Engineering a Citrix Virtualization Solution

Prerequisites:

Experience using the following Citrix products: Citrix XenApp 4.5 or higher; Citrix XenServer 5.0 or higher; Citrix XenDesktop 2.0 or higher; Citrix Provisioning Services 5.0 or higher; Citrix EdgeSight for Load Testing 3.0; Citrix EdgeSight for Endpoints 5.0; Citrix EdgeSight for XenApp 5.0.

Experience using Windows Server 2008, including: Active Directory; Terminal Services; DHCP; DNS; Performance Monitoring; Troubleshooting; Base OS, including server roles; Group Policy Objects.

Experience using Microsoft SQL Server.

Completion of the following courses or demonstrate equivalent knowledge: CXA-201-1 - Implementing Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008; CXS-200-1 - Implementing Citrix XenServer Enterprise Edition 5.0; CXD-200-1 - Implementing Citrix XenDesktop 3; CXA-300-1 - Advanced Administration for Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008.

Course Description:

The CVE-400-1I Engineering a Citrix® Virtualization Solution course teaches Citrix engineers how to plan for and perform the tasks necessary to successfully integrate the component technologies that make up a Citrix virtualization solution in a Windows Server 2008 environment. Upon course completion, students will be able to interpret environmental assessment documentation, plan for a virtualization solution project and integrate key Citrix virtualization technologies, including XenAppTM, XenServerTM, and XenDesktopTM, to create a holistic, end-to-end virtualization solution that will address the most pressing business issues of the day. The extensive, highly hands-on curriculum includes exercises that allow students to demonstrate the advanced technical knowledge gained from instruction. The course is comprised of 80% hands on and 20% Instructor delivery.

The exercises for this course include hands-on integration of the following Citrix core and component products:

• Citrix XenApp 5.0 on Windows Server 2008
• Citrix EssentialsTM for XenServer 5.5
• Citrix XenDesktop 3.1
• Citrix Provisioning ServicesTM 5.1
• Citrix EdgeSightTM for Load Testing 3.0
• Citrix EdgeSight for Endpoints 5.0
• Citrix EdgeSight for XenAppTM 5.0
• Citrix Workflow StudioTM 2.0
• Citrix Profile management 2.0
• Citrix Receiver 1.0
• Citrix DazzleTM 1.0
• Citrix NetScaler® VPX 9.1

Delegates will learn how to:

• Explain the benefits and considerations for VM storage, including local host disk, iSCSI SAN, Fibre Channel SAN and NFS SAN.
• Explain how network considerations, including network topology, utilization requirements and the number of interfaces, affect a virtualization host server.
• Configure network connectivity and storage for the XenServer host.
• Configure a resource pool for optimal performance.
• Identify information in the project documentation that is required for project decision-making purposes.
• Create an order of execution plan that reflects the tasks required to implement the virtual solution and organizational goals.
• Identify the available Provisioning Services server optimizations.
• Install, configure and test a Provisioning Services configuration.
• Configure XenApp for optimal performance in a virtualized environment.
• Prepare, install and configure a provisioned XenApp server within a Citrix virtualization solution.
• Identify the components that comprise a XenDesktop virtual solution.
• Provision a XenDesktop pool in a virtual solution.
• Identify the uses and differences of EdgeSight for Load Testing, EdgeSight for Endpoints and EdgeSight for XenApp.
• Configure an EdgeSight alert to trigger a Workflow Studio workflow.
• Identify common workflows that can be automated using Workflow Studio.
• Perform a XenApp server upgrade using the vDisk update process.

This course includes the following modules:

Host Server Concepts

• Key Virtualization Terms
• Hardware Configuration
• Memory Considerations
• CPU Considerations
• Network Considerations
• Virtual Machine Management
• Virtual Machine Migration
• Identifying Media Storage Considerations
• Differentiating Between Local Storage and SAN
• Determining RAM Scalability
• Determining CPU Scalability
• Determining Network Interface Strategies
• Determining HA Priority Levels
• Identifying Storage Overcommitment Risks

XenServer Integration

• ISO Storage
• Pre-Installation Considerations
• Troubleshooting
• Configuring XenServer Networking
• Configuring XenServer Storage
• Creating a Resource Pool
• Testing High Availability

Project Planning and Implementation Strategies

• Project Roles
• Project Documentation
• Implementation Planning
• Implementation Case Studies
• Identifying Gaps in Documentation
• Interpreting Project Documentation and Identifying Goals

Provisioning Services Integration

• Network Support of Streaming
• Provisioning Services Optimizations
• Streaming Other Workloads
• Troubleshooting
• Installing and Configuring Provisioning Services Server
• Creating and Configuring the vDisk
• Testing the Configuration
• Adding Additional Server to Farm
• Configuring Load Balancing and HA for Provisioning Services

XenApp Integration

• Application Delivery
• XenApp Configurations
• Provisioning Services with XenApp
• XenApp Migration
• Troubleshooting
• Installing XenApp
• Provisioning XenApp Servers
• Configuring XenApp Servers

XenDesktop Integration

• Virtual Desktop Components
• Desktop Groups
• XenDesktop Management
• NetScaler VPX
• Troubleshooting
• Installing the Desktop Delivery Controller
• Installing the Additional Desktop Delivery Controllers
• Configuring the XenDesktop Farm
• Creating a Virtual Desktop VM
• Provisioning the XenDesktop Pool
• Configuring the Desktop Group
• Testing the Desktop Pool
• Configuring NetScaler VPX

Virtualized Environment Monitoring

• EdgeSight
• EdgeSight for Load Testing
• Installing EdgeSight for Load Testing
• Installing EdgeSight Server
• Configuring the EdgeSight Server
• Installing EdgeSight Agent Database Server
• Installing EdgeSight Agent on XenDesktop Desktops
• Configuring EdgeSight
• Testing the Monitoring Environment

Virtualized Environment Maintenance

• Workflow Studio Overview
• Workflow Automation
• Sample Maintenance Workflows
• XenApp and XenDesktop Server Backup
• Configuring a XenServer Metadata Backup Schedule
• Performing a XenServer Hotfix Update
• Performing a XenApp Application Update
• Upgrading a Provisioned XenApp Server
• Configuring Lab Manager
• Configuring Citrix Receiver for Citrix Dazzle