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Maintaining a Virtual Environment - While you might not be involved in the daily maintenance of an environment, you often will configure and automate certain key maintenance tasks at the conclusion of a virtualization project.
XenApp and XenDesktop Server Backup - You should configure XenApp and XenDesktop components to provide a quick recovery solution in the event of failure. Consider backup recommendations for the following components.
XenApp Backup Components
Remote Desktop Licensing (RDS) Server - Installing Remote Desktop Licensing (RDS) services on a new server is typically faster than recovering an existing server in the event of failure.
XenApp Servers - Resources required to back up individual XenApp servers require a significant investment and is time consuming to restore. As an alternative, you should use virtualized servers and a server provisioning system, such as Citrix Provisioning Services, to quickly provision new servers if any should fail.
Note: Applications should always be supported by multiple XenApp servers to prevent a single point of failure. Connections should be load balanced across at least two XenApp servers for failover and to support an even load distribution within the environment.
XenDesktop Backup Components
Desktop Delivery Controller - You should deploy Desktop Delivery Controllers across multiple servers to prevent a single point of failure. To recover a Desktop Delivery Controller, you can install a new server and join it to the XenDesktop farm where all of the configuration information for the farm is stored. As long as you back up the data store appropriately, the Desktop Delivery Controllers should not need to be backed up.
Common Backup Components - The following components are common between XenApp and XenDesktop servers and should be considered for backup:
Data Store - The data store should be an SQL or Oracle database. You should back up the data store according to Citrix recommendations for XenApp.
Citrix License Server - You can configure redundancy for the license server in two ways:
Provisioning Services Host - The configuration information for a Provisioning Services farm is stored in the data store database. If a Provisioning Services host fails, you can reinstall the configuration information on another host and join it back to the farm, provided that the data store database has been backed up appropriately.
If you store the vDisks locally on a Provisioning Services host, you must also back up those files so they can be restored to resume Provisioning Services operation. In most implementations, you should put multiple Provisioning Services hosts in place to provide redundancy. This will also minimize the need for you to develop a specific backup strategy for this component.
XenApp and XenDesktop Server Backup - You should configure XenApp and XenDesktop components to provide a quick recovery solution in the event of failure. Consider backup recommendations for the following components.
XenApp Backup Components
Remote Desktop Licensing (RDS) Server - Installing Remote Desktop Licensing (RDS) services on a new server is typically faster than recovering an existing server in the event of failure.
XenApp Servers - Resources required to back up individual XenApp servers require a significant investment and is time consuming to restore. As an alternative, you should use virtualized servers and a server provisioning system, such as Citrix Provisioning Services, to quickly provision new servers if any should fail.
Note: Applications should always be supported by multiple XenApp servers to prevent a single point of failure. Connections should be load balanced across at least two XenApp servers for failover and to support an even load distribution within the environment.
XenDesktop Backup Components
Desktop Delivery Controller - You should deploy Desktop Delivery Controllers across multiple servers to prevent a single point of failure. To recover a Desktop Delivery Controller, you can install a new server and join it to the XenDesktop farm where all of the configuration information for the farm is stored. As long as you back up the data store appropriately, the Desktop Delivery Controllers should not need to be backed up.
Common Backup Components - The following components are common between XenApp and XenDesktop servers and should be considered for backup:
Data Store - The data store should be an SQL or Oracle database. You should back up the data store according to Citrix recommendations for XenApp.
Citrix License Server - You can configure redundancy for the license server in two ways:
- Cold Standby - A second license server, with the same server name as the primary license server, is available as an offline virtual machine. Create the secondary license server as a clone of the primary license server to ensure that the latest licenses, operating system updates, and current system configurations are available. If the primary license server fails, the secondary license server can be turned on and used immediately.
- Hot Standby - A second license server, with a different server name as the primary license server, is available and running in a virtualized environment. If the primary license server fails, the server name of the secondary license server must be changed to match the failed primary license server, or the XenApp farm must be reconfigured to recognize the secondary server as the new license server.
Provisioning Services Host - The configuration information for a Provisioning Services farm is stored in the data store database. If a Provisioning Services host fails, you can reinstall the configuration information on another host and join it back to the farm, provided that the data store database has been backed up appropriately.
If you store the vDisks locally on a Provisioning Services host, you must also back up those files so they can be restored to resume Provisioning Services operation. In most implementations, you should put multiple Provisioning Services hosts in place to provide redundancy. This will also minimize the need for you to develop a specific backup strategy for this component.