paul stansel enterprise infrastructure architect travelers copyright © 2015 the travelers indemnity...

SYN314 – Lessons Learned on the Way to 50,000 UsersMay 14th 3:30PM Room 224A

Paul StanselEnterprise Infrastructure ArchitectTravelers

Copyright © 2015 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved

Before We Get Started…

Tweet about this session with hashtag #SYN314 and #CitrixSynergy


IntroductionIn my previous role, I had the pleasure of building from the ground up a pretty massive environment. We spent 7 years going from 0 to almost 50,000 users, a major achievement!

And along the way we learned an awful lot about what to do, what not to do, and why sometimes you still have to do what you think you shouldn’t. That’s what I hope to leave you with today… lessons learned to make your transition from 0 to 50k as smooth as possible.


Who Am I?

2015 Citrix Technology Professional (CTP)Architect of multiple Fortune 100 Citrix environments18 years working with Citrix productsAuthor and editor Owner of CitrixTips.com


Your Takeaways Today

How Day 1 impacts Day 763548Common component sizing so you are poised for growthAutomating your environment for maximum efficiencyPlanning a good monitoring foundationWhat’s the most important component you have (hint: it’s your users)


In the Beginning…


There was a user named Bob

PC

Data

Apps

Connectivity


But then one day…


Lesson #1 – Know Your Users


You Need Data

Know your users.Know their use cases.Know their work patterns.Know their apps, their data requirements, and where they sit.

All of these factors play a role in the environment you want to build for them.


Your User Experience Matters Most

Technology Workspace

User

Experience


But Paul that’s a ton of data!

Take it one set of users at a time

Use cataloging tools like SCCM, Lakeside’s Systrack, etc; to create your App to User Catalog

Use AppDNA to help create delivery methodologies to know what your options are.

Lesson #2 – Build What They Need Not What You Want


Your User Layers


Endpoint Device

Connectivity


Endpoint Device

Connectivity

Data


Data

Endpoint Device

Connectivity

Application Delivery


App Delivery

Data

Endpoint Device

Connectivity

Lesson #3 – Know the Limitations of Citrix


Sizing Your Delivery Controllers

Delivery Controller Delivery Controller Delivery Controller Delivery Controller

http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx117477

HKLM\Software\Citrix\IMA\RUNTIME\UseRegistrySetting DWORD registry entry to 1

HKLM\Software\Citrix\DesktopServer\MaxWorkers




So What’s a Very Large Site?

20,000 defined machines!


Separate WI Into Pools

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX126625


What About StoreFront App Pools?


App Pools in StoreFront are a little trickier because of the way pools are tied to services. I recommend checking out CTX138905 for more details on setting those up correctly.




Updating the VDA on 20,000 Persistent Guests is a Nightmare

Lack of VDA Cleanup toolFailure of automated install means the user and/or machine is out of the waterTroubleshooting why the upgrade failed is never easyThe VDA itself was very difficult to extract from the other media (http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/01/07/introducing-a-stand-alone-vda-for-xendesktop-and-xenapp-7-6/)


http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/01/07/introducing-a-stand-alone-vda-for-xendesktop-and-xenapp-7-6/



Lesson #4 – Mind the Gaps


Monitoring With Citrix Tools

EdgesiteDirectorHDX InsightPowerShell scriptsStudioWMIWinRMSNMP


3rd Party MonitoringToo many to list but recommended to try…1) When they say end to end do they mean both with and

without a gateway appliance (Netscaler, F5, etc.)?2) How much manual intervention do they take to set up and

maintain?3) Is the interface easy to use?4) Can they do synthetic transactions against the

infrastructure components to give you individualized health levels of each piece?

5) Can they proactively point you to a problem or reactively give you the data you need to fix it?


Lesson #5 – Automate for Success


Automation Tools

Hopefully you saw SYN512 earlier today!

PowerShell SCOrch

Other AutomationTools…

Layering Technologies


AppVolumes

UnideskFlexApp

Others…

Before you leave…

Conference surveys are available online at www.citrixsynergy.com starting today, May 14th. Provide your feedback to be entered to win one of many prizes!


http://www.citrixsynergy.com/

Questions?Contact info:[email protected]://citrixtips.com@pstansel


mailto:[email protected]

http://citrixtips.com/

© 2014 Citrix. Confidential.32

@mycugc www.mycugc.org

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References

Some images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net –Danilo Rizzutiadamr


http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=851




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