 7.5 not installed. Provisioning Services 7.1. Pre-built vdisks: Win7, Win8_1 and Win2012_R2. SQL1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.72 Windows Server 2012. SQL Server 2012. SQL2.citrix.lab 172.16.10.73 Windows Server 2012. Place holder for SQL Server 2012. SQL not installed. Student Desktop 172.16.10.8 Windows 7. Landing Desktop. WebServer1.citrix.lab 172.16.10.81 Windows Server 2012. WebServer2.citrix.lab 172.16.10.82 Windows Server 2012. Win8.citrix.lab DHCP Windows 8.1 Base. Win2008R2 DHCP Windows Server 2008 R2 base VM. Win2012Base.citrix.lab DHCP Windows Server 2012 base VM. Win2012R2 DHCP Windows Server 2012 R2 base VM. Win7Base.citrix.lab DHCP Windows 7 64-bit base VM. Required Lab Credentials The credentials required to connect to the environment and complete the lab exercises. Domain Username Password Description Citrix Administrator Citrix123 Domain Administrator Citrix User1-User5 Please reset to Citrix123 Standard Domain Users Local Administrator Citrix456 Local Administrators 4
Scenario HYC Desktop Transformation Project SOW Scope of Work Project Overview HYC is an Alternative Medicine Center that provides high quality healthcare to patients looking for an alternative to traditional medicine. HYC employs 2,500 staff members including 320 doctors from their campus location in Pennsylvania. HYC is undergoing an initiative to modernize their existing IT environment, which consists of a number of different applications and desktops, including office automation and healthcare management systems. In order to provide these applications to all 2,500 end users, HYC wants to leverage Citrix XenDesktop 7.5 to provide seamless access from multiple devices, including traditional desktops and tablets, across the HYC campus and remote access. During the course of this engagement, customers and partners will design a XenDesktop 7.5 environment (including Citrix technologies and supporting infrastructure components) conforming to Citrix leading practices, and create a pilot environment for 50 users based on the design. The environment should be designed to be highly available and scalable to meet HYC s requirements, listed below: Solution must support EMR on ipad Applications should be securely accessible across the internet Solution HA should minimize the impact to users Use of thin clients and connection to virtual desktops in order to use local USB devices The design will only consider end user applications (office automation; electronic medical records and medical graphics) that integrate with Citrix technologies. 5
Environment Overview HYC currently accesses applications from dedicated desktops located in their Pennsylvania campus, including nurse s stations, doctor s offices and clinical stations, and also using mobile computers on wheels for bedside assessment. Approximately 30 client server applications are hosted on a server running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and utilizing iscsi storage. Throughout the organization, some key applications are used as described in the Overview section of this document. These applications need to be considered as priorities for the Desktop Virtualization rollout. HYC employs Cisco network hardware with a 10Gbit backbone and 1Gbit connectivity across the LAN. HYC is interested in XenServer as a preferred Hypervisor. More details can be found in the table below: Item Dedicated Internet Connection Current Environment Upstream bandwidth: 500 Mbit/s (datacenter side) Downstream bandwidth: 200 Mbit/s (datacenter side) 30ms latency 30% utilization on average / 50% peak Server Hardware Blade Chassis 2 x 12 core Intel E-2603 processors 256GB RAM 2 x 256GB 7,200 RPM SATA drives Dual port 10Gbit Ethernet Adapter Server Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Network hardware Cisco Catalyst, 10 Gbit backbone, 1Gbit LAN Storage hardware Enterprise grade iscsi storage available with sufficient capacity Desktops Mix of desktops, laptops and Chromebook devices 1-2 years old, 2GB RAM minimum Owned by HYC Tablets, smartphones ipad 2 and higher. Mix of ios and Android devices 6
Business Drivers HYC is preparing to implement an initiative to modernize critical components in their existing healthcare IT infrastructure. The objective of this initiative is to enable anytime, anywhere access to the business applications required for doctors and nurses to perform their duties, while maintaining a secure environment. Doctors will be enabled to access information both from traditional desktops as well as tablet devices and smart phones, both within the hospital campus as well as from remote locations such as home, and remote doctor s offices. Business drivers are as follows: Priority Business Driver Description 1. Improve Productivity Reduce down-time resulting from desktop incidents including hardware failure, poor application performance and login delays. 2. Increase Business Agility Increase flexibility by allowing desktops to be quickly provisioned and de-provisioned to meet business changes. 3. Enhance Improve end-user support and device management. Manageability 4. Protect data from Expand and provide secure remote access. Further enable theft or loss 5. Minimize impact to end users when an outage occurs mobility by expanding device options for endpoint users. Implement resilient computing environment available from any device anywhere. Objectives The objectives of this engagement are outlined in the bullet points below: Enable HYC to manage server and desktop images centrally. Be able to return the workstation/server to a pristine state upon reboot while providing the ability to standardize a large scale of workstation/server deployments across the environment. Provide N+1 redundancy and automatic failover of Citrix components. Allow only authorized users to gain access to critical applications according to lock down HYC policies. Facilitate access to the environment using tablets. Identify operational and environmental improvements to better account for growth of the environment. Provide access to key applications including: medical records, medical graphics; Firefox; Office 2013. Assign Citrix FlexCast Models based on user group requirements. Design for 40% concurrency remote user access and 60% concurrency for local user access at any one time. Alert HYC s project team and review recommendations as they are identified. Once all recommendations have been identified, create a 50 user PoC of the implementation in a virtualized environment, demonstrating full functionality and redundancy. 7
User Assessment Overview User assessment has already been completed. Details listed below: HYC provided the # of Users: User Segment Pennsylvania Campus Nurses, Doctors, Nutritionists 1250 Executives and Management 300 Marketing, Finance, HR 475 IT 350 Front-line 125 User Assessment Group 1 Nurses, Doctors, Nutritionists: 1250 Pennsylvania Campus Personalization Requirements Security Requirements Mobility Requirements Workload Requirements Impact of losing the desktop High performance requirements for graphics Need access to resource intensive applications No need to install new applications High Need to access 3D data from any location, including remote access Windows Heavy workload High User Assessment Group 2 Executive, Management: 300 Pennsylvania Campus Personalization Requirements Security Requirements Mobility Requirements Workload Requirements Impact of losing the desktop Details Some personalized PCs might be required High Need to access desktops from remote locations (50% of users) Windows Normal workload High Endpoint mainly PCs and laptops including Macs 8
User Assessment Group 3 Marketing, Finance, HR: 475 Pennsylvania Campus Personalization Requirements Security Requirements Mobility Requirements Workload Requirements Impact of losing the desktop Details Local resources should be available Need to install special applications Medium Need to access desktops from remote locations (40% of users) Windows Light workload High Endpoint mainly PCs User Assessment Group 4 IT: 350 Pennsylvania Campus Personalization Requirements Security Requirements Mobility Requirements Workload Requirements Impact of losing the desktop Details Need to install special applications Need to have access to Windows 8.1 desktops for testing Need to access Windows from their Mac laptops including offline access High Need to access desktops from remote locations (80% of users) Windows Normal workload High Endpoint includes PCs, Mac, tablets User Assessment Group 5 Front-Line: 125 Pennsylvania Campus Personalization Requirements Security Requirements Mobility Requirements Workload Requirements Impact of losing the desktop Details Users cannot modify any desktop or app settings No need to install any applications Low Local: Always connects to an internal, high-speed and secure network Windows Light workload Medium Endpoint mainly thin clients 9
Engagement Summary In summary, the current team will create a design focusing on XenDesktop 7.5 environment and create a pilot environment for 50 users based on the design. 10
Quick Design Phase XenDesktop Controllers / PVS / MCS Overview In this exercise we will be making a few decision points before you start implementing your solution. Decision Point # of Controllers Design Decision Database HA # of PVS Servers (if applicable) MCS (if applicable) License Server licenses.citrixvirtualclassroom.com OR 30 day Evaluation # of StoreFront Servers # of NetScalers 11
Lab Build Out Implementing the Design Overview In this exercise you will implement your design using the environment provided. Required 1. Launch applications and desktops Optional 1. App-V 2. Storefront a. Store b. LB c. Beacons d. Legacy Support 3. NetScaler Gateway 12
Appendix FlexCast Models FlexCast Model Description Hosted Shared With the Hosted Shared Desktop model, multiple user desktops are hosted on a single server-based operating system. The Hosted Shared Desktop model provides a low-cost, high density solution, however applications must be compatible with a multi-user server based operating system. In addition, because multiple users are sharing a single operating system, users are restricted from performing actions which may negatively affect other users, for example installing applications, changing system settings and restarting the operating system. There is also the potential that a single user could consume an unfair share of resources which may negatively affect other users. The Hosted Shared FlexCast model is provided by Citrix XenApp in combination with Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) On-Demand Apps Pooled VDI Assigned VDI Remote PC Streamed VHD Local VM The On-Demand Apps FlexCast model does not provide users with a virtual desktop; instead Windows applications are centralized in the datacenter, and instantly delivered Desktops are based on a single master image and users are dynamically connected to one of the desktops in the pool each time they logon. Changes to the desktop image are lost upon reboot Desktops are based on a single master image. Once assigned, users will always be connected to the same virtual desktop. Changes to the desktop can be stored or lost between reboots Remote PC allows an end user to log on remotely to their physical PC in their office from virtually anywhere. The Citrix XenDesktop Virtual Desktop Agent on the office PC enables it to register with the XenDesktop Controller and manages the HDX connection between the machine and end user client devices Desktops are based on a single master image and provisioned using Provisioning Services. The Streamed VHD FlexCast model allows Windows 8, 7, Vista, or XP desktops to be run locally on the user s desktop computer. Streamed VHD requires a LAN connection to be in place between the desktop and the Provisioning Servers. Changes to the desktops are lost upon reboot Windows XP, 7, and 8 desktops running locally within a hypervisor. The virtual desktop image is completely delivered to the hypervisor to allow for offline connectivity Note: Additional information about FlexCast Models: Citrix Virtual Desktop Handbook. 13
Please complete this survey We value your feedback! Please take a moment to let us know about your training experience by completing the brief Learning Lab Survey Revision Change Description Updated By Date 1.0 Original version Elisabeth Teixeira May 2014 About Citrix Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a cloud company that enables mobile workstyles empowering people to work and collaborate from anywhere, securely accessing apps and data on any of the latest devices, as easily as they would in their own office. Citrix solutions help IT and service providers build clouds, leveraging virtualization and networking technologies to deliver high-performance, elastic and cost-effective cloud services. With market-leading cloud solutions for mobility, desktop virtualization, networking, cloud platforms, collaboration and data sharing, Citrix helps organizations of all sizes achieve the speed and agility necessary to succeed in a mobile and dynamic world. Citrix products are in use at more than 330,000 organizations and by over 100 million users globally. Annual revenue in 2012 was $2.59 billion. Learn more at www.citrix.com. 14