choosing a citrix monitoring strategy: key capabilities and pitfalls to avoid

© eG Innovations, Inc | www.eginnovations.com

Choosing a Citrix Monitoring Strategy:Key Capabilities & Pitfalls to Avoid

Rob BeekmansSenior [email protected]

Srinivas RamanathanCEOeG [email protected]


Bruce PopkyDirector of Marketing StrategyeG [email protected]

Moderator


Please submit your questions at any time during the webinar using the questions panel on the GoToWebinar client. This webinar is being recorded. You will receive a link to the recording in a few days. A copy of this presentation is posted on SlideShare:http://www.slideshare.net/eginnovations/

Logistics


eG Innovations Leading provider of IT performance monitoring, diagnosis and reporting software Specialists in Citrix performance monitoring and management Citrix Premier Technology Partner since 2004 Our solutions are used in some of the largest Citrix deployments in the world


PQR


Srinivas RamanathanCEOeG [email protected]@sramanat

Rob BeekmansSenior [email protected]@robbeekmans, http://robbeekmans.net

Today’s Presenters


Agenda Citrix performance monitoring wish list A quick look at the built-in Citrix monitoring tools: Citrix Director Citrix NetScaler Insight Citrix SCOM management packs What they do and what they don’t do

How eG Enterprise complements the built-in Citrix monitoring tools

Q & A


48%

45%

7%

The most performance sensitive service Similar in performance demands as other services Not that performance sensitive

Citrix – One of the Most Performance Sensitive Enterprise Applications

Source: 2016 Citrix Performance Survey, http://www.eginnovations.com/solutions/sign-in?whitepaper=36

93% believe that Citrix is one of the performance sensitive services in enterprise networks.


Our Citrix Performance MonitoringWish List


Server Monitoring: Required, Not Sufficient

CPU

Memory

Disk

Network

Server Monitoring Is the server sized correctly? Is there an OS bottleneck: CPU, memory, disk? Is the page file usage high? Are there many disk reads/writes? Is any process leaking handles? Are there excessive TCP retransmissions from the servers?Citrix performance can be affected by network, virtualization, storage, application issues. Server monitoring is necessary, but not sufficient.


Session Monitoring Are many sessions in disconnected state (using unnecessary resources)? How well is session pre-launch working? Are many sessions inactive? Is user logon disabled on any server? Compliance & Auditing: Who logged in? When? How long?

Conn ConnQ Active Disconnected

Idle Down Prelaunch Linger

Monitoring Citrix Sessions & States

ICA Client

ConnQ

Listener Port Idle

IdleActiveICA Session

Virtual Session


Logon is slowApplication is slow to launch

Session gets disconnectedKeystrokes don’t show up on time

Multimedia playback is choppy

UserExperience Printing doesn’t work

Monitoring Citrix User ExperienceUser Experience Monitoring How long did Citrix logon take? If slow, why? Profile? AD? GPO? How long does app launch take? What is a user’s screen refresh latency? Historical data for troubleshooting?


Emulates users Imposes the same workload again and again Provides a measure of experience EVEN when there is no real load

Monitors real users Actual workloads Direct measure of what users are seeing

Synthetic MonitoringMonitoring the Citrix User Experience

Real User Monitoring

User Experience Monitoring Simulate logon; launch different applications Synthetic monitoring from multiple locations Real user monitoring from the client, network, server Must use a combination of both approaches


Monitoring ICA Virtual ChannelsVirtual Channel Monitoring What is the input/output line speed? How much bandwidth is the user session consuming? How much of this is:

Audio bandwidth? Video bandwidth? Printer bandwidth? Drive bandwidth?

FramehawkDCR

ThinwireMultimedia

FlashGeneric USB

CDMAudio

LyncPrinting Mobile SDK

Mobile SensorsSmartcardClipboardKB& Mouse

ICA


Monitoring Citrix Application UsageVirtual Application Monitoring What are the most popular applications? What are the most CPU/memory intensive applications? Who is accessing each application? For how long was an application accessed?


Monitoring Citrix Desktops (VDI)Virtual Desktop Monitoring Visibility inside the desktop is essential Should not require agents on each desktop Report by user logged onto the desktop, not VM name What applications are being accessed? What resources are in use? Which URLs are accessed for browser apps?


Monitoring GPUsGPU Monitoring Monitoring must be GPU-aware Support for shared and pass-through GPUs Highlight GPU bottlenecks Identify which processes/VMs are consuming GPU

CPU(s) Memory Hard Disk NIC Graphics

Hypervisor vDriver vDriver

OS – XenApp Server

VMUserSession UserSession UserSession

VirtualDriver VirtualDriver

HDX

GPUDriver


Monitoring Citrix License UsageLicense Monitoring Is the license server available and is it responsive? Is checkin/checkout of licenses happening as expected? Are sufficient terminal server licenses available? How many licenses are in use and what are peak usage times?


Monitor resource usage on the servers Monitor Citrix sessions and their states Report on sessions for audit and compliance Monitor all aspects of the Citrix User Experience Support both Synthetic and Real user experience monitoring Monitor the Citrix Virtual Channels for each user session Track Citrix application usage and resource patterns Monitor virtual desktop activity and resource usage Monitor GPUs and other newer capabilities Monitor Citrix license usage

Our Citrix Monitoring Wish List


Monitoring the Citrix Delivery ControllerDelivery Controller (DC) Monitoring Are all key services running? Is the DC responsive? Connection to License server, Database ok? Is it time synchronized with Active Directory? Are there connections failures, unregistered desktops? Are there any VDAs not reporting to the DC? Is any delivery group running out of capacity?

Receiver

StoreFront

CitrixStudio DeliveryControllerDB

Windows Server OS MachinesWindows Desktop OS Machines


Monitoring Citrix StoreFrontCitrix StoreFront Monitoring Is the Citrix StoreFront available and is it responsive? Are the stores accessible? What is the workload on the StoreFront/IIS web server? Are connection or authentication failures happening? Is there any unusual activity to the StoreFront server?

HA Pair StoreFront Group XenDesktopSite

NetSca

ler

StoreF

ontSto

reFont

XenDes

topCon

troller

XenDes

topCon

troller


Monitoring Citrix NetScalerNetScaler S1

S2

S3

Pw0

E1

ADSAASGateway

SQLFTP HTTPS

HTTPTCP DMS

UDP C6 C8IAAS

NetScaler

Citrix NetScaler Monitoring Is VPN tunneling working? Many application accesses blocked by firewall rules? What is the bandwidth saving from compression? Are any of the load balanced virtual servers down or slow to respond? What ICA sessions are happening? Who and how long?

Optimization Security SwitchingSSL Offload Application Firewall L7 Request Switching

(Load Balance) TCP Offload L4-7 ACL Advanced Health Check TCP Buffering DoS Protections Content Switching Surge Protection Rewrite + Responder GSLBCompression SSL VPN VLAN, SR-IOV, PBR Caching AAA for App Traffic Dynamic RoutingWeb 2.0 Push Cloud Gateway App Controller AppExpert Callout

XenMobile NetScaler Cloud Connector NetScaler DataStream


Monitoring Citrix Provisioning ServicesCitrix PVS Monitoring How much of the RAM cache is used? Is the server’s RAM sized correctly? How much I/O from cache vs. disk? Are there time outs at the client side? Excessive vDisk retries? What are boot times of targets? Any vDisks locked for long time?

vDisk

Citrix Provisioning Server

XenApp Servers/VDI Desktops


Monitoring Citrix XenMobile & ShareFileCitrix XenMobile/ShareFile Monitoring Is MDM available? Are there any non-compliant, unmanaged or jailbroken devices? Any devices with blacklisted applications? Track growth in adoption ShareFile connectivity working? Are the local storage zones working?

XenMobileMDMNetScalerGateway

ShareFile


Monitoring the Non-Citrix Infra Any unusual blocking activity on SQL server? Is the virtual platform sized correctly? Are CPU ready times within limits? Is Active Directory responsive? Is there excessive queueing for any of the backend apps? What is the network latency between the user’s terminal and the server farm?

Monitoring the Citrix Supporting Infrastructure

ExchangeServerMicrosoftHyper-V

VMware SQLDatabase Profile Server

SAN


Alerting & TicketingMulti-modal alerting(proactively)

Integration with helpdesk tools –ticketing and workflow management


StoreFront

Firewal

l

Firewal

lNetScaler

Desktop DeliveryController

Virtual MachineInfrastructure

Virtual DesktopAgent

XenMobile Saas, Web,Mobile, Data

ProvisioningServices

XenApp

Profile Store

License Server

Data Store

Domain Controller

Cloud

Switch SAN

Where is the Root-Cause?

What is the root cause of the service problem?Network? VMware? AD? SQL? Storage? Profile Server?


Rob’s Favorite Want … Mobile App for Monitoring Monitor on-the-go Get alerts wherever you are Find and fix issues from a smart phone


Monitor the Citrix Delivery Controller Monitor Citrix NetScaler devices Monitor application flows seen by NetScaler Monitor StoreFront and Citrix PVS Monitor Citrix supporting infrastructure (Virtual, storage, network, file/profile servers, SQL, Active Directory, backend apps) Monitor users’ network connections to Citrix farm Monitor Citrix XenMobile & ShareFile Alert proactively Assist with root-cause diagnosis Historical reports, trends, analytics – for troubleshooting, capacity planning, right-sizing, migration Mobile app for the on-the-go access

Our Citrix Monitoring Wish List


Monitoring Options in Citrix’s Portfolio


Citrix DirectorCitrix Studio Citrix Director PoSH

WCF [80]PoSH

WCF [80]

Machine Creation Services InfrastructureServices BrokerService Feature & Integration Services

Virtual Desktop (VDA)Citrix Desktop Service

Citrix ICA Service (PicaSvc2.exe)

Configuration ServicesMachine Creation Service

Host Service

AD Identify Service

Environment Test ServiceConfiguration Logging Service

Monitor ServiceStorefront Service

Broker Service

Delegated Admin Service

Controller

SQL ServerSQL ServerSQL ServerSQL Server


Citrix Director


Citrix Director - SummaryGood insights into Citrix sessions and virtual channelsCitrix logon breakdown for troubleshooting logon performanceDelivery controller error reporting – failed connections, desktops, etc.Control action – shadow session, terminate a session, etc.Only focuses on the Citrix stackVisibility mainly to the delivery controller and VDAsMore of a helpdesk tool – on-demand analysis, not proactive alerting


NetScaler

Cloud

Citrix NetScaler Insight Center

Enterprise

Desktop

NetScaler Insight Center


HDX InsightICA Session Start and Stop

ICA Session Handshake

Periodic Status on Data TransfersVirtual Channel Events

Application Start and Stop

TCP Events (Latency, Jitter, RTT)

Citrix NetScaler Insight Center


Citrix NetScaler Insight


Citrix NetScaler Insight - SummaryInsights into Citrix sessions and application launchesVisibility into network connections from user terminalsEasy to deploy, agentlessNot sufficient if the problems are on the Citrix servers/ desktops No visibility into the non-Citrix tiers (storage, virtualization, etc.)Requires NetScaler Platinum license


Monitors Rules Views Tasks Knowledge ReportsCitrix Management Packs

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)

Citrix SCOM Management Packs


Citrix SCOM Management Packs


Citrix SCOM Management Packs - SummaryGood for SCOM users – Citrix alerts in SCOMInsights into all key Citrix tiersSeveral built in reports – sessions, logons, resources, etc.

SCOM not easy to use for a Citrix adminDrilldowns are minimalVisibility into VMware, other tiers requires other management packsNeed Citrix platinum license

7/20/2016 Oracle Confidential –Internal/Restricted/Highly Restricted 47


Integrated Monitoring of Everything CitrixComplement & Extend Citrix Performance Management Solutions

Citrix NetScaler Insight Multi Admin ConsolesCitrix Director

Citrix Products

eG Enterprise Performance Monitoring


eG Enterprise – Live Demo


Single Pane of Glass View


Citrix XenApp In Depth


Auto-Baselining for Proactive Alerting

Automatically computed baseline based on time of day, day of month behavior enables proactive detection of problems.


Topology Views for Root-Cause Diagnosis

An issue with Citrix XenApp is affecting the user experience.


Making the Monitoring Virtualization Aware

The Citrix XenApp performance is in fact being affected by an issue in the VMware host it is hosted on.


Drilldown to the Root-Cause

One of the VMs is taking excessive CPU resources, starving other VMs and affecting the performance of application servers on these VMs.


Drilldown to the Root-Cause

OOPS – a samba backup job running on the VM is causing the issue!


Mobile App for On-the-Go Access


eG Enterprise - SummaryVisibility into all the Citrix tiersIndepth (domain specific) monitoring of each tierVisibility into non-Citrix tiers supporting CitrixInsights into all aspects of user experienceAuto-baselining for proactive alertingCorrelation across tiers for root-cause diagnosisReporting customized to different stakeholdersOn-the-go mobile access


Dramatically simplify and accelerate application performance management. Deliver peak performance, user satisfaction and ROI.

User Satisfaction

IT Productivity

Higher serviceuptime

Simplicity

Cost control & ROI

Total CitrixPerformanceManagement

Total Citrix Performance Monitoring Benefits


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