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23-May-2010

Posted by : Stephane THIRION

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Citrix Edgesight architecture scenario – part 2/2

Category : Citrix, EdgeSight, XenApp 5, XenApp 6, XenDesktop

Tags: , , ,

If you need to build an EdgeSight architecture for more than 6000 agents, you need to know you will have to split your database and EdgeSight server (web server) associated with it. This next architecture doesn’t include Edgesight database broker you will need for XenDesktop VDI deployment. If some of you are looking forward a VDI deployment for EdgeSight just let me know, Twitter, Facebook, email, comment or phone, I can make it simple for you, and you won’t need to read the 300 documentation pages ! This is a slightly different approach with file share and database broker…

A typical data upload size for an EdgeSight for Endpoints agent is 80KB. EdgeSight for XenApp agent data uploads are typically larger due to the greater amount of data collected and can reach 300KB. These data upload sizes depend on a number of factors such as the agent properties and the usage profile of the system hosting the agent.

From Edgesight Admin guide page 22.

Of course it depend how your worker are configured and what data you need to collect. I’m still trying to figure our how to calculate the amount of data transferred from agents to the web server, this is a complex calculation and it take a lot of time for something Citrix should provide.

So architecture for large environment is the same as the one you could watch in the previous blog – Citrix Edgesight architecture scenario – part 1/2 – except you need to split database and EdgeSight server. Only one Citrix license server and you can also keep one SQL Reporting Services for both Edgesight servers.

This configuration means you need to configure agents with a different http address, for example, at one customer I had 4000 XenApp servers and 5000 Endpoint agents, so I choose to split Endpoint agents on one Edgesight server and all XenApp on the other. This is not very handy when you want to check from XenApp servers to the endpoint statistics, but this is the way it is for now.  By multiplying EdgeSight environment, complexity is getting stronger and find the good information is sometimes a matter of hours instead of minutes…

What Citrix should consider for the future of Edgesight :

  • Stop to check Citrix licenses on the Edgesight Servers, only agents is enough I think, then we would be able to load balance Edgesight Servers and SQL Reporting Services servers, spliting wouldn’t be necessary.
  • Since we don’t have Resource manager anymore, consider to bring at least the same level of information in EdgeSight we had with RM with the Advanced license.
  • Make available a complete EdgeSight database diagram.
  • Provide a simple tool to build 1,2,3 custom report.
  • Correct these annoying bug : When a Desktop is publish, no statistics are recorded, this is the same for an application with an argument in the command line…

Useful Links :
EdgeSight Wikipedia
EdgeSight Forums

EdgeSight Under The Hood

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28-Apr-2010

Posted by : Stephane THIRION

Comments: (2)

Citrix Edgesight architecture scenario – part 1/2

Category : Citrix, EdgeSight, XenApp 5, XenApp 6, XenDesktop

Tags: , ,

During past years, I had to design and deploy several kind of Citrix Edgesight architectures, from the “POC” design to “Large deployment”. I had to consider what was the best way to use this product and handle the number of devices to monitor. One type of architecture I didn’t needed to use yet is with Citrix XenDesktop Virtual Desktop Monitoring and Edgesight Agent Database Server.

Since Ressource Manager (RIP) disappear with Citrix XenApp 6, Edgesight became a mandatory tool to have the big picture of your XenApp farms health. It’s of course a lot more than that with Platinum licenses, this will be the subject for another blog. This blog focuses on Citrix Edgesight 5.3.

Important notes regarding supported database :

SQL Server 2008 (Standard or better) or SQL Server 2005 SP2 or later (Standard or better). Note that SQL Server 2008 R2 is not supported,
Important: Note the following configuration requirements:
In SQL Server 2008, the Reporting Services Role called Manage Shared Schedules no longer exists as a stand-alone role; it is now part of the System Administrator Role. For more information, see Configuring Reporting Services for Citrix EdgeSight.
SQL Server must be configured for case-insensitive collation. Case-sensitive collation is not currently supported for this release.
SQL Server should be configured to use Windows Authentication or Mixed-Mode Authentication.
Reporting Services is included with SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005. Reporting Services can be installed on a separate machine from the data source.
SQL Agent Service running and set to start automatically (if Reporting Services is installed on the machine)

First when you need to practice and want to check out what is Citrix Edgesight, you can easily setup a VM with Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 x64, install SQL 2008 and its SP1 with Reporting Services. Then you can configure Internet Information Services (IIS) to host Edgesight’s website and install the Citrix License Server as well on the same machine. Keep in mind this is for Proof Of Concept only and shouldn’t be used in Production environment.

Before going further you need to estimate the Edgesight SQL Database size regarding the number of agent deployed. Couple of year ago I had to request the mathematics law to Citrix support to know about that; now there is a tool

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10-Mar-2010

Posted by : Stephane THIRION

Comment: (1)

Citrix XenApp 6 release date !

Category : Citrix, XenApp 6, XenDesktop

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Citrix XenApp 6 Sets New Standard in On-Demand App Delivery for Physical and Virtual Desktops

New Release Simplifies Management, Enhances Scalability and Expands High-Definition Support for Macs, Smart Phones and Microsoft Platforms

3/10/2010 » SANTA CLARA, CA » Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS), today announced Citrix® XenApp™ 6, the de facto standard for centralizing applications in the datacenter and delivering them as an on-demand service to both physical and virtual desktops. XenApp 6 offers major new enhancements that simplify computing for IT, including easier central management, enhanced enterprise scalability and seamless integration with Microsoft technologies like App-V and Windows Server 2008 R2. XenApp 6 also improves productivity for end users with extensive new high-definition HDX™ technology enhancements and simplified self-service access to apps from any device, including PCs, Macs, laptops and smart phones.

The new enhancements to XenApp 6 will also be available as an integrated feature of the company’s comprehensive desktop virtualization solution, Citrix XenDesktop™ 4. Mainstream adoption of desktop virtualization requires a proven, scalable solution with the ability to deliver any type of virtual desktop to any user on any device, and to be able to interchange delivery technologies at any time. With more than half the ROI of virtual desktops coming from centralized app management, this integration provides an unparalleled advantage over any other desktop virtualization solution on the market today. This powerful combination makes it easy for customers to deliver apps as an on-demand service to any user, on any device, across a broad range of both physical and virtual desktops.

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